Help! Lots of people all mention to go with low cost IS honors college, rather than choosing expensive OOS tuition. What if the OOS school is UVa? Is UVa, a public school, truly great to the level as it is ranked? But its OOS tuition is soooo expensive. Any thoughts or experiences? Thanks.
What is your IS honors school and what will your parents pay? Can they afford UVA ?
@twogirls, Hi, so glad to hear response. In-state school is Rutgers in New Jersey with 13k scholarship. Rutgers has honors programs at each college, and recently they further invite certain honors program students from each college into a school-wide Honors College, about 500 students in total. UVA seems very famous in brand, and people praise this school along with UCLA or Berkeley. Is UVA really that good? We don’t receive need-based financial aid from UVA, but yes, we can manage to afford UVA OOS tuition. Though it is really, really expensive as compared to Rutgers’. Thank you, in advance, for your insights. Thanks.
UVA meets full need for OOS students ( based on their own formula). Did you apply for FA or did you not apply? Do you have siblings, and if so how old are they?
@twogirls, we did apply for FA, but I guess we’re not qualified for need-based aid. FA package is an Unsubsidized Loan for $5,000. My sister currently is a sophomore at high school. Thanks.
The reason why I asked about siblings is because if your sister goes to college directly out of HS then your parents will have 2 in college for 2 years. This may get you some FA at UVA but of course I don’t know. Can your parents afford full pay for you at UVA and then afford to be full pay for your sibling -possibly at a similarly priced OOS school? My point is that if you go to UVA, would they have the money to also send your sister if she is accepted and wanted to go?
What do you plan to study and what are your plans post-graduation from college?
I’d say for most people, in-state honors college is a very fine option. Even more so if you are thinking about grad school.
hmmm… that… I don’t know at the moment, honestly. Even it’s feasible (with my families’ hard work in the past, financially, and continue, and all the blessings we’re fortunate to have), will the money be well-spent on school like UVA?
Yes the money would be well spent on UVA, but it would also be well spent on the honors program at Rutgers. There are too many unknowns for me right now- your major, your sisters plans, your future plans, finances etc.
Just my opinion: I think that Rutgers is a very good university. I had a boss once from Rutgers who was very good and very smart (he was originally from NJ). UVA is also very good but I would NOT put UVA on the same level as Berkeley or UCLA (for what I majored in Berkeley is one of the best in the world).
Without knowing what the major is, or what parents financial situation is, my inclination would be to go with Rutgers.
Thanks for both of you for the valuable opinions.
I haven’t decided precisely where to major yet; but I’m currently leaning towards Arts & Sciences, and not Engineering. I’m thinking of Linguistics as I was fascinated by many World Languages & music from my middle school years to early years in high school. However, by my junior year I’m kind of feeling that Math & Physics are also very interesting to me.
I got in UVA’s Arts & Sciences Undergraduate.
I got in Rutgers at 3 schools to choose, School of Arts & Sciences, Business School, and Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and received Honors College invitations from all 3 schools.
I also got in College of William & Mary, and Northeastern University as well, also at Arts & Sciences.
My family is like an ordinary household, and we’re not running business. My parents are diligent 9-5 employees, and have good savings from their years of hard-working.
My sister’s plan is not clear either, and she doesn’t seem to like the in-state school for the moment.
Many people said… “where you go to the college doesn’t matter what you actually do in college.” I understand all these schools have good programs. Making the final decision, however, from one of them, putting cost of attending into the mix, really isn’t an easy task.
Thanks.
Rutgers is a very solid school, and while UVA is also very good, it’s not like it’s an Ivy or Ivy tiered. With so many moving parts and a sister going to college after you, I think Rutgers is the clear choice. Not just based on price, but based on the distance between your two options being relatively small.
Thanks @DadTwoGirls @PengsPhils Thank you.
@jwkjwy Congrats on getting into the Honors College at Rutgers!! My daughter is in a similar situation. She was accepted into great private schools with some merit money. However, the tuition with merit money was still $20k more per year than Rutgers Honors program. Your total UVA tuition will be around $240k, your Rutgers tuition will be less than $100k. UVA is not worth it and Rutgers is excellent school!
@momoffive , thank you. Just… somehow a feeling of missing an opportunity.
It’s definitely good NOT to take on huge debt when you have good alternatives, as you do. Congrats!
@jwkjwy At Scholars’ Days at Rutgers, I met so many people that said they didn’t initially want to come to Rutgers. One student said he was accepted to Carnegie Melon, another said Cornell, but for financial reasons they went to Rutgers. All of them said they ended up loving it at Rutgers.
Are there any schools that you applied to and received merit money that are more affordable than UVA?
A little story, my daughter wanted to attend Villanova. For some reason, she feel in love with that school long ago and it was always her first choice. With her stats, I knew there was no doubt she would get in and we were hoping for possibly getting the Presidential scholarship. In November, she applied Early Action along with her best friend. My daughter’s class rank was 6/550, her best friend’s class rank was in the triple digits. In December, early action acceptances went out. Her best friend was deferred, my daughter was accepted. My daughter applied for a scholarship but was not chosen for any merit money. Because of no merit money, our cost would be $68,000 for Villanova. In March, her best friend (the girl with the triple digit class rank who never studied), was accepted to Villanova with a bill for only $8000 (because she was given financial aid due to the family’s cash business which is not claimed on income taxes). Paying anything more than $40k/year was not an option for us. A college education is not worth that amount. UVA was not meant to be if you had to pay that much. My daughter could be bitter about Villanova but, instead, she is really excited for Rutger’s honors program. She will make the most of her opportunities there and hopefully do really well. Whatever decision you make, go into it whole heartedly. Don’t have regrets. College is what you make of it.
A question to ask your parents is, if you go to the more expensive school, will their spending on your school limit your sister’s college choices?
@momoffive, thank you so much for sharing the story with me. It does help me think further. As for my other schools, William & Mary, like UVA, did not provide any FA to me. Though Northeastern offered me good merit scholarship, I’m leaning more to UVA, WM, and in-state Rutgers Honors.