<p>IBClass06,</p>
<p>That is one of the best things I've ever read on this board.</p>
<p>Brilliant.</p>
<p>And I really don't wanna use the words 'spoiled brat', but seriously, some of these posts emphasise only the student's happiness, almost at any financial cost to their parents or siblings. I don't want to make anyone feel guilty or change their college decision dramatically, but u should at least CONSIDER the situation and quality of life of your parents, your siblings, your home etc. when you're making this decision. US$140k is a lot of money, by any measure, and you should seriously consider if a college education from Stanford vs Duke, or any other comparison, is worth that money (considering both your own happiness, opportunities during and after college etc.)</p>
<p>Post got messed up.</p>
<p>^ I agree. Everyone here is talking about how happiness just grows on trees at HYPS, that the lives of those students and the experiences at those schools are far beyond what any other school can offer--even that it's worth $200,000.</p>
<p>I was offered $48,000 a year in financial aid from Yale (essentially a free ride as I got scholarships to cover work-study), and I recently turned them down for the UNC Morehead-Cain. And UNC isn't Duke. </p>
<p>To be honest, I'm so happy that in ten years I won't be a HYPS grad, talking about how wonderful it was, as if I am the only one to have a "true" college experience. I'm happy that I won't be totally surrounded by the wealthy people that claim $140,000 is worth the joy of going to a prestigious school. And I'm glad that I'm not the kind of person who would turn down a full ride--financial freedom for four years--for the prestige of a 'better' school.</p>
<p>Go tar heels!</p>
<p>One of the major problems created by things like College Confidential and US News rankings is that they encourage us take small, meaningless differences and magnify them until they seem significant.</p>
<p>Lawrence Ellison is the 4th richest person in the world, worth $22 billion as of February. Lakshmi Mittal is the 8th richest, worth $19.3 billion. By CollegeConfidental standards, that apparently means that Mittal is a worthless nobody, that his quality of life must be terrible, and he must pale in comparison in every possible way to Mr. #4 Lawrence Ellison.</p>
<p>Wrong. They're both incredibly, incredibly wealthy individuals. Ranking differences here obscures the fact that their small difference in wealth has almost no impact on their comparative quality of life. The same is true of college rankings. To try to come up with a precise ranking is pretty ridiculous and forces us to have precision where there simply isn't any.</p>
<p>Speaking of billionaires, in my opinion it is pretty ludicrous for any non-billionaire family to turn down a $200,000+ scholarship to Duke and pay for Stanford on the primary basis of perceived academic quality or prestige. The differences just are so tiny that they are essentially meaningless.</p>
<p>No one is <em>EVER</em> going to admit you to a grad program or hire you for a job merely because your college ranking was 4 slots higher. It's just not going to happen. They are going to select you based upon what you DID in college. And it is here where I think programs like the Robertson truly excel-- they give you more opportunities to really shine during your college years.</p>
<p>p.s. I agree with Ephemeral2 on a lot of his post -- especially the last part. Go UNC!</p>
<p>^Agree completely, especially true is the last paragraph</p>
<p>thoughtprovoking is 100% right.</p>
<p>I didn't reread my post but I just want to make sure that my point is clear...that the OP should consider more than just the money, either way. I don't want to come across as a spoiled brat. Campus, feel, people, programs, etc. If you visit or already visited Duke and love it, you should go there. But if you loved Stanford and the feel, etc., a lot more than Duke and think you would enjoy being at Stanford more, than you should go with Stanford. ((go with your heart!!))</p>
<p>and thoughtprovoking, congrats on morehead-cain! You probably met my friend at the finalist-thing, and I wonder if you talked with him, bc he also got into Yale early and now has to decide (if he hasn't already)</p>
<p>Ephemeral2, you probably made a lot of people happy including yourself, except Yale's. Congrats on the Morehead-Cain award which I had no idea what it was before I was reading your post. Just curiosity about why you turned down virtually a fullride at Yale? Why did you apply Yale in the first place? Your explanation could help a lot of people to decide where they want to go, or not to go.</p>
<p>I applied to Yale mainly because I love the residential college system, I wanted to go up north, and they have the best college newspaper in the country (UNC's is #2!). I never really thought I'd get in (I really wanted to go to Dartmouth... turned them down too). And I turned Yale down because it could never provide me all the opportunities and experiences the Morehead-Cain (or the Robertson, in the OP's case) will. I was never obsessed with the prestige of the school that I would choose it solely because "it's Yale." I was always planning on attending the school that gave me the most money. In my case, UNC is doing that--and much more. </p>
<p>There really was never a decision for me to make.. As soon as I saw the words in the email, "Congratulations! We are delighted to offer you a Morehead-Cain scholarship," I knew I was a tar heel. </p>
<p>I guess if I had parents that pressured me to go to a prestigious Ivy League school (or college at all, actually. I'm a first gen college student) or I was exceedingly wealthy, my decision wouldn't have been so clear cut.</p>
<p>I'm getting SO sick of this thread, just putting that out there ;). Both are great schools, I just visited Duke and it's AMAZING.</p>