Ivy League(s) vs. Scholarships at State Schools. Help?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Title kind of says it all; I'm completely and utterly torn. Made an account so that I could ask this question haha. First though, just wanted to make it clear that I understand that as decisions go, I couldn't possibly be any more blessed. Couldn't have wished for a better dilemma, and yet it's still in the process of driving me completely insane. </p>

<p>My major would likely be Biomedical or Chemical, aiming for research and a path towards Neural Engineering, and my acceptances are as follows: </p>

<p>UVA EA, and I'm instate, and for a while, that was that.
But then... W&M as a Monroe Scholar
UDelaware with full tuition, board, food, and research stipend as a Distinguished DuPont Scholar
Boston University with substantial financial aid, honors college, and Presidential Scholarship Drexel with full tuition scholarship due to being a National Merit Finalist. </p>

<p>The decision was tough enough there, probably between UVA and UDelaware, but then I received likely letters from Cornell and Columbia, and Hopkins seems a possibility as well due to Legacy plus the Ivy likely letters.</p>

<p>I'm completely and utterly torn. I have to pay for college basically by myself, parents are in an horrible situation financially, and Delaware seems the obvious choice (ChemE program is fantastic, and free school is free school), but UVA has always been touted to me as the school to be at for a Virginian, and, especially for Biomed, it's hard to go wrong with Cornell, Columbia, or espcially, my parents alma mater, Hopkins. The financial situation means they still have an EFC in the low $20,000's due to my dads high paying job - all going towards debts so we don't enter bankruptcy again, but they can't afford to pay practically any of it. Should we be trying to appeal financial aid stuff? </p>

<p>So:
Is Delaware enough of a step down from UVA that I should be as nervous as its making me?
Are the Ivies enough of a step up from UVA and Delaware that I will realistically spend long years regretting not attending one of them?
Should Drexel or Boston even enter into the equation?
Am I correct in assuming that the lack of engineering at W&M should rule it out despite Monroe Scholar status, and despite it possibly being my favourite school based on campus feel and how I feel I would fit in?</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post, but if anyone has any insights whatsoever, please share them. I'm completely lost here. I know eventually its my personal, and my families choice, but any insight whatsoever would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>Delaware is one of the top schools for chemical engineering; if that is your major and you got a full ride there, then there is no reason to be disappointed if you go there.</p>

<p>What are the net prices for each school after applying financial aid grants (not loans) and scholarships against their list prices? Realistically, if your parents cannot contribute anything, a net price of about $8,500 is probably the most you can stretch ($5,500 Stafford loans + $3,000 in work earnings). Note that borrowing more than Stafford loans would require a co-signer; if your parents went bankrupt, they would not likely qualify, and you don’t want to leave them on the hook for your school debt. With an EFC of $20,000 (but an AFC of $0), the schools which do need-based aid only are likely to come up with unaffordable net prices of $20,000 to $28,500.</p>

<p>Don’t go to a school without your major.</p>

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<p>Yeah, that seems to be the vibe I’m getting. I don’t know how much financial aid i’m going to be offered by the Ivies, but the best realistic scenario is packages that leave me on the hook for 20-30K a year. </p>

<p>Any insight as to whether it makes more sense to go Boston - around 15K per annum, mostly room and board, Drexel - around 10K per annum, room and board and books, etc, UVA - around 20K per annum due to being instate, or Delaware? Is there an argument to be made for not going to Delaware?</p>

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<p>I agree with UCBAlumnus. Put the costs and scholarships in a spreadsheet. See what you have to pay after taking out grants. UDel is very hard to turn down - free and a top school in Chem E.</p>

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<p>How about Biomed? I had assumed that their biomed program would benefit from the strong Chem E program, but I haven’t been able to find anything at all that backs this assumption up, and thats the path I want to take eventually: Chem E would be a way of doing that, sure, but I’m scared that their Biomed program in and of itself isn’t anything that great. That’s basically my doubt at this point: Drexel and Boston and even UVA, and certainly Cornell, Columbia and Hopkins, are renowned for their biomed programs.</p>

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<p>This problem sounds familiar…</p>

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<p>I think we might have had dinner together? Think I asked you about quantitative biology? And was the annoying libertarian to your right during the discussion? Just read your thread about this hahahaha. Any closer to a decision on your part?</p>

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<p>to Erin’s Dad and UCBAlumnus: when I’m making said spreadsheet should I include loans that they’ve included in their financial aid packages or no?</p>

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<p>Go with University of Virginia. Its the public ivy. Its also your state University.</p>

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<p>When you are calculating your actual net price, deduct only grants and scholarships (not loans) from the list price.</p>

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<p>Re: biomedical engineering</p>

<p>Note that biomedical engineering has worse job prospects than chemical engineering, so that avoiding debt in college becomes even more important in this case.</p>

<p>It looks like Delaware (probably a few thousand $ of misc expenses per year) is your only affordable choice, with Drexel ($10k/year) being an extreme stretch financially, and all of the others out of reach financially.</p>

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<p>Haha. I think so… and congrats on being offered the duPont (and all of the other great acceptances and scholarships). I personally am not likely to make a decision until the last minute. But rest assured it will be consuming me steadily over the next few weeks. It’s nice to see I’m not alone though!</p>

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<p>If you are truly planning on going into research, your undergraduate degree is just the first step. It’s short-sighted to overspend on undergraduate courses.</p>

<p>If your family can’t swing the $20K differential, really, there’s your answer. </p>

<p>You might find it helpful to look at the core and course requirements for the majors you’re interested in. When studied objectively, it could be that there isn’t as much difference as you might think as you’ll have a number of pre-reqs to fulfill at any school. You need to answer the question, “will U X prepare me for the next step?” If your next step will be grad school, you will be at no disadvantage with a degree from U Delaware. Your grades and internships completed will be way more important than the institutional name on your undergraduate degree.</p>

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<p>Would trying to make Drexel or Boston work since they’re more renowned for biomed, and both have around 10-15K left in fees, make sense? I can earn close to that amount doing co-op at Drexel, and taking a gap year to make minimum wage could cover the Boston amount?</p>

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<p>Really, I don’t see why it would be a good idea to stretch your budget to or beyond the maximum to go to Drexel or BU. Especially if the reason is for a major with worse job prospects that will make it more difficult to pay down any debt incurred.</p>

<p>Note that Delaware’s chemical engineering major is formally “chemical and biomolecular engineering” and includes organic chemistry and biochemistry courses and technical electives that may be available to take biomedical type courses. You should be reasonably well prepared for graduate study in biomedical engineering (since you mention a goal in research), as well as having reasonable job prospects in chemical engineering if you do not go to graduate school.</p>

<p>Take a look at biomedical engineering graduate programs’ admission requirements. You will find that many do not require a biomedical engineering undergraduate major. Plus, PhD students are generally funded (tuition waiver + living expense stipend for research or teaching assistantship), so if you get into a top biomedical engineering PhD program, you can go there without worrying about the costs, assuming you have no undergraduate debt following you around.</p>

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<p>The Monroe Scholarship is big. Also, I know that Nueral Engineers usually have a Neuroscience Bachelors Degree, which W&M is very good for, and then you can go on to get a nueral engineering masters. Also, if you’d explain the situation to W&M, I’m sure the’d be accommodating and they (+the Ivies) match 100% of demonstrated need, something I am not to sure about with the other schools.</p>

<p>However, I think that doing UDel free and then eventually doing an engineering masters would leave you debt free and likely very happy</p>

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<p>Isn’t attempting to do a Neural Masters without any engineering background, which W&M can’t provide me, akin to professional suicide? I know W&M’s fantastic for neuroscience, as is W&L which is another option, but neither offer anything engineering…</p>

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<p>The Monroe Scholarship is big. Also, I know that Nueral Engineers usually have a Neuroscience Bachelors Degree, which W&M is very good for, and then you can go on to get a nueral engineering masters. Also, if you’d explain the situation to W&M, I’m sure the’d be accommodating and they (+the Ivies) match 100% of demonstrated need, something I am not to sure about with the other schools.</p>

<p>However, I think that doing UDel free and then eventually doing an engineering masters would leave you debt free and likely very happy</p>

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<p>Did you see my above response? [:</p>

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<p>With EFC of $20,000 but AFC of $0, a school which meets need will be unaffordable in the absence of a large merit scholarship (net price will likely be $20,000 to $28,500).</p>

<p>If neuroscience is looked at by employers like biology, that would be a very difficult field to pay off any student loan debt with.</p>