<p>my little dilemma: </p>
<p>I'm basically undecided for what i want to study in college. Psychology is what i put for my intention but it could change any day. Johns Hopkins and New York University are going to end up costing me around 20,000 a year but Macaulay honors college at hunter would be free dorms/tuition/laptop/study abroad grant. </p>
<p>I'm concerned that the academics at Macaulay Hunter wont be as rigorous as either NYU or JHU , but I'd hate to waste my parents money going to a college when I'm undecided, as it will be a struggle to come up with that money and then there's the burden of loans.
Insight, opinions and suggestions of any and all form are welcome :)</p>
<p>Trying to compare Johns Hopkins and Hunter is futile–other than both being institutions of higher learning, they pretty much have nothing in common. And I’m sure you know that. </p>
<p>The question you are really asking is whether or not the clearly better academic and social experience at a place like Hopkins is worth $80,000? There is no way of measuring that objectively. Can you get a sufficient education at Hunter to achieve whatever goals you have it life? Probably. Will it be the same quality of education and experience that you likely will get at a place like Hopkins? Most probably not. How much is that difference worth? It depends upon a lot of individual factors that no one not intimately familiar with you and your family could possibly answer.</p>
<p>$80,000 sounds like a lot of money (and it is) but it also the cost of a luxury automobile today. Your education will last you a lifetime and you only go to college once (graduate school is very different from college, believe me). To me it would be worth it; but reasonable people can view it very differently. Some people think that where you go to college doesnt’ really matter much and that you would be better off saving the money for graduate school or something else. That’s not an unreasonable viewpoint–just one that I don’t share.</p>
<p>Hopkins and NYU are easier to compare. Academically, they are close to being peers although for most everything other than business and law, Hopkins is stronger. But otherwise they are very different. NYU is very large, impersonal, and lacks a strong sense of community and school spirit. It is the epitome of an urban campus–a collection of big buildings somewhat near each other. But if you live and breathe Manhattan–it is incomparable. </p>
<p>Hopkins is also in an urban environment (I know that New Yorkers may disagree with that statement:) ) but, when on campus, you would hardly know that you are in the middle of a city. It is a beautiful, park-like, wooded campus. It is also much smaller than NYU and is much more of an academic bubble. It is a community of scholars dedicated to the goal of advancing knowledge for the world.</p>
<p>If it comes down to Hopkins and NYU, you should try to visit them both because, if you love one, you’re not likely to love the other.</p>
<p>wow thanks a ton . & you’re right about the first part of my decision between macaulay hunter and the others. I’ve pretty much narrowed it down between Macaulay and JHU at this point, I’ll be visiting JHU in about two weeks. I really appreciate the effort you put into that post =]</p>
<p>$80,000 is a lot of money, and you are right to think through this carefully. The question that you need to discuss with your parents is how you would come up with that much. Can they pay some (or all) of the roughly $20,000 each year out of their current income? Do you have a college fund invested/saved somewhere for this purpose? Is there a rich grandma who is anxious to help? Would you and your parents end up with a combined debt of $80,000 plus interest?</p>
<p>Sit down with them and work through the numbers. Do your best to keep your loan burden to no more than what is allowable as the maximum for Stafford Loans. If you’d like to see how the universities’ offers shape up side by side, run them through this nifty calculator from FinAid.org: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Advanced Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>