Hello All,
D’s stats are as follows: 3.95, ACT of 33 (R36, E35), strong ecs, 8 APs, and a recruited DIII athlete (DI caliber athlete, but doesn’t want to play DI because of the time commitment). Her choices are Mac at a cost of about 28k/year, UofM at 26k/year, or MSU Honors College at 18k/year. She would apply for the UofM LSA Honor’s College, but that’s a crap shoot. We believe the numbers are strong for UofM LSA admission.
She prefers Mac, for the size and smaller school experience with athletics. She will major in English and perhaps Environmental Studies.
She can pay the above rates without loans, but anything under the Mac 28k/year, she’ll have left over for grad school.
Other than the obvious differences between the 3 schools, I’m curious about anyone’s thoughts. I don’t want to miss an angle of discussion to have with her before she decides on whether to file for ED at Mac or not. The advantage to not filing ED at Mac would be that she’d know if she gets in to the UofM Honors college (and UofM at all for that matter) by the time RD rolls around. Her stats give her an automatic invite to MSU’s Honors college from what I understand, and she’s applied already to it.
Thanks for the thoughts!
If I were the student, I would opt for Macalester as a English major. Sciences would be less of a concern for me if attending a large school such as the U of M-Twin Cities. Why not also apply to Carleton – super strong in both English and the sciences.?? The dollar amounts you mention are miniscule differences. I would not opt for schools in the MSU system.
As for the U of M Honors College, it sounds as if you are aware that acceptance into that is hit-or-miss. You are correct. A son of ours had a 34 ACT composite (35 if super-scored) and did not get into the HC at UM-TC because “There are a limited number of spaces,” an admissions student-assistant told us when we asked about this. Be aware that only those students in the U of M Honors College qualify to graduate with Latin Honors (Cum Laude, etc.) The other students are out of luck, no matter how high a GPA they might have.
Thanks, MDof3. She visited Carleton and it just didn’t click with her, as great a school as it is. And, it would likely be more expensive.Didn’t know about the Latin Honors at UofM. Good to know.
Why would you not opt for the MSU Honors College - just curious. And the 40k savings over 4 years by going to MSU, while not a huge number, could pay 70% of the cost of a UofM grad degree…
I would not opt for the MSU system for my own children simply due the wide variation in the quality of the students attending them. A student has only one 4-year-undergrad experience so why not maximize it? Back in the day, when I was looking at colleges for myself, one bit of advice that I read still sticks in my mind: “A college is never better than its students and rarely is it worse.”
MDof3, your reasons are why she’s leaning towards Mac. Every exposure she and we have had has revealed top quality people who seem to actually care.
Mikid:
I just discovered, based on some of your earlier posts, that your reference to MSU might be to Michigan State vs. Minnesota State (a multi-campus system). If so, disregard my comments, as my references were to the Minn. State U campuses and not about Michigan State. I feel unqualified to comment about Michigan State. I wish posters would use the institution’s full name upon first citation, allowing everyone to properly ID the intended institution.
Assuming she shows interest, she will probably get into Mac RD. Then she can go to accepted student days and decide. Has she looked at other LACs? Kenyon comes to mind for an English major in the Midwest.
Considering the cost difference is minuscule but the actual differences on the ground (environment, size, vibe…) if she likes LACs I would go with Mac. Considering her stats, I would also look into Kenyon and Denison, perhaps Occidental and Dickinson if she’s not opposed to going further away. Did you visit St Olaf when you visited Carleton?
If she’s not certain, she can apply to Mac RD or even ED2 if she wants to give herself a bit more time to think it through, and you could apply to LSA in the meantime. LSA is a SUPERB program but UMich is very far from being a LAC and the vibe there is very different from Macalester’s.
In addition, any PHD program worth attending will be funded, meaning the cost issue down the road doesn’t really apply. (If she’s thinking about Law School, she needs to know that outside the Top 14-20, it’s not worth going, and so she’d need a high GPA and high LSAT scores, for which a few courses in philosophy and logic can help.)