<p>My child was just accepted to Dartmouth College off of the waitlist. Until now, it was the CUNY Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn for pre-medicine. There are many benefits of going to the honors college (labtop, free tuition, $7500 study grant, culture passport), but Dartmouth is considered a more presigious and proven institution, especially for medicine and undergraduate studies.</p>
<p>Is Dartmouth worth the money (50k per year) over the Macaulay Honors College? Also, which school would help get into a more solid medical school?</p>
<p>... and i thought Macaulay was some top-notch LAC that i never heard of.</p>
<p>if it was me, i'd beg my parents like forever so that i could attend dartmouth.</p>
<p>i can't for the life of me imagine turning down dartmouth for CUNY.</p>
<p>but that's just me.</p>
<p>money-wise, it's not going to give you the ROI that should be expected from such huge difference in tuition... since, if he succeeds getting into *any medical school, well..... he is in a medical school then.</p>
<p>I've heard some things about how some Ivies really screw up chances at medical schools because they are so challenging so it looks like you have worse stats than the person who is applying from a regular state school. Go browse the Premed forum, a lot of people there have some interesting insights.</p>
<p>sugar_sweet111/ and i actually understand what you're saying because some of my cornell premed friends ..... DID screw up their chances at medical schools....</p>
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No college is worth an extra 200,000 dollars. That's ridiculous. Take the free and red-carpet road to Macaulay.
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<p>when you think about it, anyone who was accepted by one of HYPMS would have gotten the same treatment by Macaulay if they applied for it. </p>
<p>But these kids are still going to HYPMS. well, i guess the only difference is that maybe these kids didn't apply to any CUNY schools in the first place, but that is something to think about.</p>
<p>I'd go with the honors college too. It's only undergraduate, and your child can excell academically at the university, rather than struggle (i mean, if you're a waitlist person, then....yah)</p>
<p>Plus...it's like you're getting piad to go to college! hahah</p>
<p>I know a married couple who both went to Dartmouth and did very well there and today they are no better off careerwise than anyone going to any other respected college. I went to a lesser college but went to a more prestigious MBA grad school than either of them did. It wasn't that they couldn't get in. They couldn't afford it because they blew all their money at Dartmouth and already had huge loans.</p>
<p>Especially if your child is looking to go to med school after college, it would be smarter to go to Macaulay and save the money - it will be needed for grad school tuition. And what will ultimately matter, in terms of prestige/name recognition, is where the graduate degree comes from.</p>
<p>The number of people who say they are pre-med at the beginning of college vs the number who actually even apply to medical school must be a small fraction and is certainly something to keep in mind. To me, this isn't even so much what job or career will each lead you to, but you need to take into account the whole experience, including who will be your peers andd how you will be shaped.</p>
<p>Your child's peers at Macaulay honors college will be every bit as good as those at Dartmouth, with the main difference being they won't be nearly as well-heeled.</p>
<p>Is it really true that there is a $230k difference? ($200k Dartmouth cost plus 4 years x $7,500). If your kid doesn't have money for med school, you've just found it. If you do have money for med school, you've just been given your first home.</p>
<p>As for med school admissions, if s/he as at the top of the heap at Macaulay, s/he will have better research opportunities, better mentoring, and better internships. No matter where you go to college, 50% of the student body is in the bottom half of the class. So you should ask how well the average student at Dartmouth fares versus a top student at Macaulay.</p>
<p>(Back in the Dark Ages, I attended Williams - very much like Dartmouth. They began with 115 pre-meds. By the time of graduation, there were 30 - with 98% admitted to med school. Some of the 115 were likely not cut out to be doctors. But at least another 50 of my classmates would be very fine physicians today had they attended second tier state universities.)</p>
<p>I'll stake out a minority position. If it we me (or one of my kids) and I could swing it financially--I'd choose Dartmouth in a heartbeat. And not because it is more prestigious (which it is) nor because Dartmouth grads are guaranteed to be more successful (because they aren't). I'd choose Dartmouth because, in comparison with CUNY, it is likely to be a far better experience with benefits that will likely endure over the rest of your life. No disrespect to CUNY, but it cannot and will not provide the quality of college experience that Dartmouth can.</p>
<p>If you can't swing it financially--then I'm sure CUNY will be just fine. But I'd rather invest money in education than anything else. Maybe that's just me.</p>
<p>If your son wants to go to med schools Macauley would be fine abd I'm sure he would get in with hard work. If that's the end game only, then its a good option. But Dartmouth changes lives. your son will have experiences abroad, access to grants, incredible friendships with brilliant people, and a familial association with a place that breeds an inordinate amount of loyalty and community. Dartmouth was the best money I've ever spent and the best years I could ever ask for or imagine. Whether that's worth the cash is up to you, but I would personally send my child to Dartmouth in a nanosecond.</p>
<p>CUNY Brooklyn College costs 4,800 for tuition, 10,000+ for room and board.
So, your scholarship only covers about 60,000 after four years, which is worth a little more than one year of schooling at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>By the way, the Macaulay Honors program does not cover board. Fair warning.</p>
<p>The best education is priceless, and Dartmouth College has been regarded as one of the best, academic-wise, out of the Ivy League universities.</p>
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The kids I know at Macaulay aren't exactly the cream of the crop.