<p>In a nutshell:
We are a full pay family - no FA.</p>
<p>ND at 50K+ per year, Marquette at $24K per year after scholarships.</p>
<p>Intended major: Engineering.</p>
<p>DD loves both for different reasons; loves the tradition and prestige of ND, has been her "dream school" forever. However, she reluctantly visited Marquette and fell in love with the city life and freedom that she thinks Marquette would offer. As a parent, I will admit they have done a superior job in making her feel "wanted". Anyone have experience choosing between these two schools (or another similar choice?) Any input into choosing one over the other? I think DD wishes she could go to both!</p>
<p>Feeling “wanted” is important. Also, there have been numerous studies that have proven that “fit” and happiness about where you go to school are major contributors to undergrad academic success. Most people don’t realize that what happens AFTER classes end each day can be more important that what went on during the day.</p>
<p>Completing undergrad with far less debt is also a very good thing especially when one considers how important post grad degrees are these days and how little scholarship money exists at the grad level.</p>
<p>ND is FAR more conservative with a lot more rules and regs…no coed dorms, very strict inter-visitation policies…I know you have a D, but I do as well so I’m not talking out of both sides of my mouth here…mine lived in a coed dorm freshman year that was room to room coed not floor to floor…it was fine.</p>
<p>If you/she haven’t seen this it needs to be read…after skipping through the PR driven photos it offers pretty good insight to the daily life at ND.</p>
<p>Back to your question…we’ve actually faced similar decisions with both kids; we are full pay as well. My son turned down his dream school, Yale, to accept a Morehead Scholarship at UNC and D turned down several higher ranked schools to attend a lower ranked school (public flagship) with the top ranked program in her major. They offered her a “name” scholarship PLUS tuition reduced to in state levels and AFTER she accepted, her department added on a $6K Coca Cola scholarship. When all was said and done, her COA ended up being far less than attending our own flagship school</p>
<p>Because of these decisions, we have been able to help both kids with their professional school expenses. He’s now a third year med student and she’s finishing her first year of Law School where the COA is pushing $60K a year.</p>
<p>My son also applied to both Notre Dame and Marquette. I would agree that Marquette has done a far better job in making my son feel wanted. Notre Dame really does not have to do that because everyone wants to go there. Clearly, Notre Dame is an awesome University in nearly every way, but MU is no slouch either. </p>
<p>After every visit to ND, I would leave with a feeling of “Wow!” We were there last week. However, in some ways ND feels like Disneyland. Almost too perfect and in its own bubble.</p>
<p>My son has been wait-listed at ND and he’s sort of changed his focus to his other choices with MU being is top choice I think. He feels that MU offers a better social life component to the academics than ND and that’s very important to him. He’s a bit of in introvert and not a party animal so meeting people can be a challenge sometimes. He felt it would be easier to meet people and interact at MU than at ND. Having coed dorms is a big factor in this area.</p>
<p>A disclosure first - Im an EE graduate from Marquette although I strongly considered Notre Dame at the time and my daughter is now a freshman at Marquette.</p>
<p>I have no animosity towards ND as it is an excellent school, but Id choose Marquette engineering for the following reasons:</p>
<p>I think Marquette tends to have a stronger engineering reputation. The students are highly motivated, particularly in the biomedical engineering program where many students aspire to medical school. Engineering is a very strong/popular major at MU, whereas I think business majors receive the most attention at ND.</p>
<p>Marquette is just completing Discovery Learning Complex, a brand new engineering building which will offer the latest teaching tools, labs, and learning environment. It is due to open this fall. Marquette is clearly committed to providing the latest in engineering education as the total cost of the complex is expected to be $100million…</p>
<p>Marquettes engineering co-op program is outstanding. It is the fifth oldest program in the US (established in 1919) and has many, many contacts with technology companies throughout the US. I highly recommend it even though it adds another year to the curriculum. The students earn a very nice paycheck and the experience is invaluable when looking for that first job.</p>
<p>Milwaukee may not be the most glamorous city, but it is a large city near a beautiful lake providing lots of urban experiences. Whats in South Bend? Enough said.</p>
<p>I cant put it in words other than to say that Marquettes students are extremely friendly and the entire school is very welcoming. I know two students who transferred into ND from Marquette thinking they were missing out on the ND experience. Both ended up regretting their decision and spent many weekends back at MU. Marquette seems to provide the right amount of student freedom without being too overbearing. I can honestly say Ive never met anyone who didnt like the MU experience. My daughter has thrived freshman year and loves the school.</p>
<p>I think the cost difference is the final consideration as that is a substantial difference that really cant be ignored. Good luck in you decision.</p>
<p>@bugaboo2 – First have to make a disclosure I am a Marquette alumnus Eng. ’83. My S is currently a sophomore (electrical/electronic eng.). S was accepted to UW-Madison, his first choice, and after visiting both schools he decided to attend Marquette (was surprised since I did not try to influence him at all). He is very happy and has already interviewed for a coop job with a major engineering firm. Marquette’s coop program is very strong. Many of these corporations want to hire the students they have trained once they graduate. Between the cities of Milwaukee and Chicago there are a lot of opportunities for the program. All that being said Marquette’s engineering is an excellent program that will get even better with the new facilities that will open (phase I) October 2011. While at Marquette I visited friends at ND for three weekends (MU basketball games) and lifestyles are very different. ND is more conservative, more rural, and less diverse. Obviously ND’s national reputation is much stronger but for me the difference between 200K and 96k for a B.S. in engineering would be way too much.</p>
<p>@technowildcat did not read your post until after I posted…very similar!! Funny, when my S & I visited our tour guide was a junior that had transferred from ND and said he never regreted his choice.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your wonderful responses! We have decided to go visit both schools in a couple of weeks - one last look. I will disclose that husband is a Marquette alum, and DD has many cousins that are currently at ND or have recently graduated (along with aunts and uncles, 2nd cousins, extended family, etc). There is a lot of “biased” information being thrown at her from many angles! She is very torn. I have advised her that is should all come down to fit - and where she feels most “at home” after our visits. Her position and options are enviable. We are beyond fortunate that money is not an issue - although I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t consider the pricetag of anything. It is great to hear some different perspectives.</p>
<p>My S is a sophomore at MU, and loves his life there. He did an overnight visit after he was accepted, and that, for him, was the turning point. I’d highly suggest she do that at both schools to get a sense of what “living” there feels like.</p>
<p>Hi back at you dwbes! Thanks for your input when S was searching - I think MU is a wonderful school for him, nice kids, challenging courses, and my Southern California boy now realizes what a white out is!</p>
<p>@Thedeerman - My S’s best friend at Marquette last year was gay. He transferred and now regrets it and is trying to go back. So I do not think he would be trying to go back if he felt hate!</p>
<p>@newsdrms - I am a current Marquette student, I have a gay roommate and everyone in my building talks trash about him, all of them claiming they “would never live with someone like that”</p>
<p>I know you are a current student or at least claim to be. Do you think that it will be different any were else? It is basically the same through most college campuses unless you go to one of the schools that are known for their glbt open communities (and there are not too many). Not that I think it is correct, but the tolerance level at college campuses across the US is not very high. A lot of the students are away from home for the first time and are very immature.</p>
<p>I don’t expect tolerance to be high - but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be high. Marquette and Notre Dame in particular are incredibly cruel to these individuals. There are however, a lot of schools with a very different attitude - Loyola Chicago being one of them that is also Catholic and expensive.</p>
<p>And I am a current student. I’ll mention that also, I won a half-tuition Jesuit high school scholarship, too, just to prove that I’m not “dumb” or “uninvolved”.</p>
<p>I noticed several of the same names posting here that posted a year ago. My son attended MU after not being accepted at ND as a freshman. He transfered to ND after finishing his first year at MU. ND was his dream school and MU was his temporary landing spot while he applied to transfer to ND. He has several good friends from MU that he stays in touch with. Good guys. My son received big financial aid from both schools.</p>
<p>As you might guess my son loves ND and has never looked back. Bottom line, regardless of what is said on this thread your child must follow their heart. If ND is their dream school then let them go for it.</p>
<p>Personally, I can’t say a lot of positive things about MU or Milwaukee. I don’t get the MU appeal. I am not into drinking the Jesuit kool-aid. MU really can’t be compared to ND. That is not arrogance speaking, just being realistic. MU is more like Loyola U in Chicago. If you have the money and even if you don’t, investment in education is the greatest gift you can give your child. You get what you pay for.</p>
<p>Bugabooo…I read elsewhere that you had full rides from Pitt and somewhere else too?? I searched you looking to see what you ended up deciding!! 2 years ago, we were in the same boat…DS had full rides from 2 publics, including Pitt, also in engineering, but decided to go to an Engineering power house (UIUC) in-state with minimal scholarships (but some) and campus honors. I know that he wouldn’t have liked Pitt, and I’m guessing would have transferred out by now. …prob. would have liked the other (mich. state) but is really happy at Illinois and the resources are wayyyy better than MICH ST. .</p>
<p>Pitt is SOOOO different from Notre Dame. I think I’d let her go to ND if it was possible. But I do know how hard it is to give up all that money. It still hurts a little… :)</p>
<p>Marquette is lovely, I think. But it’s not Notre Dame. You go to ND (and really I hate that school…haha) and you will be set for life. There is a certain mystique about it that you can’t quantify.</p>
<p>I have a S who is interested himself in Marquette because he wants to stay near home. But I am troubled by the perception vs. reality of Marquette. Number of folks on the thread speak of the engineering school. Well, in the most recent US News report, Marquette’s engineering school is ranked #138 while cross-town university UW-Milwaukee is ranked #129. Marquette is ranked even worse in the sciences. It has a decent undergraduate ranking in business by Business Week (#68) while ND’s business school is #1. Marquette is a fine school but that to extent people often think.</p>
<p>A bit of perspective maybe… There are hundreds and hundreds of colleges and universities in the US. To be ranked 128th among those hundreds and hundreds in anything is not that bad in the grand scale. To focus on the rankings is sort of limiting your approach I think. US News’ rankings are a great data point, but there is more to it than that.</p>
<p>Is Marquette a Harvard or Princeton type school? From a prestige perspective, not really. But then not all of us can get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. For some kids Marquette is just the right school for them. Its not whether one attends the very best school in the country, but whether one attends the best school for that individual. </p>
<p>I think it all comes down to what the individual student is looking for. In my opinion, regardless of rankings, Marquette is one of the better schools in its region. </p>
<p>If you’re looking at engineering schools besides Marquette that are not ridiculously difficult to get into and are within a reasonable distance from Milwaukee, UW-Madison is awesome, so is Illinois and Purdue to mention a few. MSOE is not bad. Then there is UW-Platteville. I’m an engineer (UW-Madison 1991, MS-ECE) and I would not put UW Milwaukee on par with Marquette at all (no disrespect to UWM). Perhaps for 1 or two specific types of engineering, but in general, after being involved in interviewing college engineering grads for 15 years, Marquette is far better and much broader in its offerings. Thats my opinion.</p>
<p>So where will your son be most successful? Thats the question that needs to be answered. There are many aspects to consider besides school rank when you look for an answer to that question.</p>
<p>Statman:
First, the USNWR rankings are generated by a highly suspect methodology based on prof questionnaires, etc. They benefit from being the only yardstick available, but that doesn’t mean they’re accurate. A quick bit of research will leave you a healthy skeptic.</p>
<p>Additionally, I believe only the master’s programs are rated for engineering, right? To the best of my knowledge, there is no undergrad ranking of engineering programs in US News.</p>
<p>In my opinion, Marquette’s real strength is their co-op program, which is one of the oldest and best-established in the nation. Clearly a graduate with a couple co-op rotations from number 138 MU is a better candidate than one from number 129 UW-Mil who has no experience in the workplace. This, plus the “fit” aspect that ajax describes are far more important than these numbers.</p>