I got super lucky and scored a Michigan full ride. But this complicates my decision a lot. I love both schools and could see myself at either. Socially I slightly prefer Michigan and academically I heavily prefer MIT’s rigor.
Financially, I am blessed to have a 250k college savings account but I think I want to go to grad school so saving money is very crucial. My parents could afford any other money but they would be giving it to me instead of putting into retirement savings. I don’t want to do that to them. But my EFC is maxed so I’m not getting any money at MIT.
This means that MIT costs 260k and Michigan costs 0k.
Right now I’m leaning towards Michigan because I don’t think I can turn down this money and I love the school. Is this crazy? How much is MIT worth compared to Michigan?
Not crazy. If you are smart enough to land a full ride you UM, you will be very successful there. You will have a research and internship opportunities and do well no matter where you go.
Not crazy at all. In 40 years, given conservative real returns of 5% a year, that would be about $2M in today’s dollars. That’s enough for retirement just by itself. And yeah, if MIT means taking a chunk out of parents’ retirement, then it is a no-brainer.
And at a place like UMich with it’s plethora of highly-rated departments and grad programs, you can make your education as rigorous as you desire. Just start taking grad school classes if undergrad-level classes aren’t challenging enough.
If you do as well in undergrad at UMich as in HS, a master’s at MIT/Stanford is well within the range of possibility, and while you get roughly the same opportunities at that point as if you had gone straight to MIT for undergrad, 2 years is a lot less costly than 4 years.
I assume you are thinking of majoring in Engineering. Michigan is one of the top 6 or 7 CoE in the country. 2 of MIT’s last 4 presidents (Jerome Wiesner and Charles Vest) were Michigan alumni. While MIT is indeed slightly better than Michigan, it is not $250k better. Besides, you said you prefer Michigan to MIT socially, and there is much to be said for “fit”. Go to Michigan for college. You can always challenge yourself there and get your PhD or graduate degree from MIT at a later date.
If your parents would have trouble saving for retirement (or college for younger siblings) if they paid for MIT, that suggests taking the full ride.
PhD programs worth attending should be funded, so cost is not a big concern (though some stipends are bigger than others relative to the local cost of living).
This is a no-brainer… go to Michigan. Fantastic reputation in STEM. Awesome social life. ZERO COST!
I have met many successful Michigan alumni, and Michigan is one of the only schools I know that every single one of their alumni are fanatical with loyalty and praise.
Not crazy. D took a full tuition merit scholarship at Vanderbilt instead of MIT last year. She is doing CS on premed track,which she probably wouldn’t dare to do if she went to MIT due to GPA concerns.
Did you get the Stamps scholarship from U Michigan?? If it is, it is more than a full ride, it is network, leadership opportunities, travel,etc. Best of luck!
I’d think the majority of full-pay students at MIT would have been eligible for a full academic scholarship at another school, yet they nonetheless chose MIT. However, you have stated that you love the excellent UM, a factor, along with costs, that should not be under-regarded.
Yes. Along those lines, many full-pay UMich students, as with those of MIT, would have been eligible for a full scholarship elsewhere, yet they nonetheless chose UM.
@merc81, I daresay that all full-pay students at MIT would have qualfied for full-ride scholarships from some school.
But UMich is not Alabama St. I consider UMich to be a Near-Ivy and only a handful of MIT admits would have gotten a full-ride from a Near-Ivy/Ivy-equivalent.
Those are incredibly rare and difficult to get (if you don’t count the all-female schools and military academies). Between them, Rice, Duke, UChicago, Caltech, Oberlin, UMich (for OOS), and UVa (for OOS) probably offer fewer than 200 full-rides total.
Contrarian here. I’d go to MIT. The resources there are far and away beyond U of Michigan. Yes, you will get an close education. No, the opportunities will not be equal. If you want to raise venture capital for your business idea in 10 years, you will want MIT. Ask someone in the field you plan to go into. Opportunities (networking, capital and other cannot be discounted) Are they worth 250K, that depends. But every MIT student can get into other schools on a free ride. Yet, they chose MIT. Might not be your choice. But there are reasons.
I don’t think the resources at MIT are “far and away beyond” Michigan, not in a way that would be meaningful to an undergraduate anyway. Perhaps if she were choosing specific doctoral programs, maybe, but as an undergrad I think the resources will be functionally equivalent.
Besides, even if they are a bit better, I don’t think they’re worth $250K plus interest. Particularly if they are an engineering major, as other people here who hire engineers have repeatedly said that engineers don’t get paid more for what college they went to.
If OP is trying to raise venture capital in 10 years I doubt whether they went to MIT or Michigan will be the linchpin in their pitch. It’ll be about their work experience, the networks they’ve built and the idea they have. I work in tech, and I gotta say I know a LOT more Michigan alumni than I know MIT alumni.
For the folks claiming that every MIT student could have turned down a full-ride someplace else.
Ummmm, no.
Think about it this way… how many students attend the elite elites: HYPMS?
Let’s round that off to maybe 8000 students.
And to be fair, we’re not talking about full-rides just anywhere… but full-rides to top schools (say, top 50 on USNWR) outside the elite elite.
You think there are that many full-rides out there at top schools?
I find it amusing that folks think a full-ride scholarship to a fantastic school like Michigan is just so blasé that anyone at HYPSM could have gotten it and turned it down.