<p>Honestly, thought I was going to get rejected from Chicago, but got accepted, making the decision of where to spend the next 4 years even more difficult. Right now, I have an interest in biomedical/chemical engineering and just biology in general. I am in state for Michigan, so paying ~$25-30k a year sounds much more appealing than ~$60k at Chicago. As for the feel of the campuses, I actually couldn't decide whether i liked Michigan or Chicago's more. I love Ann Arbor; i literally become so happy whenever my friends and i travel there for football and basketball games, and i felt more alive and upbeat when I toured Michigans campus. However, I equally like Chicago's amazing campus, the intellectual and calm environment, and the idea that I can easily talk to a random student and have an intellectually stimulating conversation. Right now, my parents want me to attend Chicago because they believe I'll land a higher paying job than if I graduated from Michigan. They are willing to pay the full $60k, but I honestly don't think we are that wealthy and don't want to hurt my 2 younger brothers' chances when they're deciding on colleges.</p>
<p>Summary:
Michigan Positives:
~Felt more energetic when touring campus
~Incredible tradition
~Football and basketball...
~Living in Ann Arbor would be heavenly
~Couple of close friends are attending</p>
<p>Chicago Positives:
~Enjoyed the quiet and calm environment
~Campus reminded me of Hogwarts :)
~Chicago...probably has great night life
~Prestige</p>
<p>In summary, do you think Chicago is worth the extra cost?</p>
<p>“In summary, do you think Chicago is worth the extra cost?”</p>
<p>No. Not even close. This is an easy decision. U-M in-state is a bargain. </p>
<p>You can get a high paying job coming out of U-M. A U-M degree carries a lot of weight, especially a U-M engineering degree. Just because UChicago has a higher US News and World ranking doesn’t mean that you are going to make more money by going there. Paying double the cost to go to UChicago over U-M is just silly. </p>
<p>Also, students at UChicago say UChicago is a place where fun dies. Do you really want to be miserable for 4 years? It’s easy for your parents to think you will be successful after 4 years with a UChicago degree. However, they won’t have to go through the academic situations that you will have to. You’ll want to have fun too while getting your degree. </p>
<p>echan, I believe the main reason for your struggle is the belief that Chicago is better than Michigan. It isn’t…certainly not overall or in bioengineering/life sciences. The two universities are peers. Generally speaking, Engineers will land better paying jobs than Biology majors, but it really depends. The only subject where Chicago has an edge over Michigan is in Economics, where Chicago is considered the best while Michigan is typically ranked anywhere from #10 and #15. Unless your parents are very wealthy, paying an extra $120k for Chicago is a poor investment. There is no door that Chicago can open that Michigan cannot open just as easily.</p>
<p>You will definitely get better pay with your engineering degree from Michigan than a biology degree from Chicago, unless you plan to go to Med School. You can easily have an intellectual conversation and party hard at Michigan. Fun goes to die at UChicago, but if studying all day is your thing, then it’s perfect! You sound like you have your heart set at Michigan. Who cares if UChicago is more “prestigious?” Choose the place where you will have the best time of your life.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is Chemical Engineering program at U Chicago, if that is your interest. While UMich offers everything you are interested in. UChicago also has the highest campus suicide rate.</p>
<p>UofM has one of the best engineering departments in the nation. UChicago lacks an engineering department. Like others have said, unless you want to pursue med school with a bio degree, an engineering degree from umich will serve you much better. Not only is Michigan significantly more affordable, but it is also has better degree options for you. </p>
<p>This is a decision I and I know some other kids at my high school had to take, and almost all of them chose Michigan (with the exception being one who got significant need based aid from chicago). For an undergraduate degree these two schools are essentially the same in regard to job placement and grad school options; it would be absolutely insane to pay over a hundred thousand dollars more for essentially no benefit. </p>
<p>Chicago and Michigan are not the same when it comes to job placement and graduate school placement overall but your interest is Engineering and UMich is $100K cheaper, this is a complete no-brainer in favor of Michigan. Enjoy Ann Arbor!</p>
<p>There’s an important additional question that you haven’t yet answered: where else have you applied? If you gained acceptance to UChicago (now in the top handful or so of selective colleges), there’s a strong chance you will receive favorable decisions from other top schools that have more of the components (e.g. an engineering school) you want. Such schools are:</p>
<p>Cornell
U. of Penn
Duke
Johns Hopkins
Columbia
Princeton (a reach)
Harvard (a reach)</p>
<p>Have you applied to any of the above? If so, I think your decision process would change. If you get into, say, Cornell on Ivy admit day, your decision would be quite different.</p>
<p>For your specific inquiry, I’m not sure why you’d prefer UChicago over Michigan when you state engineering as one of your potential interests. UChicago doesn’t have engineering, so, no matter how strong its liberal arts curriculum and draw for you, it doesn’t have one of the components that you’re seeking. </p>
<p>(Oh, also, UChicago isn’t the place where fun goes to die any more. It’s become a much more “normal” college lately - it still skews toward the more studious student, but the social life is much better. More students seem to use the city of Chicago as a playground too, and the city is fairly spectacular.)</p>
<p>Cue7, there is still the matter of cost. If admitted into some of those schools listed above, the CoA will still be roughly 100% higher, unless he receives a generous FA package. Princeton and Harvard may be worth the additional cost, but the others aren’t. As an alumnus of both Cornell and Michigan, I can confidently say that the two schools are roughly on par with each other. Columbia, Duke, JHU and Penn are also peer institutions. Paying twice to attend those schools doesn’t make sense as they do not provide anything in addition to Michigan, not academically, not socially and not reputationally. </p>
<p>I imagine, if echan527 wanted to negotiate financial aid with UChicago, he could, and the costs could be comparable. Certainly, if echan527 gets into other top schools, the cost to attend, say, Cornell, and Michigan would be comparable.</p>
<p>Nowadays, the top privates tend to play hardball in terms of financial aid for admitted students. It’s unlikely, if negotiated, that a student would pay 2x more to attend Penn or Cornell instead of Michigan. No-loan financial aid packages are certainly in vogue at top schools. </p>
<p>^@Cue7
If OP needs to pay $60k at UChicago, he is not likely to get much FA from the other Ivies as well. They are all privates that only give need based aids. Note that with $25-30k per year at UMich, OP is not getting much, if any, aid from in state public either. It seems OP is paying full price almost anywhere.</p>