Middlebury vs. UVM (mostly financial)

Hey guys. So i’m deciding between Midd and UVM. UVM with a presidential scholarship of 20k a year, and the honors college. Middlebury with no financial aid and as a feb. Throughout the whole process Midd has been my top or one of my top schools, I almost ED’d, and UVM i sort of randomly applied to because I thought I could get a scholarship. I’m pretty set on Middlebury but my mom does not want to have to pay out of pocket for college. She and my dad saved enough that they wouldn’t have to spend anything out of pocket on UVM. However with Midd, I would likely have to take out ~20k in loans (in total for 4 years) since my mom doesn’t want to pay. I’m interested in French and studying abroad is one of my must haves in college and I heard that in the UVM honors college it can be really hard to study abroad while Middlebury has a strong language and study abroad department. I did go to the UVM accepted students day and thought it was okay, not great but not bad. Honestly with UVM I’m worried it will feel kinda like a repeat of high school but with more kids. Its really hard for me to let go of Midd since they check basically everything off my list but i dont know if it’s worth it if I have to go in to debt. If money wasn’t a problem I would definitely be going to Middlebury. Is it a terrible idea to take out loans to go to my top school? I don’t plan on going to med or law school but i might end up in business school or something in the future. Please give me your opinion! Thanks!

If you only need to come up with $5,000 per academic year for your dream school, then that is reasonable. But it would help to know the actual annual cost difference between the two schools.

Are you a resident of Vermont & eligible for in-state tuition at UVM ?

Middlebury College costs about $72,000 per academic year. The University of Vermont is about $57,000 total for non-residents, and about $32,000 for residents. Therefore, after applying your $20,000 per year scholarship, UVM would cost you either $37,000 or $12,000 per academic year. Are these figures correct ?

If UVM will cost only $12,00 per year, then take UVM Honors.

I’m confused. Are you OOS for Vermont? What about the COA for your instate Uni?

How do those numbers come about?

Midd is ~$75k/yr. + medical ins.

UVM OOS is $62, less $20 = $42k. Difference is ~$33k/yr.

(UMass instate is what, $28k/yr?)

@Publisher theres a big cost difference however I’m able to pay a certain amount with my own money and work during college so the 5k a year (actually more like 8k) is just the part missing from what my mom doesn’t want to pay a year. The rest is covered by either my dad or college funds. The out of pocket difference a year is ~20k before my contribution and my dads out of pocket contribution

@bluebayou im out of state for UVM and Midd is 72 however with college funds already saved the amount paid out of pocket uvm is likely 0 (not sure about small unaccounted for costs) but midd out of pocket is about 20k a year.

I agree with @Publisher that 5K a year isn’t an unreasonable amount to attend one’s dream school. Sure, 20K is a lot of money, but it’s not insurmountable debt. I once had six years of payments on a car when I was younger, and it was during a difficult time, and yet I still made those payments!

So…try not to get into unnecessary debt while in school (credit card companies will lure you), and keep other expenses down, but after graduation you should be able to pay off 20K in 5-6 years maximum. People take on 20K in debt all the time, usually when purchasing a vehicle.

@ajl2019s: With an ACT score of 33 and a superscore of 35 and a high GPA, you should have been able to get more scholarship options.

Middlebury College will cost you and your family at least $300,000 over the course of four academic years when annual tuition increases are factored in.

The University of Vermont Honors will cost about $160,000 for a four year degree.

Many state university honors colleges would offer you full tuition & fees. The University of Alabama Honors College scholarship may cover room & board as well as all mandatory tuition & fees. Alabama is still awarding merit scholarships if you contact the admissions office via phone or email. I believe Alabama scholarships can be applied to study abroad.

Alabama’s campus is beautiful, but it is also noticeably different than Vermont.

I am concerned because during the course of this thread, your needed funds for Middlebury has risen from $5,000 per year to $8,000 per year. Life experiences has taught me that this really means $10,000 per year.

P.S. I just checked Alabama’s website. A 33 ACT score & 3.5 GPA minimum only get $25,000 per year scholarship. So not really a better option than the University of Vermont.

My other thought is that Middlebury College has only offered a February start date. To me, this suggests that you should strongly consider UVM’s $20,000 per year scholarship offer & start in the Fall.

The difference in cost between Middlebury College and UVM for four years will be at least $140,000.

I cannot make a recommendation as it really depends upon the financial status of your family.

If you attend UVM will you have money left over for graduate school or for business school? The difference in price between UVM and Middlebury seems quite large (nearly $100,000 over four years).

UVM is a very good university. It is definitely not like high school at all. You will find very demanding classes there. They also have a generally wider range of majors than Middlebury simply because they are larger. Burlington is a very nice small city. The honors dorm at UVM might be the nicest dorm that I have ever visited.

“I’m interested in French”

UVM does have French available as either a major or as a minor. I have heard that Middlebury has a good French program. I am a little bit familiar with French programs in Canada (the province of Quebec is less than an hour’s drive from UVM, and Montreal is just under 2 hours). I have not checked out whether UVM or Middlebury have a way for you to for example sign up for a summer class in Montreal or Quebec City or perhaps Sherbrooke. It might be worth asking both of them.

What major does UVermont offer that UMass does not (at instate rates)? Did you receive any scholarships from UMass? Even if you didn’t, what additional value does Vermont ($40k net) offer over UMass ($30k) that you are willing to pay $10k/yr more net of scholly? If you attended your instate public, not only would you graduate debt-free, you’d have money in the bank to start your life.

full disclosure: as a parent, I could not fathom the value of OOS tuition, unless it’s for a top public like Cal, Michigan or Virginia.

I feel like UVM and Middlebury are apples and oranges. One is a good size university, the other a small LAC.

Although many people here would never advocate for going into debt I do feel it is a personal decision.

If Midd is your dream school another option could be take a gap year and work and save to get down the amount you would need to borrow.

I can see value in attending the University of Vermont Honors College with a $20,000 per year scholarship even if charged out-of-state tuition.

OP: Would you be willing to try the University of Vermont for a year ?

Since you are a full pay February admit at Middlebury College, you can transfer to a number of outstanding colleges & universities if you achieve high grades at UVM. For example, elite universities like Vanderbilt & Northwestern have a higher rate of admission for transfers than for incoming freshman. I suspect that almost all LACs would welcome a transfer app from one with your numbers & financial ability to pay–including Middlebury College. But you just might love UVM. It certainly has one of the best settings in the country.