<p>My Problem
I have the choice of either (A) going to a not very prestigious University for free (because of my mother's job) and not really having the college experience or (B)going to a prestigious school that is very expensive and would make me very happy (I suppose) such as Brown, UMich, WashU-STL, BC, Middlebury, Penn, Amherst. (If I chose the first choice, I would be able to take the college savings I do have and use it for whatever I please.) However, the second choice would be considerably expensive (at least $35,000 annually if you count all the extras) and I would not be getting any kind of scholarship, altho I do have some money saved I would probably need to take out a loan and the transportation costs such as airfare and gas to and from these schools would also be a considerable expense. However, the first choice would be expense free (almost). Also, I want to go to graduate school, specifically law school after undergrad, and that is not cheap either. The older I get, the more I have come to appreciate the value of the dollar, and I cannot decide which is better. If I chose the first choice, I might have a harder time getting into a respected law school, this institution is obviously not as respected as say Brown or BC, where I might be able to go on to a law school at one of the ivies, and this would lead to a better paying job in the future. I will most likely not be the first choice for most firms when I go to look for an internship or job, especially better and well-known firms who would rather hire interns/lawyers who graduated from more prestigious law schools or colleges. </p>
<p>Please weigh in on this, I know for sure I would not be very happy with the first choice, but then again, it's only 4 short yrs, so please help me out! </p>
<p>What is the "not very prestigious University?" What type of pre-law program do they have? Do they place a lot of people into law school? Do they have an honors program? If your answer to either of the last two questions is "yes" then save your money and you can go to Brown, UMich, etc. for grad school. </p>
<p>If you don't want to state the name of the university on the board, I understand, PM me.</p>
<p>I'm not sure why these are your only options. Why does the inexpensive choice imply "not having a college experience"? Is it because you could live at home? Could you attend the school (I am assuming your mom's job saves the tution) but live in a dorm and "have a college experience"? That about your state school school ... that might be much-much less expensive than the other schools and provide a "college experience". A little more info would help us provide more meaningful suggestions ... what are the limitations of your first choice? what do you consider a college experience, why are state schools out of the picture? why is merit aid to top schools out of the picture? Etc. It seems to me you probably have a lot more options than presented in your original post.</p>
<p>The OP told me in a PM that the less expensive choice didn't suit him because of the cliquish atmosphere. IMO if (s)he is not going to be happy there, (s)he should go ahead and spend more money.</p>
<p>Okay 3togo here ya go-
The inexpensive choice is right down the street, I would not really be getting away, if I ever needed anything I'd just have to walk down the street.
Also, I would not be getting merit aid becuase (1) I'd be happy just getting into those schools with my test scores (2) I'm not fantastic at one thing, just great a bunch of things (3) I'm caucasaisn (4) My family earns enough income to be exempted from the "need" category</p>
<p>bendrumfront - as I stated in my PM reply, there are many great schools that offer merit aid on a non-need basis. Also, race is not as much of a factor in merit aid as it is in admissions.</p>
<p>Did you apply for financial aid when you applied? If so and you didn't get any aid, ask your fin aid office again. You might get aid the second year so you're not paying the whole 35k. I'd say take the more prestigious choice, especially since you'll be going onto grad school. Though you might be in a debt now, there's a bigger chance of earning big bucks later on.</p>
<p>To me it still looks like you have a bunch of options.
* The school near home ... if you live on campus you can control how often you go "home" ... I went to school with a bunch of kids from the town and they pretty much lived at the school. BTW - even if I stayed on campus all the time my first choice would not be to stay at home ... for me part of going to college was going "away".
* Most of the schools you listed are closer to $45k/yr than $35k/yr ... is the other $10k/yr already covered?
* Merit aid still seems quite possible ... your list of prestigous schools included Penn, Brown, and Amherst ... if you're a solid cnadidate for those schools your grades and test scores will put you in the hunt for merit aid at lots of other terrific schools ... lots of discussions on CC about merit aid.</p>
<p>i honestly think this is one of the dumbest posts I've come accross. </p>
<p>in all honesty what makes you think that the schools you think will make you happy(the ones you listed including u mich, brown, wustl, etc) will in turn make you happy. is it because they're prestigious and far from home? I see so many kids on here assume that the safety school can never make anyone happy, but after a while you get use to it and you take what comes with it,a nd you enjoy it. college life and college choice isn't as black and white as you make it to seem. there's a lot of grey in between. </p>
<p>you haven't even attended the schools you think will make you happy, yet you're already declaring them as schools that will make you happy. it's all a mental game you're playing, while putting a negative vibe on the one you don't want to go to just because of what you think it'll be like.</p>