<p>twice as many posts as me but you only have 2 more months on CC</p>
<p>it's really sad when you put it like that.</p>
<p>oh well. once I transfer it should slow down a lot and I can be normal. :D</p>
<p>Dang, you have nearly as many posts as me, and I've been on for 27 months. :eek: Getting out of the admissions cycle and the chitchat threads slowed me down, I suppose.</p>
<p>"Going to college for free is underrated as well."</p>
<p>Having done just that, I have to say, going to college for free is way way WAY overrated. If you have a choice to go for free or not, it means you'll probably be just fine, usually better off, going to the school you want and paying. I learned this the hard way. (Unless, of course, the only difference between the school you want and the school that's free is the money, and then it's just stupid to pick the more expensive school...)</p>
<p>It really depends what your choices are. If you get into HYPSM like college, it is worth while to go to them unless you can go to say Mich, UVA, Caltech, etc for free. People will say "go to your dream school for grad school" but the chances you get into a top grad program at a place like HYPSM is slim to none. Also, your intersts may change where there are other colleges with better programs than your initial choice. However, I don't believe in turning down a good scholarship to one of your top choices because it is very hard to rationally justify 200k for college when you will be making about 45k a year upon graduation (if you get a job)</p>
<p>Maybe, but I don't mean picking a 45k a year school over a free one because the more expensive one has a better reputation. Reputation is cited by a lot of people for why they chose their college, and it's a really terrible one. Really, the important thing is to go to a college where you'll be happy. If you know you won't be all that happy at the free school, picking it to save the money is a WAY overrated and frankly, suicidal decision. Of course, going to a school you can barely afford might stress you out so much financially that you won't be too happy there either. That's something you have to consider. But a lot of people have this mindset that pretty much wherever you go to school, you'll adjust to it and be happy there so you should pick the cheapest one (well, the cheapest one with some shred of reputation; I'm not really advocating community college here) and I think this mindset is a little ridiculous. My father held this, because that's what he did and it worked for him, but things don't just magically work out like that. For example, if you know you want a small school, don't just go to Ohio State because you got free tuition, unless you want to be seriously screwed up for the rest of your life. There are a lot of factors that matter so so so much more than finances, and it hurts me to see this trend towards picking the more affordable school becoming more in vogue these days. This is the kind of midset that nearly killed me.</p>
<p>agree with eponymous above-financial considerations are important, but unless absoutely necessary, should not be the driving factor. Sort of like making an investment decision for tax purposes rather than the fundamentals of a company.</p>
<p>Overrated: University of Michigan
I can't believe I am posting this, but after a recent exchange with several hard core Michigan posters, I want to offer a little perspective and counterthought to those on CC who so avidly promote Michigan. It is a very good state school. It is not an Ivy caliber school. Maybe 25% of the students are very strong, but that is the case at many of the state schools.</p>
<p>Underrated: Many of the non-Northeast top private schools-Rice, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Emory, Notre Dame.<br>
The Northeast-dominated media have created the myth that the very top colleges are located only in the Northeast or in California. Anybody who has ever lived and worked outside of these areas understands that there are plenty of brains and talent in the rest of the USA.</p>
<p>I prefer the term "overpriced" rather than "overrated." Almost all state flagships fall in this category, particularly the UCs.</p>
<p>overrated Brown underrted:Stonehill and Villanova</p>
<p>Without having a dog in this show, I've found some of these answers both amusing and shallow. </p>
<p>The "overrated" category is clearly being utilized as a way to diss a school that, perhaps, spurned the respondent's application. Tsk-tsk. Play nicely, children. There isn't a wise educator in this country who would suggest that Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Wash U aren't everything they purport to be.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I prefer the term "overpriced" rather than "overrated." Almost all state flagships fall in this category, particularly the UCs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What are you stupid!</p>
<p>UC's tuition is a bout 8,000 a year
Privates on the same par as the UC’s are around 30,000 a year</p>
<p>aaa...wayupsts...ucs are definetely cheaper but they are not at par w/ the privates in many aspects including advising, etc. etc....btw there is something called financial aide for privates lol</p>
<p>
[quote]
Without having a dog in this show, I've found some of these answers both amusing and shallow.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I've found some of the posts in this thread both as amusing and shallow as a dog and pony fight.</p>
<p>
<p>UC's tuition is a bout 8,000 a year
I can assure you that I'm not stupid, especially since I actually take the time to construct logical posts. </p>
<p>Compare the overall in-state price of [url=<a href="http://students.berkeley.edu/fao/ugbudget06-07.html%5DBerkeley%5B/url">http://students.berkeley.edu/fao/ugbudget06-07.html]Berkeley[/url</a>] ($24,272) to [url=<a href="http://studentaid.unc.edu/studentaid/cost/ssa_ug_general.html%5DUNC%5B/url">http://studentaid.unc.edu/studentaid/cost/ssa_ug_general.html]UNC[/url</a>] ($15,250). Within the state of NC, UNC-CH costs nearly twice as much as the other public universities. It's a rip-off. :p</p>
<p>Overated: Notre Dame</p>
<p>Underrated: University of Iowa!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Compare the overall in-state price of Berkeley ($24,272) to UNC ($15,250). Within the state of NC, UNC-CH costs nearly twice as much as the other public universities. It's a rip-off.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The tuition of UNC-CH is $5,033 in-state, compared with $7,703 in-state for UC Berkeley. The notable difference comes from room and board. $7,466 for UNC compared with $13,074 for UC Berkeley. While I agree that the room/board is a bit high, it is in an area with one of the highest living rates in the most populous state in the nation. If you look at UCLA it's only $6,504 in-state and $12,312 for room and board. For UCSD it's even lower overall, with tuition at $7,318 in-state and $9,657 for Room and Board. Besides, like wayupsts put it, private schools (which vastly outnumber those public schools that cost slightly less than UCs) often cost $40,000+ a year. Compared to that, I would say the UCs are actually a pretty good deal.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_2974_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_2974_brief.php</a>
<a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_1317_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_1317_brief.php</a></p>
<p>bck to the original thread...</p>
<p>overrated: yale
underrated: Stony Brook, Univ. of Delaware</p>
<p>vicissitudes is right</p>
<p>I don't understand how you can call them "Overpriced" even when the most expensive UC is around 25,000 (including room/board)</p>
<p>Plus, if you go to a school like UC Davis, it is much much more inexpensive for room and board.</p>
<p>p.s. sorry for calling you stupid.</p>
<p>Back on topic, I have trouble saying which universities are "overrated" and "underrated" because there will always be people who tout the "underrated" universities and people who deprecate the "overrated."</p>
<p>Going by which universities are underranked/overranked though, I would say:</p>
<p>Overranked: Duke, U Penn, U Chicago (this year), Vandy, Emory, Notre Dame.
Underranked: Brown, UC Berkeley, UVa, UMich, UCLA, UCSD (dropped 6 spots this year...come on).</p>
<p>Keep in mind that this is my opinion only and it's only by a few slots.</p>
<p>vicissitudes, It looks like you have bought into the whole east coast reputation prestige thing as you categorize 6 schools as overrated/overranked, only one of which is located in the NE. Do you really think it is like this? And for the underrated, you again list 6 schools and 5 of these are state Us and 4 of the State Us are located in the NE or CA. Is it something about State Us that make you think they are underrated? What do you think about State Us like UNC. W&M, UT, UF, UIUC?</p>