I am senior from Connecticut. I recently heard back from the various schools I applied to and my best options have come down to these four schools. Gettysburg and Lafayette both provided over 20k in merit scholarships, while BC and UVA have not provided any financial aid. While I believe Boston College and UVA are superior schools, I think I would fit in at each of these schools and the merit money at both Gettysburg and Lafayette are causing me to lean towards those options. The one concern I have, however, is my path after undergrad. I want to pursue a law degree, thus I felt it made sense to look for a cheaper undergrad option, hold good grades, and seek acceptance into a good law school. However, would it be worth it to go to an institution with more prestige such as UVA and BC if I was to pursue law? If these schools didn’t provide a significant advantage in my career to account for the money I could save going to Lafayette or Gettysburg, then I would not consider them as strongly. Any opinion and advice on these schools and my selection would be appreciated greatly. Thank you
It seems to me that the difference in the schools you’ve selected is more in style (National University vs LAC) more than ranking. Both Lafayette and Gettysburg are well respected schools IME - equally as respected as BC and UVA where I live (in PA). Your perception of BC and UVA being better might be due to where you live.
If in doubt, ask each school where recent grads have been accepted to law school.
Both Lafayette and Gettysburg are similar in vibe and will be very respected. Both will be excellent for the type of preparation law schools require (lots of reading and writing + logic). As far as law schools go, they’ll make no difference between any of these four colleges.
So, choose between Lafayette and Gettysburg.
Pick Gettysburg! To truly understand the law, what better place to be than a school with such a rich history in government, law, and politicial science! FOR SURE, UVA and BC are not worth the extra money.
Virginia would be about $58,000 per year, BC about $68,000 per year, Gettysburg about $45,000 per year & Lafayette about $46,000 per year.
Any other options ?
With a 1500 SAT & 33 ACT, Eagle Scout & varsity hockey team captain among several other ECs, it seems as if you could have received some merit money from a few more cost friendly options. This is important for one wanting to attend law school. Will you need to borrow any part of the COA in order to attend any of these schools ?
What topic did you use for your essay ?
If the figures above really reflect your situation, it seems that BC definitely wouldn’t be the choice, and that UVa would only be the choice if you had pretty clear reasons other than prestige to prefer it to Lafayette or Gettysburg. Lafayette has more of a reputation than Gettysburg, and is in a larger town closer to other places than Gettysburg is, which is fairly isolated. So unless you like things about Gettysburg’s atmosphere or programs a good bit more than Lafayette, it seems Lafayette would be the choice.
I agree that for law school the differences in prestige at this level would be outweighed by which school you really like better and the money.
Even with the scholarships, none of these are cheap. How easily can your family pay the remaining cost of attendance?
Why didn’t you apply to UCONN? You could go for about $25,000 if you didn’t get a cent of merit money - which you probably would have.
Boston College is not worth sticker (70K+ a year)… please don’t get sucked into going into enormous debt. This is especially true if you want to pursue law school. Law schools only care about is your LSAT and GPA, on the very side margins other things may come into play for admissions (but probably not).
Enjoy your decision. All great schools. BC and UVA are the most highly regarded but it’s like picking your favorite ice cream. They are all great and a matter of taste.
UVA has the strongest academic reputation, with Lafayette and BC comparable. Lafayette and Gettysburg are better options when factoring cost.