<p>My daughter is accepted to NU and UW-Madison. I still can't make up my mind last minute to send her to which school. 55k vs 25k per yr all loans. Is Nu worth the debt that we are going to incurr? HELP!!! Thanks for any advice.</p>
<p>What is she majoring in?</p>
<p>She is thinking of Medicine or Chemistry.</p>
<p>I don’t think any school is worth $55,000/year in loans. That means a total loan amount exceeding $220,000 – more than most people take out for a house. It is questionable if you would even qualify for the loans, especially after the first year. Even Wisconsin, at $25,000/year in loans, is too much, in my opinion. Does she have any cheaper alternatives?</p>
<p>Kind of what I think but I don’t want to have a moment of “what if” in the future… Thanks!</p>
<p>If it’s really all loans then Northwestern is too much. Was there significant financial or merit aid anywhere else?</p>
<p>Potentially +$200,000 in loans from undergrad, and then possibly med school? Just to get the NU name on the degree? It is absolutely not worth the difference. Both of these universities are among the finest in the world in the areas of interest to your daughter. Academically there is no material difference.</p>
<p>I understand your concern about regrets later. That’s natural. But how many regrets will you have when the debt is crushing her (or you) and the Wisconsin grads are doing just as well?</p>
<p>Small amount of scholarship only. Not enough to make a difference in debt. Does student get better pay job when graduate from NU compare to UW-M?</p>
<p>Thank you to MilwDad. I have the same thought except I don’t know how UW compare to NU in medical school. Will she be more competitive if she go to NU when she apply to med school later? Thanks!</p>
<p>A smallish body of research - the only material - says that a kid admitted to school x but goes to school y does as well in pay as the kids who went to school x. In other words, it’s the kid. To get into medical or law school, for example, you need to score well on tests. A kid scores well to get into school x, so the kid scores well. That doesn’t change if the kid goes to school y. There is no meaningful difference for that particular kid’s chances. </p>
<p>So no, there is no valid reason to pay more.</p>
<p>Grad school matters. The name and reputation of your grad school matters. Grad school is not undergrad.</p>
<p>If she is planning on medical school, taking >200K in loans for undergrad is insane.</p>
<p>mmai, I’m not familiar with any data that would compare the earnings of the average UW grad in these fields to the earnings of the average NU grad, but I strongly suspect that if there is any difference at all it would take many years to make up for the additional cost.</p>
<p>That said, lergnom’s point is very important. If your daughter is bright enough to have been accepted to Northwestern, that factor is probably much more important than whether she actually goes to Northwestern as far as her future earnings. And again, this is not a choice between a good school and a poor school. This is a choice between two great schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>P.S. Although I’m not crazy about rankings, I thought I’d link these “Academic Rankings of World Universities” because they consider specific areas like chemistry and life sciences. As you can see, both Northwestern and Wisconsin are ranked very highly among all the universities in the world, both overall and in these areas. (Considering that there are probably 1,000 or more universities in the world, I think any ranking in the top 50 or even the top 100 is extremely impressive.)</p>
<p>[Academic</a> Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)](<a href=“http://www.arwu.org/]Academic”>http://www.arwu.org/)</p>
<p>Send her to Madison. The honors program is great. Chemistry is really tough, but would be at NU too.</p>
<p>Thank you very much to all of you! This really really help!</p>
<p>UW parent (with a current student- honors math major) and got a UW Honors degree Chemistry major eons ago, and physician here. Excellent Chemistry at UW- with Honors Chemistry courses for freshmen majors, chances to work in grad labs during other lab courses, senior Honors thesis with a professor… I still enjoy my annual Badger Chemist magazine. Good Biocore and other biology for those interested in medical school. We are lucky to have a great flagship U.</p>
<p>Northwestern will be a more conservative school- liberal is good. I personally like the UW campus much better than NU’s in Evanston. Both would be good for a competitive chance at medical school. I don’t think the price tag for NU is worth any loans for your D.</p>