<p>More of the same: admission choice question. After reading tons on the forums we are still torn over the decision we have to make. Please advise:
My son is admitted to:
Northwestern (EFC $33,000, grant is 9,000)
Tufts (EFC $33,000, grant is 5,000)
Wisconsin Madison ($16,000 - we are Minnesota residents).
Waitlisted in Yale, Stanford, Wash U in St.Louis.</p>
<p>He is bright, sofisticated, wants to go to graduate school (loves to learn).
Undesided major in liberal arts - History, International relations, Political Science, Economy(?).
We are immigrants (came 10 years ago). Our salary do not reflect our financial status (have to support elderly parents, do not have money for retirement). Basically we can only afford $15.000 per year, the rest will have to be my son loans (about $15,000 per year for Northwestern, more for Tufts). Visited Madison and Chicago, There is an honor program in Madison, nice campus, but... my s always wanted urban school, challenge, sopisticated people, kind of suffer from Midwest mentality (although has a lot of friends in his school), hoped to go to East Coast.
Is prestige of Northwestern (Tufts or others) and atmosphere worth having
a huge undergaduate debt?</p>
<p>Personnally, I would go to NU and take my spot on the Yale and Stanford waitlists. My cousin went to grad school at NYU, had to take out a big loan, and is still paying it off. She does not regret it at all. I do not think that he would want to go the rest of his life saying "what if?" I live in WI and do not want to go to madison at all. It is enormous, has a ton of drinking, and does not seem to be the sort of atmosphere I want to be in. (Unless he wants tobe a doctor) Northwestern, although expensive, is a wonderful school. Congratulations to your son! (Don't forget he could probably make another 5000 a year working during college...or maybe even an internship!)</p>
<p>This is an on going debate. I believe that saving money on undergraduate schools is the best option, especially when you're comparing a bunch of top 30 schools. Especially when a lot of the things your son wants can be found @ Madison.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advise,
by the way about working during the school year: in Madison we were told that it is very easy to find a job even if you are not qualified for Federal work study. In Northwestern though it sounded like campus jobs and work with the professors are available only for Federal study, otherwise it would be something in Evanston. We get no work study in fin package for Northwestern but have a Stufford loan. We could ask to convert it to work study instead. Should we do that? Or take a Stafford loan and try to find work outside of campus?
Thank you again for the response, it is such a torturous time.</p>
<p>WOW! this is my exact situation as well- accepted at nu and madison and waitlisted in wash u. mn resident too! haha. Anyway, i really like nu, but madtown is fun and cheap. I need a better reason to cough up an extra 25-30 grand a year than "stellar academics" because quite frankly, they aren't all that much better than madison. I think that nu was ranked #10 or 11 and madison i know was #32. It cant be that much of a difference. So, while I like nu a lot, i really need some convincing that its worth the money cuz my parents only pay for 1/2 and we qualify for no aid (the middle class always gets screwed by the govt)</p>
<p>Amen to that "middle class gets screwed," but as for that other assertment (#10 ~ #32), I have to disagree. That's a huge difference; NU isn't looked at as the Ivy of the Midwest for nothing, and the same goes for the assertment that Madison is a party school.</p>
<p>I went to Madison, years ago, and have been back to visit since. My daughter will attend NU next fall. I think the advantages and disadvantages of a larger or smaller school are the biggest differences to consider, along with the cost.</p>
<p>Madison is big, so you will find drinking if that's what you want or you'll easily avoid it if you prefer. I wouldn't consider the "Midwest mentality" to be a factor. You'll find plenty of sophisticated people from all around the world to associate with.</p>
<p>Although Madison is not near a large city, the university community is varied and vast, with no lack of things to do. You'll find all sorts of concerts, speakers, film, theater, athletics, and anything else you can think of. It's not Chicago, but it's not a corn field either.</p>
<p>They are both beautiful campuses, and both have competitive admissions. Even if NU's admissions are more competitive, it's still not easy to get into UW Madison, and UW's sheer size provides you with large numbers of talented and interesting people of all sorts.</p>
<p>Of course we're all jazzed about NU at our house these days, but I consider both schools to be prestigious, although not in the same way. I don't think I'd put prestige before other considerations in this choice, given the difference in cost. Instead, I'd look very closely at the programs and the atmosphere of the two schools. I don't think choosing UW over NU would be a matter of settling for less, but it would be something very different. A visit to both would go a long way toward highlighting these differences and helping you to understand what they mean to you.</p>
<p>nan - we visited both Madison and NU a week ago and it made a choice even harder. NU appeals more because (may be it only seems so) to have more intellectual atmoshpere. Madison on the other hand before the visit was almost the last choice (out of despair), now turned out to be very
viable option - great campus, ton of stuff to do, honor program available,
affordable. Yet, it is apples and oranges. So, while we are waiting for the reply letter to a financial appeal from NU we are mentally prepairing to take a big loan. By the way if after all this Yale will accept from the waiting list - we are all for it. Is Yale worth $70,000 undergraduate debt?
ilabcurious1423 - will post a decision when it comes, although the final word from waiting lists can come in June.</p>
<p>I was also accepted to Northwestern and Madison (and William and Mary), and waitlisted at Brown, Georgetown, and Harvard. I've decided to attend NU, barring any good news from a wait list, because of the superior atmosphere at Northwestern. Although Madison is a great school, and I have about 50 friends who will be there next year (I will DEFINITELY be in Madison during Halloween and other festive occasions), there is a pronounced difference between UW and NU. However, I have very definite reasons for spending the money- first of all, it is my parents, as they will be able to pay for all of my undergrad. Secondly, I do plan on going to Law School, however, it will be at one of the schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, given that I would like to spend my time in law school working and making connections at the State Capitol. Hopefully I can get some scholarships- if not, in-state tuition at the U of M isn't too bad.</p>