<p>thanks to everyone im getting fantastic feedback!</p>
<p>Hooray for all us StL people :)
Yeah I have a friend who last year had to choose between going away to Swarthmore or some other places, but settled on WashU because even though he was staying in St. Louis, his parents also worked there so it was a lot cheaper. I think he's enjoying it..</p>
<p>"Go to WashU, and have more than a year of med school paid. Or take a year off before med school and travel around the world. Or do three years of volunteer public health work in Africa. Or travel wherever you like every break of your four years."</p>
<p>That assumes that the money saved becomes the student's, which is quite an odd assumption, Mini. Parents who are able to fully fund a student at an expensive school don't just give that total amount to the student such that the student has a "bonus" for choosing a cheaper program. If I were the OP's parents, I would definitely appreciate my son choosing WUSTL because of the considerable tuition savings, but that doesn't mean I'd automatically gift him the $70-80K I would have saved, or fund expensive travel during his spring breaks, or whatever. That would still remain my money for my own retirement or other use.</p>
<p>The only Lou-ee is in the song Meet me in St. Lou-ee, Lou-ee ... It's Lou-IS.</p>
<p>"That assumes that the money saved becomes the student's, which is quite an odd assumption, Mini."</p>
<p>Well, there are some people who think education and school are synonymous, and there are those of us who don't. I didn't think of ANYTHING I mentioned as a "bonus".</p>
<p>WashU and study abroad your junior year, if you want to get out of St. Louis.</p>
<p>OP, if you wanted a different kind of college experience than WUSTL offers, I'd say go for that experience. But it seems like your ideal schools are very similar to WUSTL, just better located. I would seriously consider saving the money under those circumstances (assuming that you have the choice). When you move into the dorms with a bunch of interesting strangers, it may feel very different from "home."</p>
<p>Wash U is the worse for music of the three. Northwestern has a highly reputable school of music, and Tufts has the New England Conservatory nearby (although I'm not sure if Tufts students can register for classes there). So, I'd consider how important music is to you (as all three have excellent pre-med programs).
However, financially, it makes the most sense to choose Wash U... you could always study abroad one year or something like that, just to minimize your time there... but, as others have mentioned, if you're going to do pre-med, saving money is vital.
I'll also second the mention of John Hopkins, it is excellent in both of your areas of study. If you're looking for another possibility, it'd be the first place I'd suggest.</p>
<p>washu is a great school dont get me wrong. but other than its location, i have a few minor qualms. as sabster stated, the music program is better at nwester, penn, and others that im looking at. second, i have heard of a lack of school spirit, or general interest in sports teams. however, this is minor in the larger scope of things. and dont need the BEST music program, just one i can be challenged in for performing on the side of majoring in another subject</p>
<p>
[quote]
four years goes by in the blink of an eye
[/quote]
</p>
<p>At the same time, one can live many places as an adult but only do college once (well, for most of us).</p>
<p>Having said that - saving $$ (tens of thousands) is the prudent thing to do (esp. in this economy).</p>
<p>I would advise OP to still apply everywhere and see what the other schools offer in financial/merit aid.</p>
<p>If the difference is "only" $10-15k (even $20k), then it may be worth going to the school one really wants to go to; if more, suck it up and enjoy a top-notch education at a discount.</p>
<p>My D was wait listed at WashU and got a huge scholarship from St. Louis University (SLU). We rather liked St. Louis. I know you want to go away to college (as my D is doing now and we live very close to a very highly ranked school in the south), and that is a legitimate desire. But these are not normal times. I hate to tell you but things are going to get worse, perhaps a lot worse, next year before we break through this awful financial/economic situation created by the greed and hubris of many people (politicians going back 15 years), CEO's, corporate board members, some corrupt and evil mortgage originators, some GSE's like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and a lot of very bad people on Wallstreet (some of whom are advising Bush and Obama as we speak). Essentially, we have been done in by 500 TRILLION in worthless derivatives which all got started in the bloated real estate market. Nobody has the money to pay that off. Nobody. Not even the G20. So its strap in and buckle down. </p>
<p>Thus, going to WashU seems the most practical decision and likely the most prudent.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>n.b. between WashU, Northwestern, and Tufts (assuming you are admitted to all three), its really a toss of the coin. They are really peer schools and one is not clearly superior to the other. Some may have programs that are better than others, but that is also a subjective thing.</p>
<p>just some financial background to help you...
so the difference between colleges is about 70-80k total, WashU being the cheaper compared to all other schools (except for my EA school, UNC, but im using this thread only if i get rejected from there)
I will get NO financial aid based on my family's circumstances
I doubt that i will get merit scholarship at any of the schools im looking at (ivy's dont give them, i doubt i stand out enough at the others)
But my family CAN afford the what will be net $30,000 per year hit if i go to an expensive school (thats after the Wash U half off benefit to all other schools), it would just mean the usual student loans and such</p>
<p>"That assumes that the money saved becomes the student's, which is quite an odd assumption, Mini."</p>
<p>"Well, there are some people who think education and school are synonymous, and there are those of us who don't. I didn't think of ANYTHING I mentioned as a "bonus"."</p>
<p>If I send one of my twins to the state flagship and the other to Elite Fancy U, the one who goes to the state flagship doesn't get the money to make up the difference. If the whole point is to save the parents money (a laudable goal in this economy, and certainly no one can argue that any academic quality is being sacrificed), then it's saving the parents money, not reallocating it to "cheap WUSTL and four really fancy spring break vacations."</p>
<p>"If I send one of my twins to the state flagship and the other to Elite Fancy U, the one who goes to the state flagship doesn't get the money to make up the difference."</p>
<p>You could very well decide that they did. You could decide that there were more educational opportunities and values than those to be found in any classroom - whatever the quality - either during the four years, or before, or afterward. Or you could decide that those other educational values weren't worth having your kid pursue, and put the money toward retirement, or toward a boat, or whatever. </p>
<p>You CAN, if you choose, buy different educational opportunities with $200k. People do it all the time. The simplest, of course, is that an extra $80k buys a year and a half of medical school, but there are literally hundreds of other choices.</p>
<p>Well, if you get into UNC-Chapel Hill.....that poses another question. Its an extremely good value even for OOS kids. But as you know, they are very stingy with OOS admissions and statutorily have to admit 85% from instate. Even in-state, unless you are top 10% in your class and have stats above 1350, generally they wont admit you either. Athletes and a certain percentage of underprivileged students not withstanding. BUT...if you do get into UNC, its worth a serious looksee. Its a fine school, despite its party image. It is definitely left of center, if that is your cup of tea. The weather is great 9 months a year. I am not a huge UNC fan (long story and I am not a very liberal person) but its a great school with a huge national following and superb grad school admission rates. </p>
<p>That fulfills your desire to go out of state and still yet would save your parents money. On the other hand, I just cant get excited about Northwestern and Tufts in the context of your personal situation and your likely admission to WashU and at half tuition. I have enormous respect for WashU academically. Just enormous. I regret to this day my D got waitlisted. (Funny, WashU almost begged her to reapply this year....and her attitude was, "well, if I wasnt good enough my freshman year...poo on you!" LOL. Oh well. She is plenty happy in New York, however (and has a really handsome and very smart boyfriend we adore!) </p>
<p>As for the Ivy League, I am not the person to ask about them. I have "this thing" about the Ivy's and their students and graduates. Just last Sunday, dropping my D off at our local airport to return to New York from her Thanksgiving break, some very rude young man cut in line ahead of us at the airline counter, and otherwise acted like he owned the place. Sadly the airline sort of acquiesced in this even though they clearly saw he was being rude and obnoxious...perhaps to get him out of the way. I stood at the counter and glared at him, wearing a ballcap from my D's school on my head. He saw my cap and sneered at me like I was an urchin. This kid was maybe 19 at most. I listened as he berated the airline employee and they took his bag for checking. He said he was going to Burlington Vermont and lo and behold he was a student at DARTMOUTH. What a condescending and arrogant young man he was. I whispered to my D, "never mind.....they are all like that." So I am not someone to ask about the Ivy League. My experience with them has always been unpleasant. Maybe its me, I don't know. But I much prefer more humble people, nice and friendly and kind to others. When we were at WashU three years ago, it struck me as a very friendly place with warm people. Competitive yes, but still very nice people who treated us with the utmost respect and dignity. That is where I would want to go to school. That is the kind of person I look to hire....a humble, hard working and kind person who can get along with others, not some pompous person who acts like they own the world coming from some Ivy School. Just my personal observation and I am sure the boobirds will come out now and attack me.</p>
<p>"You CAN, if you choose, buy different educational opportunities with $200k. People do it all the time. The simplest, of course, is that an extra $80k buys a year and a half of medical school, but there are literally hundreds of other choices."</p>
<p>If, in my hypothetical, both my twins wanted to attend medical school and one had attended state U and the other private U, there is no way in hell that I would say to state-U kid, you have $80K more for medical school than your twin who attended private-U because I saved $80K on your state-U education. I'd fund their schools equally to the best of my ability. </p>
<p>More to the point, I don't conceive of it as an educational fund of $XX that has to be fully spent. It's just my long-term savings, that gets dipped in to fund their education. If they both choose state-U, great. If they both choose private-U, great.</p>