<p>i already have full tution from osu.if i get the same from um which should i pick? i live in illinios so osu is easier to get back and forth,but two of my nieghborhood friends are at um.they never come home because of the distance.i'm confused.i would like to come home for x-mas at least</p>
<p>I would generally take whichever is cheaper. However, if UM comes close, I probably would take UM. Why? </p>
<ol>
<li><p>State schools are subject to the vageries of state funding. This isn't true for private schools.</p></li>
<li><p>State schools tend to have much more administrative hassles than private schools.</p></li>
<li><p>State schools don't care if they keep students. There are always more who want to get in there. IN fact, many state schools MUST make room for incomming community college kids. Thus,the grading at many state schools tends to be lower than that found in good private schools. This can make a difference if you apply to professional or grad school.</p></li>
<li><p>Ohio State is VERY BIG and impersonal. Miami has a lot of choices for majors, as found in a state school,but is a lot more personal in their approach. Also it is a lot smaller than OSU.</p></li>
<li><p>Miami weather is unbeatable.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Bottom Line: if the tuition is close, I would pick Miami. I don't think I would pick Miami over OSU if I were in state in Ohio unless OSU didn't have the program I wanted or I was the type of kid who doesn't do well in large, impersonal environments.</p>
<p>UM hands down, you won't regret it.</p>
<p>fancy dancer:</p>
<p>Two good choices. A big school can offer lots and lots. I went to a Big Ten school (from NY) and it was the best move for me. Some classes were huge but most small at least for my major. Big schools generally have great college towns just outside of campus. You will get to know your profs in your major.</p>
<p>On the other hand Miami is great. Lots of small classes. Beautiful weather. Things to do. You will get to know advisors and profs. No TA's.</p>
<p>Difficult choice.</p>
<p>WANTED TO PASS ON THIS INFO:
It is easy, yes easy and inexpensive, to get home if you can fly into Chicago.
Southwest offers nonstop flights to and from Ft Lauderdale. (Lots of UM kids use the FtL airport and the airport shuttle is only $26. We were told to avoid the huge Miami airport. It has worked well for us..... Miami even supplied free buses to the Ft Lauderdale airport for Thanksgiving.)
I just went online to Southwest.com and picked an arbitrary date in June-6/11 and 6/18. Cheapest tickets for you are $84 each way, nonstop. Probably no cheaper to fly from Ohio to IL. Southwest is easy. You book your flight on line. (You can view all your prices.) Go on periodically and if the flight is now cheaper you can get credit for the difference to use later. You can also cancel without penalties up to 1 hour before takeoff. Email me with any questions. </p>
<p>I don't think you can go wrong with either school. Flying is easy and inexpensive so don't exclude Miami on those grounds. You should be able to go home for Xmas and likely spring break if you are so inclined.</p>
<p>Good luck in making your decision.</p>
<p>Don't be afraid to book flights in/out of MIA. We've used it for years without any problems. We just check prices and times for both and then make our decision.</p>
<p>Fancy,</p>
<p>You can see my other post on the OSU board, but I wanted to congratulate you on your full scholarship to OSU. Money is a big factor, but so is fit. I think Taxguy made a lot of valid points on the Private vs. Public situation at universities. OSU has over 52,000 students in Columbus alone. Miami has 15,000, with many of the grad students downtown at Jackson (an awesome medical school, BTW) Remember, a lot of big schools will flaunt how they have all these awesome, renowned professors, yet none of them even "teaches" a class, they just lecture a few times and have T/As do all the work. At UM, most all the classes are taught by professors. Heck, the president of the school (a former cabinet secretary) teaches a class on health care! </p>
<p>Yes, you can home for Christmas; my son did it this past year.</p>
<p>You should DEFINITELY do a campus visit to get a feel for the school. I was dead set on going to penn state or university of colorado because they were big state schools, but I did a campus visit and realized Miami was for me. The feel is just so much different and it is very nice being in Miami. It seems like Miami would kind of go out of their way for you and do what they can to help, they don't really make you feel like a number. Without doing the campus visits I don't think its possible to make the right decision for yourself.</p>
<p>exactly make the best decision for you it will just come to you soon. but definetely visit miami before you rule it out. I am also from chicago and I love it down here. let me know if you have any more questions</p>