<p>My D got into Princeton and Columbia with no financial aid at all. She is also admitted into USC with Mork scholarship (50K/yr). She is majoring in Biology, planning for medical school later on. She really like USC but also very excited at the possibility of getting top education at either P or C. The question is if top Ivy undergrad education is worth $200k more? Especially since she will go, hopefully, to medical school one day which make undergrad school become less significant in the over all picture. I will pretty much drain all of my saving to send her to either P or C. We also have a younger D that is planning to go to UOP next year which will cost a lot too. My plan is if she is going to USC, I will help paying for part of medical school cost too since I only have to pay $10K/yr for USC. Anyway, really appreciate your inputs and I will show D all of your comments to help her making final decision...</p>
<p>This is a tough one. S chose Princeton over full ride at a top public in a top ranked program.</p>
<p>Tough choice. </p>
<p>I think going to HYP holds special cachet. Moreover, at Princeton, there is a true focus on the undergrad. Look at student to teacher ratio, spending per student, the lack of professional schools (no Princeton Law or Business School, unlike Columbia). </p>
<p>78% of Princeton/Columbia cross admits choose Princeton.</p>
<p>[The</a> New York Times > Week in Review > Image > Collegiate Matchups: Predicting Student Choices](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/17/weekinreview/20060917_LEONHARDT_CHART.html]The”>The New York Times > Week in Review > Image > Collegiate Matchups: Predicting Student Choices)</p>
<p>If you choose USC though, you may me making the smart (financial) choice.</p>
<p>This is a tough call. USC is obviously a fantastic school, and USC alum place well in medical and grad school admissions in general. </p>
<p>@tigerdad14: USC is private. </p>
<p>Here are some other considerations: location. Where are you currently located? At least one of those choices means your daughter moving far, far away (unless you’re in the south or midwest or international. Then it’s comparable in distance.) Do you care if she moves far away? Will she get homesick? If you live in Cali or on the east coast, going to one school or the other would mean that she’ll be closer to her friends from home, and can incorporate them into her new-found social groups. Which can be a great thing. </p>
<p>USC traditionally has been associated with a not-so-great neighborhood; it’s kinda like Yale. Fantastic campus, but be careful if stepping your foot off. Columbia has a similar rep, but Princeton is in a genuinely nice, wealthy/suburb-y city, but perhaps has fewer exciting social/cultural offerings than LA and certainly cannot compare to NYC, though it’s only about an hour away by train. Still, Princeton students are more reliant on campus institutions/groups such as the eating clubs for their socializing, while Columbia students can just venture south to find some weekend entertainment. </p>
<p>Finally, LA has better year-round weather. Hands-down. </p>
<p>Of course, the full-ride is not something to be easily dismissed. </p>
<p>I’m going to say it’s hard to go wrong with your daughter’s available choices, and many can only dream to have one of the three. Nevertheless, this is not to say it’s an easy choice. Just try to find the variable that’s the most important to her, and your family and go from there. </p>
<p>Congrats again to your daughter!</p>
<p>tigerdad14: Yes it is a tough choice, what make it harder is USC is a pretty good school itself, even though not at P or C level.</p>
<p>jkreine: D is one out of 10 selected for the Science research Fellow program in C, so choosing between C & P will also be tough now.</p>
<p>WindCloudUltra: We are in NorCal, we do not mind her going far away from home, but moving hassle will be less an issue with USC than P or C. Thanks for a lot of insight.</p>
<p>^^^there really is no comparison between Princeton and Columbia, not even with this “research fellow program”.</p>
<p>the main decision will be the financial one and it appears that USC is a good enough school that it might be worth going there over Princeton</p>
<p>although, if one were going to bypass a full 4 year scholarship for another school, Princeton would be one of the few colleges that would be that “other school”</p>
<p>JamieBrown: What about between P & S? D just got into Stanford too? Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>dave61: I have a successful career in academic medicine. I am rarely asked where I attended medical school and never asked where I attended undergrad. USC is a pretty amazing school that offers a great undergraduate experience. Think hard before passing up a full ride.</p>
<p>If I was your daughter, I’d pick USC. A full ride, holy cow.
She can go to USC for undergrad and P or C for medical school.
Anyway, medical schools don’t care where your D went for undergrad, as long as she has a good MCAT score and a high GPA. </p>
<p>It depends on your location.
USC is on the West Coast, so nice weather, overall, year-round.
USC has SO much school spirit.</p>
<p>USC, hands down. Her real education will come during medical school. She can always go to an Ivy for medical school if she really hankers after an Ivy degree.</p>
<p>Undergrad will create some great memories, maybe an interesting class or two on, say, Shakespeare or Art History, but Princeton isn’t worth cannibalizing money that will be needed for medical school plus your other daughter’s education.</p>
<p>She’s got med school ahead of her…USC all the way</p>
<p>I would pick USC.
Some kids like the gritty part of a city, it’s not always a clear cut that most kids prefer the suburbs.</p>
<p>I’m a Princeton grad, but would say that free at USC would be the way that I would go.</p>
<p>It’s not like the choice is between Princeton and a community college, or Southwest Nowhere State. USC is one of the most prestigious schools in the country.</p>
<p>I know way too many doctors struggling with trying to figure out how to pay off $200K in loans. Put the money towards med school. There are plenty of USC grads who have done very well for themselves, and I’m sure that number includes some internationally-renowned physicians. </p>
<p>No one will care where she did her undergraduate work; with physicians, they generally look past even which med school they attended and more so to where they did their residency (I’ve done a fair amount of consulting with hospitals and physicians).</p>
<p>If that’s 50k a year for all 4 years, then USC is the way to go; but if you want the ivy name, then Princeton > Columbia</p>
<p>It’ll be easier to get better grades at USC as well</p>
<p>If I don’t get off the Princeton waitlist, I might join your daughter at Columbia 
But I think that the cost of an Ivy will pay for itself over time.</p>
<p>^^^^^^kpackett - I would pick Yale way over Columbia</p>
<p>Are you kidding? Take the scholarship! The basic sciences are the basic sciences no matter where a student takes them, and you can put that $200,000 towards medical school!</p>
<p>^^^Cheapomom, you are wrong here. So are you saying that a student would get the same education by going to a community college and then Cal State LA as he would by going to Princeton, columbia or USC?</p>
<p>As a Harvard grad married to a USC spouse with a Princeton daughter, I say USC. No question about it. True, Ivy carries a “special cachet” but those that know USC (e.g. med school admissions) will not be overly impressed with the Ivy credentials compared to USC. If it were my kid, it wouldn’t even be a close call. Good luck!</p>
<p>^^^ geesh…you married the spouse of a USC alumnus?</p>
<p>How did you do that?</p>
<p>Must be that harvard degree</p>