Scholarship Letter?

My S18 is OOS and we got a decent amount of merit aid from Miami. It is right now our top choice school but it is considerably more expensive than some of our other options. We are in a mental battle to determine if Miami is worth over $12K a year more than our other options. We don’t qualify for Financial Aid and we are from CA and are pretty much shut out of our in state preferred options like Cal Poly SLO, or UC. On the bright side we did get direct admit to Farmer School of Business – but just trying to determine if it is worth the premium for us.

@EncinitasJAK I don’t know your options for business schools but Farmer is great and your S will surely do well afterwards. Our S1 went to an out-of-state public and it was about the same amount as yours for us. I don’t know if in the end it will be any different regarding the education but he surely loves his school. Difference-we can drive it in about 5 hours. Also, my S1 is interested in (possibly) staying in the Midwest area. My S2 is a DA to Miami and Farmer and it is his top choice right now (we are from OH). Although Miami will have recruiters and internship/co-ops from everywhere, there may be a higher concentration from around this area of the country. Your S may start his career/stay in the Midwest area. Is he 100% about staying in CA area or is that not important? Also, you will run into travel expenses back and forth which will surely bump up the $12K/year, something to consider depending on where your other schools are.

@EncinitasJAK The poster above is right. You have to consider the extra $ for traveling expenses. You figure your son would want to come home 2 to 3 times a year. Is Miami/Farmer worth $50K plus for the 4 years of school? It all depends on your other options. Also Miami is very well known in the Midwest. Not sure if it is the same in the west coast… Miami is an excellent school and for many here, it would be worth it.

Thanks @BreakfastClub1 and @Setter4life, you make me feel that Miami is worthwhile too consider. I think that my S will gain experiences by being in the Midwest that will only help him and that is what is keeping it in consideration. I just want to make sure Farmer is worth the extra effort and costs too. I am glad to hear the Miami is well known in the midwest–it is mixed here in CA, but of the people who do know, I do get favorable feedback. Since CA is so impacted, our next best cost options are in Arizona at ASU and UofA where I can get basically instate rates as an out of state student with their merit aid programs. I do think that Farmer and Miami is a better program overall and just am trying to figure out it is worth the extra money. I fundamentally do think it is, but wish it was more like a $5k difference per year rather than $12k. I guess that is something we have to seriously consider as we visit in a few weeks. We also have lots of frequent flier points so probably not too worried about the travel so much.

@EncinitasJAK If you are comparing Miami University to the CA State schools, or to ASU and U of A, remember that your Son will more than likely graduate from Miami in 4 years while it is highly unlikely they will graduate from those other schools in four years(especially the CA state schools). So while Miami may cost more per year, it will take less years. If you are comparing Miami to a UC school then it’s true some of them have comparable four year graduation rates to Miami, but they are more expensive than the CA state schools and the UC’s are achieving those four year graduation rates by putting 1,000 or more kids into core classes and using grad students to teach them. No thanks. We live in CA and didn’t bother applying to any of our public schools. They are just a mess and getting worse every year.

I am not sure the poster above is correct about Arizona and ASU taking longer than 4 years. Where do you get that from?. ASU Carey school of Business is actually ranked higher than Farmer. Not to say that it is better, but it is a fact. The real question here is whether MIami is worth $50K more than say ASU or UA? If the student wants to succeed, he or she will succeed at either school. Now there are A LOT of differences between these schools. ,Miami is a much more intimate campus and a 1/3 of the size of ASU. One is Urban and the other is pretty much in the middle of nowhere… The more I think about it, the more I can say they are night and day. Keep in mind that neither school is viewed as Elite but Miami is harder to get into and it is more selective when it comes to Farmer

You might want to find out what the placement rate is for the intended major. How about potential earnings. Internship potential. etc

It is soooo hard to decide. We are going to Miami, OSU, and ASU during our April Spring Break. I am hoping the visits will help solidify things. I agree that the CA system is very crowded and hard to get in and through without delays–I don’t even know why we applied, but this is our first time around so learning a lot. I am extremely impressed with Miami – I visited the Farmer school (mom on a business trip in Indy area) and thought it was amazing. We are going again in early April so my son and husband can also see and will be scrutinizing it a bit further to make sure it is the place that is for us. It was so amazing to go on the tour there and sit in on an Accounting class and there were only about 30 or 40 kids in the lecture. I was told that was the largest class in the business school, I was shocked. I went to Purdue (back in the 80’s) and took the intro accounting class and there were over 500 kids in that class (maybe even 1000, who knows…) . Miami seems like such a great mix of a larger school with a more intimate atmosphere.

@Setter4life ASU four year graduation rate is 38% and and U of A is 40%. So you are more than likely not going to graduate in 4 years from those two. Miami U ihas 66% 4 year graduation rate so statistically it’s likely you will graduate in four years. Nothing against the quality of those other two schools, but if you ended up having to spend an extra year at either one(which is statically likely) then most of that cost differenc would be eaten up.

@EncinitasJAK When you say OSU, do you mean Ohio State? If so, ,it is affordable to you? I am familiar with all three schools. Out of all the schools, Miami is by far the most different of the three. OSU and ASU are similar in. size, setting (Urban), and rah rah rah spirit. I visited all of them, and ultimately, I much prefer being in an Urban area setting. If money is not an issue and Miami is the right fit, then Miami makes the most sense… It all comes downs to what you can afford. if this is a struggle and you and the student has to get loans, the difference between the schools might not matter. It is a good thing that you will be visiting all the schools one more time. Pay attention to the surroundings like things to do around town, culture, etc. Kid will be going there for 4 years.

Great point about the 4 year graduation rate at ASU, UofA, I did not realize so low. Sometimes I wonder if those numbers are distorted by the commuters/part time workers who have no intention of graduating in 4 years? ASU is a big commuter school so wondering about that. The commuter thing also is something I don’t like in general either. I would say that next to no one commutes at Miami. I am also wondering if anyone has any knowledge of using all these AP credits these kids have? At Miami, they said the State of Ohio takes a 3 or better on the AP exam as college credit. My son may have 21 hours of AP classes so that could help get some classes out of the way and help the 4 year graduation rate or allow him to take some more Farmer school classes that are interesting…

@EncinitasJAK Our neighbor’s kid just finished the business undergrad program at ASU and it took him five years(He brought in some AP too). He told us he could not get the classes he need to graduate on time because of the business classes being impacted. That is of course just one student’s experience, but I believe it based on the rest of what I see posted about the school.

Did your neighbor’s kid speak favorably about job placement after graduation? Just wondering if they have a good recruiting office? When I went to Farmer they were touting their placement rates and will ask further. Another thing to think about; from my understanding, the merit awards last for 4 years so if you go into that 5th year it gets expensive in more ways than one. When thinking of it that way ASU will definitely be more than Miami.

@EncinitasJAK He’s working at an investment banking office at what I assume is an post college entry level type of job. I don’t know if the recruiting office helped him get it or not. I do know that he loved ASU and had a great time.