TLDR: I have been accepted both to the University of Florida and Babson. Which do you think I should choose?
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
For UF, I have been accepted into their Honors Program and the University Research Scholars Program (URSP). Under URSP, I would be able to take classes to learn about research, work one on one with faculty and have a mentor, and eventually present at professional conferences and publish my own work. They are even recognizing us at graduation with a medallion as they said only the top 2% of applicants are considered for the program.
In addition, when I visited campus, they appeared to have an amazing first generation program. I intend on applying to graduate school (either business or law) and UF seems like the best option for me to be able to get into a better graduate school. And finally, one of the most important factors, it would be essentially a full ride if I attended UF and with my credits, I could graduate in 2-3 years.
BABSON
While UF seems amazing, Babson is an amazing school that I was excited to be accepted to. I don’t have my financial aid forms yet but I don’t expect to receive as much money based on their reputation (even though my EFC is 0). I am fairly certain that I would like to study business, and the ability to start a business as part of a course requirement as well as their other opportunities (like RICE) seems perfect for me.
Plus, I really wanted to go out of state for college (Florida heat is great until you live here year-round) and it’s 15 minutes outside of Boston, which is perfect. UF is essentially in the middle of nowhere and I am worried I would become bored given that I live in a pretty large city now.
My family and I are leaning more towards to UF, however I would like to hear what others who are unbiased think. I never imagined myself attending UF, however, the URSP program seems like an opportunity I’d be foolish to give up.
I may be wrong, but I’ve been reading online and it hadn’t seemed that way. In addition, my interviewer stated that financial aid wasn’t that great. Plus, I’ve heard the school has a reputation for students being unbelievably wealthy (my interviewer even warned me about it and that I should take into consideration given that I am not and may have difficulty if I attend). Overall, money is still a point of concern for me.
Babson now claims to meet full need. About 5 yrs ago they claimed to meet 95% of need. I am not sure which year it changed. They are now one of a handful of schools that are both need blind and meets full need.
They also have a number of merit based programs including a $1500/yr merit step and $3000 scholarship for the honors program.
It will be interesting to see how you make out, hopefully it will be positive.
Hopefully you can access the link below - let me know if you can’t - I can try to extract the results.
The NY Times analyzed the income distributions and mobility of students at US colleges. Babson was actually pretty good compared to other highly selective private schools. This could be due to the fact that they have need blind admissions.
But, based on my experience, Babson has some very wealthy students who drive very expensive sports cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini, …) on campus. This could skew perceptions relative to other private colleges.
Thank you everyone! I have decided to go to UF. I talked with my counselor and she agreed the research program would be better than Babson for me if I want to go to a good grad school.
Congrats on your decision. But I would not have been dissuaded away from Babson because of need. They just might have met your need and changed your life. The college meets 100% of demonstrated need. They also offer an expansive merit scholarship program to apply for. Babson has a well regarded Posse Scholars program and Center for Women’s Leadership in Business. It is rated one of the highest outcome measured upward mobility for those in the lowest income bracket. If you are in the lowest income bracket the highest chance you have to achieve upward mobility is by attending Babson . See article on outcomes here in https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobility/babson-college