<p>My final choices are between SUNY BINGHAMTON and THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.</p>
<p>I took 2 years of college level courses in high school (I go to an unconventional school where instead of offering AP courses, all juniors and senior take college level courses). If I choose Binghamton (one of the best public universities in the northeast with the 4th highest starting salary among public schools in the nation), they will accept all the credits I received in the past two years, which means I'll be able to graduate in two years. They'll let me skip most of the humanities/social science courses. Also, I'll be able to double major in math and economics/psychology.</p>
<p>If I choose UChicago, I'll have to spend 4 yrs since they won't transfer most of my credits. Also, I won't be able to double major since I want to take more electives.</p>
<p>Do you think I should go to Binghamton and graduate in 2 yrs with double major OR go for Uchicago and graduate in 4 yrs with one major?</p>
<p>***"So, lets see, you are a senior at SUNY Binghamton, but the first two years of credit you received while in high school. </p>
<p>Well, in one hour I am interviewing a student that is a senior at U of Chicago, one of the best universities in the world, and who spent a full 4 years taking classes and learning from these top notch professors at Univ. of Chicago and interacting with the top notch students at the school. He also has 2 years on you in terms of age, which normally interprets into maturity. </p>
<p>Now tell me, who do you think I should hire?"***</p>
<p>You do need to sit down and run the numbers. How good is your aid for U of C? If you would decide to complete multiple majors, and/or a joint BA/MA program at Binghampton, would the possibly three or four-year cost for that program work out to be less than four years at U of C? </p>
<p>What about a semester or year abroad? Would that be easier to fit in at one place or the other? Is there a difference in what you can do with your summers? For example, would you absolutely have to have a well-paid summer job in order to afford Chicago, but attending Binghampton would mean that you could take unpaid internships instead?</p>
<p>What kind of grad school are you shooting for? Ph.D.? Law School? If it is Law School, you should go the cheap route for your undergraduate degree so that you have money left for Law School. If it is a Ph.D., that is more of a toss-up. Most good Ph.D. programs will offer you full funding through a combination of teaching/research assistantships and tuition waivers. If you do well at Binghampton, you can get into any Ph.D. program that you could have gotten into from U of C.</p>
<p>You have two very good options. Either one can work well for you. Whichever one you choose, will be OK. Once you make your decision, embrace it fully, and don’t ever look back.</p>
<p>If you can save tens of thousands of dollars by going the SUNY route, it’s a no-brainer. If you plan on going to grad school, that’s the degree your employer will care about, and you’ll bank a bunch of money in the process. Binghamton is a fine school and you’ll have the same graduate opportunities either way.</p>
<p>You haven’t given us much information to work with. What is your intended major or majors? Is money a concern? What are your goals? These schools are very different. Chicago and Binghamton are much different. Binghamton is a fine school and may be your best choice…especially considering the way you’ve presented question, but I’d give this some deeper thought. The answer to the question of “should” you graduate in two years because you can may in fact be more complicated. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you are a top-notch student and have terrific grades in the college classes you have taken and plan on getting straight A’s at Binghamton, then go there and go to a terrific graduate school. The graduate school is what will count. Why waste money on undergrad and why waste two years of lost opportunity cost? Of course it depends on what you plan to study in grad school, too. I’d be awfully tempted to go the U of Chicago for economics just to have the exposure to the top econ professors.</p>
<p>I adoreee uchicago, but binghamton seems more practical in your case. Like what the people above said, you’ll save mad money and your undergrad degree won’t matter as much as your graduate degree when you’re out looking for a job in the future. </p>
<p>What attracts you to uchicago? You mentioned two negatives about it, but there must be some other things you really like since it made it to the final two.</p>
<p>I plan on majoring in math or economics, both of which are among UChicago’s strongest majors. </p>
<p>Regarding the money issue, I haven’t received the official financial aid package from any school yet. According to my speculation, I’ll need to pay no more than $1k/yr for Binghamton, and 5k/yr for Uchicago.</p>
<p>How do you get these estimates for your expenses? Do you have a 0 EFC with FAFSA? Does that estimated 5k/yr for U Chicago come after accounting for your Stafford loans? Is your estimated aid at both places guaranteed for all the years you would expect to be there?</p>
<p>Wait until you have the actual financial aid packages in hand, and then pop over to the Financial Aid Forum and read up on how to evaluate them. Here is one link to examples of financial aid letter jargon: [Financial</a> Aid Letter](<a href=“http://financialaidletter.com/]Financial”>http://financialaidletter.com/)</p>