Swat vs. full-tuition at BU

<p>Coquettish, do you know anything about W&L's pre-med program? Ask the admissions office where recent grads went on to med school. That might give you a better idea of the disparity between Wellesley, Chicago and W&L's reputations with med schools. </p>

<p>I can't tell you what to do, obviously, because I don't know your financial situation. If you think you will be much happier at Wellesley or Chicago, it is probably worth the $$ (it is four years of your life, after all). For career advancement purposes, though, you might not get as much of a boost as you think. In addition, would you consider spending a year or two at W&L and then transferring to a better-known school? That might be a good financial compromise. </p>

<p>This is just my common-sense advice, but I hope it helps.</p>

<p>W & L is very prestigious and well known in the South. I am sure that a strong gpa and strong med boards will serve you well from any of these schools. The culture is totally different at all three. As ID says, don't focus on the med school piece. If you think you would enjoy the environment at W & L, with the great $, go for it.</p>

<p>I don't understand why I shouldn't be considering med school right now. After all, the primary reason I would pick W&L over Chicago and Wellesley is for financial reasons (full ride over zip in financial aid). This is precisely the money I would be saving to go to med school, which is expensive and does not offer many scholarships (except for need).</p>

<p>Thinking about the dollars for med school is smart. We see a lot of kids trying to guess which college will be "better for med school admissions". That is the type of thing that we were suggesting you should avoid.</p>

<p>If it's a smart thing to start planning ahead now, why should I avoid it? Sorry, maybe I'm missing something...</p>

<p>Washington and Lee is a really great place. Check out the posts last year by Willywonka, who chose it over other schools that have more name recognition, such as Harvard. You just have to like the campus culture and location. Obviously the location is very different than Chicago!</p>

<p>You can find out about their placement rate of students in medical school from W & L's website or call them. My guess is that it is good.</p>

<p>Medical school is very expensive, and it would be good to avoid getting in debt at the undergraduate level.</p>

<p>Good luck! Please let us know what you decide.</p>

<p>Coquettish, I don't believe he said what you think he said.;)
[quote]
Med school should be the last thing on your mind choosing among those three schools.

[/quote]
Allow me to translate: </p>

<p>Concentrate on the back part of the sentence , not the front . Maybe it will be more clear like this -</p>

<p>When choosing between those three schools , med school should be the last thing on your mind. </p>

<p>interesteddad is saying that the campus life at Wellesley, Chicago and Wash and Lee are as different as different can be. He may be doubting how those 3 schools could co-exist peaceably on one final list. He may be saying that for a student who would take full advantage of the prevailing campus atmosphere at Wellesley, 4 years at W and L might seem like a never-ending hell. And vice-versa. </p>

<p>How'd I do interesteddad?</p>

<p>


</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bu.edu/finaid/grants/freshman_sch/merit_fr13.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bu.edu/finaid/grants/freshman_sch/merit_fr13.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Trustee Scholarship Recipients' average high school GPA: 3.91
Average rank in class: top 1 percent
Average SAT I score: 1520 (ACT: 34)
Boston University's most prestigious merit award, the Trustee Scholarship covers the full cost of tuition and mandatory fees, and is offered to students with superior academic records. Nomination by principals and headmasters of public and independent high schools is required for consideration. </p>

<p>The moral to our story? It took less than a minute to find this on the BU website. Jeez.</p>

<p>curmudgeon: We just are a bit slow here on the Swarthmore site. Guess we should try the Rhodes one, instead.</p>

<p>"When choosing between those three schools , med school should be the last thing on your mind." </p>

<p>"interesteddad is saying that the campus life at Wellesley, Chicago and Wash and Lee are as different as different can be. He may be doubting how those 3 schools could co-exist peaceably on one final list. He may be saying that for a student who would take full advantage of the prevailing campus atmosphere at Wellesley, 4 years at W and L might seem like a never-ending hell. And vice-versa."</p>

<p>I think that is a bit overstated. For a savings of perhaps greater than 100,000, we can all make a few adjustments.</p>

<p>Well, cm, I'd say you'd have a friendly welcome. Sorry to offend. I'm not taking a position, just trying to help on what was clear to me to be a miscommunication. ;) Didn't mean to invade hallowed space. Am I supposed to scurry back, or am I free to roam? I'm not that good at scurrying. </p>

<p>You are right though, collegialmom. The similarities are what caused me to want to post. (But Wash and Lee is substantially higher ranked than Rhodes. But then again, D's scholarship was for more, too.) It's all a balancing act. Set it before the kid. Let them choose.</p>

<p>I think s/he said that it was for a full-ride at W & L. I think that for full-rides, there is a lot of slack that one can give. But you are right that the campus cultures are very different. Personally, I think that college is about what you get out of it, and above a certain level of academics, there are opportunities everywhere.</p>

<p>It looks like your family feels that way, as well, and IMHO, I think it is great that your daughter chose Rhodes.</p>

<p>Congratulations on having such a well-grounded child! And welcome to the Swarthmore board, hope you will continue to try to keep us honest!</p>

<p>Senior moment on the full-ride at Wash and Lee. Mea culpa. I was thinking about the OP and BU. </p>

<p>And I agree with you wholeheartedly. The discussions at my house on this very issue were "lively". I took "the best school we can afford even with some pain" position. My wife took the $. And my daughter chose what made sense to her, taking the long view (med school). My house was pretty much like this thread. LOL. When someone asks if I am satisfied with her decision, I respond "Yes. I am satisfied that the decision was her decision and that she made it with her eyes open".</p>

<p>curmudgeon,
Both shocked and delighted to see you on the Swarthmore forum. Thank you for lending your family story to this particular thread. There are many of us who admire your daughter (and her parents) for making the decision she did.</p>

<p>One reason not to think about medical school when choosing a college is that well over 50% of students who <em>think</em> they want to go to medical school change their mind after a semester or two in college. </p>

<p>That said, $200,000 saved on tuition will come in handy for any post-college plans you might develop.</p>

<p>I should probably restate more clearly:</p>

<p>a) the cost of a college is definitely something to consider and, in many cases, it is perfectly sensible for the cost considerations to over-ride other preferences. None of us strangers can really help with cost considerations because we don't know the individual situation. How can any of us be so presumptious to tell you what you can afford? My state has a perfectly wretched state university. But, if someone tells me that they are going there because it's what they can afford, I'm excited for the student. A friend of my daughters comes from a family of eight kids. He is finishing up his bachelors in two years at the local branch of the state U, while working full-time in the family business. What's not to applaud about that?</p>

<p>b) When talking about roughly similar schools, it is a waste of time to worry about med school placement rates and all of that. Why? Because YOUR odds of med school placement will depend on how YOU do in college, not on how the average son or daughter of the average family with 2.3 children does, on average, at that college.</p>

<p>c) Subject to being overridden by cost considerations in a) above, pay attention to the overall campus culture of schools, not arcane details. For example, if you are a minority student who values a diverse community and does not like a heavy drinking scene, you probably wouldn't put a college with the highest fraternity membership and the whitest student body in the country, topping Princeton Review's schools where both beer and liquor flow freely at the top of your list from a campus culture standpoint. Likewise, if it is a top priority to attend a coed college, then you probably wouldn't put a single-sex college at the top of your list. This is pretty common-sense stuff that is only difficult because it requires actually deciding what your preferences are. And, again, it is perfectly reasonable for large financial differences to trump these considerations. However, that trumping should be a conscious decision.</p>

<p>I know the conversations evolved a bit since I last posted, but I guess just for the benefit of the other kids stuck in the position between no aid versis full ride, I've decided to go to Swarthmore because:</p>

<p>I did an overnight at BU and felt like I didn't mesh very well with the general student body. What I was looking for in my college experience was to be challenged and to intellecually stimulated and to learn from the other students, not to be around people who can be exclusive, end up isolating myself with a small group of fringe students, and not be involved in the general student life.</p>

<p>Swarthmore's aid office is incredibely generous! I guess thats why its good to go to a school with a big endowment. Basically, they will offer me aid (more than any of my other colleges!) when I have another sibling in college at the same time, which is what my family was worried most about.</p>

<p>Hands down, I'll get a better education at Swat. Even if I have to work year-round and take out loans to do it, I think it is worth it.</p>

<p>I hope that my explanation and logic might help someone else who's still deliberating. Good luck!</p>

<p>As you describe it, it sounds as if you made the right choice! I'm excited about the opportunity that awaits you. Take full advantage of it.</p>

<p>good choice surfinsofa! i'll be seeing you at swat then this fall</p>