It was speculation, and I stand corrected. Both UofR and UMAmherst have comparable 4y graduation rates.
Although I donāt place a lot of weight on rankings, since you posted those Iād like to point out that UMass HONORS puts UMass at a completely different level. Congratulations on earning that spot!
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That is great! My kids were accepted into every honors they applied to except UMASS and Rutgers.
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If you have to be full pay at UR and canāt afford it, definitely take it off the list, but since they havenāt released the $5500 loan yet as you said, have you received their total financial package? You didnāt get merit aid, but sometimes they are very generous with financial aid (need based). Did you run an NPC for them?
4 year graduation rate at UMass 76%
https://www.umass.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/explore/admissions-statistics
Can you clarify what you mean here? Rochesterās webpage says that merit aid is āautomatically reapplied to your financial aid package each year.ā
Itās possible that is a new guarantee. Of course, tuition/room/board typically increase every year so if you are considering Rochester, you should ask about that. @taverngirl I seem to remember you had an issue with Rochester FA? Any thoughts?
Merit aid is renewed each year (might have a GPA requirement, I donāt recall).
Need based aid is assessed each year and can change. I believe thatās what affected @taverngirl , but they can clarify.
It doesnāt happen to everyone, but has happened so something to be cautious of, esp if circumstances with family finances change.
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Rochester is best academically - but how would you pay? In fact, how will you pay for any of them?
$5,500 firs year loan - but then what?
They all areā¦Syracuse is an R1 research as well.
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Joining the choirā¦none of these sound affordable. It sounds like you are OOS for UMass.
Do you have any other acceptances that are affordable onesā¦like maybe public universities in your own state?
and if not, depending on grades (got into Rochester so Iām assuming they are strong) - thereās still time to apply to other flagships that offer huge merit.
The estimated COA for UMASS Amherst OOS is roughly $47k. A $16k scholarship would bring it down to $31k which is essentially the instate COA. Not sure where the $55k number came from.
Did you get any Financial aid from Roch? They did eliminate almost all of my Dās after freshman year (and three other people that she knew personally so likely others as well) Didnāt realize until it happened that they had a reputation for that. This was four years ago so maybe itās improved, but Iād go in with your eyes open and do your research. Personally unless they award you a bucket of aid, I would take them off your list. In hindsight, transferring has been a blessing for my D. Has had experiences at her second school she just wouldnāt have had at Roch. UMass will get you where you want to go 
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Rochester meets 100% of demonstrated need (if itās determined OP has).
$52,697 OOS
$55,082 international
https://www.umass.edu/financialaid/undergraduate/undergraduate-costs
What are you basing this on? My perception not based on any data is that UMAss honors would be more academic since the stats of kids in the program is higher. Happy to learn more, however.
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$38,054 tuition, $14,644 housing/meals, books/supplies $1000, transportation $400, other education cost $1000, so total is $55,098.
So your NET cost is $39K or so (you said you received a $16K scholarship in your OP)? Is that $39K affordable, after taking the $5.5K loan? Note that you might not be spending $1K on books and supplies. What is the $1K education cost, do you know?
Fair question - as ābestā or ābetterā is subjective.
For most kids, they will get a wonderful experience anywhere if they decide to get one.
Overall university, UR is near elite. SU is near elite in few disciplines but solid in others (math/science). UMASS is a solid flagship.
UR is strong in math and science. UMASS is solidā¦from a rank POV.
Thatās all Iām basing it on.
If I couldnāt afford it, then neither are good.
And college costs more than they say - especially if youāre an international student which it sounds like it must be the case based on the COA they provided. For a domestic student, I suggest adding $3-5K. International is gonna be more.
One thing about UMASS, the food is very highly rated. My young co worker raves about it. And as a parent of two students who claim they can barely eat, i think thatās an underrated thing!! Having low blood sugar or big restaurant bills is never good.
As for Honors, both my kids are in public Honors Collegesā¦they have perksā¦but theyāre not going to raise the qualify of the majorā¦nor are they necessarily helpful in obtaining employment, etc.
All are solid - but in my opinion UR is a level above - but again, itās opinion - which pretty much everyone who says such and such is betterā¦well theyāre all opinion 
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