<p>Hi. My daughter was accepted at the business schools for Syracuse, Univ. of DE, and Duquesne. Syracuse offered $8K in need based grants, DE offered $7K merit and Duquesne offered $14K in merit. That means tuition alone is $27K at Syracuse, $19K at Delaware and $12K at Duquesne per year. We are having a hard time deciding if the additional expense is worth it at Syracuse. Its her first choice because of the breadth of offerings at Syracuse, school spirit because of the sports teams, and the extra curricular activities. She liked the other two schools as well, but not as much. Any advice? Are employment opportunities significantly better for Syracuse grad vs. the other schools? That might justify the additional expense.</p>
<p>It all depends on what the additional expense means to you. Is extra money you can well afford? Do you have to borrow? Do you have other kids? How are you set up for retirement? </p>
<p>We did this for my first. A mistake, because we have other kids and the economy tanked and our house is such that selling it is a problem and grandparents got sick, etc, etc. We are paying the PLUS loans that we took out to pay for his college that he wanted. The thrill in his case lasted one semester, and really he could have gone to a state school and been just as happy and done better. We set cost limits for the next 3 as a result and they seem to be fine with it. My 2nd on turned down Syracuse for SUNY Buffalo and did just fine there and was happy with his college experience. Yes, I would have preferred he had gone to Syracuse, but that’s my problem. I guess I have some college “name” hang ups. The fact of the matter for him it did not matter. The 3rd one wanted something special that only one school had, and we would have anted up for it, but it was such a good match that the school itself came up with the difference in cost. For our last one,s till in high school, he’ll probably get to go whereever regardless of cost, because of the breathing room we’ll have at that time, hopefully . But with younger kids in school and other uncertainties, paying what we did for college for the first was a mistake.</p>
<p>I don’t see how anyone can answer this question for you, but the above poster has come close. It’s largely economics.</p>
<p>some thoughts, though … I assume we’re talking Undergraduate? </p>
<p>While Syracuse is a school with a major athletic program, I wouldn’t assume that school spirit is any less at Delaware (probably Duquesne too, but I know next to nothing about the school). Likewise, I wouldn’t assume that the other schools have fewer offerings.</p>
<p>However, Syracuse certainly does have generally higher rankings than Delaware, and MUCH higher than Duquesne. We all differ, however, as to how much weight to put to that.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>I guess it comes down to if you feel the value is worth the extra money. Delaware is a good school, with some ok name recognition, but Syracuse’s name recognition is much higher. School spirit is definitely higher at Syracuse, but I’m sure Univ of Delaware has some spirit as well, plus it’s state so the cost will be lower. The really value will be where she can best network into a job or internship, which is probably at Syracuse since it’s private.</p>
<p>It may depend on intended major. For example, Delaware has a very high reputation in chemical engineering, but not much reputation in other subjects.</p>
<p>I think we need to visit each school one more time before making our final decision!</p>