<p>FatalAce, Med school isn't cheap, right? I wouldn't go to Duke or WashU unless you seriously can't imangine yourself happy anywhere else. Don't pick them just because UT Austin isn't exactly what you want.</p>
<p>Kbranch: W&M no question. It is a name-brand, prestigous school, and it sounds like you will get out with little-no-debt and ready for life, grad school, etc. </p>
<p>Unless W&M simply doesn't have the major you want to study (unlikely or you would not have applied?), or attending NCAA D1 sports games and living in a greek system are mandatory (not good reasons to pick a school IMHO), I don't see significant advantages favoring Duke. </p>
<p>My son is a HS Jr, W&M is one of several in-state schools on our list and I would be tickled pink (and a few other colors) if he could go there. (check back in about a year for the update)</p>
<p>If your family can pick up the tab with no hardships, then go to Duke. It has a superb pre-med program (and great medical school, too). But if there will be family sacrifices involved, or you're going to graduate from college with huge loans, and then add med school loans on top of that, you should think carefully before rejecting UT as impersonal. Any large institution will feel impersonal if you're not actually part of it yet. Med school is very expensive, there are few scholarships available that do not require military service, and you are also facing several years, at least, of low-income medical residency.</p>
<p>I completely agree with OldPerson. If you are looking toward a career such as law where an 80K debt would not be unreasonable, then a private school makes some sense. If you want to be a teacher, you'll never pay down the debt. In my mind, private school makes more sense if you aren't going to be going to grad school...that is the name on the "final" diploma that you'll be waving around. If you're going to grad school, and are going to incur that much more debt, then save the private school for that. </p>
<p>There is a site on the web where you can run numbers on your projected salary versus your projected college debt. Around 8% debt burden seems to be okay with people; above 15% and they start to feel like they're drowning. Let me see...found it! Check out:</p>
<p>I am in a dielemnaa i got into suny binghamton and northeastern university with 15k scholarship a year/still waiting for financial aid package</p>
<p>i want to pursue a degree in business (finance)
which college would be a better investment?</p>
<p>You should also remember that just because you're planning on law doesn't mean that's where you'll end up. Lots of things happen between now and graduation - change of interests, not to mention things like poor LSAT scores unfortunately ;[</p>
<p>I was planning on going to law school for several years until I did a 90 degree turn and went into something fairly different. You never know.</p>
<p>i think this debate really depends on what your career goals are.</p>
<p>There are two career paths that require "ivy league" level, I-banking and Management Consulting....those types of places ONLY recruit at top tier private schools. And the careers you obtain after even a few years can be great, and those fields have great MBA placements.</p>
<p>If you are confident in your abilities and know those fields are your goals, it can be worth it, financially and career wise even with the debt.</p>
<p>However, for other professions like engineering, nursing, teaching, accounting, etc. state school is the clear choice. There are is strong demand in any of these fields and a degree from "state u" can get you where you want to go no problem.</p>
<p>For law school/med school, the choice is even more obvious. State school all the way! law schools use virtually a "formula" consisting of your GPA and your LSAT score. your GPA might even be HIGHER at the state school! and your LSAT score isn't going to change depending on where you go (much)....it measures your innate reasoning skill. So you have a better chance at Harvard Law from UMASS than MIT (possibly).</p>
<p>For prospective scientists and PhD candidates, you will be surprised to see how much more research opportunities there can be at large state schools vs small private ones. And the admissions game here is all about undergraduate research experience. so state here too :P</p>
<p>
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For law school/med school, the choice is even more obvious. State school all the way! law schools use virtually a "formula" consisting of your GPA and your LSAT score. your GPA might even be HIGHER at the state school! and your LSAT score isn't going to change depending on where you go (much)....it measures your innate reasoning skill. So you have a better chance at Harvard Law from UMASS than MIT (possibly).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You're very conveniently ignoring the fact that many top state schools are notorious for grade deflation relative to the grade inflation at top private universities.</p>
<p>
[quote]
For prospective scientists and PhD candidates, you will be surprised to see how much more research opportunities there can be at large state schools vs small private ones. And the admissions game here is all about undergraduate research experience. so state here too :P
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Look at top PhD programs across the board, and you'll actually notice that LAC grads do overwhelmingly better than research university grads at getting into top PhD programs.</p>
<p>I agree with dleray it truly depends on what is the career you are choosing. For example, where I live, Colombia, there is a public University of the preforming arts but still it the best in Colombia. But if you want to be a doctor you want your degree to be the best one there is. :D</p>
<p>The admissions on private colleges are not easy, so if you were accepted, go in. The private colleges are worth it, not only the great name, smaller class sizen and more personal attention, but you learn more.
Its reality</p>
<p>i think that it depends a lot on the level of the majors. if wesleyan offers you a far better program than your state university, in the long run it will be worth it. you will graduate from college with better offers and better opportunities in life.</p>
<p>for farseer: in your case the best would be to go to duke. you will have much higher education, and it really is worth it. in the end if you go to a university that you really didnt like, the only thing that will happen is that you'll be unhappy and you wont enjoy.</p>
<p>i think it all dpends in the academic levels. if your state university has a good academic level, then it's better to go there than to spend a great deal of money more on a private university that offers you a little difference in academics. now if you applied to a really good university and got accepted, in the long run it will be much betterfor your future. i think that you cant compete with having a better and higher education, regardless if it's your dream college or state college.</p>
<p>Christiebj: Last year at this time my family and I faced this dilemma too. My son was accepted into NYU, and we were given a "financial aid" package of $44,000 in loans(!) My son was extremly proud and excited to have been accepted into this school which he loved, but he knew deep down that that was way too much money for us to be able to pay.</p>
<p>Costs of living, future retirement, other family members, it all comes into play when we need to make these hard decisions. And hard they are. </p>
<p>I suggest you try this: imagine an envelope has come in the mail postmarked NYU. Open it. It is your first term bill, for what? 24 grand? Look at the figure. Think about the amount. Now think about the fact that that same envelope will be arriving on your doorstep twice a year for a total of eight times. Relentlessly, for the next four years. How do you feel about paying that amount?</p>
<p>Contemplate this scenario and I hope it helps your family make up your minds.
I think of this everytime I receive my tuition bill for my son, and it is an amount which is a lot more affordable. I breathe a sigh of relief and know we made the right decision for us.</p>
<p>Farsaeer, hi
I happened upon your post, and thought I'd reply as a parent of a freshman (at neither of your schools) and as a teacher...
Basically, you will get as good an education as you apply yourself to receive. Duke (near me) is wonderful and has a fabulous reputation, granted, but is it really worth putting yourself in debt just to say you have a Duke degree? I'll say to you what I said to my D: save your money in undergrad school so that you can splurge on the grad school of your dreams! There are several advantages: If you really want Duke, you'll keep your grades up at AZ so that you will be a viable candidate for the grad program; if you go to AZ for free, you will be able to save money and can pay Duke's tab for the shorter grad program; finally, you will be closer to your support system (family) in case you make a poor choice (not likely, but hey - you never know!). That's my 2 cents. Best of luck as you make this huge decision,
Sandy D</p>
<p>There's been a lot of talk on this thread about saving the money on undergrad to pay for grad school. But what if the private undergrad school has a 5 yr Bachelor's/Master's program and the public state school doesn't? Then which do you choose?</p>
<p>I'm deciding between Barnard and UVA. Both are amazing schools, but I like the atmosphere better at Barnard but my estimated debt (might change depending on future scholasrships) is about 80k total. However, I can get a BA and a Masters in International Relations in 5 years, graduate, and begin my life. Whereas at UVA, my debt would be much smaller (still existant, but smaller) though I would graduate only with a BA and would still have to apply to grad schools.</p>
<p>In this case, is it worth it to rack up the debt when I'll get so many more opportunities at the private school?</p>
<p>Also, in response to Bomber above, some schools, like Barnard, have monthly payment plans. For instance, with my current financial aid package (only 8K, but better than UVA at $0) I would be paying a $4-5K/month. Seems at lot less when you pay in installments than that foreboding $50K figure they scare you with initially.</p>
<p>At this point in time, I'm leaning towards Barnard because I genuinely think I would thrive better in a smaller school than a large university; however, it has all the assets of a larger university considering Columbia's across the street and they share practically everything. As for the money issue, I plan on getting a job outside my Work-Study and I can be an RA starting my sophomore year and get free housing. I know the price tag seems daunting but I think it will be worth it. And if I hate it, I can always transfer to UVA.</p>
<p>I'd appreciate any thoughts on my situation.</p>
<p>It really depends on what field you will be getting into. Like many people said, a lot of jobs have capped salaries (teachers, even doctors if you dont own your own practice)</p>
<p>A lot of people say go to state school then go to "graduate school of your dreams", but a lot of employers will be looking at your undergraduate school especially for jobs that start at say 68K+. In the long run going to a school that has "name" will have its benefits depending on what field you go into. In the Los Angeles Fashion Industry (where my dad has a consulting firm) no one has even heard of top LAC's such as Wesleyan or Williams. But saying you studied in "New York" is impressive to job recrutiers (at least here).</p>
<p>In the end, not many people feel comfortable taking on debt. But it might REALLY be worth it in the end.</p>
<p>bad1017, if I were you, I would compare the bottom lines. Compare your Barnard debt over five years ($80K) against your debt at UVa (zero?). Now, how much will your MBA cost? If it is $80K or more, it is a wash. If it costs you less, you can see the opportunity cost of choosing Barnard.</p>
<p>I'm wondering, with paying about $4,500 per month for Barnard times 9 months per year times 5 years, you will pay just over $200K for that education. Does that mean you have $120K in cash? If so, there might be some appeal to getting your undergrad degree debt-free from UVa, which is a great school btw. If you are in Va, your undergrad bill would only be $60K total, and only $120K if you are oos. You could choose from just about any MBA program for the $80K debt you would be incurring at Barnard. I think there might be some advantage in keeping your options open in selecting the MBA program that suits you best four years from now.</p>
<p>I want to do undergraduate finance and I have gotten admission in Northeastern university and Binghamton</p>
<p>After the financial aid and scholarships, Northeastern university comes down to 19k year
Binghamton on the other hand comes down to about 9k a year</p>
<p>Which college do you think is a better investment and has a better name in getting a job in finance?</p>
<p>Go with Binghamton. NEU is not worth another 40 - 50 K (over 4 or 5 years depending on co-op)</p>
<p>Well if the cost is such a big problem, and you dont really care go for the state school, but since it looks like you really love Wesleyan i suggest you take a chance and go for it, maybe get summer jobs to help pay for it. If you dont you might regret it later.</p>