Turn down a full ride?

<p>I have been offered a complete full ride scholarship to a small, relatively unknown, and not-very-prestigious school. My question is, would it be in my best interests to accept this scholarship and hope to get into a top graduate school, or should I pay big bucks (we're talking about 80,000 dollars) to go to a well-known, highly ranked liberal arts college, knowing that my chances for grad-school admissions are much higher? I know it would be stupid to turn down a full ride, but it would also be stupid to ruin my chances of getting into a great grad program just to save money. Any opinions?</p>

<p>Can you tell us what the names of the two colleges you're looking at are?</p>

<p>That isn't necessarily true. If you can keep a 3.8+ GPA even at a relatively unknown school, that boosts your chances a lot. In my opinion, it's better to go to a class B school and graduate in the top than go to a class A pretigious school and struggle just to be over 50% of your class. Besides, graduate schools are getting expensive these days. Unless your parents are millionaires, you need to start saving for grad school than start with $100,000 debt just from undergrad. I'm currently at University of Missouri and I definitely turned down top 20 schools and I know a HS valedictorian who turned down Harvard. A lot of kids are opting for lesser known, cheaper school these days, and if you do it too, don't feel bad or depressed, just keep your grades and hopes UP!</p>

<p>I accepted a full ride to my university and in hindsight I believe it was the right thing to do. Obviously my family is not as affluent as others out there so it may change from individual to individual but I highly recommend it.</p>

<p>what are the 2 schools...thats pretty important</p>

<p>you bobob where are u from li?</p>

<p>thanks for the feedback guys....the two schools are wheaton college (IL) and warner pacific college</p>

<p>i would definitely choose wheaton if you can afford it because warner is just so unknown and only has around 600 kids, thats just ridiculous.</p>

<p>Thinking like an economist, let's look at the opportunity costs. What does 80,000 mean for you? How hard is it to come by? What about Wheaton? Is going to Wheaton and having a greater chance (in your opinion) to get into a good grad school worth the 80,000? If it is, then go. If it's not, then go to Warner.</p>

<p>Which college did you like better? :)</p>

<p>Also, how much of a problem is financial aid? If it's simply a matter of saving 80k for who knows what later on and you love Wheaton, I'd go for that. If money is truly a concern, I might lean more towards Warner.</p>

<p>But it's up to you. It's your life, your college experience. Choose the school that will make you the most happy.</p>

<p>Sometimes factors besides money (debt) and grad school admission are worth considering.</p>

<p>
[quote]
In my opinion, it's better to go to a class B school and graduate in the top than go to a class A pretigious school and struggle just to be over 50% of your class.

[/quote]
This implies, of course, that adcoms at grad schools are idiots and can't figure out that a high gpa from the class B school was easier to get than at the class A school. No, they are just fools and if you have a good number on your transcript it counts the same no matter where you earned it.</p>

<p>Wheaton, hands down, absolutely. I know a ton of people from my school who go to Warner Pacific, and they are generally (with a scarce few exceptions), how shall I say this, not the brightest. Wheaton, on the other hand, is arguably the best (and best-known) Christian college around, and all the people I know who have gone there have been top-of-their-class.</p>

<p>I think you'd be way out of your league at Warner Pacific, but in the end I suppose it's all up to you.</p>