Hello,
I need advise - my daughter was accepted to UMichigan, UNC Chapel Hill and Florida State. While she did not get any aid from Michigan and UNC, Florida State offered her OOS tuition waiver. Michigan is her dream school and first choice. Does it worth paying the full price for Michigan? We went to see UM and UNC and loved both campuses. Not familiar with FSU…
There’s going to be about a difference of $40,000 a year between FSU in state and Michigan OOS. Michigan is an amazing school, but I can’t see it worth $160,000 more. What is her intended major?
Computer science and/ or Statistics
Computer science and/ or Statistics
Where would the extra $160,000 come from?
What is the cost difference between UNC and UMichigan?
Run the numbers here: https://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletteradvanced.phtml
Does she have any other options, or is this it?
UMich was on our son’s list since they are really strong in physics, but like many other schools it was cost prohibitive for us as we would get little to no need aid. He committed to FSU on the full-ride Benacquisto Scholarship. Six-figures down to $0! No brainer. We’ll save UMich and some others for possible grad school choices.
To be honest, FSU was not on our radar initially, but the more I learned about it the more I liked. Their public university ranking trend in recent years has been amazing: #43 in 2016, #38 in 2017, #33 in 2018, #26 in 2019, and #18 this year. In 2018, they completed a multi-year fundraising initiative that raised over $1.1B, with which they are hiring 150 new faculty and staff, adding new research initiatives, a new student union, multiple renovations, high-achieving student recruiting scholarships, and yes, sports. The campus is fairly compact and beautiful and the honors program looks to be very good as well with many opportunities for undergrad research and internships.
Thank you. FSU was not on our radar either. She was rejected from bunch of good Schools and for now the only options are UMichigan (66k+), UNC Chapel Hill($45k+) and FSU (17K). She was also waitlisted in Emory, Boston U, and NYU. Same as you, the more i read about FSU, the more I like it. So sad we can’t go and see it.
I hear you. We’re were scheduled to visit late March during our son’s spring break. Everything was canceled. We feel we have a good idea based on virtual tours, drone videos YouTube, photos, student video tours, and literally hours of “walking around” campus on Google street view. 
We’ve been to southern Florida many times for vacations and sports events, but the north looks different, more rolling hills and evergreen vegetation while still having palm trees. Seems to be seasons there as well, even if mild ones. I see many students walking around in pants and hoodies during the winter. We were on the campus of Auburn for a tournament last year, which is just a few hours drive north, and it looks to have more of that feel than a typical Florida vibe. Still, it’s a bit strange to commit to a school without having seen it.
With the OOS waiver, did she get into honors?
Computer science degree for $68K v $264K
Not even a question (unless you can gift it to her with no loans). Paging @coolguy40 for an opinion from somebody in CS now.
No, Michigan is not worth it at all. As a programmer myself, I would advise against paying OOS tuition for a CS degree. It’s simply not worth the atrocious cost for something as ridiculously employable as technology. Your daughter has a huge advantage in FL. She has a OOS tuition waiver and Florida has the lowest tuition in the country. That’s better than an in-state school, and is on-par with a Univ of Alabama Presidential scholarship, if it’s a full waiver. Plus, Florida has a very strong tech market, which means internships and job opportunities. I would go for FSU.
No, she just got her admission decision last week. I checked their website about the honors program, but did not find anything.
“UMichigan (66k+), UNC Chapel Hill($45k+) and FSU (17K). She was also waitlisted in Emory, Boston U, and NYU.”
Outside of FSU, how many of the other schools (admit or waitlist) would be affordable? If one of the waitlisted schools came through with a good FA package, would that influence your decision? Or is UM her dream school even if she got into those schools? You don’t have to reveal finances of course, but some indication of affordability could help. good luck!
Maybe UNC and Emory. We would still have to get some loans. Lets say we can afford to pay around 30k per year
Ok so UNC would be out too then or you could stretch it. In any case, I think FSU is your best bet unless you hear from Emory. But I think you have to give your deposit or did any of the colleges extend that due to the covid situation?