I am having a hard time deciding between the two schools. I have been to Wisconsin and loved it and was admitted to the honors program (which admits about 200 kids a year), but never had the chance to get to UF b/c of Corona. I was not admitted honors at UF. I want to make sure the alumni community is strong, I am an undecided major so specific programs are not really a factor, $ not really a factor (can afford both but i know UF cheaper), and I would be interested in greek life. I am OOS for both schools and from the north east. Help!!’
Neither…there’s no benefit to paying triple the tuition going OOS. Right now we have a crashing economy, and if a parent gets laid off, those schools will become unaffordable VERY quickly. I would stick with a school in your home state.
@coolguy40 you have no knowledge of the OPs financial position.
It is true as @Eeyore123 says that we do not know your financial position. However, many people who have jobs today also do not know their own financial position. There are companies thinking about layoffs who do not know how many employees they will need on Monday of next week. September is a long way off in a pandemic.
I am quite sympathetic with @coolguy40’s point. OP, do you have an in-state option? What would each school cost, including your in-state option?
U.Florida and U.Wisconsin are both very good universities. So are U.Mass Amherst and UVM.
Being a parent myself, in the last week, we just became a one income family. If it were last year, we could afford to send our daughter out of state. This year, if she applied to college now, she would be on her own, either with a scholarship or community college(free tuition). We could give her a junker to drive and a home to live in…but that’s about it. This kind of thing is happening all over the country.
I don’t know OP’s finances, but I know mine, and things are going to get more uncertain before they get better.
My kid was in greek life at UW, in the Honors program, and had an incredible academic (and social) experience. While many kids at UW, and in greek life, are from Chicago and Minneapolis region, there are plenty of east and west coast kids too. UW has all 4 seasons, from sailing on the Lake to playing pond hockey on the Lake, plus crisp football weekends, farmers’ market, a foodie culture etc. Madison is one of the great college towns out there, something for everyone. At the same time, UW is about 50% instate students and, outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is not a particularly diverse state so the student body at UW is not as diverse as some schools. For students traveling from the east coast, there is a bus to/from O’Hare – it’s a 2 hour trip but the buses have WIFI etc. so my kid never really minded. One of the many things my kid loved about UW was that it could be different things to different people – he loved the urban vibe, with high rise dorms and busy streets, plus the state Capitol with opportunities for interning etc. Other students loved the smaller, Lakefront dorms, the nature trails etc. The beauty of UW for him, and others, was that you really could shape your experience to suit your needs and goals.