I hope they’ll have fewer housing issues going forward as things settle down from the classes of '21 and '22. But, that is an unknown. CHC is better because there’s air conditioning and semi-private bathrooms (that are also still cleaned by the university). That said, Southwest and Central were both good, from our observation. I think it’s fine not to live in CHC.
Accepted students didn’t choose housing that early in 2020 (they did think school was opening in the fall, and did go through the process). I am unaware of housing selection for first years happening before the May 1 decision deadline. It’s true that current students have already selected housing by then.
It’s tough to compare acceptance at UMass to acceptance at private institutions because of the value a state school offers. BC and Northeastern for example are over $70k a year, regardless of residency. UMass runs about $30k for in-state.
At the end of 4 years, that’s $180k or so more for the education. That either means one has the means or they’re taking on a boat load of debt.
Many are also not full pay at public colleges. And for those that are full pay (our family) we still would prefer to NOT spend $180k more. A few schools are worth that cost difference. Most are not.
We are full pay too…and OOS. With the merit my son would still end up with $172k for 4 years. With his desired field of study, he will need a PhD. We advised him to incur the debt then, at a prestigious school.
I think we’re looking at about $138k. We will also end up choosing a very prestigious school (full pay) IF one of our kids is accepted to one. Dartmouth. Emory. Northwestern. Vanderbilt. But the chances of admissions are so small. Comparing full pay at slightly less prestigious private schools to $138k at UMass— UMass looks very appealing.
Advising anyone to incur debt for undergrad anywhere is a horrible idea. My mother was still paying her undergrad student loans into her late 40’s and it did nothing but create stress for her. That’s not a one person story, it’s an everyone story.
This podcast should be mandatory for all high schoolers and their families.
I think you may have misunderstood my post. We don’t want him to take on debt for undergrad at UMASS. We don’t believe it is worth the money.
We are paying for his (and his brothers) education, but we put a cap on it. Anything above that they are responsible for…this way they have a vested interest. Since he will need to get a Masters and a eventually a PhD as an Astrophysicist, that is when we said he should take on debt. Ideally, he’d get a job and they’d help pay for some of it.
If they would have qualified for financial aid, it would be a whole other story. I’m still in shock all they qualified for was $5k loan.
PhD is a long haul indeed! I told him to look at it intervals. He’s hoping to do a 4 and 1…Bs in 4 with 1 years masters which will save time and money.
It’s been rough findingn that “perfect” fit. They really liked the.curriculum of NJIT and got great merit but did not like location. Embry Riddle was a strong contender but once they realized they could only come home 2-3 times a year, that was declined. Don’t get me going about Penn State…the merit was laughable. I believe they will go to UMASS Lowell. Lowell gave them tuiton reciprocity which brought down OOS tuition, nice merit, honors college, and some scholarship program where they are guaranteed reseach or an internship in their field of study during sophomore year…and it’s close to Boston (that’s a perk for me). I keep asking them if they want me to home school them but they haven’t said yes. These are my babies so I am having a hard time cutting the apron strings.
ah, got it. Perhaps they’ll get their Ph.D. covered with RA/TA/stipend, etc. Many STEM majors do.
We’re in CA and my kids are all going to end up in the midwest or east coast for college. So…we’re moving to Massachusetts this summer. So much for cutting the apron strings!
Son got waitlisted for Isenberg. 4.2 GPA, transcript is all honors and AP courses. NHS, two sport varsity athlete, captain. works two jobs. Several school clubs and community service and awards up the yin yang. In state. So crazy: he was accepted to Penn State University Park’s Smeal College of Business which is more competitive. Just doesn’t make any sense.
TO? I think UMASS likes scores. Unweighted gpa? Average is 3.9. I hope he gets off of the waitlist, a very solid in state option. All 3 of my daughter’s applied, the first one in 2013, definitely higher standards and less merit over the years.
Same thing happened to my daughter for Isenberg. She got accepted to Penn State UP and Ohio State. I don’t understand how the whole process works. She is so upset because she wanted to stay in state. UMASS is the only in state school she applied to. ugh!