<p>What happened was, scholarships enable me to go to UMD for $10k a year (I'm in-state). Elon would be about $29k. Both of those sticker prices are doable for my family (Elon is on the upper end of doable), but we're having some serious discussion about the challenge level of both schools for me. (I'm a very good student--got into WUSTL, won't be going b/c of finances, but I tend to do better when I'm surrounded by rivals.) They appear about equal in academics, but if that's truly the case, it makes little sense to pay 3x as much for Elon.</p>
<p>I have visited Elon twice and liked the atmosphere a lot. Despite living 45 minutes from UMD, I haven't visited, but will be this month (so I can't compare "feel" very accurately at this point). I've been looking at schools Elon's size all along, but I think I'd probably rather be closer to a city, and I do not want to go Greek/don't really party.</p>
<p>Basically, UMD bribed me much better than I thought they were going to and I don't plan on going into a particularly well-paying career (English major to publishing industry), so I shudder at the word "loan." Thoughts?</p>
<p>(And yes, this post is in the UMD forum too, I'm just trying to catch both crowds :-) )</p>
<p>Hmm yeah, I guess that was a bad word choice. What I was trying to say was, the more people around me who are setting an example for me to strive to, the more I will try. Like, if a class is easy, I can pass it without trying, and other people are doing the same, I’m not motivated to try. Does that make sense? It’s kind of a fault of mine…</p>
<p>“Rivals”? and UMD “bribed me”…? I think that you will do well in either school, but I think that UMD is a better “fit” for your competitive spirit…</p>
<p>My daughter has found the students she has met at Elon to be exceptionally cooperative and helpful…not the profile you seem to want in a school</p>
<p>I’m sorry; I’m really not trying to sound stuck up/elitist about the whole thing. I really DO like Elon; it fits what I’ve been looking for in a college way better than UMD does and it’s been on my radar for years. I’m just used to being at/near the top of my class and one of the things I would appreciate out of college is not having that experience anymore (It’s probably been contributing to my stuck up/elitist-ness). I really have no frame of reference so I’m just trying to figure out which school might be better in that respect. Plus, I’m still getting over how I will probably be attending Flagship State U, which was my last choice after commuting to CC (for a lot of reasons besides academics), so I guess that might be coming out in my word choice. Didn’t mean to ruffle anybody; just looking for dollar value thoughts.</p>
<p>Lima, you are really not ruffling feathers. It’s totally not personal. We are only reflecting back to you what you are putting out. Presumably without intending it, you send out screaming messages of elitism. Even your last post, in which you infer a stigma from attending “only” your state U, says you care a great deal about status. </p>
<p>My advice to you is to go your state U as an honors student. If you go Elon, forever there will be people asking you what it is. They will not have heard of it. You will be defensive about it regardless of how good the education is, or was. You will hate the fact that Elon is a school that you have to defend, because it’s not a “name brand” school that will earn you instant admiration just be uttering its name. Let’s face it, if you tell someone you went to Duke, or Vanderbilt, or Hopkins, or Georgetown, there is a cache already built in. Elon doesn’t have that. Many people don’t care, but it is clear that you do. It doesn’t make you a bad person, but not admitting it about yourself could lead to a decision that will make you an unhappy person.</p>
<p>In contrast, if you go to your state U, you will never have to be defensive. Everyone has heard of it, it’s an excellent school, you will get a great education, and you’ll always be able to say “well, I COULD have gone to XYZ, or HYPS, or whatever, but my state U gave me a ton of money so I decided to save my money for grad school.” That makes you appear wise, mature, frugal and thoughtful, others will think well of you, and you will never have to worry about others thinking you could “only” get into Elon. This is very consistent with who you are, if I may be so bold as to say so, from the posts I have read.</p>
<p>That’s my $0.02, I’m sharing it since you asked for advice. There it is!</p>
<p>I never have understood the need to go to a school people have heard of. If the school was a good “fit” and you received a good/excellent education who cares if someone heard of it? There are a few professions I guess where it would matter.</p>
It’s really hard to read tone in forums…</p>