UNC or Maryland?

<p>I live in Maryland, and UNC has always been my dream school. I got in out of state by the Early Action deadline, which was a big surprise to me. I also got into Maryland, and qualified for the Scholars program there.</p>

<p>I want to major in public health, and both schools have good programs for that. The one thing is, UNC's tuition is about 32,000 all together and Maryland's would be 20,000 all together. My parents want me to go to Maryland because I would be able to graduate without debt and they could help me with grad school. I've applied to scholarships, but I can't get much need based financial aid. I've been going to private schools since the 3rd grade, and my high school tuition now is only 2,000 less than UNC's tuition.</p>

<p>Financially, Maryland makes the most sense. And I don't dislike Maryland either, it's basically the same as UNC except in an environment that I'm already familiar with. I love UNC, but I don't know if it's worth over $60,000 more that I'm going to have to pay off later in my life.
Please help!</p>

<p>$60k is a huge amount of debt.</p>

<p>I would go with Maryland for the $$ reasons.</p>

<p>I got into UNC OOS and got into Maryland with the College Park Scholars program. (I am from GA). I say UNC all the way. The 2000 dolars extra per year is definitely worth it. Plus UNC gives a lot of merit based aid, have you been contacted for a scholarship?</p>

<p>nicolenhs, either you or I can’t read.</p>

<p>I’m currently deciding between UMD and UNC too( from maryland), but for me it’s up to financial aid.</p>

<p>Have you tried contacting any professors or students for your prospective major? They might be able to give you insight</p>

<p>@keepittoyourself</p>

<p>“I’ve been going to private schools since the 3rd grade, and my high school tuition now is only 2,000 less than UNC’s tuition.”</p>

<p>I can read… I meant that if his/her parents are willing to continue paying upwards of 30,000 a year on private schooling then 2,000 more is not a bad investment for an institution like UNC.</p>

<p>I went to UNC’s admitted students day, and they had a seminar on their school of public health that gave me a lot of information on the field. But a friend pointed out to me that in terms of internships, Maryland is right by NIH and other govt. health institutions that could give me lots of good internships, while apparently UNC doesn’t have as many of those opportunities. Yet at the same time, UNC’s academic ranking is higher than Maryland’s…aaaagh this decision is killing me!</p>

<p>Public health is one of the fields in which UNC-Chapel Hill is the strongest, but it sounds like Maryland isn’t too shabby either. </p>

<p>If you parents are used to budgeting $30,000/year for education, UNC seems like an even better investment than any high school would have been.</p>

<p>But if you would end up having to self-finance much of college, $60,000 is a lot of debt, and I would not recommend that debt load. In that situation, Maryland seems like a solid choice.</p>