Hi all,
I am a new member on CC and I will be attending one of thee five universities above in the fall. I have done lots of research and calculated financial stuff, but I am a bit of an indecisive person and am really struggling to narrow things down for myself! Some context:
I am planning on double majoring in some variation of political science and journalism /communications and I know that all of the schools above have amazing or at least pretty good programs for these fields. I haven’t visited UNC or Northwestern yet, but I will be soon, and based on my visits of the other three and virtual campus tours of those two I feel like I like the social / physical environment of all five!
In terms of finances, i am instate at University of Maryland and got a partial scholarship so it would be very cheap, but Fordham and Tulane both gave me decent sized merit scholarship so those would be pretty accessible. UNC and Northwestern (Northwestern more so than UNC) are a bit of a financial stretch, but my family might be able to make it work without taking out too many loans and my parents are potentially willing to do this. Essentially my only question is: to those of you who have attended / have children or friends who have attended or have any other means of forming a personal perception about these schools what are your thoughts about which one I should potentially attend? I understand that ultimately I will have to make a decision for myself, but as part of that process I'd like to hear what other people with more direct experience with these schools have to say! I will be posting this in the thread for each school!
Thank you so much :)) !!
Congratulations on your acceptances! Ultimately you will have to decide which school is the right fit for you, and this includes affordability for your family. You have 5 wonderful options- congrats once again.
I have an OOS child at UNC and am a bit biased. She could not imagine herself anyplace else. Do you have any specific questions?
“UNC and Northwestern . . . are a bit of a financial stretch, but my family might be able to make it work without taking out too many loans and my parents are potentially willing to do this.”
I would take these two schools off your list right now, if your family will have to “tak[e] out too many loans . . . .” Given your other excellent options, there is absolutely no need to incur thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars of debt that will follow you and/or your parents around for decades. Further, if there is a chance that you will attend graduate school or go for a professional post-graduate degree, then save your money and go with Maryland – College Park: you will be very near to the center of the political universe; and you should find plenty of opportunities there to engage in journalism and/or communications.
In regards to the remaining schools, I don’t know anything about the actual campuses at Fordham or Maryland – College Park; I am familiar with Tulane, and it is a nice campus in a nice part of New Orleans.
Thank you so much!! I guess my main question(s) would be a) how do oos students feel in a very heavily “in-state” university b) if you have any personal familiarity with unc journalism how does it compare to umd / northwestern? c) I have heard conflicting things about unc political science from my research, so if you could speak to that program that’d be awesome! and d) (this question is a bit subjective /personal) but did you feel like the education she received merited the cost of oos tuition? I understand that’s a difficult question, but I’m afraid I won’t quite be able to answer it on my own from a one day visit!
Thank you for responding! When I say UNC / Northwestern shouldn’t be “too many loans” it’s more that my parents legitimately should be able to afford them without either of us plunging into debt, I’m just not sure if I want to make them spend that kind of money on me after all they’ve done for me growing up! Especially since northwestern still hasn’t sent us our aid packet, leaving me in a bit of limbo. I am definitely aware of the political / journalism advantages of being close to D.C., but I’m just not sure how this compares to Tulane’s excellent political science and pre-law program (they have a 3+3 and i am potentially considering law school). Since you are familiar with both schools, what are your thoughts on how they might stack up with each other in terms of poli sci?
First, inasmuch as you are considering law school, you will want to spend your money on the best law school that you can get into, since that will likely have more of an impact on your future career prospects; which leads back to my point that you should save your money on the undergraduate education and go with Maryland – College Park, thus giving you more financial flexibility for graduate school or post-graduate education. If Tulane is going to give you a significant amount of money and will give you a leg up into a law school admissions there, then that may be a plus in Tulane’s favor.
Second, my daughter started out in political science at UNC-CH; but she found it a bit too theoretical for her liking. (Others might disagree with that assessment.) But you might want to ask yourself why you want to study political science; if it is because you want to get into law school, I can assure you that there are many paths to law school, and lots of them don’t involve getting a poli sci degree.
Finally, regarding my familiarity with Tulane, I can’t say that I know a lot about the current academics there; I used to live in New Orleans and was on and around the Tulane campus a good bit, and also had a cousin who attended graduate school there. Other than that, I can’t give you much help.