University of Delaware (UD) vs. James Madison University (JMU)

College Search & Selection
1

Now that I’ve narrowed down my colleges to UD and JMU, I’m struggling to choose the better school out of the two. I’ve been accepted to both schools for Biology and plan to be on the pre-dental track.

From my perspective:

UD Positives:

  • “Cheaper” In-State tuition (it still isn’t all that cheap, but is still the lowest of my options).
    -Closer to home (1.5 hours)

UD Negatives:
-Pretty big school (according to a dentist I was speaking to a whole back)
-A lot of people from my school are going (not a big negative but I’d like a new start if possible)
-No scholarships and most likely a small financial aid package.
-I don’t know a whole lot about their biology department (please help)

JMU Positives:

  • Brand new Bioscience buildings and labs.
    -Beautiful campus
    -Very friendly atmosphere
    -I had an “aha” moment when visiting and really felt like I could see myself attending.
    -Dentist recommended JMU over UD because it’s a smaller school (even though I thought the school sizes were fairly close).

JMU Negatives:

  • Price of attending is approximately $10,000 higher than UD.
    -It’s further from home (4 hours)
  • No scholarships and very likely to get little financial aid.

My personal favorite over the two is JMU, but I need to think about my future and how this college will benefit me and hopefully help me towards being accepted to a dental school. I don’t want to drown myself in financial debt but I want to go somewhere that I’m happy and will receive the best education.

Based on the information provided, what school do you think is the better option?

2

I am facing the same dilemma between these two schools, except I will be going for business.

3

I am a graduate of the University of Delaware and my daughter graduated from JMU. They are both wonderful schools. My daughter loved JMU and has been successful in her career since graduation. As far as the size goes, I think they are pretty similar. You will find big lecture halls for intro classes and smaller sized classes for upper level courses.

The difference in the cost is $10,000/year, so that means you will be paying $40,000 more for a degree from JMU. That is a lot of money. Are your parents on board with financing the difference? If you have to get loans to finance the difference, then I would absolutely suggest you go to Delaware. You could use that extra money for dental school. I understand wanting to not be with people from your high school, but Delaware is a big enough campus that I doubt it will be an issue.

Good luck to you! I truly love both schools.

4

These schools are peers. It’s definitely not worth borrowing $10k/year. If your parents can easily afford it, going to the school you prefer makes sense, but don’t go into debt for it.