University of Delaware v. George Mason

College Search & Selection
1

My son was accepted to the honors programs at both the University of Delaware and George Mason University. Both are out of state for us (we live in PA). University of Delaware is a bit more affordable, however my son is still a bit torn on which to choose. He thought both campuses were very nice and he is fine with a medium-large school as his current senior class has about 600 students. He really likes the idea of the honors college and that is part of the reason he narrowed it down to these two schools. He was admitted into Penn State University Park’s Smeal School of Business, however he was not accepted into their honors program. Also, PSU did not offer any financial aid.

I am curious about what others think of these 2 schools, pros, cons, etc. I have read good and bad reviews of both, so any additional insight would be helpful.

University of Delaware
Total Tuition & Fees $44,318
Merit Scholarship $13,000
Business School Scholarship $2,000
Federal Loans $5,500
Total Amount after aid $23,818

George Mason University
Total Tuition & Fees $49,142
Merit Scholarship $12,000
Federal Loans $5,500
Total Amount after aid $31,642

2

Why is your son torn? What are the things he is looking for at a college? UD and George Mason are vastly different. I vote for the lower cost option in the event that he doesn’t care which one. What does he want to study? Does he like many divisions/ programs at a school with graduate programs, many research opportunities? If he doesn’t know what he will study, does George Mason have the programs he is most interested in? They do not have as many major offerings as UD or any larger university and you don’t want to put him in a position where he needs to transfer because the school does not have his major. Good luck with your decision.

3

He ended up deciding on the University of Delaware. Cost was definitely a factor.

4

@classof17parent Does you son like UD so far? My DD is interested in applying there this fall into the Lerner College of Business. We are OOS, but the fees for UD seem reasonable since I here they are pretty decent when it comes to merit aid. Do you know what SAT and GPA they are truly looking for for admission to Lerner?