<p>My daughter has been lucky enough to get into her first choice, The Univeristy of Michigan. I am very proud of her, she is a smart kid who worked really hard in school and has always taken pride in her accomplishments. The question is, and it is hypothetical at this point because decisions are not out yet for some of her other choices, but if she were to get into the University of Florida, with money(they tend to give money to deserving out of state students), is the Michigan degree really worth twice the cost of tuition? We are out of state for both schools, so we are talking about $51,000.00 per year for Michigan and about 25,000 per year if she gets into UF with money. So the question of the day is..................is Michigan worth it?</p>
<p>It may depend on her major and other plans.</p>
<p>However, be aware that if you and she have not had discussions about how costs may affect the decision, it will likely end up badly for your and her relationship if you have previously indicated willingness to pay for any school she gets into, but change your mind now (after many application deadlines have passed) and start pressuring her to go to the less expensive school. There have been several threads about such conflicts in the recent past.</p>
<p>The question of “is _____ worth it?” (and “can we afford $__<strong><em>?” and “what is the likelihood of </em></strong> being affordable after financial aid and scholarships?”) should really have been discussed before application time, so that better informed decisions of where to apply could have been made then, and the student would have realistic expectations of where she can attend (which may be based on financial aid and scholarship awards as well as admissions).</p>
<p>Who can possibly define that? </p>
<p>The more important question at this point in time is what have you told your daughter?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>(If you could afford the $51k, then do a thought experiment: what could you buy in education for her for $104k you wouldn’t be spending? A year and a half of med school or law school; five trips around the world; unpaid internships that are really worth having for three summers; two years of art school in Italy, etc., etc. I’m not saying that you would choose to spend the money this way. But if you did, is UMichigan really worth UFlorida plus $104k worth of education?)</p>
<p>If you’re talking about the quality of the education available, then no, there is no meaningful difference. If you’re talking about prestige, then at least in some quarters, there is a difference. Whether that difference is worth the extra cost is up to you.</p>
<p>* but if she were to get into the University of Florida, with money(they tend to give money to deserving out of state students), *</p>
<p>Are you sure that this is true? UF seems to be moving away from merit scholarships. You may be full pay for both schools.</p>
<p>Did she apply to her instate public? If so, what school is it?</p>
<p>What is her major and intended career?</p>
<p>Can you easily afford UMich’s OOS costs?</p>
<p>I don’t think either school is worth OOS costs without scholarships.</p>
<p>25,000 per year if she gets into UF with money</p>
<p>Florida</p>
<p>Out-of-state tuition and fees: $27,934
Room and board: …$8,800
Books and supplies: …$1000
Estimated personal expenses: $3,320 </p>
<h2>Transportation expense:…$540 </h2>
<p>COA…about…$40k</p>
<p>I don’t think merit from Florida will bring costs down to 25k.</p>
<p>What are your D’s stats? </p>
<p>Is she a NMSF?</p>
<p>It depends on whether $50,000 a year is meaningful to your pocketbook or not. I like Mini’s version of this.</p>
<p>We had a similar decision with my S last year. He was accepted at U of Michigan OOS. U of M was his first choice of the schools he applied to. ( and my wife and I are U of M alums). We had to weigh the $50K/year cost vs. the big merit scholarships he received at two other schools ( one private, one public). After many conversations we all concluded that it was hard to pass up the scholarships at the other schools ( especially since he also is considering graduate school). He is attending the private university and loves it. Although I love U of M, I now love his school as well.</p>
<p>UF is moving away from merit money. Very expensive OOS and difficult to be admitted.
But Good Luck! I would go UF if your expectations hold true.</p>
<p>It really depends on your daughter’s major. For example, UMich has the better aerospace engineering program and naval architecture/marine engineering program. (UF doesn’t even offer naval architecture so that one is a no-brainer.) UMich has the better music program. UF excels at ag programs. A little research into each school’s strengths will go a long way into helping you make your decision.</p>
<p>We have had the discussion…and she knows if money wasn’t an issue she could go to U of M without hesitation. I know UF is not a shoe in, hard school to get into out of state…and I also know she may not get $$$ if offered admission, and if no $$$ is offered, the decision is hers to make. She is basically undecided on a major, perhaps communications/advertising, so the question still stands, is U of M worth the $$$$$$$??? I guess there is no perfect answer.</p>
<p>I have a hard time believing that any school is worth $51,000 per year to be an advertising or communications major. But, if you have the cash, spend it where you want. </p>
<p>To me, it just doesn’t pass the ‘say it out loud’ test.</p>
<p>*I have a hard time believing that any school is worth $51,000 per year to be an advertising or communications major. But, if you have the cash, spend it where you want. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I agree. Not worth it. </p>
<p>but, if you’re affluent and paying $50k per year is an easy thing for you to do, then go for it.</p>
<p>*she knows if money wasn’t an issue she could go to U of M without hesitation. *</p>
<p>Oh…money is an issue. </p>
<p>then, no, it’s not worth it. Not at all. and, neither would UF be.</p>
<p>What is your home state? Did she apply to your flagship?</p>
<p>What are your D’s GPA and test scores?</p>
<p>Agree, with the additional information, does not seem worth it for either at out-of-state prices, compared to most in-state schools’ costs. (How realistic is the UF scholarship you are expecting?)</p>
<p>The hard part may be if you set her up with too high expectations of what you are able and willing to pay that you cannot comfortably deliver on.</p>
<p>Florida has one of the best journalism programs in the country.</p>
<p>“It depends on whether $50,000 a year is meaningful to your pocketbook or not.”</p>
<p>This is the right question, IMHO. $50k is worth a lot more to a family with no retirement savings than it is to multimillionaires.</p>
<p>“what could you buy in education for her for $104k you wouldn’t be spending?”</p>
<p>This is only relevant if we assume that education expenditures are zero-sum and that the family couldn’t pay for Michigan AND all the other bells and whistles (like grad school). Maybe that’s true for this family, but we don’t know that.</p>
<p>Oh, well if they have $204k in tuition AND $104k in extra money to thrown around, then it hardly matters. She can go where she likes, and money isn’t an issue (really).</p>
<p>Our flag ship would be Penn State University, College Park, which was a safety school for her. She got in but sadly has no interest in going. Penn State has an amazing reputation and is a fine school. She has valid reasons for not wanting to go there and I think she earned the right to have some say in where she goes. OOS is the direction we are headed and I’m not convinced that U of M is worth the price tag. U of M also charges more as you advance, so it actually costs more to go there as an upper class man which actually makes no sense to me and I haven’t heard of any other school pulling that on their students.</p>
<p>I have sort of set her up for disappointment by allowing her to apply to Michigan to begin with, and if she does not get into Florida with $$$ (she may not even get in at all???) there really isn’t a tremendous difference in the OOS cost. I am using UF as an example because we toured there and she actually loved the school, but loves Michigan more. </p>
<p>I appreciate all the feedback and I really respect all of your opinions. The dad that graduated from Michigan along with his wife and chose the Private school with the $$$ instead of Michigan for their son helped me feel not as guilty.</p>
<p>Money is an issue, we have to take out loans to send our kids to college. She is our youngest and as my husband said we will be paying this off for the rest of our lives and if she wants a wedding it will have to be at McDonalds.</p>
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<p>Some other schools do charge more at the upper division level, presumably because it is more costly (need more instructors to teach the smaller courses, need specific instructors for specific upper level courses, etc.). Some other schools also charge more for lab courses or for students majoring in lab-heavy majors.</p>
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<p>How aware is she of your financial situation with respect to the cost of attendance at the various schools? Maybe it is just me, but if I were in the student’s position, I would not want to put my parents in the poor house over the difference between Penn State, Michigan, and Florida.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, you need to handle this very carefully, to avoid putting yourself in the poor house with excessive debt, or getting into a family fight due to overpromising and being unable to deliver the money for college.</p>