NYC high school senior, got accepted into both with scholarships/financial aid. Intended major is biochemistry, and I know that both of these schools could be great for my major. I always felt that URochester was my perfect fit and I loved everything about the school, however I would have to pay x2 my FAFSA EFC yearly (a little less with work study), meaning I have to take out loans. I would be $60,000+ in debt by the time I graduate. I definitely want to go on to either med school or grad school, so that would be even more loans on top of that :( My family could mostly afford Stony Brook without taking out any loans, so I would be pretty much debt-free.
Is Rochester worth the debt? Is Stony Brook's science education comparable enough for me to go there and be debt-free?
Opinions?? I'm so stuck right now HELP
$60,000+ debt would require parent loans, which are not a good idea. Either you will be dragging it along in medical school to add to the huge debt you will have for medical school, or you will be needed out of premed and have to pay it off with a probably low paying job (biochemistry and biology jobs are not that well paying due to the huge supply of graduates who did not get into medical school).
Was there a mistake on your financial aid application? Had you run the NPC on URochester?
Funny- I know a kid who is making the exact same choice between Stony Brook as the less expensive option and U of Rochester! But his field is engineering.
I agree with MYOS that you should look closely into any aid package from Rochester. You may be able to appeal Rochester’s offer and see what happens.
If the debt is indeed $60,000, then Stony Brook may make sense. You can feel confident that Stony Brook is well-regarded in the sciences. It also has a big science building and hospital on campus and a lot of research going on.
Stony Brook will have a higher percentage of large classes than Rochester, including some very large classes, as well as a lot of students who are commuters. If you can afford Rochester, it definitely holds the advantage for these reasons. If not, though, Stony Brook is a really reputable public university with special strength in the sciences. You will need to take the initiative at SB to get to know professors and to create opportunities for yourself. But you certainly can do so and get a great education there.
And I know two (or three- see the first paragraph) truly brilliant, top students who will be in the Stony Brook class of 2022.
MYOS1634, I did run the NPC and it came out to ~25,000 a year, right now it’s 32,000. Not much of a difference I know, but still a difference. My EFC on FAFSA is 16,000. I’m thinking about talking to the financial aid office.