<p>It so happens that these (2) schools, so close in proximity but worlds apart in price, are among my daughter's (pre-med) top choices. She was offered 10k merit from UR & some token loans. I estimate the difference in cost, including interest to be >200k over (4) years between the (2) schools. My hope is to avoid being so financially depleted so I might have something left to assist her in some way thru Med school etc. Is there anyone who thinks this is not a "no-brainer"? My EFC is 14k . Tx</p>
<p>The math doesnt’ compute
Rochester 200k for four years ; Geneseo 80k for 4.
200-40k(grant) = 160000 -64000 (EFC) = 96K
who is paying the 96K? this is more than token loans
EFC 14K times 4= 64K<br>
you are still going to have to pay the 80k to Geneseo which is more than your
EFC to Rochester.
something isn’t balancing here, but the cost disparity may be less than you think
when you have all the accurate information.
Personally, I would let my daughter choose her favorite.</p>
<p>Rochester is amazing for premed and there’s even an 8 year program that includes med school. Maybe look into that?</p>
<p>Geneseo’s a good SUNY school but Rochester has such an emphasis on independent research that if she’s intellectually curious it’d be a good place for her.</p>
<p>I was just about to put out a similar post. Have narrowed choice to UR and Geneseo. Interested in studying both History and Political Science. First choice would be UR but concerned about taking on a lot of debt. UR has offered $10K scholarship. Parents have agreed to pay $25-30K. Means the remainder would be loans of $40-60K over 4 years. Want to also go to grad school. Is UR worth the difference? Appreciate opinions. Really struggling with decision.</p>
<p>Okay… I am looking very deeply into U of R and Geneseo and actually ar egoing to visit them tomorrow and Wednesday, so I will put in my 2 cents. U of R is a great school for the hard sciences like bio, chem + engineering and so is Geneseo. If you are going Pre-Med, I would def go to U of R because of their med school.</p>
<p>I would NOT go into major debt for pre-med anywhere. It just doesn’t make sense to go 94K in the hole for undergrad and then have to take out another 60-150K (or more!) in loans for medical school. (And there is very little financial aid available for medical school except loans.)</p>
<p>Yes, UR has a fantastic pre-med program. But medical school admission is NOT driven by where you went to school, but by your personal stats: GPA, MCAT, research and clinical experience, letters of recommendation and volunteer ECs. </p>
<p>I have 2 kids–one is a pre-med at UR; one is a pre-med at our state U. Both kids have been successful. Both kids have had great opportunities to do research and clinical volunteering. Both kids have/will have the credentials to go to medical school should they decide that’s what they want to do. I’ve seen very little difference in the kinds and quality of opportunities each has had. (Although D1 has had to be more proactive about finding her own research opportunities at state U.)</p>
<p>Rochester does have a 8 year guaranteed admission program for medical school. It’s called REMS (Rochester Early Medical Scholars: [University</a> of Rochester : Learning : Combined Degrees](<a href=“http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/learning/programs.shtm]University”>http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/learning/programs.shtm)). This program requires you to apply directly to it as HS senior–and it’s too late to apply for next fall. </p>
<p>And one other thing…you daughter may think she wants to be pre-med now, but she may well change her mind in a year or two or three…</p>
<p>One thing I suspect private schools may offer is support when things go wrong. I went to a private college and looked at private and state schools for my kids. I decided on private schools because some of them provide more support. This is particularly true at UR, which has the Dlions and Freshman fellows in dorms. This is really important because even if you don’t need the support yourself, your life may be impacted by the other students around you. When I was in college, I knew several guys who might have hurt themselves or other people had there not been a strong institutional support system, and I know I would have been affected by watching students living on my hall self-destruct.</p>