<p>My daughter is interested in biology, possibly premed. She would receive
a half tuition scholarship from University of Southern California, a scholarship of
about $30,000/year from Case Western, and a full tuition scholarship from
Northeastern. Any advice about choosing between these schools?</p>
<p>What would the cost differential be? Since medical school could be in your daughter’s future, obviously keeping undergrad costs at their lowest is a good thing. </p>
<p>Clearly the schools are ranked in the order you listed them, though Northeastern would be a terrific place for a science/pre med student in view of the opportunities its co-op program offers. Should your daughter decide against med school (like mine daughter who went to NEU did) she would still have, upon graduation, a solid resume with a lot of lab science , and possibly published work, experience which could lead to a good job (as it did in my daughter’s case.) But Boston is an expensive city, and most students spend an extra year there due to the 5-year nature of the program. Please note, you don’t HAVE to do 5 years. My daughter’s roommate did the program in 4 years and is now in medical school. So it’s possible, if you’re very focused.</p>
<p>With the scholarships, not taking travel, books, personal expenses into account,
Northeastern would cost about $15,000 for a year, Case Western about $25,000
for a year, and USC about $36,000 for a year.</p>
<p>Is any place closer to home than others? Airlines seem to know exactly when kids get out of school and seem to jack up the prices just in time! </p>
<p>I would think that housing and cost of living at Case Western would be significantly less than in Boston or USC…</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies! We live in the Midwest so Case Western is closer but still a short plane ride or very long drive. The room and board rates for all three schools are listed at about $13,000 so not significantly different.</p>
<p>If Case is affordable that might be feasible - Cost of living over 4 years would be cheaper that would close the gap between NE and Case - USC is out - Case is comparable academically and cheaper.</p>
<p>^^^ that’s my hunch too, fliquer. Lily, don’t forget that kids usually move off campus, so that $13,000 room and board figure is usually good for only a couple of years at most. Once you move off campus those costs skyrocket - especially in pricey Boston. Plus, that (long) drive home will save you a couple of thousand dollars per year, if not more, over the always-overpriced plane trip.</p>
<p>I do agree that flights are expensive and that off-campus Boston and LA costs
would be more than Cleveland!</p>
<p>katliamom- How did your daughter like NEU as a science major? Did she feel that the classes prepared her well? Thanks!</p>
<p>Daughter liked NEU. She’s always been a hands-on person, preferring an environment that emphasized experiential-style of learning. So NEU, with its co-op program was perfect, and, frankly, co-op is really the big reason to go there. I will say (and she’d agree) that most of the students at NEU were very practical in orientation - business/engineering/health sciences - and not as much learning-for-learning’s sake as at other schools. I would say for an intellectually-inclined student it may not be the best fit. Especially since, obviously, thousands of students go to traditional universities and still get into med school. That co-op is nice, but not a requirement.</p>
<p>Has your daughter looked at Tufts or the possibility of transferring to Tufts?</p>
<p>Also, if money is not an issue, how would you and your daughter rank these schools? Is she interested in biology and medical school for sure?</p>
<p>Make sure you visit Case before making a decision to attend.</p>
<p>I would suggest USC or NEU</p>
<p>My daughter is interested in Tufts but there we would be full pay. She can also attend Vanderbilt at full pay. Is it worth it or better to use a scholarship at one of the other schools?</p>
<p>We did visit Case Western. I liked the campus. My daughter saw a survey that indicated that about 55% of students would not choose to attend again, and that concerns her.</p>
<p>Also, she may now be interested in neuroscience and economics.</p>