<p>I have been accepted to the business and plan II honors programs at UT Austin as well as Dartmouth (Comp Lit/Econ) this year. However, I'm really struggling with the decision. </p>
<p>UT is much cheaper since I am in state, and I also have family with a lakehouse near Austin, but my parents are able to afford Dartmouth if that really is the right place for me, and I am willing to do work-study to offset a little bit of the cost also. </p>
<p>Despite the fact that UT is obviously a better deal financially, I have fallen in love with Dartmouth- the campus, the people, etc. AND I want to live/work in the Northeast after I graduate, so the location and connections I'll be able to make there are big advantages.</p>
<p>I definitely want to go to grad school, so if Dartmouth will increase my opportunities/ability to get scholarships in that area it would be a big plus, but if I'll have to pay a lot regardless, then I'd probably be better off (financially) saving money at UT. </p>
<p>I know no one can make this decision for me, but I'd appreciate any advice/insight from those familiar with the two schools. Thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t think you can go wrong either way!</p>
<p>Would you not qualify for any aid at Dartmouth?</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids no, as I mentioned my parents are definitely able to afford it and therefore I don’t qualify, they just aren’t all that excited about paying $60k/yr when UT is about half that, and they would probably expect me to contribute in some way also- get a job, take out a loan, etc.</p>
<p>“I have fallen in love with Dartmouth.”</p>
<p>I think you know what to do from here.</p>
<p>I was admitted to UT Plan II and Pomona (which has an undergraduate education and residential experience very similar to Dartmouth’s). I ended up attending Pomona, because it just seemed like the premier liberal arts college model. I liked how every student was on equal footing with everyone else, and that their required core classes was a lot more flexible. It seemed that with Plan II I would need to stay an extra year or two to earn a dual degree due to their requirements. Furthermore, I wasn’t sure I really wanted the big school experience, even if it were made smaller by Plan II. Furthermore, Plan II doesn’t seem to command the same amount of respect (though it should, and it probably is getting there) as the elite LACs and research universities do, and name brand does seem to be important in applying to the top graduate programs.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong though- Plan II is an incredible program. It’s very similar to the undergraduate education you’d receive at Columbia or University of Chicago, and their students are on par or more qualified than those seen at the top research universities or liberal art colleges. You won’t be losing academic or student quality by attending Plan II. Nearly everyone I know who went there (my high school sent 2-4 each year) loved it and their experience at UT.</p>
<p>Dartmouth! I went to UT…it was awesome…but go to Dartmouth!</p>
<p>Look, you’re going to be a literature major, not a finance major! You go to Texas. If you get your degree in literature, then you go to an Ivy for grad school and you’ll have all that money left over to live high on the hog in grad school. (You’re not going to go to grad school unless they pay you tuition, insurance, and a stipend, right?) Be the grad student who drives a sports car convertible and takes off for Florence and Paris every summer for “research.” I’m dead serious, even if you don’t drive. Texas is a great school for comp lit and has a terrific library. </p>
<p>I have no horse in this race.</p>