I’m a senior in high school, 3.3 GPA, 33 ACT, who was accepted to the University of Illinois at Chicago, which I applied to on a whim because I love Chicago and they have a nursing program. I was accepted, and after visiting (multiple times), it very quickly became my number one school; a dream school. With that said, I’m from Michigan, so I have to pay out-of-state tuition. I want to just commit and be over it, I love it that much. My parents, however, brought up a good point. Is it worth the extra tuition? I was also been accepted to Oakland University and University of Michigan - Flint, and I was deferred from Ann Arbor. UIC offered me a decent scholarship, but even with that, it’s about double the cost of Oakland and about triple the cost of UMich Flint. I love UIC with all my heart, and I feel that I would be absolutely happiest there, and I feel like it will offer the best education in comparison to my other options. Can anyone give me some information on the “value” so to speak of a UIC degree? I know that UIC is one of the top universities for nursing in the country (http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-health-schools/nursing-rankings) and I know that it has the biggest medical school in the country. But will it really benefit my career to have a degree from there? That’s what I want to be sure of.
It’s not worth more than what a BSN would cost in your own state. You wouldn’t get paid more
With your 33, UIC should have offered you more. How much did they offer?
YOU could write to Admissions/scholarships ad tell them that UIC is your #1 school and you’d like to attend, but the merit isn’t enough since it’s so much cheaper for you to get your BSN in MIch. See if they’ll increase.
Make the point that a 33 is well-within their upper quartile. Do this POLITELY
They offered me $7250. Can I really ask them to give me more? I didn’t know that I could do that.
@mom2collegekids - not to hijack someone else’s thread, but my son has also been accepted at UIC. We are visiting for the first time this week. His SAT score was a 2180, and has an unweighted GPA of 3.98. He was also offered the $7250 grant.
He is interviewing for their Honors College which could have additional scholarship money. But do you think it would be worth us politely pushing UIC for more merit aid?
What is his M+CR? edited to add…I see he has a 1430…that’s equivalent to an ACT 32…yes he can ask.
@Sjp319 Absolutely you can politely ask for more money…especially when your 33 is well-within the top 25% of the school. You do have to give them assurance that YOU WILL CERTAINLY ATTEND if they can make their costs comparable to what you’d spend at your Mich school (include paperwork that shows your net costs there). They do NOT want to jump thru hoops only to have you go elsewhere. So you have to prepared to commit if they do come thru with more money.
But…they may not have more to give…so the answer could be no.
@WaitingInCPA I looked over your posts and now I remember you. You had (or still have) a child at PSU where you are full pay…and likely won’t get any more aid even with a second child in college since PSU gives no/lousy aid. And, you’re very concerned about costs…I think you may be taking out Plus loans for that education.
If UIC is not giveing your second child at least “free tuition” then certainly there are other schools that will. I see that he applied to UAB for BioMedEng’g. Did he get at least free tuition there? IF so, why isn’t he considering that school for his intended career? UAB is fab for “medically related careers.” I have a son at their med school.
Agreed that there isn’t much justification for paying a premium tuition price for an out-of-state BSN when your home state nursing program is available and more affordable. Attend the college of your choice, but watch your pocketbook.
UIC doesn’t really give merit scholarship. There are less than 50 pure merit scholarships for each freshman class. To even be considered for them, you need to be in Honors college. There is also the UIC Chicago grant and that gives out of state students in-state tuition.
@mom2collegekids … yes, that is me. I had him apply to UAB, but for whatever reason it is not in his list of top choices. He didn’t get full tuition there, but $15k is pretty close to full tuition.
@WaitingInCPA Did he visit UAB? I think that his award should be full tuition…that is crazy that it’s not.
It seems like he likes urban schools…UIC, etc, so UAB wouldn’t be odd for him. There would not be a “southern feel” at UAB. The students there are too city/suburban.
I would set up a visit to UAB, and if your son likes it, I would go to the scholarship office to see if that award could become at least full tuition. I know that they have extra awards for OOS students.
Attend UMich Flint and do well in your undergraduate studies. You should be able to do your graduate studies at UIC for a very low price.
I don’t mean to derail this thread, but …
I have a family member who attends UPenn for nursing and she’s paying OOS tuition for it. Her dad makes more than the required salary for a single household to qualify for need-based. At first I thought “Well good for her!” since UPenn is an Ivy and it is, supposedly, is one of the best nursing programs in the nation. Then I thought about it and thought to myself that but it’s nursing; unless she wants to do research and attain a PhD in the field, and not be on the floor I could understand the appeal to pay 55K a year for a nursing degree, but if not why attend an Ivy and pay OOS unless you fall into the need-base? She is bright so I guess she got some other scholarships to off-set the cost. In her home state there are various universities she could’ve attended for much less of a cost if she is paying the full price tag for UPenn. I suppose after working hard in high school she thought the Ivy would be the prize - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing given the prestige it brings initially.