<p>Feel free to weigh in on the current not-so-hypothetical situation at our house of trying to decide between William & Mary (W&M) and Princeton University (PU).</p>
<p>The Comparison
- Cost: W&M = $X (mom and dad eat Kraft Mac&Cheese for 4 years); PU = $2X (generic Mac&Cheese instead)
- Debt: W&M = $0; PU = $20K (4 year total) for D (plus some work-study)
- Academics: Assume fairly equal.
- Campus "Vibe": W&M = Very Comfortable (D has been to many events, camps, etc. since 2nd grade); PU = Completely new experience
- Student "Vibe": W&M = D has several friends @ W&M; PU = D knows no one, but really liked the students that she met at Princeton Preview.
- Location: W&M = w/in 2 hours of home; PU = 6-7 hours driving (more distance is appealing to D... not so much for mom).
- Climate: W&M = more appealing; PU = D does not like cold (but "that could mean that I would stay in and study").</p>
<p>Other
- D feels that PU may be more stressful, but that she might regret not taking the challenge.
- If $$$ were no consideration, then D would choose PU.
- W&M = "head" (logical) choice; PU = "heart" choice.
- D not sure of major. Will probably be Humanities, but also does well in bio / physical sciences. Not Engineering.
- D feels that she may be too far behind the math curve at PU since she chose to take her senior dance seminar and 5th year Spanish over calculus this year.
- Is post-graduation earnings potential at PU enough to nullify the debt concerns?
- Assuming good grades / hard work, Grad. school acceptance would be equal.</p>
<p>The good thing is that neither is a bad option and one way or another, we will have a decision by May 1... whew!</p>
<p>My son actually prefers the generic mac/cheese so he’d tell you to tell her to choose Princeton. Difficult choice. I LOVE WM. Couldn’t imagine my daughter any where else. Then again, Princeton was her only rejection from 11 applications. At least Yale waitlisted her. That said, had she gotten into Princeton, no doubt, any way we could have afforded it, she would have gone.</p>
<p>If money was not an option then D would go to PU you say. I say, go to PU - 20K can be managed somehow. I have a rising soph. in W&M who was rejected by PU. The price differential for me (if he were to go PU) would have been around 150+K over the 4 years. I think that would have been prohibitive. Go to PU. I don’t want to sit on this W&M page and tell you this but I feel it is not correct to let go of HP or Y for 20K over 4 years.</p>
<p>Many kids turn down Ivys for W&M. Princeton is a great school but so is W&M. Real issue here is weather and Country Club vs Public feel. Depends on where your child will fit best. Good luck. Nice problem to have.</p>
<p>Thanx to everyone for their sage advice. As a little point of clarification, the $20K would be debt for D (which she is OK, but hesitant, with taking on… she had already calculated the monthly payment before we had our “talk” today). The price differential for mom and dad would be about $40K over 4 years and puts us right on the edge of our financial comfort level (hence the Kraft vs. Generic mac & cheese analogy).</p>
<p>With that having been said…
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<p>As an alumnus, I am partial to W&M too, but made sure that D did not apply there because she thought that I wanted her to do so. Being an alum is why I posted to the W&M forum and did not cross-post to Princeton too.</p>
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<p>D is concerned about fitting in at PU (we joked that maybe she was the token redneck girl), but met many students that she liked there and has received email from them (and dept. chair) since Princeton Preview wanting to know if she is coming. </p>
<p>We all agree that this is a “Nice problem to have.” Many parents would like to have this dilemma. D has worked very hard and has earned it! We keep in perspective that at least we are not having to make some painful life/death decision about D.</p>
<p>^^^No, she MUST go to the best school for her. Princeton is great, but its not perfect. W&M is the best undergrad public in America. Its not a CC. I have friend who went to Harvard b/c it was Harvard. He stated once he graduated and “matured” he realized he should have gone to Swarthmore. He also visited W’burg in Feb, soaked in the 72 degree sun, and realized life can be very nice outside the Ivy League.</p>
<p>Go where you will thrive. If you are not happy, no amount of US News “prestige” will make up you smile.</p>
<p>20k can be a fair amount if the interest is somewhat high. I think for undergrad the academic quality would be similar. If it makes any difference the difficulty level was rated as a 4.3 for W&M and 4.1 for princeton, W&M definitely isn’t easy(Students review .com) . One thing to consider is that the earnings for princeton grads are overall. If she is going into the humanities she won’t be making anywhere near that much money. Where you go to undergrad doesn’t matter nearly as much as previous job performance etc. and if you are planning on being a teacher for ex. you aren’t going to be paid more if you went to princeton over W&M. Both are considered “really good” and that’s about it. Now, if you were planning on being a lawyer that is another story. Go where you feel you would succeed. </p>
<p>If you aren’t sure, 40,000 dollars is a good chunk of change. Graduating without debt should be a priority for most college students. You don’t want another thing to worry about after you find that a philosophy degree isn’t as practical as you had hoped. From what I can tell it seems like it is a close call one way or another. I’d take the 40k if I wasn’t going into law. Don’t factor in work-study at Princeton and not at W&M, assume she’d do it at both for an equal comparison.</p>
<p>If she wants to go to Princeton, the 20K is not that significant, IMO. I think (/hope) things will have picked up by then and recent grads will have less trouble finding jobs.</p>
<p>But, ultimately, it is her money to take on as debt. You could throw a new $20,000 car into the mix if she chooses W&M (or offer her the difference of $40,000 towards grad school). Not as a bribe, but to show her that the money that you are paying is very real. If it is Princeton v. W&M, she might see your $40k as “use or lose”</p>
<p>I don’t think she should worry about not being challenged at W&M. And I would say the UVA student body is closer to what she would find at Princeton.</p>
<p>If she majors in science she would likely be fine, but if she’s majoring in english say, she is in for a wild ride. I think it’s not perfectly clear where she wants to go, and if I wasn’t sure I’d take 20k less in debt. Grad school is another factor. With more and more people going to grad school it is becoming the new college of 30 years ago (good to go but you’d be ok with HS degree, except now you’d be ok with just undergrad) Offering her the difference or half the difference would definitely be a good option since it is hard to think about the financial strain of tuition until you hear “10,000 dollars after graduation” and realize how much that is.</p>
<p>^^^ By this time tomorrow I should know. D plans to press the <submit> button at one or the other college before she leaves for school in the morning. I have a strong suspicion which way it is going to go.</submit></p>
<p>I can tell this is really important to her because she has put almost as much thought into it as she did with the prom dress :)</p>
<p>Curious to know the decision. I probably would encourage Princeton in the scenario you are describing. Since if money wasn’t an issue she’d choose Princeton, that’s where she should go. 20K debt is not insurmountable.</p>
<p>For those that are interested, the answer is Generic Mac&Cheese / Heart. D went with Princeton after much consideration.</p>
<p>This is D2 (the baby) and Mom is having a really hard time with this. She was hoping for W&M so that D would not be so “far away.” Unfortunately, I am traveling this week and Mom was crying for the 3rd time this morning (“every time I see the W&M folder”) last time I talked to her. Luckily, I will be home tonight.</p>
<p>Congrats. My baby left the nest last year and it was difficult. She didn’t like her school and wanted to transfer out. I pushed WM but she opted for a school even further away, but she seems delighted. Wishing her much success at Princeton.</p>
<p>W&M wishes your daughter the best of luck. We’re sorry that she did not choose W&M but she had some wonderful options and she’ll no doubt enjoy her next four years immensely</p>
<p>Thanx W&M Admission for the kind words. I admit that as an alum I had a soft spot for W&M, but after helping D with Pros/Cons and laying out some basic guidelines (finances, etc.) left the decision up to her. I told her that I support her decision 100% as long as she doesn’t expect me to ever buy a pair of Princeton orange dress pants.</p>
<p>I’m thinking that now would not be the time to joke with Mom about working on having D3 for legacy :)</p>
<p>Dang, now I don’t have an excuse to go to The Trellis, Cheese Shop, etc. There’s an idea for a couple of new threads… “Favorite Williamsburg Restaurant” or “Favorite Cheese Shop Sandwich.”</p>