I like the campus and comfortableness of UNH the most, financial aid good for next year but dont know about the next three years. Umass is a good school and I would get out debt free but i dont like the camps. UCONN is best academically but probably the most expensive, still waiting on financial aid package, has great campus too. Planning to major in biology. Where should I go?
Good choices. Once you know financial aid, it’ll just come down to cost v. your personal inclinations. A big advantage to U Mass, I think, is the consortium program that allows students to take classes at Hampshire, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and Amherst. Would this be something of interest to you? UNH might offer more outdoors opportunities if you are interested in that. U Conn is a terrific institution. It might just come down to the question of whether it is worth 2k or 5k or 10k per year for one that is a better fit for you. Or maybe your favorite will be the least expensive. Good luck with the decision! Enjoy college, attend classes, get to know your professors, and work hard.
Thanks @TTG for the help. I really like that there is a town surrounding UNH and the outdoor activities might interest me, but not all that much. Overall I just can get past the look and feel of Umass even though I know that’s not the most important thing.The five college consortium does sound nice but it doesn’t interest me overly much. Which would you recommend with the best biology program/ track for success?
Sorry, I don’t know much about these biology programs. It seems to me that U Mass-Amherst’s campus has improved a lot with newer construction. There are a couple of big, ugly concrete buildings though. It is nice that it is adjacent to Amherst, a nice New England town, and there’s a lot of beautiful areas immediately surrounding. It sounds like you prefer U Conn. I hope the financial side works out for you.
Thanks @TTG i do prefer UNH and UCONN just based on the feel of them. I’m torn between them because each one has their own different appeal to me. I didn’t get a very good feel of the students however and im not sure which one is the best fit for me in terms of what most of the student body likes/ is interested in
The five college consortium is a huge bonus for Umass students and the town of Amherst is a very nice college town. Nicer than Storrs. However beware, the Abigail Adams scholarship is like 2k with the humongous fees (like, 12k) not covered. So look at the terms of our aid very carefully.
UNH has lots of funding troubles so I’d pick it last unless you’re really into the outdoors to the exclusion of most anything else or if their financial aid makes your net costs low enough.
Wait till you have your financial aid package. Make sure our parents are on the same page as you are wrt costs.
@MYOS1634 thanks for the response. I am actually in state for UMASS so the price for my parents would be ideal. UNH has given me aid for next year that makes the net cost lower than UMASS but we did fill out a special circumstance sheet. The problem is that I won’t know if the aid will stay around the same for the next three years and if I’ll have to take loans.
Keep in mind that there are not very many jobs that are available with an undergraduate degree in biology. If you plan to go on to medical school or graduate school, carefully consider the least expensive option.
Is UNH’s aid merit-based? Is it a scholarship - if so, check out the conditions (usually, something like “keep a 3.2 GPA”…)
Seconding the fact that biology has one of the worst job prospects out there - you’d be better off with art history or English… so think about what you want to do with it. if it’s grad school and research in something like biochemistry, or if it’s bioinformatics, or if it’s biology because you think that’s what premeds do (more successful med school applicants actually study math, philosophy, music, foreign languages, CS… - because they can handle being tops for their major AND tops for all premed pre-reqs.)