Hi so I was accepted to Western Michigan University and deferred from University of Michigan, if I got accepted to UMIch, should I go? Western is a whole lot cheaper than UMich which is 70k and I think that Western is around 40k, maybe, but I know that it is a lot cheaper (I am out of state). I would be doing engineering at either, and UMIch is a way better engineering school and Western is “OK”. So I’m not sure.
University of Michigan is one of the top 15 Engineering schools in the world. in the top six in the United States. Not only is there tremendous prestige and cutting edge research associated with UMich’s CoE, graduation rates are 90%+…compared to Western’s rates of about half. Nothing against Western. It’s a nice middle of the road public college. But it’s a far cry from the experience you’d have in Ann Arbor if you get in. As far as costs go, make sure to compare actual costs after aid.
Well, that depends on the cost differential and how you plan to pay for it.
Michigan is a better school and engineering school overall. When you say “$70K”, do you mean that’s how much you would have to borrow, or are your parents paying that? And do you mean total or per year? I’m not even sure Michigan can get that expensive per year for an OOS student, but I don’t think you mean after aid because it doesn’t seem you’ve been admitted to even have an aid package yet.
What state are you from? Why apply to Western Michigan rather than a regional university in your home state?
Western Michigan oos is not worth it. What ate instate colleges for you?
Can you afford U Michigan though? (they offer financial aid to oos applicants though) .
–First there is no need to decide until you know if UM is an option.
–If you get into UM, can your family afford the school without hardship or loans?
–Do you have other options?
I would say UM but obviously I don’t know your financial situation. Its not like Western Michigan University is cheap either, so why not go to a much much better school. I’m in a similar situation, but I am leaning towards Michigan
@juillet correction, it is $57k I looked at the information wrong and thought it was 70k. And honestly I’m not sure, my parents aren’t really telling me anything about how much they’re willing to pay and not. And yes it will be 57 per year. And when aid comes into the picture, we aren’t expecting to get much of a financial aid package because my mom is a doctor and we have money to pay. When it comes to paying for college, however, I’m not really 100% sure on how much she’s willing to pay and if I would need any loans or leave with debt. I’m in Illinois and unfortunately I didn’t get any the colleges that I applied to in my state, but got accepted to Western, so I’m definitely going to Michigan no matter what.
There’s still time for you to apply to better schools than Western.
Apply to Augustana in Illinois, Concordia Moorhead, Hendrix, Drake, St Michael’s. All of these are much stronger academically than Western Michigan. They’re all on commonapp so it’ll be easy.
If you want more suggestions there are more indeed, just indicate your preferences (although at this point you can’t really be too choosy).
Urgent: run the NPC on the colleges you got into and on the universities listed above, bring the results to your mother.
You can only borrow 5.5k for freshman year, 27k total for 4 years. That’s how much a college graduate can reasonably pay back over 10 years.
@MYOS1634, Concordia does not even have an engineering major. Not sure about the other schools, but the the OO should check that out.
OP, you need to pin your mom down on finances. You should have done this before ever applying. I’d pick almost any other state flagship, and a fair number of other state schools (eg, Iowa State, Michigan State, etc) before I’d pay OOS for Western Michigan. And she may have no intention of paying for UMichigan (where you haven’t been accepted yet anyway).
Sorry, didn’t check the major. I listed college’s that I know would offer merit for near-UMich stats and still accept applications…
Engineering probably explains the rejection instate at Illinois.
Oos rates for Western Michigan are hard to justify though.
Umn Duluth may be an option then. Stronger than WMU. Definitely Iowa state. Nebraska? South Dakota school of mines?
If you get into UMich and can pay, do it. WMU is much less prestigious in CoE, and both are expensive for OOS, and Michigan is an elite school, WMU is a regionally known school, great for some things, but not all…
Definitely look into other options still taking apps. Your stats may allow you better options than WMU for the same as UM prices.
@MYOS1634: We don’t actually know what stats the OP has.
He said he was denied to IL colleges, and UIUC engineering is the only public that is terribly hard to enter.
You need to find out how much your parents are willing to pay per year. Are you asking your parents and they are being wishy-washy about it, or have you just simply not had a conversation? Because if you haven’t asked, you should try; explain that you can’t make good decisions without knowing that information.
Michigan being nearly $60K means that it can possibly be unaffordable for you. Even if you had to borrow 1/3 of that a year ($20K) that’s still $80K by graduation AND you can’t borrow that much without a cosigner.
I mean sure, in a perfect world Michigan is more prestigious and all other things equal, I would choose there over Western Michigan. But a nearly $20K difference per year isn’t exactly small, either.