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<p>“Worth it” how? Lifetime earnings? Admission to top graduate programs? Prove it.</p>
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Few years ago, I posted Rutger’s post graduate results vs Princeton’s. There was no comparison. Feel free to go on those schools’ websites again.
This is need based, right? Who are they benefiting? Not the school. For every need based aid they give, they have full pay, qualified students lined up around the block who would want a spot.</p>
<p>Any calculation of lifetime earnings should also factor in the $250k that was or wasn’t spent to achieve those earnings. It should also adjust for the fields in which the graduates work. Princeton is one of the biggest feeders to Wall Street and other high-paying corporate jobs. That is going to skew the numbers.</p>
<p>A high-achieving kid who does well at UND and wants to go to med school, a PhD program, into business, etc. should be able to reach his or her goals.</p>
<p>I don’t disagree with med school and other PhD programs. On the other hand, I wouldn’t necessary pick a school over a major (or career) because a lot of kids do change their minds.</p>
<p>In looking at Princeton’s data, I wouldn’t say WS is the biggest employer. I was just looking at % students with jobs at graduation and % of schools getting advance degrees. Much larger % of graduates from Rutgers had no plans.</p>
<p>This is need based, right? Who are they benefiting? Not the school</p>
<p>Well, I don’t actually believe that. I think schools give money away to benefit themselves in some way…bragging rights, better diversity, something. Schools are businesses…they’re not Mother Teresa operations.</p>
<p>Part time work wasn’t enough then, either. I had a couple grants, but worked two full time jobs every summer and took out a TON of college loans. I had personal debt of $28k after graduation. The school made my mom sign a document saying she understood the amount of money I was taking out was unreasonable for anyone to pay off themselves and that she would help me. She signed it but told me, “You understand I’m signing this, but you are still responsible for it all”.</p>
<p>With tight budgeting, I was able to get rid of all the school debt in less than seven years. I didn’t have a super job (worked in residential life at a college the first year and at a non-profit children’s home for a few). The most I made in a year was $28k during that time. The most my husband made was $30k. We had two kids as well. </p>
<p>There were lots of sacrifices during school - no vacations or special activities, no ordering pizza, I borrowed textbooks from the library, etc. But as I said, it was worth it to go to the school with the best fit for me.</p>
<p>*My mom told me up front how much she could afford ($10k/yr) and that I would have to make up the difference. I worked a couple jobs and paid the difference that wasn’t made up with need-based aid. </p>
<p>It was absolutely worth it in my opinion. I just felt “home” when at the school I chose and I can’t imagine having gone anywhere else.</p>
<p>This was back in the 90s, so perhaps feelings are different now, but my mom told me her contribution and I made an informed choice based on that.*</p>
<p>Back in the 90s, a $10k per year contribution from parents was probably quite substantial. Private schools didn’t cost nearly what they do today. </p>
<p>That’s significant because after the couple of grants, $10k per year contribution, and $7k per year debt, how much did you have to cover each year thru earnings?</p>
<p>I don’t think a full ride scholarship is always worth it - it depends on where the full ride is, and what financial circumstances are like for the family involved.</p>
<p>In this case, I don’t think there’s enough of an impact/academic difference to choose Tulane wholesale over Alabama (they’re both in the same tier - yes, Tulane is higher up in that tier than Alabama, but not enough to make a significant impact IMO), so I would make this choice based on other factors.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do either Tulane or Alabama have a major that you really want to explore or perhaps take classes in? Alabama has more engineering majors, majors in advertising and public relations, and a nursing program. At Tulane you can major in Greek, gender and sexuality studies, or Portuguese.</p></li>
<li><p>Would you rather go to school in a large town/small city like Tuscaloosa, or a large city like New Orleans? Of course New Orleans probably has more to do and probably more term-time internships to offer in the city, but small college towns can be very college-oriented and a lot of fun for the students, plus that means that almost all of the action happens on campus which can be useful for students with no car or who just want to do campus events and aren’t into clubbing or city stuff.</p></li>
<li><p>Tulane has 8,500 undergrads. University of Alabama has 28,000 undergrads. That’s a huge difference. Do you want to go to a medium-sized school, or a very large school? There are pros and cons to both.</p></li>
<li><p>Are your parents making you take personal debt to go to college in addition to you paying? You can borrow up to $31,000 for your four years of undergrad. That’s not a whole lot, but it’s more than $0.</p></li>
<li><p>Social life, of course. Visiting may help. Are you more drawn to the social dynamics of Tulane or Alabama? Tulane is a little more racially diverse than Alabama, but not by much. Both seem to have about equal amounts of Greek domination at the school (about 1/3 of students). Alabama of course has many more in-state students, but not as much as you would think - 40% of Alabama students come from OOS, and given its size that’s bigger than Tulane’s entire student body. Consider these differences.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There have been studies done that show that for ambitious, intelligent students, where you go is not really as important as what you do there. I don’t think either of these schools is objectively all-around better than the other, so this will be a personal preference question.</p>
<p>No,my sister got all merit to carnegie mellon. She had VERY high stats and was a national merit semi finalist. Maybe if I go to tulane it would give me more opportunities/better education, because I also know they have strong sciences. My dad will have absolutely no financial problem even if I went to Ivy League, do that is not even a discussion. However, of course I wouldn’t want to just waste money going to a college, which is why I am asking. I don’t know what my stats has to do with the question but: 32 act 33 super scored, 3.8 weighted gpa as of the end of junior year but I currently have all As my senior year and two ap classes, which would make my gpa higher.</p>
<p>Also for the six year pharmacy program, that is extremely competitive so as I don’t even know for sure what I want to study yet I wouldn’t choose auburn based off of that.</p>
<p>As far as college size, I prefer it lot to be very large. I definetly prefer city over college town.</p>
<p>*not to be very large</p>
<p>Tuition, room, board, etc. was $28k-30k/yr when I went to school there. I graduated in 1999. I just checked and the total cost has almost doubled per year - yikes! Even though my mom made only $40k/yr before taxes, she had saved well. </p>
<p>Gosh - how do people afford college these days?! I hadn’t realized how much it had gone up! $60+k/yr is a ton! Our state school is looking more and more appealing at $28k/yr!</p>
<p>Of course if I went there today, it would be completely free due to our family’s income. That would have been nice! :)</p>
<p>Did you enjoy attending tulane? Also what did you major in/get a career in?</p>
<p>Sorry - by “there” I meant the college I attended and had referenced in a previous post. I tried to quote, but the app doesn’t want to let me. I was responding to a previous post. </p>
<p>I’m sorry I can’t respond directly to your question about the relative merits of each school. I will, however, say if your parents truly don’t care about cost, I would take them at their word and choose the school I felt fit me best. Have you done visits to each? I would go and try to stay overnight/attend classes with a student. It can show you the true school, not just the admissions version.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d make an effort to spend more time on each campus to see which one feels like the better fit for you. My daughter did this and turned down several merit offers to go to one where she is full pay because it was clearly a better match for her. If you have this option, consider yourself blessed and go where you think you’ll be happiest. All of your schools are good ones (my dad went to Tulane, my mother to Auburn and several family members to Alabama), so go where you want.</p>
<p>I agree that the thing to do is clarify with your parents that they are fine either way, then visit all 3 schools. Do an overnight, attend a class or 3, talk to people you know there…whatever it takes to make one a clear favorite.</p>
<p>Then if it isn’t the free tuition one, weigh that against your impressions from the visit and the academic options you have there.</p>
<p>Your parents and I were fortunate to be able to pay full price for college. It’s a blessing. </p>
<p>I didn’t want my kids to be in any way shape or form constrained by college cost. I wanted them to go to the place where they thought they would be the happiest. I’m sure your parents feel the same way. My kids are both in private schools and I am satisfied that I am getting my money’s worth.</p>
<p>Let your parents have the same satisfaction. Choose the school that you think would be the best for you. Forget about the monetary considerations.</p>
<p>BTW, it’s not dumb. The top colleges in the nation are filled with students who could have gotten the full tuition at Alabama. They are all not dumb.</p>
<p>Just my two cents for those whose parents ‘can’t afford the difference’…and I am one. I know my son could get into a school where costs for us would be in the 50,000 range per year and we would probably have to go into great debt to send him there. To give perspective, a hundred grand in loans over 4 years will cost you about 11,000 per year for 20 years to payback…that is fine if you are a doctor or in a high paying career. Not so fine if you are going to major in Education, Art, or maybe Social Work…all great careers, but you would be giving 1/3 of your starting salaries back to loans. (Our son is interested in majoring in Music Education - and he will be great at it, but would it be a good degree for him to go to Harvard to obtain at great cost and debt or will he ultimately be just as much of a music teacher going to a local state school?)</p>
<p>I saw a post earlier that talked about the value of Harvard over SEMO and while I get the idea of what they are saying, there is more to that than just ‘Harvard is better’ and I don’t think it is always appropriate. (In reality in most cases, there are happy mediums). …and yes in some cases SEMO on a full ride might be a better choice.</p>
<p>Also, since I don’t really know what career I want it’s making my decision harder.</p>