Yale or full ride to UVA (plus perks)?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
61

<p>Oh please! Living in NY and being a member of the Yale Club of NY (which UVA and Dartmouth are both "in residence"), I know just as many incredibly intelligent and successful UVA grads as Yale grads. Yes, Yale is an amazing school, and it deserves its place in the pantheon of excellent universities, but give me a break. All the Jeff Scholars I know turned down schools like Yale, Harvard, and Stanford, and none of them have regretted it. Plus, they've had their pick of prestigious grad schools to attend afterwards. The Jefferson Scholarship is not something to sneeze at. Out of the 900 applicants chosen by their individual schools or at large, there are between 30-40 Scholars each year. That's a 3-4% acceptance rate. That's more selective than any Ivy League school.</p>

<p>And TruAZN, yes I was being sarcastic about history/anthropology/foreign affairs majors earning a lot of money when they graduate.</p>

62

<p>UVA for undergrad then an Ivy for grad school</p>

63

<p>I'm not saying that the graduates won't be as amazing or that they won't have the same success in life.</p>

<p>But realistically, to say that UVA, as a campus, is on par and has the resources that a campus and university like Yale would have...I mean, eh. University of Texas has a great Honors II program that's rather difficult to get into...but that doesn't make UT as an institution remotely like Yale.</p>

64

<p>Jefferson may be overrated in Va, but so are the Ivys. My wife and I are both Cornell grads, but here in the south (NC) the Jefferson holds more weight in real life than an ivy. That's why my D would pick Jeff over Yale, her 2 top picks.</p>

65

<p>I think if you are in UVA and keep on the top of the student body, your future could be much better than those who just in the middle of Yale students.</p>

66

<p>

You forgot to factor in the grade inflation at <a href="http://www.safetyschool.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.safetyschool.org&lt;/a>. It helps. ;)</p>

67

<p>^You too. In every department? Please.</p>

68

<p>For example, biomedical Engineering, English literature, Business major for undergraduate study, UVA is stronger than Yale. The top students in UVA could be as strong as the average level students of Yale. I am not talking about the top students of Yale.</p>

69

<p>If you are thinking about med school or law school or business school (or any type of grad school that is not a funded phd), and you go to yale, you will be in debt for a VERY long time. When you start grad school, you'd already be paying back $150,000 in loan, on top of the sky high tuitions of grad school.
If it were me, I'd take the free ride at UVA.
Would you pay for a $200,000 lamborguini or accept a free Saab? Pay for the exclusive or get a not quite as elite but still very high up car there for free?</p>

70

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71

<p>
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For example, biomedical Engineering, English literature, Business major for undergraduate study, UVA is stronger than Yale.

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<p>Er...English Literature UVA > Yale? Doubt it.</p>

72

<p>I recently posted this in the Parents Forum on a thread about take the Scholarship or the more "elite" school. If you go back a few years in the CC archives you'll see my very similar thread when we were trying to make the same type of decision. For those who have been around CC for a while this will be redundant so I will apologize in advance.</p>

<p>I know it can almost be heresy on CC to advocate turning down an elite school for a scholarship but in our case we saw the two options to be on equal footing as far as prestige and the cache that is recognized by grad and professional schools as well as employers.</p>

<p>In 2004 our S was admitted SCEA to Yale (first year of SCEA at Yale also known as "the bloodbath") which had been his dream since eighth grade. His school is also a Morehead nominating school and he was their selection that year. At the time of his Yale acceptance he already knew that he was a finalist for the Morehead. His first reaction after hearing from Yale was ".....oh ****, what happens if I win the Morehead?..." to which we replied we'll cross that bridge when we get to it and having Yale "in your back pocket" is not a bad place to be.</p>

<p>He consulted with several of his trusted mentors at his school and to a person he was told that it was a "no brainer" that the Morehead was truly a life changing opportunity. He was told that at Yale he would be one of 1300, albeit a very elite 1300, but still one of 1300, but as a Morehead, he would be one of forty (that year) with experiences through the summer programs that he couldn't/wouldn't have at Yale.</p>

<p>In March 2004 he was fortunate enough to be named a Morehead Scholar and the following month was interesting to say the least. I think one of the hardest things I had to do personally was to tell him to put aside the huge financial difference and weigh the options for what they were. He eventually decided that with med school as a goal, graduating debt free was a nice option and opted for the Morehead.</p>

<p>Now a junior, he has never regretted his decision and says he honestly couldn't see himself at Yale now. His freshman year was capped with UNC winning the NCAA basketball championship and the celebratory frenzy that came with it. Interestingly, this was a kid who prior to heading to his Morehead finalist interviews placed no value in big-time athletics as part of an undergrad experience and did not know who Dean Smith was!</p>

<p>He has had three amazing summers; one spent learning to sail, another spent doing eight weeks of service in French West Africa and this past summer, nine weeks immersing himself in life as a Parisian, living in Montmartre. This coming summer he will do his Enterprise Summer or Internship and will be doing medical research under the head of the MD/PhD program at a major medical school and teaching hospital with the promise of being part of two papers that will be published.</p>

<p>He has gotten a tremendous education (at UNC he was given credit for his 43 AP credit hours and was in upper division classes his freshman year) and has had a remarkable undergraduate experience. From day one he has described his friends as "amazing and brilliant" who challenge and push each other in a way that is sharing and caring rather than cut throat and self-serving.</p>

<p>I think that the biggest hurdle that had to be overcome was by EAmom and me in putting OUR egos aside and getting over the fact that we wouldn't be putting a Yale sticker in the back windows of our cars or telling people that our son attended Yale. He has never been happier and is honestly lamenting the fact that his days at UNC are getting numbered. </p>

<p>The "name" scholarships at schools like UVA and UNC should not be taken lightly. They were designed to attract top students who otherwise might not consider attending these fine schools. I know in his class of Moreheads alone there were 5 others who turned down Yale, a Stanford double legacy, and several who turned down H and P. Not one has ever regretted their decision.</p>

<p>This June he will begin applying to Med Schools, and as curmudgeon has already stated we are blessed to have two top 20 schools here in Texas. He would love to remain at UNC but it would also be nice to have him "home" again for med school. Having saved between $160,000 and $200,000, we can now be there to assist him with the enormous costs of med school where there is no financial aid.....just loans and long term indebtedness.</p>

73

<p>eadad, as a parent too, I admire how well you handled what I am sure was a stressful time. Congratulations on all of your son's accomplishments.</p>

74

<p>eadad--It seems to me that many on CC view accepting at an Ivy and turning down a scholarship at a top tier school (or even second tier school) is heresy. I think we're all more sensitive to remarks that fly counter to the choices our family has made. Your son is obviously a remarkable scholar--congrats on a job well done.</p>

<p>Also, for the OP's benefit, Yale's summer programs and funding for summer programs have changed a lot since eadad's child applied. If the summer program aspect of UVa is a serious part of the siren call, please investigate Yale's summer programs more closely.</p>

<p>I'm very much in agreement that grad school expenses should be taken into account. However, some parents can and do pay for grad school and students who want to go to graduate school as opposed to a professional school (law, med school, MBA) stand an excellent chance of having tuition waived and receiving a stipend, especially if they have done well at a top school.</p>

<p>UVa is clearly the right choice for OP under one set of circumstances and Yale is clearly the right choice for OP under a different set.</p>

<p>By the way, OP, any word on your decision? Hope you can go to Bulldog Days before making a final choice.</p>

75

<p>Thank you all so much for your advice - it's been incredibly helpful as I try and make my decision. I'm definitely going to Bulldog Days, but at this point, I'm pretty sure I'll be choosing UVA. While I probably could afford to attend Yale, it seems truly selfish to pass up $140,000 in scholarship money. I know that I will love any college I choose and will probably do well regardless of where I decide to go.</p>

<p>Thanks again for the lengthy and thought-provoking responses :)</p>

76

<p>^I hope you have a wonderful time at Bulldog Days. This is a choice that will define the next 4 years of your life and a lot of the rest of it too...you can afford to be selfish if you want to :)</p>

77

<p>Forget UVA. Being able to say "My alma mater is Yale College" is INVALUABLE. You make back that $140,000 10x over.</p>

78

<p>Yeah, but I want to go into humanitarian aid. There's no money in that. :-/</p>

79

<p>GointoVanDY</p>

<p>You are seriously deluded if you honestly believe that. Look at the undergrad matriculation of the top people in corporate America and you will be surprised at the school mentioned, especially for those who are under 45-50 years of age.</p>

<p>In the good old days having HYP was a ticket into political and governmental arenas....read the history of the OSS/CIA...it was an Ivy League Boys club...but the times have changed. </p>

<p>Unless you plan on a career in investment banking on Wall Street, the Yale undergrad degree alone will do no more than top achievement and inner drive at any number of excellent schools of which UVA is certainly one.</p>

80

<p>Go 2 years full ride, go last 2 pay. They don't really care where the first 2 years come from. That is a lot of $$$ to turn down. Take what is given as a first choice. Think how much you would have to work to pay that kind of money. I am living for an offer of $$$</p>