What Schools are Worth Paying For Over UVA In-State Tuition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a UMC family we can fortunately afford to send our son to whatever college he likes the most, but from a practical standpoint if he was to get an offer from UVA what schools might be worth to pay for over the in-state discount?

Every school is worth it if it is the right fit. Sometimes money means you do not get to the place you should go. If money matters not then fit is your only concern. You do fit and forget the money. Now if fit is close for state school then there is your answer. But I would full pay anywhere over in-state if the fit was better.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Three of our (in state NOVA) kids were faced with this decision. All good students with sensible heads on their shoulders, none approached the college admissions process with this silly idea that "fit" is the same thing as finding a perfect mate for a marriage. Many colleges for most kids qualify as a good or very good fit, not just one. Of course cost and practicality factor into the equation among other things.

Two of the three ended up choosing UVA over more highly ranked (but not top 10) private schools. A third did not even apply to UVA because they really wanted a liberal arts college, and in the end turned down William & Mary in state for a top 10-15 liberal arts college that gave enough merit aid to make the cost difference justifiable. Sure, in all three cases we could have afforded the private schools with or without merit aid, there are a lot of things we can afford but don't buy or pay for just because we can.

[Anonymous]

One interesting factoid is UVa. actually has the third highest in state tuition of all publics. William and Mary is the highest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One interesting factoid is UVa. actually has the third highest in state tuition of all publics. William and Mary is the highest.

Uva in-state engineering for 2022-23 was $24,650 with slight decreases each year after;
W&M for same year was $17,434

While W&M doesn't really have engineering, if you are a CS major, you could end up paying more at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One interesting factoid is UVa. actually has the third highest in state tuition of all publics. William and Mary is the highest.

Uva in-state engineering for 2022-23 was $24,650 with slight decreases each year after;
W&M for same year was $17,434

While W&M doesn't really have engineering, if you are a CS major, you could end up paying more at UVA.

God I remember it being $2200/year when I was a freshman in CS. I guess they had to pay for all those new buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One interesting factoid is UVa. actually has the third highest in state tuition of all publics. William and Mary is the highest.

Uva in-state engineering for 2022-23 was $24,650 with slight decreases each year after;
W&M for same year was $17,434

While W&M doesn't really have engineering, if you are a CS major, you could end up paying more at UVA.

God I remember it being $2200/year when I was a freshman in CS. I guess they had to pay for all those new buildings.

[Anonymous]

My parents gave me the cash and asked if I wanted to spend it on a private school or if I wanted it for a downpayment after graduation. I went instate and purchased my first home after graduation with that money. I had roommates who paid the entire mortgage.

My sister also chose instate but then used the money to start a business after graduation.

Faced with the decision, I don't know that many kids would choose the private college. I had gotten into a few good schools, but not ivy league, so maybe the calculus would have been different if it was Harvard vs a downpayments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One interesting factoid is UVa. actually has the third highest in state tuition of all publics. William and Mary is the highest.

Uva in-state engineering for 2022-23 was $24,650 with slight decreases each year after;
W&M for same year was $17,434

While W&M doesn't really have engineering, if you are a CS major, you could end up paying more at UVA.

God I remember it being $2200/year when I was a freshman in CS. I guess they had to pay for all those new buildings.

[b]


Uh, my own SLAC is now $88K a year. It was $4,000 when I attended. Keep it all in perspective. Any of the Virginia in-state publics is a great deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A recent transfer student to UVA told us that it is like High School 2.0. For a student that wants a different more diverse more evolved experience there are a LOT of schools that are worth it. Especially if money isn’t a factor.

And here come the predictable UVA naysayers. OP there are many here on this board who hate UVA for some reason. Ignore them.

My kid is at UVA from NOVA and never sees any of the 10 kids from his class that go to UVA. It’s far from HS 2.0 but I suppose if a kid makes it so and doesn’t branch out from who they already know, that’s on them.

To answer your question though I think it’s totally program/major dependent and if the kid hates UVA for whatever reason, don’t force them.

My UVA student said the same thing. Every time I asked "have you seen X (from high school)" he would respond, No, there are 35,000 people down there, of course I haven't seen X. (undergrads, grads, faculty and admin).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child wants to pursue engineering, UVA is not a great choice. I can think of tons of schools - GA Tech, UIUC, Michigan, Purdue, UT, Wisconsin, northwestern. UVA is not even a top 25 program. [/quote]


You are wrong. And my UVA aerospace engineering student is now doing grad work at Princeton. https://engineering.virginia.edu/news/2021/02/uva-engineering-recognized-among-top-schools-multiple-rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child wants to pursue engineering, UVA is not a great choice. I can think of tons of schools - GA Tech, UIUC, Michigan, Purdue, UT, Wisconsin, northwestern. UVA is not even a top 25 program. [/quote]


You are wrong. And my UVA aerospace engineering student is now doing grad work at Princeton. https://engineering.virginia.edu/news/2021/02/uva-engineering-recognized-among-top-schools-multiple-rankings

What’s wrong? UVA is NOT a top 25 program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child wants to pursue engineering, UVA is not a great choice. I can think of tons of schools - GA Tech, UIUC, Michigan, Purdue, UT, Wisconsin, northwestern. UVA is not even a top 25 program. [/quote]


You are wrong. And my UVA aerospace engineering student is now doing grad work at Princeton. https://engineering.virginia.edu/news/2021/02/uva-engineering-recognized-among-top-schools-multiple-rankings

What’s wrong? UVA is NOT a top 25 program.

Why does it matter if UVA is a top program? What would be the practical consequences of that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child wants to pursue engineering, UVA is not a great choice. I can think of tons of schools - GA Tech, UIUC, Michigan, Purdue, UT, Wisconsin, northwestern. UVA is not even a top 25 program. [/quote]


You are wrong. And my UVA aerospace engineering student is now doing grad work at Princeton. https://engineering.virginia.edu/news/2021/02/uva-engineering-recognized-among-top-schools-multiple-rankings

Not quite. That ranking is for an online masters degree. OP was asking about undergrad. This the the undergraduate rankings. UVA is 42nd.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child wants to pursue engineering, UVA is not a great choice. I can think of tons of schools - GA Tech, UIUC, Michigan, Purdue, UT, Wisconsin, northwestern. UVA is not even a top 25 program. [/quote]


You are wrong. And my UVA aerospace engineering student is now doing grad work at Princeton. https://engineering.virginia.edu/news/2021/02/uva-engineering-recognized-among-top-schools-multiple-rankings

What’s wrong? UVA is NOT a top 25 program.

Why does it matter if UVA is a top program? What would be the practical consequences of that?

If you think that ranking doesn’t matter, then why doesn’t matter if one goes to UVA or JMU? Higher ranked school have more developed and recognized programs. Greater opportunities for research, internships, and post grad jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they want engineering, Purdue out of state is about the same as instate UVA.

Yes. Purdue is very affordable, even out of state. Purdue’s engineering program is the 9th best in the country. UVA is 37th. Purdue would be the easy choice.

UVA is 25