UVA v. WM v. SC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is just finishing her first year at the University of South Carolina. This was one of her safety schools. She was direct admitted to their top ranked international business program. Last year, out of HS, she was rejected by both UVA and William and Mary. She reapplied as a transfer student and was accepted to both. Now, she is conflicted about what they do. Choose to move to UVA or William and Mary or stay where she is. She is very involved at USC in student leadership and is among a bunch of smart, internationally oriented kids. She will go to China and New Zealand next year. She has developed friends. I think she likes being a bigger fish in a smaller pond and wonders whether she would lose these opportunities if she leaves. I will support whatever decision she makes, but also hope to provide wise counsel. Any thoughts DCUMers?

As a parent of transfer student - developing a social network from scratch and breaking into leadership roles in the new school requires effort that takes away from studying - and UVA and W&M are both harder schools academically.
While they both are ranked higher than USC, the USC IB program is well-known. If your daughter is doing well, has friends and active in extracurriculars, AND you can pay for her remaining years OOS, she should stay put.

Cost is not an issue. She received a merit scholarship to USC that makes us slightly less expensive than in-state UVA and W&M.

[Anonymous]

Personally I would transfer for the much better reputation, but she has some solid reasons for staying. If she can graduate with honors and with some major college activities on her resume, I think that would help offset the lower reputation of USC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I would transfer for the much better reputation, but she has some solid reasons for staying. If she can graduate with honors and with some major college activities on her resume, I think that would help offset the lower reputation of USC.

If she's sticking with IB at USC then she's not gaining much in reputation. The USC IB program is very highly regarded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I would transfer for the much better reputation, but she has some solid reasons for staying. If she can graduate with honors and with some major college activities on her resume, I think that would help offset the lower reputation of USC.

Typical DCUM response, knowing nothing about the program but knocking the school because they apparently think this “backwards southern state school” couldn’t possibly have as good of a reputation as a VA school.

[Anonymous]

Never underestimate the value of being happy at college. If she's happy, why take a gamble?

[Anonymous]

USCis ranked something like 100th among U.S. colleges and universities. There are nearly 4,000 schools in the U.S., co it’s hardly “low quality.”

[Anonymous]

"Never underestimate the value of being happy at college. If she's happy, why take a gamble?"

To double down on this, I'm not exactly clear on all the IB career paths but I think most require grad school sooner or later.

Grad school will give her a way to go to a more prestigious school. Kick #$$%%!! now, collect names later.

[Anonymous]

I think DD is leaning towards UVA. To sweeten the deal, they are offering a $12,000 scholarship to her, which basically brings the cost to under what she gets at USC with a scholarship. W&M is offering nothing but an unsubsidized Stafford loan.

[Anonymous]

She'll have to apply to Mcintire and be accepted to major in business at UVA, so she'll be giving up a sure IB degree at USC for a maybe admit into the program at UVA against kids who have already had a year to establish themselves at the school. Something to consider

[Anonymous]

Op, I am Very curious what your DD decided

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think DD is leaning towards UVA. To sweeten the deal, they are offering a $12,000 scholarship to her, which basically brings the cost to under what she gets at USC with a scholarship. W&M is offering nothing but an unsubsidized Stafford loan.

Go to UVA. She can make new friends. As time marches on, she will bask in the glow of her wise decision to transfer to UVA, and appreciate the respect attached to that. If William and Mary had offered money, that would be a tougher decision. But it’s not.

[Anonymous]

Are you sure she's not just getting a grant through financial aid?

You don't hear about partial scholarships at UVA much. You do hear about their financial aid.