Brown $68K vs. UMich (in-state) $28K

[Anonymous]

If you are in academia you will have heard of both Brown and Michigan. You'll be jealous because the faculty and researchers get paid a lot more

For everyday people on the street it really doesn't matter. Outside Harvard, Stanford, a few schools for sporting reasons, name prestige hardly matters. Very few Americans know about the great universities outside the US either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Michigan is a party school for rich coastal kids who are shut out of the top 20. Everyone knows this. Brown is the Ivy cool kids go to when they can't get into HYP. Brown is a very hot school right now.

+1. The acceptance rate at Brown is something like 8%. There are clearly a lot of kids who want to go there that are not admitted. Brown has a national reputation and draws applicants from all over the country and internationally. Michigan, while one of best known public universities and a great school, is not the "hot name" on the west coast that it is on the east coast. I'm sure Michigan excels in areas that Brown does not and vice versa, but I would bet that students at Brown are exposed to a much more diverse (in every way) student body than those at Michigan.

No skin in the game here...but, as a European who lived a couple decades in the West Coast, let me tell you that Brown and UMich are both pretty irrelevant in both Europe and the West Coast.

Meaning: if OP is willing to invest $68K...there's no particular reason to prioritize Brown over other, better schools.

And if OP wants to stay at the $28K level, UMich is a perfectly reasonable choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are going in-state. No $$ for any Ivies or SLACs. My DD got accepted to several competitive colleges, but when we looked at the price tag, we said, No Way!!

I think a lot of parents are thinking the way we are. Both DH and I went to Ivies, but we are not rich enough to not feel $68K per year.

The end result is that a lot of kids who might have gone to Ivies 20 or more years ago, are now going to colleges that offer merit aid or to in-state schools that are much cheaper, meaning the quality of the student body at cheaper schools is going up. That's our experience. DD is very happy and challenged at her in-state college.

My DW went to an Ivy and I did not. We are both equally successul. Your undergraduate degree does not determine your destiny. Neither does your grad for that matter. We just went to one of my wife's Ivy alum gatherings and most of the parents their with college age kids had their kids in state universities b/c of the cost.

My DD is seriously considering going to NOVA for two years and doing the guaranteed admission route through them into UVA, if only to save money for grad school. Smart girl!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the pp who suggested the 3 year plan, Brown does not give credit for APs.

No but they do give credit for the International Baccalaureate degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in the District Mon-Thurs and our main residence is in Metro Detroit. Daughter likes UMich but believes too many students from her h.s. matriculate so it ends up being h.s. 2.0. She plans to specifically target Brown and would attend UMich if rejected. But if she's accepted to both, is Brown worth the extra $120K? I'm on the fence.

Heck of a lot of Maryland and Virginia parents send kids to Georgetown, Ivies, and Duke over in-state flagships. I can't see the point but many parents smarter and more successful than me do, so there must be something to it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does she want to do? Brown is a creative Mecca, while Michigan is an Engineering powerhouse.

Apply Brown, many many Ivies make tuition reasonable even for upper middle class (my Ivy was same as instate tuition, though in state would have been free for me b/c of merit scholarships -- but it was no Michigan and I wanted to escape that backwater state)

UF? Same story here. Goal in life was getting out of here!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are going in-state. No $$ for any Ivies or SLACs. My DD got accepted to several competitive colleges, but when we looked at the price tag, we said, No Way!!

I think a lot of parents are thinking the way we are. Both DH and I went to Ivies, but we are not rich enough to not feel $68K per year.

The end result is that a lot of kids who might have gone to Ivies 20 or more years ago, are now going to colleges that offer merit aid or to in-state schools that are much cheaper, meaning the quality of the student body at cheaper schools is going up. That's our experience. DD is very happy and challenged at her in-state college.

My DW went to an Ivy and I did not. We are both equally successul. Your undergraduate degree does not determine your destiny. Neither does your grad for that matter. We just went to one of my wife's Ivy alum gatherings and most of the parents their with college age kids had their kids in state universities b/c of the cost.

My DD is seriously considering going to NOVA for two years and doing the guaranteed admission route through them into UVA, if only to save money for grad school. Smart girl!

Except UVA is at capacity and not accepting any transfers. That is happening.

[Anonymous]

Yes, for dating prospects. And no, I'm not kidding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are going in-state. No $$ for any Ivies or SLACs. My DD got accepted to several competitive colleges, but when we looked at the price tag, we said, No Way!!

I think a lot of parents are thinking the way we are. Both DH and I went to Ivies, but we are not rich enough to not feel $68K per year.

The end result is that a lot of kids who might have gone to Ivies 20 or more years ago, are now going to colleges that offer merit aid or to in-state schools that are much cheaper, meaning the quality of the student body at cheaper schools is going up. That's our experience. DD is very happy and challenged at her in-state college.

My DW went to an Ivy and I did not. We are both equally successul. Your undergraduate degree does not determine your destiny. Neither does your grad for that matter. We just went to one of my wife's Ivy alum gatherings and most of the parents their with college age kids had their kids in state universities b/c of the cost.

My DD is seriously considering going to NOVA for two years and doing the guaranteed admission route through them into UVA, if only to save money for grad school. Smart girl!

Except UVA is at capacity and not accepting any transfers. That is happening.

Yeah, that's not true. My friend's kid is applying for transfer and spoke directly with Legacy Admissions office. Yearly admit numbers for transfers prioritizes community college guaranteed admissions students first. I wish people wouldn't talk out of their asshole before researching first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the end of the day, if you do well in either, you can to anywhere (yes, HYP) for grad school. I know many U of M undergrads who went on to Harvard, Stanford and Yale, etc. for graduate programs.

I know a UM grad who went to GW law, and another who went to Yale for a PhD in physics. Both in the last 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hell no!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in the District Mon-Thurs and our main residence is in Metro Detroit. Daughter likes UMich but believes too many students from her h.s. matriculate so it ends up being h.s. 2.0. She plans to specifically target Brown and would attend UMich if rejected. But if she's accepted to both, is Brown worth the extra $120K? I'm on the fence.

Heck of a lot of Maryland and Virginia parents send kids to Georgetown, Ivies, and Duke over in-state flagships. I can't see the point but many parents smarter and more successful than me do, so there must be something to it?

I went to Duke, and my kid will be attending an in state flagship. Just not worth it for undergrad when grad school looms ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, for dating prospects. And no, I'm not kidding.

+1

[Anonymous]

Silicon Valley, Goldman Sachs and MBB consulting firms love Brown grads. And I think I read they're top 2-3, along with Wash U, for sending highest % of grads to US medical schools. Outside of engineering, Michigan has a party school rep.

[Anonymous]

OP- I was accepted at HYP, all three, and chose Michigan (I was in-state) because I knew it would be a stretch for my family, although we could have done it. I loved UM and got a great education. Barely saw high school friends. I think being in the Honors College and honors housing makes a huge difference. I then got into HYS, all three, for law school, and went to one of them. Being in the top tier at UM will be the same as being at a more elite school for getting into grad school. The only schools that are really worth the price difference, I think, are HYPSM because of the prestige factor. All that said, and despite my own choice and the fact it turned out well, I would spend the extra money to send my kid wherever she wanted to go (including UM out of state). That's not easy for us, but we can afford it, and it is how I would choose to spend my money. Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

If the difference will not have any practical effect on your family budget, i.e. if you are quite wealthy, then sure send her to Brown. If it means you will have to really strain your budget then hell no. UMich is still a great place and Brown is probably the worst or 2nd-worst ivy.