10 ranks higher or $100K?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about JHU (#6) with zero merit/need-based vs. WashU (#21) full tuition worth $300K+ over 4 years? Comparable engineering major

You go to WashU. Answer is simple. Unless you are wealthy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it's not.

Heck, UVA and UMD are separated by 20 "ranks" and you'll never convince me that that's accurate. They're peers.

Both excellent schools. I'd argue the main differences is that UVA only has 17K undergrads vs 30K+ at UMD. So mid size school versus large. Other than that, both are excellent and I wouldn't pay more for one over the other

[Anonymous]

What schools OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous[b wrote:]If private vs. public, maybe yes.[/b] Public vs public, no. Private vs private, depends.

This is dumb. UMich, UCLA, UVA, Berkley or what? Lehigh? Colgate? Trinity? Come on. This is all irrelevant, only quality and fit of school matter. Not if it's private or public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is a ranking 10 positions higher worth giving up a $100K merit scholarship (over four years)? We can afford full pay. Both schools are good for the major and both well known.

Maybe bragging rights over going to HYPS are truly worth $100,000.

LOL , your bragging rights should be over being accepted [u][i]by HYPS. Not forking out $100-400k for the privilege of having to work your butt off there for 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are so gullible. They get mesmerized by numbers. They think that just because “someone” made a list & put a number next to each item, the ranking is necessarily (1) accurate (2) precise & (3) meaningful.

It reminds me of those lists of the 100 most beautiful women in the world that various magazines used to publish, & 80-89 would often be indistinguishable from 1-10.

Or the internet articles where they rank the 10 best war movies of all time, & some 5-hour silent movie from Uzbekistan is on there, but Full Metal Jacket isn’t.

College rankings involve incredibly complicated things (colleges) being measured qualitatively using questionable criteria measured imperfectly & then weighted almost randomly. Then slap numbers on the results, & some people are willing to empty their bank account go to 15 instead of 25. Insanity.

^probably one of the best and most cogent comments I’ve read here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about JHU (#6) with zero merit/need-based vs. WashU (#21) full tuition worth $300K+ over 4 years? Comparable engineering major

PP. Thank you all for the thoughtful responses. DC will be an engineering major and likely pre-med. Both places have strong engineering and pre-med programs, as well as large medical schools. From financial and recruited scholar privileges perspectives clearly WashU is the choice, and DC loves the vibrant social scene on campus. Aside from the large medical school where many undergrads are doing research, WashU also has a strong business school offering undergrad classes. It also has a nice campus, neighboring Forest Park, although the weather could be severe.

On the other hand DC grew up in Maryland, over the years had so many STEM competitions & summer gifted programs at JHU, and is a recruited athlete at JHU for a sport he truly loves and thrives. It is a D3 niche sport, no $ attached, other than support for equipment, coaching and daily practice. We did the 'broken leg' test and JHU is still attractive for its academic rigor, breadth of research opportunities, student entrepreneur support, and the new Hopkins student center expected to open this year.

We also considered the impact of federal R&D funding halt and potential for diminished research opportunities. While JHU is the top recipient for NIH and NSF funding, WashU with its large med school is in top 10 for NIH recipient. Both schools have relatively large endowments which may provide some cushion, but not entirely. JHU has a special benefactor, Bloomberg, who may step in again if the funding halt becomes permanent (but that is just speculation). From tuition increase perspective, we noted that some T25 colleges have already announced larger than previous years increases, citing the funding halt. WashU merit aid is full tuition ride for 4 years, so no impact on tuition increases. In the coming weeks we will be attending Admit Days at both campuses.

Would appreciate thoughtful feedback and comments. TIA!

[Anonymous]

WashUStL for free over JHU is the easy answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WashUStL for free over JHU is the easy answer.

my kid chose JHU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WashUStL for free over JHU is the easy answer.

my kid chose JHU

Your kid chose JHU full pay and declined WashU full ride tuition for 4 years? Can you please provide reasons and circumstances?