University of Miami with Merit money vs. UVA

[Anonymous]

There has to be an extraordinarily good reason to turn down UVA. This is not such a reason. Don’t be a sucker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. OOS for UVA is about $65,000. Going to Miami will cost us about $42,000 a year so over the difference is about 85,000 total over 4 years. This would pay for at least one year of professional graduate school. At this time law school or business school are possibilities but no one can ever predict what career tracks kids take and whether they end up at grad school or not. Undergrad major would not be in any STEM related subjects. More like English or Economics.

And DS is very grateful for the 529. We are the ones that told him he needed to make the decision based on what he finds to be the best fit and not only base it on an overall lower cost for us.
For all the snarky commentators, we're happy that he is looking at academic rigor and rankings of both schools to make his decision because otherwise no one would turn down the campus and lifestyle at Miami.

I'm generally in the "take the money" camp when it comes to undergrad, but UVA's English department is truly outstanding. (UVA's econ department also is good, but the gap between the two schools isn't nearly so large there.) If he's a kid who really will value the education on offer in undergrad -- and not just kill four years hunting grades for professional school -- I'd probably pony up the extra $$ in this case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There has to be an extraordinarily good reason to turn down UVA. This is not such a reason. Don’t be a sucker.

First of all. UVA is not all that.

Second of all $85K is an extraordinary reason

I find it ironic OP’s son may go into economics but is even considering UVA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only people who think UVA is a big deal are people in the DMV. Outside of this area, no one prefer UVA over Miami.

this!!! This board is great for so many things but it has some blind spots and UVA is one of them. It's a great school no doubt but not what people here thinks it is (or even what us rankings show).

The difference in views on UVA largely come down to the difference to go there in-state v. OOS. If you live in Virginia and can send your kid to the 25th ranked US university for $16k per year in tuition -- no wonder they think it is a wonderful school because at that price it is an amazing value.

If you live in DC or MD and UVA will set you back $47,000 in tuition -- well then UVA is no better than other similarly ranked and similarly expensive schools. Totally different value perspective compared to the VA residents.

PP here and I agree with that. But I noticed a lot of UVA boosterism in threads like that which are for OOS students. for in-state it's a fantastic option.

[Anonymous]

In your situation I would say Miami. And I am a UVA grad! I was OOS but had a full ride, so it was an easy decision. University of Miami is a great school and he will enjoy being in a new environment. I am assuming if you are on this website you are likely in the DMV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has to be an extraordinarily good reason to turn down UVA. This is not such a reason. Don’t be a sucker.

First of all. UVA is not all that.

Second of all $85K is an extraordinary reason

I find it ironic OP’s son may go into economics but is even considering UVA

Darden Business School is top ranked and the Commerce School in the UG program is also very highly regarded at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There has to be an extraordinarily good reason to turn down UVA. This is not such a reason. Don’t be a sucker.

Paying full freight as an OOS? $65k? There would have to be an extraordinarily good reason and well-funded 529. Otherwise, don't be a sucker.

[Anonymous]

I was an English major at UVA. Yes, it's a top program but I get the sense this kid isn't going to be a professor. I would go Economics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our son was admitted to UVA as an OOS student. We have saved for his 529 over the years and have enough money to send him there without him taking on any loans. Last night he was admitted to his "safety" school University of Miami who unexpectedly gave him a hefty amount of merit money. DS will go back to both schools for admitted student days but thinks he has a preference for UVA mostly because it is ranked much higher and has the prestige value in looking for jobs and applying to grad school. While he really liked the vibe at U of Miami (what's not to like with the warm weather and palm tress), he feels like he may always find himself having to explain to people that he attended Miami because they gave him a lot of money. While we definitely see the benefits of UVA, we also like the idea of having some money left in the 529 to partially pay for Grad school. Plus we've heard that Miami is on the rise. We don't want to influence his decision so we're going to try and stay on the sidelines on this one.

Would love to hear from people's who have been in the same situation. How did your kids make a decision to select or decline a lower ranked school that gave merit money?

Again, our son would not graduate from UVA with loans but it's not entirely clear whether we would be able to make a significant contribution to his grad school if he went down this route.

This is something you have to tell him, and tell him clearly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally different kids go to both school so he should make his decision after visiting both admitted student days. Also consider location.

Yes, completely different. Lots of extreme wealthy partiers are at Miami. (Yes, I know you can find that crowd anywhere though, UVA included)

I would definitely go UVA for business or economics or law.

[Anonymous]

I turned down a lot of money from UMiami for grad school. Most of the time I have no regrets. Every winter, I wonder if I made the right choice.

Here is what concerns me in your original post, you say: "he feels like he may always find himself having to explain to people that he attended Miami because they gave him a lot of money"

If that is how he feels, I don't know if he'd be happy at Miami, then. ???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally different kids go to both school so he should make his decision after visiting both admitted student days. Also consider location.

Yes, completely different. Lots of extreme wealthy partiers are at Miami. (Yes, I know you can find that crowd anywhere though, UVA included)

I would definitely go UVA for business or economics or law.

There is a big difference between UMiami wealth and UVA wealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I turned down a lot of money from UMiami for grad school. Most of the time I have no regrets. Every winter, I wonder if I made the right choice.

Here is what concerns me in your original post, you say: "he feels like he may always find himself having to explain to people that he attended Miami because they gave him a lot of money"

If that is how he feels, I don't know if he'd be happy at Miami, then. ???

I really don’t understand this comment. Why would he even say that to other people? Or like why would that even come up in conversation? If someone said to me something along the lines of “oh, I got into UVA but UMiami gave me a lot of money so I went there instead” (or said that on behalf of their kid) I’d think they were really bizarre.

[Anonymous]

Check out some current UVA student social media accounts. Do the same for Miami.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has to be an extraordinarily good reason to turn down UVA. This is not such a reason. Don’t be a sucker.

First of all. UVA is not all that.

Second of all $85K is an extraordinary reason

I find it ironic OP’s son may go into economics but is even considering UVA

+1

$85,000 for grad school is a no brainer.