Few days to decide: U of Virginia or U of Chicago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My step-S who got kicked out of his HS received his complimentary promotional material from Chicago. Bizarre college. Or a desperate one.

Haha, as if Chicago has any reason to be desperate.

I had a choice between in state at IL or Chicago (with loans). I went to Chicago and it has and still makes a difference.

uva isn't il. the ROI difference between uva and chicago is only $5000 more per year.

well, if that's how you measure quality of school, how about GMU and UVa? Are they equals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They don't seem to be very similar schools to me. That might make it easier. Public vs. private. College town vs large city. ACC vs Division III. Intellectual vs more all rounded.

Chicago is now lumped in with the Ivy+ schools. Ivy + MIT, Stanford, Duke, Chicago, etc. UVA is not. That said, I don't know that they outcomes would really be that different.

No. Chicago is with state universities in terms of college outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They don't seem to be very similar schools to me. That might make it easier. Public vs. private. College town vs large city. ACC vs Division III. Intellectual vs more all rounded.

Chicago is now lumped in with the Ivy+ schools. Ivy + MIT, Stanford, Duke, Chicago, etc. UVA is not. That said, I don't know that they outcomes would really be that different.

No. Chicago is with state universities in terms of college outcomes.

https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-chicago/outcomes/return-on-investment/

[Anonymous]

Uc is one of the best schools in the world. There are certain majors that are unparalleled, such as archaeology. A degree from there will carry weight with grad schools too. Go to which ever one fits your child’s goals. I got into Columbia and uc for both undergrad and law school, chose Columbia each time. Only because I love NYC.

[Anonymous]

Chicago......not even close.

[Anonymous]

U of Chicago!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is private Chicago worth the premium?

Congrats!

Both are fine schools. I would pick Chicago for the prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They don't seem to be very similar schools to me. That might make it easier. Public vs. private. College town vs large city. ACC vs Division III. Intellectual vs more all rounded.

Chicago is now lumped in with the Ivy+ schools. Ivy + MIT, Stanford, Duke, Chicago, etc. UVA is not. That said, I don't know that they outcomes would really be that different.

No. Chicago is with state universities in terms of college outcomes.

No. For the prestige factor, it is lumped in with Ivy+. (Ivy League plus Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago, Caltech. Even within that, there is a top tier of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT.) UVA is not.

Outcomes are something different, and that is why I said outcomes might not be that different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My step-S who got kicked out of his HS received his complimentary promotional material from Chicago. Bizarre college. Or a desperate one.

Haha, as if Chicago has any reason to be desperate.

I had a choice between in state at IL or Chicago (with loans). I went to Chicago and it has and still makes a difference.

uva isn't il. the ROI difference between uva and chicago is only $5000 more per year.

well, if that's how you measure quality of school, how about GMU and UVa? Are they equals?

A lot of the differences in "ROI" actually come down to the major and not the school. If you are a computer science major at GMU and a philosophy major at UVA, for instance.

[Anonymous]

I agree that in the long run, ranking is irrelevant.

I agree that ROI has more to do with major and career choices than with the school. To compare, you'd have to hold constant for those factors.

I don't agree that an 18-year-old who goes to UVA is going to become the same person s/he would become in an alternate universe where s/he opts for Chicago. Peers and school culture have a tremendous influence on whom we become.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask yourself if the extra debt is worth it. Will it matter when he is 40, will his friends and family care which school he went to 20 years prior.

Well, for my family it very much did matter at 40.

If I hadn't gotten the undergraduate education I did, I wouldn't have gotten into the grad program I got into and my career would have turned out quite differently.

Same story for my husband.

We both have elite undergrads (me Ivy, him equivalent abroad) and top ten in our field PhDs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask yourself if the extra debt is worth it. Will it matter when he is 40, will his friends and family care which school he went to 20 years prior.

Well, for my family it very much did matter at 40.

If I hadn't gotten the undergraduate education I did, I wouldn't have gotten into the grad program I got into and my career would have turned out quite differently.

Same story for my husband.

We both have elite undergrads (me Ivy, him equivalent abroad) and top ten in our field PhDs.

I'm curious, how do you know you wouldn't have gotten into the grad program you did?

They knew they would have. They are justifying other people going into debt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think there is any question. Univ of Chicago is now $76,000 a year. UVA instate's tuition is $14,710. (our DS lives off campus so doesn't have dorm, food service, health service fees). He has no car so only expenses are shared apartment and food. Our total outlay was probably $22K this year. Even using UVA's cost calculator for a student living on campus at $32,000, you are still looking at a difference of $44K a year which is in after-tax dollars. We would have to make $70K to pay the difference. Multiply that by four or five years and you have enough to pay for grad school, which is exactly what we are doing. Go to UVA and bank the difference, if you have it. If you don't have it, you should be going to UVA anyhow. DS has had a wonderful four years. Chicago is full of smart kids but it is cold and dark and fun indeed goes there to die.

No, absolutely not. Nobody should pay to go to grad school (professional school like law and medicine are the exception).

Grad students should be offered a teaching or research assistantship which comes with tuition waiver. If you are paying for it, they don't really want you and don't think you will succeed, and they are probably right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My step-S who got kicked out of his HS received his complimentary promotional material from Chicago. Bizarre college. Or a desperate one.

Haha, as if Chicago has any reason to be desperate.

I had a choice between in state at IL or Chicago (with loans). I went to Chicago and it has and still makes a difference.

uva isn't il. the ROI difference between uva and chicago is only $5000 more per year.

I didn’t say it was. I’m pointing out I could have gone to state school as in-state or Chicago with loans and I chose Chicago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think there is any question. Univ of Chicago is now $76,000 a year. UVA instate's tuition is $14,710. (our DS lives off campus so doesn't have dorm, food service, health service fees). He has no car so only expenses are shared apartment and food. Our total outlay was probably $22K this year. Even using UVA's cost calculator for a student living on campus at $32,000, you are still looking at a difference of $44K a year which is in after-tax dollars. We would have to make $70K to pay the difference. Multiply that by four or five years and you have enough to pay for grad school, which is exactly what we are doing. Go to UVA and bank the difference, if you have it. If you don't have it, you should be going to UVA anyhow. DS has had a wonderful four years. Chicago is full of smart kids but it is cold and dark and fun indeed goes there to die.

No, absolutely not. Nobody should pay to go to grad school (professional school like law and medicine are the exception).

Grad students should be offered a teaching or research assistantship which comes with tuition waiver. If you are paying for it, they don't really want you and don't think you will succeed, and they are probably right.

Exactly. A lot of people are paying for masters degrees these days but perhaps that is not wise.

But no one can afford med school except a future doctor so maybe help out if you can , but pay it all? Nah.