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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Hell no!

[Anonymous]

Do you have that kind of money? Can she get into Brown?

[Anonymous]

I know someone who is in-state for Michigan but chose Stanford. No aid

[Anonymous]

No, no, no. Totally not worth it.

Michigan is a huge place. She can distance herself from her high school friends (in a friendly way) and find different friends at university.

[Anonymous]

Have her graduate a year early from Brown and half that difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, no, no. Totally not worth it.

Michigan is a huge place. She can distance herself from her high school friends (in a friendly way) and find different friends at university.

This

[Anonymous]

UMich is an excellent school. If you were comparing Brown to something else, maybe it'd be worth the price difference. But I don't think so against UMich.

[Anonymous]

I don't think a Brown degree carries the same weight as a degree from another Ivy. Too many stories of rich people just buying their kids' way into Brown. So no - not worth it. Michigan is a very good school.

[Anonymous]

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)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have that kind of money? Can she get into Brown?

She would be full-pay at both schools. This is our oldest, so our first time going through this process.

While no guarantees with Brown's 10% acceptance rate, her stats are a match compared to the most recent admitted profile. It's the only out-of-state school she plans to target. Obviously Brown could make this decision for us by rejecting her.

[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)

I've run the Brown tuition calculator; we are full pay.

What does "creative Mecca" mean? She has a lot of interests, but she's not a budding artist or anything. I have a colleague that went to college at Brown and then law school at GULC. He's not some creative genius.

[Anonymous]

If she is paying, no scholarships or you helping, Michigan is a much better choice. My brother went to brown and got into a top medical school. He loved brown. If you can afford it, I'd pick Brown but both are great schools.

[Anonymous]

Totally depends on what you have to give up to fund this. Will it change your life in a meaningful way?

Brown is a completely different school than Michigan.

[Anonymous]

Not to me. Especially if you have more than 1 kid or kid may want to go the grad or professional school.