If you turned down a top liberal arts school for a cheaper state school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me say that I think UMD is a fantastic school and anyone who gets in - which is a much tougher admit than it used to be - can get a great education. And in general, smart, ambitious, determined kids can go anywhere from any school.

Still for us, my immigrant husband who won't spend a dime on anything other than education felt VERY strongly about ensuring that our kids could go to the best possible school that they could get into. His argument was that their horizons will be exponentially wider if they are at a competitive school with peers from all over the country and all over the world.

That is true in my own experience - I lucked into an Ivy back when an ordinary smart kid could do that. It exposed me to ideas and people whom I would have never met at my state flagship, even though it is/was a fine school.

At UMD you will meet "peers from all over the country and all over the world". There is a large cohort of kids at UMD (or any big flagship) who had the intelligence and academic chops to succeed at a T20 school but didn't get in or didn't go for a variety of reasons - including money - but the simple fact is that every elite school rejects a dozen or more qualified kids for every kid they accept. They have to, they don't have room for all the qualified kids. And those qualified kids go somewhere... like UMD.

Yes, as I said in my post, there are tons of smart kids at UMD and there are people from all over the country and the world as well. But attending a state flagship that draws 3/4 of its undergraduates from in-state is not an identical experience to going to a highly competitive private school like Emory. If the OP's kid is going to turn down Emory just to keep the money in the bank in case it's needed for grad school, they should know what they're missing. There's no way I would be doing what I'm doing today if I had gone to my state flagship.

This is a great point. Also where honors colleges at state schools can shine - basically replicating a highly selective small private from a peer/student body perspective.

[Anonymous]

We are in a similar position, except on a tighter budget. DC got into Emory with total COA at $24,000 per year because we are middle income and qualified for some aid. I think the smaller class sizes and student body could open up opportunities for my DC who is shy.

However, UMD total COA is $13,000 after scholarships, the difference in cost for our family is very real. It seems impossible to tell if the cost difference is worth it. Emory does have guaranteed research placement for all students to do an honors thesis in DC’s major if they have above a 3.5. That could be huge for a shy kid that mighty have a hard time knocking on laboratory doors at UMD. DC seems very undecided.

[Anonymous]

A good friend of mine was given the choice when she was in high school to go to Maryland and her parents would cover the cost, or go to a private highly ranked university and take out some loans as well as pay for her masters. I know the OP isn't talking about loans, but I can tell you anecdotally that my friend thinks she made a huge mistake by going with the expensive option. She would have had the same career outcome had she gone to Maryland and saved the money. I suppose she had a little more fun at her more prestigious school, but looking back 30 years later, that's of little consequence. So, I guess what I'm saying is the decision needs to take into account the major major and how much a leg up she'd get from Emory in that field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids at top schools nowadays on full FA who wouldn’t get in to the honors college at UMD, and if they did, wouldn’t be able to finish a STEM major there.

THIS Yes, many LAC are out of the question due to cost for some families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I turned down a SLAC that I really wanted to go to for financial reasons and ended up at a highly regarded state school (as an OOS student, but tuition was still less than half that of the SLAC) that was affordable for my family. I'm sure I would have loved the SLAC and I also suspect that if I had gone there I would have ended up living/working in New England (since my family is also there). And I do sometimes miss New England very much. OTOH, I got a terrific education at the state school, made good friends, met DH, and launched on a career path that I likely would not have taken had I gone to the SLAC. So it all worked out fine. As it would have if I had gone to the SLAC. Totally different, but fine.

I would not spend almost 3 times the money to send my kid to Emory (or anywhere), when the alternative is a fine school in its own right. The additional utility, however you define it, of attending Emory simply isn't worth $58,000 per year.

Signed,
Someone who last year hired recent grads from Emory, Penn, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and Dartmouth, and also UVA, UMDCP, JMU, UMass, and Tulane. All have been great.

+1 Love this.

[Anonymous]

I really don't consider Emory to be a "top liberal arts school". A top school, I think arguably. I think the point is that if you were talking about a true to liberal arts school like Amherst or Swarthmore, I can see the issue. I just don't think Emory has enough going for it to pick it over UMD given the facts you outline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My BFF went to Emory. It is no better a college than UMD. The financial differential between $27k / yr and $85k/yr is huge. I think it's a no brainer and would choose UMD

+10 G-d bless this person. Real experience.

[Anonymous]

Emory is not even a LAC?!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't consider Emory to be a "top liberal arts school". A top school, I think arguably. I think the point is that if you were talking about a true to liberal arts school like Amherst or Swarthmore, I can see the issue. I just don't think Emory has enough going for it to pick it over UMD given the facts you outline.

Emory is better than those both schools. And for Op it depends on the major. Some majors prestige doesn't matter, for others like finance UMD will not get you far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a similar position, except on a tighter budget. DC got into Emory with total COA at $24,000 per year because we are middle income and qualified for some aid. I think the smaller class sizes and student body could open up opportunities for my DC who is shy.

However, UMD total COA is $13,000 after scholarships, the difference in cost for our family is very real. It seems impossible to tell if the cost difference is worth it. Emory does have guaranteed research placement for all students to do an honors thesis in DC’s major if they have above a 3.5. That could be huge for a shy kid that mighty have a hard time knocking on laboratory doors at UMD. DC seems very undecided.

Emory is a better choice in this situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't consider Emory to be a "top liberal arts school". A top school, I think arguably. I think the point is that if you were talking about a true to liberal arts school like Amherst or Swarthmore, I can see the issue. I just don't think Emory has enough going for it to pick it over UMD given the facts you outline.

Emory is better than those both schools. And for Op it depends on the major. Some majors prestige doesn't matter, for others like finance UMD will not get you far.

Really? This is anecdotal, but if you compared the 4 students from DC's graduating class who are at Emory v the 4 at their top NESCAC,- hands down the latter are by far the "better" students by grades and rigor. I know three of the Emory kids in addition to DC and the other NESCAC kids and they wouldn't even contest that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't consider Emory to be a "top liberal arts school". A top school, I think arguably. I think the point is that if you were talking about a true to liberal arts school like Amherst or Swarthmore, I can see the issue. I just don't think Emory has enough going for it to pick it over UMD given the facts you outline.

Emory is not a LAC by definition, but it is a T25 university tied with Georgetown in US News. Whether paying this price for an objective top level of university over a good state school is the real question. But then where that line is drawn - T25? T10? T5? is very subjective.

[Anonymous]

DS faced a very similar choice and chose Emory. He loves it there and we think he made the right decision. But he made the decision based on the fact that he liked Emory a lot more, rather than whether Emory was “better” than the state option. So, in some aspects, it is up to your child. If they think they are truly going to thrive at Emory and are less certain about thriving at the state school, I would pick Emory (making clear that they will pay for graduate school).

[Anonymous]

+10. Very good comments

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't consider Emory to be a "top liberal arts school". A top school, I think arguably. I think the point is that if you were talking about a true to liberal arts school like Amherst or Swarthmore, I can see the issue. I just don't think Emory has enough going for it to pick it over UMD given the facts you outline.

Emory is better than those both schools. And for Op it depends on the major. Some majors prestige doesn't matter, for others like finance UMD will not get you far.

Really? This is anecdotal, but if you compared the 4 students from DC's graduating class who are at Emory v the 4 at their top NESCAC,- hands down the latter are by far the "better" students by grades and rigor. I know three of the Emory kids in addition to DC and the other NESCAC kids and they wouldn't even contest that.

I know Emory has high stats but the kids I’m aware of who have gone to Emory past couple years would have not been good candidates for top Nescac type schools