Turning down top private for state school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did that. Not quite Harvard, but turned down Duke, Cornell, and Dartmouth engineering to go to UMD. It was the decision between graduating debt free or $100k+ in debt.

Ironically at my first job my cube mate came from Yale, so I'm not sure it made much of a difference in the end. Part of me still wonders "what if?" 20 years later, but I'm not sad with how my life turned out.

+1
There are Googlers who graduated from top tier who work along side state u grads. I worked with someone from Cornell; I graduated from no name state u.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this fairly common at public schools?

One kid at my child’s public just turned down Harvard for UVA. I can understand not choosing NYU or Georgetown for UVA, but Harvard???

Harvard has been really anti Semitic lately and not so big on intellectual exploration, free speech and diversity of ideas, so not surprising that a student picked UVA instead of Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend's DD (in New York) is the valedictorian of her class and heading to SUNY Binghamton.

My friend's snobby brother (who went to elite colleges) and SIL (who did not)- have much younger kids and have no idea how college admissions works these days - and have made a ton of rude comments about this to my friend. I feel so bad for her because she's a single mom, she's proud she can make Bing work, she thinks it's a fab school, and her DD is seriously thinking about med school, too. But it's like her family is telling her she's a failure because look, DD worked so hard to be graduating #1 and you are sending her to a state school.

I think Binghamton is a great choice but snobs be snobbin'.

Bronx medical school is giving free tuition to med students.

https://einsteinmed.edu/news/15163/montefiores-albert-einstein-college-of-medicine-announces-free-tuition-in-perpetuity-for-all-medical-school-students/

She will graduate with little to no debt. That will set her up so much better for life than a Harvard degree with 100K+ in debt. This board is littered with people struggling to pay their debt, including lawyers.

She sounds amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t always worth it for a family to put a huge stress on their finances for an impressive school. UVA produces very successful students and was likely much cheaper. I get it. The Ivy brand isn’t necessarily a good purchase if you, say, hurt your retirement.

UVA is barely top 25 and they are very weak in STEM and CS. It doesn’t attract top students.

Not that ranking means all that much, but USNWR has Harvard at number 17 and UVA at number 36 for computer science.

There are far more important criteria to go by than the marginal difference in the program rankings of these two very highly rated universities.

USNWR ranking for CS is off (well it's for a lot of other things, too).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t always worth it for a family to put a huge stress on their finances for an impressive school. UVA produces very successful students and was likely much cheaper. I get it. The Ivy brand isn’t necessarily a good purchase if you, say, hurt your retirement.

UVA is barely top 25 and they are very weak in STEM and CS. It doesn’t attract top students.

Not that ranking means all that much, but USNWR has Harvard at number 17 and UVA at number 36 for computer science.

There are far more important criteria to go by than the marginal difference in the program rankings of these two very highly rated universities.

Harvard graduates working in technology make considerably more according to the WSJ.

probably due to connections, not because they are better or smarter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t always worth it for a family to put a huge stress on their finances for an impressive school. UVA produces very successful students and was likely much cheaper. I get it. The Ivy brand isn’t necessarily a good purchase if you, say, hurt your retirement.

UVA is barely top 25 and they are very weak in STEM and CS. It doesn’t attract top students.

Wrong. UVa attracts plenty of top students. My kid being one. Echols scholar. Top stats, valedictorian of very large public, long-term strong ECs/volunteering, niche sport (& captain), part-time job, orchestra, and more. Solid all around and extremely likable. Kid is very happy at UVa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the same kid coming out of UVA vs Harvard is getting the same job offers. Not even close.

Because you think employers are idiots? It's the same kid.

Some are, some aren't. Harvard name carries much more weight, all else being equal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t always worth it for a family to put a huge stress on their finances for an impressive school. UVA produces very successful students and was likely much cheaper. I get it. The Ivy brand isn’t necessarily a good purchase if you, say, hurt your retirement.

UVA is barely top 25 and they are very weak in STEM and CS. It doesn’t attract top students.

Wrong. UVa attracts plenty of top students. My kid being one. Echols scholar. Top stats, valedictorian of very large public, long-term strong ECs/volunteering, niche sport (& captain), part-time job, orchestra, and more. Solid all around and extremely likable. Kid is very happy at UVa.

+1 mil
That’s the ever present, constant troll whose kid didn’t get in…wait a few minutes for that creature to pop up and say, “nope, my kid got in and went to a T10”

glad your kid is having a positive experience @uva, mine is as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t always worth it for a family to put a huge stress on their finances for an impressive school. UVA produces very successful students and was likely much cheaper. I get it. The Ivy brand isn’t necessarily a good purchase if you, say, hurt your retirement.

UVA is barely top 25 and they are very weak in STEM and CS. It doesn’t attract top students.

Not that ranking means all that much, but USNWR has Harvard at number 17 and UVA at number 36 for computer science.

There are far more important criteria to go by than the marginal difference in the program rankings of these two very highly rated universities.

Harvard graduates working in technology make considerably more according to the WSJ.

probably due to connections, not because they are better or smarter

i dont know if they are smarter but they definitely have way more connections for sure

[Anonymous]

I know a child who turned down Yale for a full scholarship to UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard is expensive
Not everyone likes Harvard or feel it is a fit for them
UVA is a great school
One data point does not make a trend or norm

Then why did this person apply to Harvard ?

I know many kids that didn't visit some of the schools on their list until after they were accepted.

Harvard is not for everyone. Our DC visited and was an immediate "no thanks".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard is expensive
Not everyone likes Harvard or feel it is a fit for them
UVA is a great school
One data point does not make a trend or norm

Then why did this person apply to Harvard ?

Harvard is such a gamble. Why hike up to Boston and drop couple thousand before getting in? Visit after accepted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t always worth it for a family to put a huge stress on their finances for an impressive school. UVA produces very successful students and was likely much cheaper. I get it. The Ivy brand isn’t necessarily a good purchase if you, say, hurt your retirement.

UVA is barely top 25 and they are very weak in STEM and CS. It doesn’t attract top students.

Not that ranking means all that much, but USNWR has Harvard at number 17 and UVA at number 36 for computer science.

There are far more important criteria to go by than the marginal difference in the program rankings of these two very highly rated universities.

Harvard graduates working in technology make considerably more according to the WSJ.

probably due to connections, not because they are better or smarter

i dont know if they are smarter but they definitely have way more connections for sure

If stats are an indication of intelligence, Harvard grads are easily smarter than UVA grads. They don't compare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t always worth it for a family to put a huge stress on their finances for an impressive school. UVA produces very successful students and was likely much cheaper. I get it. The Ivy brand isn’t necessarily a good purchase if you, say, hurt your retirement.

UVA is barely top 25 and they are very weak in STEM and CS. It doesn’t attract top students.

Wrong. UVa attracts plenty of top students. My kid being one. Echols scholar. Top stats, valedictorian of very large public, long-term strong ECs/volunteering, niche sport (& captain), part-time job, orchestra, and more. Solid all around and extremely likable. Kid is very happy at UVa.

Yup, my kid too minus band, Soccer Club and HS team captain, VA Academic Bowl state champ. 3rd year with a 4.0 as a double major, president of one of the largest clubs on grounds...just scored a 521 on MCAT, zero debt. Those darn inbred UVA kids....

[Anonymous]

A kid at my HS turned down Harvard and Princeton for a full ride to a top tier state school (equivalent to UVA). We all thought he was nuts. He ended up as a Rhodes Scholar, so it worked out for him…