What Schools are Worth Paying For Over UVA In-State Tuition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of factors come into play: how many kids do you have (and can you afford tuition for all of them), what type of career is your son aiming for (and on the same note does your son plan on going to grad school), what type of college experience is your son hoping for (and does UVA have a much different vibe/experience than what your son wants) etc. From a pure job prospects, potential connections, and general recognition perspective your safest bets would probably be Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Duke, UPenn, Yale, Columbia, and Caltech. After that I think it becomes a much more difficult discussion.

+1 There are maybe ~10 schools in the entire country that should really be considered over UVA for middle class and upper-middle class families. Otherwise the difference just isn't worth it given how strong UVA already is. If you have money to blow that's different, then it's really the whole "luxury good" argument and you can spend your discretionary money how you wish; but if you do that, don't kid yourself into thinking that it's objectively much better for your DS. UVA has top departments and a great alumni network already. Even for those top of the totem pole colleges that PP mentioned, I get that it might "sound better" for your DS to say the went to Harvard or Duke, but he can get wherever he wants from UVA as well. Good luck and I hope your son gets into UVA OP!

Good school, but not typically with top departments.

How many of the UVA's departments/programs outside of Law/Business are ranked in the top 10? My guess is not many.

[Anonymous]

What is your child planning on majoring in? I think that would be a factor for me, because UVA is stronger in some areas than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is your child planning on majoring in? I think that would be a factor for me, because UVA is stronger in some areas than others.

Look a few comments ahead of yours, Op said biomedical engineering or mechanical engineering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivies or geographically preferable/desirable schools like Georgetown or Northeastern

In fact, my kid chose Northeastern over UVA.

Received some scholarship/aid, and the cost was just little bit higher than UVA In-state

So you chose a fake USNWR gimmick school over one of our nation's most storied universities? I don't get it.

Northeastern beats UVA on most of the major metrics except for the business program.

On top of that it's in one of the best location compared to the middle of nowhere

Like what?

Like outcome, retention rate, student quality(based on test scores), etc.

Northeastern over UVa. on these "metrics"? You gotta be kidding

UVA is just a nice state flagship.
If cost is same, definitely go with Northeastern unless you are dedicated to business although you get 50% shot getting into McIntire

Seriously who wants high school 2.0 in VA countryside when you can go to Northeastern if cost is same.

True, Northeastern's environment is probably far better than Williams or Amherst if you want a good school in Mass that isn't in the middle of no-where. It is just a question of where you draw the "good" line for a bunch of schools. Plenty have different things to offer. If you had a daughter interested in a women's college, I'd say Wellesley, Smith, and maybe Barnard should be added to the list too.

[Anonymous]

It really is natural for a great state school to be the goal and expectation for kids. With UVA and UMD locally, that makes even more sense compared with most of the country.
On DCUM, there is a tendency to push for the highest ranked school or the best known name regardless of cost, area, or anything else. I'm all for applying and exploring your different options aid wise but DCUM chatter is the exception and not the general rule.

[Anonymous]

My DS had the stats to go somewhere ranked higher than UVA but being instate, nothing was going to beat the cost and he also wants to explore a graduate degree so he made the rational choice and just applied ED to UVA. Absolutely loves it, though contrary to the DCUM haters, he's not a preppy rich kid, he's an academically oriented and curious, introverted and has no regrets, fits in beautifully with a great group of friends.

So yeah, there are some people who make this decision and have no problem passing up on higher ranked schools to attend UVA.

If your kid does not like UVA, then obviously it's another story and any school is worth attending over it if they will not be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a UMC family we can fortunately afford to send our son to whatever college he likes the most, but from a practical standpoint if he was to get an offer from UVA what schools might be worth to pay for over the in-state discount?

Its up to you. How much you can afford. Its a tough decision. For what its worth, ours passed on full merit ride to state for T20 colleges they preferred.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the thoughtful responses (and some of the back and forth was kind of entertaining). To answer some questions: my son is looking to go into either biomedical engineering or mechanical engineering, he likes UVA and likes its fun atmosphere but is a little worried there's too much partying, he has the stats to apply to "top privates" (1550+, 3.98 UW, high course rigor, rest of application should be good we believe). He would be unhooked though. What I'm understanding is most people think only a handful of schools (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Duke, and a few others) would be worth it over UVA in-state in general? I thought UVA engineering was good, but some people are saying otherwise so now I'm not as sure. We are also looking into CMU, Georgia Tech, UIUC, etc. as some here suggested. We weren't looking at Purdue but more than a few people here mentioned it and it looks like a great option, so thanks for highlighting that!

The LACs included are interesting but so far my son has not looked into them much, perhaps due to a perception of them lacking STEM research opportunities and resources. That could be a false assumption so happy to learn more about them!

Also a couple we were on the fence about: would people consider Cornell worth it over UVA in-state? We know a number of people who turned down Cornell to stay for UVA but not all of them were engineering and that's one of Cornell's stronger suits. What about Northwestern?

It's nice to hear your son likes UVA OP. UVA engineering is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but as others have said it's more theoretical than a place like VT or probably GT. I would agree with what most have said here, if you're comfortable paying and you want to let your kid pick any school (and it sounds like the undergraduate degree will be his main thing), then maybe you pick Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Caltech, and a few others if your son gets in. Those schools will open a lot of doors especially if your son changes his mind on what he wants to study. CMU, Georgia Tech, UIUC could also be worth it. Purdue is a great school for engineering and pretty inexpensive so it's good you're looking at that. As for Cornell and Northwestern, I personally would opt for UVA. Cornell is a large school so the attention your son gets won't be much better than if you went for UVA. And for better or worse Cornell does seem to have a reputation as the least desirable ivy. Northwestern is a phenomenal school but again, it's hard to say it's worth it in your son's situation -- maybe toss a coin if he gets in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a UMC family we can fortunately afford to send our son to whatever college he likes the most, but from a practical standpoint if he was to get an offer from UVA what schools might be worth to pay for over the in-state discount?

Based off of US News' Peer Assessment Scores (2022 Edition):

Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Penn, Duke, Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, MIT, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, & Bowdoin.

Virginia has the same "peer assessment score" (4.3) in US News as Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, Claremont McKenna, Carleton College, Middlebury College, & Davidson College.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a UMC family we can fortunately afford to send our son to whatever college he likes the most, but from a practical standpoint if he was to get an offer from UVA what schools might be worth to pay for over the in-state discount?

Based off of US News' Peer Assessment Scores (2022 Edition):

Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Penn, Duke, Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, MIT, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, & Bowdoin.

Virginia has the same "peer assessment score" (4.3) in US News as Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, Claremont McKenna, Carleton College, Middlebury College, & Davidson College.

Lol what is the value of a “peer assessment” score?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the thoughtful responses (and some of the back and forth was kind of entertaining). To answer some questions: my son is looking to go into either biomedical engineering or mechanical engineering, he likes UVA and likes its fun atmosphere but is a little worried there's too much partying, he has the stats to apply to "top privates" (1550+, 3.98 UW, high course rigor, rest of application should be good we believe). He would be unhooked though. What I'm understanding is most people think only a handful of schools (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Duke, and a few others) would be worth it over UVA in-state in general? I thought UVA engineering was good, but some people are saying otherwise so now I'm not as sure. We are also looking into CMU, Georgia Tech, UIUC, etc. as some here suggested. We weren't looking at Purdue but more than a few people here mentioned it and it looks like a great option, so thanks for highlighting that!

The LACs included are interesting but so far my son has not looked into them much, perhaps due to a perception of them lacking STEM research opportunities and resources. That could be a false assumption so happy to learn more about them!

Also a couple we were on the fence about: would people consider Cornell worth it over UVA in-state? We know a number of people who turned down Cornell to stay for UVA but not all of them were engineering and that's one of Cornell's stronger suits. What about Northwestern?

My DD is a current BME at UVA and had similar stats. Had to choose between Michigan Engineering and UVA. She liked both. Money was not an issue. I have a very close family member who is tenured faculty in an engineering department at an Ivy. In her opinion, it was a toss-up. No downside with UVA. So DD decided on the cheaper option.

She has not regretted that decision. She's worked in research labs the entire time, has built up a long list of references, and will eventually go to grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivies or geographically preferable/desirable schools like Georgetown or Northeastern

In fact, my kid chose Northeastern over UVA.

Received some scholarship/aid, and the cost was just little bit higher than UVA In-state

So you chose a fake USNWR gimmick school over one of our nation's most storied universities? I don't get it.

Northeastern beats UVA on most of the major metrics except for the business program.

On top of that it's in one of the best location compared to the middle of nowhere

Like what?

Like outcome, retention rate, student quality(based on test scores), etc.

Northeastern over UVa. on these "metrics"? You gotta be kidding

PP lost me on "middle of nowhere". Clearly clueless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivies or geographically preferable/desirable schools like Georgetown or Northeastern

In fact, my kid chose Northeastern over UVA.

Received some scholarship/aid, and the cost was just little bit higher than UVA In-state

So you chose a fake USNWR gimmick school over one of our nation's most storied universities? I don't get it.

Northeastern beats UVA on most of the major metrics except for the business program.

On top of that it's in one of the best location compared to the middle of nowhere

Like what?

Like outcome, retention rate, student quality(based on test scores), etc.

Northeastern over UVa. on these "metrics"? You gotta be kidding

PP lost me on "middle of nowhere". Clearly clueless.

NP. Charlottesville is in the middle of nowhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a bizarre thread. I attended UNC from out of state and didn’t apply to UVA. My kid had no interest in applying to UVA, nor, as far as I know, did any of his friends. It’s a great school, and a good value in state, but it’s not for everyone. The assumption that it should be is just bizarre to me. I certainly wouldn’t expect most kids to have any interest in the tiny LAC my kid attends.

It's parochial thinking. People want to believe what they want to believe. On DCUM, if you dare to suggest UVA is not a quasi-Ivy, it's like you spat on all the gods.

Exactly! It’s like a spoof of the worst college boosters. Like Andy from The Office.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a UMC family we can fortunately afford to send our son to whatever college he likes the most, but from a practical standpoint if he was to get an offer from UVA what schools might be worth to pay for over the in-state discount?

Its up to you. How much you can afford. Its a tough decision. For what its worth, ours passed on full merit ride to state for T20 colleges they preferred.

+1

Some people would rather have a vacation home instead of providing their kids with the best education.