<p>My son was accepted to some good colleges, some with scholarship. His top choice is Middlebury Collge, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. The college cost is approx $51k per year and they are offering little aid. Approx $30k per year would need to be financed. The next choice is SUNY Geneseo, a state public college, but one of the best in the state. He was accepted to the honors program was offered a $2k per year scholarship. Zero financing would be needed to attend for four years. The third choice is Holy Cross, which cost approx. $50k per year but which offered a $20k scholarship. Approx. $18k per year would need to be financed. I have two other children ages 16 and 9 to consider. Is it worth the investment in a prestigious college like Middlebury or do the two other alternative make more sense?</p>
<p>The 2009 Princeton Review actually rates the academics at both Middlebury and Holy Cross a 98.</p>
<p>Take the scholarship. Geneseo is a fine institution and the honors program is a big plus. Usually smaller class sizes, priority enrollement etc are perks. Holy Cross definitely is not worth the investment and as fine as Middlebury is, it is not 200K “finer” over Geneseo. It’s not Harvard, nor Williams.</p>
<p>You don’t seem to be getting much help here. This may not help, but here goes.</p>
<p>All three are in crappy weather spots, so equal there. My daughter went through this two years ago, but different schools. She chose the one w/o debt being accrued and it has been great. Just to know debt on the part of anyone is not a worry is a great thing. I would choose Geneseo and not look back. It’s a great school.</p>
<p>Overall Geneseo is not nearly as good as a Holy Cross (#35 US News) or Middlebury (#5 US News). Geneseo is only ranked at #11 in the US News North Master’s category below colleges like Villanova and Providence. Princeton Review rates the academics for Geneseo at 80 well below Middlebury and HC which are both rated at 98. Being in the honors program at Geneseo will mitigate this to some degree. That said we all know that the school is only half of the equation in success and the other half is the determination and drive of the student. Highly successful people come out of all types of colleges.</p>
<p>My d has gone through a similar situation with Holy Cross and Creighton. Both are Jesuit schools, but Holy Cross is more selective. She has received almost $100,000 from Creighton over 4 years along with their 50 students per freshman class honors program. Holy Cross is not offering any aid right now.
Since she has a desire to pursue grad school, she is leaning towards Creighton. They have been wonderful and have made her feel very welcome. It has been hard to have money as the determining factor, however it is also a good dose of realism.</p>
<p>Will this be your debt or your daughter’s?</p>
<p>If you feel you can afford the debt, sure Midd is an incredible place. But if it would stretch your family and limit the options for the other two, no way. I wouldn’t consider Holy Cross at $80K in debt either if that’s the case, Geneseo is a fine school.</p>
<p>If it will be your daughter’s debt, don’t even think about it!</p>