@elena13
Yes, my son made a decision and thanks for asking.
Wound up getting admitted to: Syracuse, UNH(honors with 18k/yr total), UVM (honors with 23k/yr total), Uconn (honors with $7,500 k total/yr off instate tuition), UVA (don’t know the financials;son said to far away), Bentley (honors with 30k/yr), Northeastern (no honors with 22k/yr), Bucknell with 22k/yr. Didn’t get into : Upenn (regular decision), Duke (regular decision) and Lehigh(huh?).
In the end it came down to Uconn honors at 22k/yr net vs Bentley at 35k/yr net. We were fine with either option. He chose Bentley .
Factors:
The pros: He is so passionate about investing/finance and how math is used in that arena and Bentley seems to have a big edge in that arena, the prof. as mentor from day one in the honors program, all full profs, 9/1 student to prof ratio, the internship program, the corp finance and accounting major, the option to obtain his M.S. in quantitative finance (his goal) in 4 yrs, the A.P. classes he would get credit for that could make that M.S. a genuine possibility in 4 years and be covered by the scholarship, location from our home (75-90 mins), the Boston proximity (they run shuttles every 20 mins) for Red Sox and internship possibilities, lower GPA to stay in honors at Bentley (3.2) vs Uconn (gradually increased GPA to 3.3 as junior. Not sure what is needed to graduate with honors but Uconn’s does increase every year (very minor diff).
The cons: The cost is the only big con vs Uconn. He did a detailed cost/benefit analysis (of course he did) and given the avg. income over lifetime of grads from both programs, Bentley was the clear winner even tho much more $ up front. The other con, a bit more minor, is that he needs a 3.2 GPA to keep scholarship at Bentley vs 2.5 at Uconn.
He knows he will be paying more out of his own pocket due to his decision, but Bentley does seem to offer more of what he needs (a little hand holding will be helpful for him due to shyness) so he doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
Interested in feedback. Thanks again for asking. Chipperd