<p>Marist college is an affordable option but, is this worth bypassing smith or trinity college? Any opinions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Does that mean the other two are “unaffordable” options? or merely “more expensive”? </p>
<p>How much at the end would she (not you) have to carry as loans?</p>
<p>Marist gave her $10k a year merit. We live in Ca, so it would be about the same cost of a public school, she got into UCSB but prefers an east coast experience. She won’t have a loan. Unfortunately we didn’t quality for financial loans of any kind. She did however take college classes while in hs and has completed 8 classes, so we get a little break there.</p>
<p>sorry, i didn’t answer your question. The other two are twice as expensive.</p>
<p>So does that mean that Marist is $10/year less expensive for you than Smith and Trinity? That is $40,000 over 4 years. That is not a small amount. What kind of GPA does she have to maintain to keep that merit aid?</p>
<p>No, Marist gave her a $10k/year merit scholarship, she has to maintain a 2.85 to keep it. Smith and Trinity are about $30k a year more. So for 4 years that’s $120k more. I am more curious about the 3 school’s differences as far as education quality and opportunities.</p>
<p>Can’t speak to Trinity. Smith is a much, much better school than Marist. But $120k more? It would give me pause. But again - if she went to Smith, what would her loan burden be after four years? (In other words, you might decide that YOU have the money, and want to spend it that way, but if it overburdens HER after graduation, that would be a different kettle of fish. Will this bankrupt you? Will you be taking out loans to cover it? Will it impact your retirement?)</p>
<p>Have you visited any of these schools? I live in CT and have been to all these schools.
Trinity is in a horrible terrible section of Hartford (actually there is no good section of Hartford), lots of crime, drug dealings, shootings, city is dead at night. Smith is in Amherst, D has a friend who goes there, she loves it. Lots to do in the area given that it is a college town. Marist has a beautiful campus, D also has friends that attend there. Right on the Hudson River, gets extremely cold and windy in the winter, be prepared for lots of snow. Town of Poughkeepsie is fairly boring. Long train ride to NYC. If your D doesn’t mind an all girls college I’d say go for Smith.</p>
<p>Can’t argue too much with westie22. I work in Hartford and used to live right in the shadow of Trinity. I would not guess that Trinity would have either the academics or reputation to justify the cost difference you’ve described. And for a college student, Hartford just doesn’t have a lot of “east coast” experience to offer.</p>
<p>The students we know at Marist do like it and it’s a popular choice for CT students. But if your D is not planning to stay in the east, a degree from Smith might be more useful for future contacts and name recognition. The questions that mini raises are particularly relevant though, in deciding between Marist and Smith.</p>
<p>She won’t have loans. I noticed that I said we didn’t qualify for financial loans, I meant we don’t qualify for financial aid. As far as retirement, my big concern is the length of time it takes until my children can support themselves. I’m not sure if this is true but I was told that getting into grad school may be an issue if coming out of Marist. We thought choosing school’s and applying went pretty well but are really having a tough time with making a choice.</p>
<p>My nephew and niece both went to Trinity. They didn’t have ANY problems with the school’s location. They also lived off-campus and niece helped in a local elementary school while nephew worked in various hospitals as a research asst. It’s a fine school and much better than Marist. </p>
<p>I also prefer Smith to Marist. One of the original seven sisters and location is quite nice. I think Smith may give your DD that east coast experience best.</p>
<p>Getting into grad school shouldn’t be an issue if she does well on the GMAT and has a good GPA. Heck, a friend of our’s DD just got into every Grad school she applied to coming out of what I would consider a 4th tier (if there is such a thing) school in our state. It’s a glorified high school really (you need at least a 15 on your ACT to get into this school type school). She got into some pretty top grad schools too.</p>
<p>We did visit Marist and Trinity last month and am going again to accepted student events this month. We’re also going to open campus at Smith.<br>
My husband and I are willing to pay for Smith but not some of the other “private” schools. I am now facing the “student should choose” comments, and starting to question if I’m being a dictator or a prudent parent. My daughter’s high school college counselor has told her how it infuriates him that parents think it’s their choice. With my usual tact, I asked her if he was paying or if she just won the lotto…didn’t go over so well.</p>
<p>I was shocked at how bad the neighborhood surrounding Trinity is. I was thrilled with Marist until I started listening to their live stream radio program and heard all the complaints from the student dj’s about their peers. It had more to do with partying and the unfortunate nickname of Mattress college, given to them by the local community.</p>
<p>Also, what should I do about visiting a school she was wait listed at and now believe it’s her first choice, I think we should be happy it wasn’t a reject and move on. Or am I wrong and we should squeeze it in for a visit?</p>
<p>Well, if you can swing it, and don’t feel bad about doing so, Smith is GREAT. It is a huge “admissions value”, made possible by the fact that they only accept female applicants, and of females, only those who want to go to school with only other women (and an occasional transgendered student). The resources of the college are massive; the advising and mentoring extraordinary; the facilities huge (you should see the new science/engineering building). They have (I believe) the best European study abroad programs in existence (including - I think - the oldest). And everything is extended further by the Five-College Consortium. When you go to Smith, check out the research presentations. And the alumnae network (when it comes to jobs, etc.) is legendary.</p>
<p>Perhaps you;'ll find this useful:
<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/success/[/url]”>Career Outcomes | Smith College;
<p>You didn’t say what your d. wanted to study.</p>
<p>Field of study will make a difference here. Marist, while not at the general level of the other two, excels at Communication and a couple of other programs, for example.</p>
<p>It sounds to me like I can let her choose because it will be so obvious that Smith will have more to offer her. She wants to study business engineering. I believe Smith has a strong economics major and a general engineering major. I don’t think she would be able to do both at one time though.</p>
<p>Thank you mini and all the rest of you cc’ers for giving me your input!</p>
<p>stradmom, At Marist she would Major in Econ, and maybe double major with communications or double minor communication and finance.</p>
<p>In terms of number of courses, you actually could double major in engineering and economics at Smith. It wouldn’t be easy, though. When she visits Smith, she should check with an engineering advisor.</p>
<p>Thank you, we will.</p>
<p>If she’s going to come all the way east, she should go to Smith. Otherwise, save the $$ and stay in Cali.</p>
<p>This is an easy decision.</p>