<p>I have been accepted to Northwestern U, UC Berkeley, and Macaulay Honors College.
I am planning to major in Cognitive Science. I am an international student so the cost of attendance at these universities is really expensive. I need to pay around 50000-60000 dollars at UC Berkeley and 60000-70000 dollars at Northwestern, while I have the choice of attending Macaulay Honors College at Queens, New York for free (I still need to pay for dorms myself so it would cost me at least 20000 dollars a year). </p>
<p>Has anyone heard of Macaulay Honors College before? The deal is really good (even though Macaulay Honors doesn’t have Cognitive Science, I am planning to major in Psychology there instead).
It will be a big burden for my parents if I choose to attend UC Berkeley or Northwestern, but they said they will try their best to send me to one of these schools if I really want to go there. Can anyone please shed some light on what UC Berkeley, Northwestern, and Macaulay Honors are like? Which one would be considered the best for Cognitive Science program? How is Northwestern compared to UC Berkeley in terms of academics?</p>
<p>Thank you in advance for every comment; every response will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Btw, I am waitlisted at Brown and Cornell… I would love to go to Brown
but should I wait for Brown with its competitive pool of waitlisted applicants?
Let’s say I do not get Brown, should I go for Northwestern, UC Berkeley, or Macaulay Honors?</p>
<p>^Given your socio-economic background, I’d stay local or go to MaCaulay to save some money and worry about names when it comes to grad schools later. You need an advanced degree in fields like cognitive science or psychology anyway.</p>
<p>How much exactly can your parents pay each year? You will need to be able to demonstrate that your cost of attendance is covered for the first year or you will not get a visa.</p>
<p>My parents are able to afford all the schools I got accepted to but I just personally feel bad to let them pay for expensive schools if Macaulay is a good choice. All they are worried about is that they do not want me to miss great opportunities at Northwestern and UC berkeley as they believe these schools are undoubtedly reputable. These two schools offer the major I want to study. However, Macaulay is a very good option, too, but we are not sure if Macaulay is good or not as it is only well known in New York and is not well recognized worldwide. If I choose to go to Macaulay, I will not be able to study Cognitive Science that I like. I would have felt more comfortable to go to Macaulay, had I known for sure that it is a great school. Macaulay honors is a special college at CUNY (city college). All students who are accepted to Macaulay are automatically awarded full tuition scholarship. It is actually hard to get in… Only around 300-400 students get in from 3000-4000 applicants. It is quite selective, too. Anyway, I can’t determine its quality of education solely based on its selectivity. I have heard ppl say that Queens college is not good, but Macaulay honors program is great and different.</p>
<p>The problem is should I go for Macaulay honors while I have Uc berkeley and northwestern? Should I pay 50000 dollars at least a year for Uc berkeley or northwestern? Will I be so much more challenged in terms of academics at these schools? Btw, I also got accepted to U of Virginia, U of Rochester, UCLA, UC sandiego, U of Southern California, but these schools are expensive, too…</p>
<p>*I need to pay around 50000-60000 dollars at UC Berkeley and 60000-70000 dollars at Northwestern, while I have the choice of attending Macaulay Honors College at Queens, New York for free (I still need to pay for dorms myself so it would cost me at least 20000 dollars a year). *</p>
<p>dorms and food are NOT going to cost you $20k per year. </p>
<p>I see that you’re an int’l. </p>
<p>Those other schools are NOT worth that much money. How would you pay??? I wouldn’t burden parents and I wouldn’t take out big loans.</p>
<p>Go to Macaulay Honors…that’s a big deal. Yes, most of us have heard of it. It’s a great opportunity.</p>
<p>Thank you mom2collegekids for your answer : )
Yes, I do feel that Macaulay Honors is a very good deal
Macaulay at Queens doesn’t include dorms so I still have to pay for dorms myself
how much do you think it would cost per year to live in New York? (just dorms and food)</p>
<p>My parents have never heard of Macaulay Honors before
I am surprised that only a few people know about this
it’s, as you said, such a good deal
I am just not sure if it is that strong academically
I really have no ideas how good it is
I heard that Macaulay Honors students get to attend same classes as Queens students
so I have not seen any difference in terms of academics between Macaulay honors students and Queens students
If anyone knows anything about Macaulay Honors, please let me know
thank you for all replies</p>
<p>Make a thread with the title…tell me about Macaulay Honors…put it in the parents forum. You’ll get answers. Include the name of the specific university.</p>
<p>BTW…are your parents affluent? If not, then this is a no-brainer.</p>
<p>My parents are able to afford Northwestern and UC Berkeley, but it is going to be a lot of work for them. They are willing to support me. They do not want me to be at Macaulay Honors just for financial reasons. However, they tend to think that Macaulay Honors must be really good. What I am thinking about is that if Macaulay Honors is really good, I would go for it, but if not, I would go for UC Berkeley. What do you think about UC Berkeley?</p>
<p>Don’t put your family into financial distress by choosing Cal or NU.
You have to be the voice of reason here, your parents are being blinded by prestige.
Do more research on Macaulay and the successful alums that have graduated from there and they will change their minds.
Perhaps take them for a revisit and show them how excited you are about attending there.
Congrats on being a reasonable and thoughtful adult about your college acceptances.</p>
<p>I am currently living outside of US, but my parents and I are planning to visit Macaulay Honors College at Queens this 22nd April. Hopefully, I will get to learn more about it. By choosing UC berkeley or NU, I also feel burdened myself as I have to involve my parents in this huge investment. I guess such investment should be saved for my graduate school.
Thank you for every reply.</p>
<p>You’re right, texaspg, I am also worried about that. Cognitive Science is just something I really like… I do not know what I will do with it, but I am sure that I will need an advanced degree to do research or work in this field. At Macaulay Honors college, however, I will study Psychology not Cognitive Science.</p>
<p>I suppose that you’ll go to grad school? Attend Macaulay, get the highest grade, involve in research. You can go to NW for grad school with all the money you save in undergrad. Heck, you can even go to Harvard if that’s what your goal. Problem solved.</p>
<p>Listen, in the Cognitive Science field you will probably be aiming for graduate school. When you end up seeking employment, most people won’t even ask or care where you went to undergrad, only asking where your graduate degree was earned. Macaulay has sent graduates to top graduate schools across the spectrum in terms of majors. It also has a level of personal attention and connections to NYC internships that are absolutely excellent, especially when considering the price. If you work hard enough you will be able to get into any graduate school you are aiming for should you attend Macaulay. Don’t be worried about prestige, because the graduate schools do know about the program. My two cents.</p>
<p>*dorms and food are NOT going to cost you $20k per year. *</p>
<p>In New York? It might, or close to it. OP says that he will be at Queens College, which doesn’t have residence halls, so they are going to have to find off-campus housing. Living in Queens will be cheaper than living in Manhattan, but I would say the OP can probably still expect to spend about $800 a month on rent over 12 months (and I say 12 months because that’s going to be the lease he can get) or almost $10K for the year. Throw on another $5K for food and expenses (and that’s a low estimate - just about $400 a month) and you’re already at $15K.</p>
<p>Thank you for the reply, juillet. Queens College does offer an option of dorming at the Summit, which is newly built. A single room would cost me 13000 a year for dorming alone… meal plans not included…</p>