<p>I’m just curious about what the hive thinks - if you had a choice between going to Rutgers University as another state’s flagship university as an out-of-stater for molecular biology or biotech, which would look better to a grad school or on a resume, and would the better look be worth the extra cost? Limiting the oos schools to UVA, UNC, University of Illinois, U Maryland. Also, she plans to stay on the east coast after graduating.</p>
<p>UNC is capped at no more than 18% out of state. So it is highly competitive, as in those admitted have ivy-like stats. Are her stats in that range for UNC especially for those majors?</p>
<p>NCSU offers similar majors but with the addition of a school of engineering unlike UNC. Their OOS also is no more than 18% but not AS competitive for OOS but still competitive.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>As a parent, I would ask myself what does the OOS school offer either academically, socially or otherwise that the in-state flagship lacks, and is that something worth the additional cost? Would she qualify for honors college at any of the choices (as that could be a significant difference)? I personally would not give weight to the perceived “prestige” value of a school other than an Ivy.</p>
<p>As to grad school admissions, I think that grades and GRE/MCATs, internships, etc. have more weight than whether the student attended an in state or oos public uni.</p>
<p>UVA and UNC are higher ranked than Rutgers, and both are more selective for admissions. A case could be made that they were worth a higher cost, but it would all depend on how important the cost difference is to the individual family.</p>
<p>I think of the other two as similar to Rutgers, and harder to make the case for the higher cost, unless the specific major program or other opportunities were better. For example, I think of Illinois as being stronger in engineering than Rutgers, and Maryland has some real advantages for a political science major given the proximity to DC, etc. I don’t know anything about molecular biology, so I don’t know if any of the schools are known to be particularly strong in that area.</p>
<p>sacchi- I do not know about UNC but when Virginia was going through the mess with the school President everyone was saying their strength was humanities and not STEM so for molecular biology it may not be worth paying a premium.</p>
<p>Many factors to consider. It all depends on what Rutgers offers compared to other flagships. Also depends on the budget. Going into a lot of debt and/or sacrificing the quality of campus life to attend a more expensive school lessens the value of the college education. Grad schools know budgets often determine that a top student goes to their flagship instead of OOS. Be sure to check on Honors courses and other rigorous course availability at your options compared to Rutgers. </p>
<p>We were lucky- we had U of Wisconsin as our flagship, there was no reason to check on OOS public schools (except U of Minn with tuition reciprocity) or even most good private ones.</p>
<p>Rutgers is decent enough that it is hard to justify paying a large premium for an out of state flagship.</p>
<p>That said, UVa and UNC-CH supposedly give good financial aid to OOS students, so they may still be worth a look. Some other respectable OOS public schools like Minnesota, Virginia Tech, and NCSU have relatively low list prices (not much more than in-state Rutgers, although most OOS schools are not generally that great with financial aid).</p>
<p>For grad school in molecular biology, the thing that is going to matter the most for admissions is research experience. It is far more important than the name of the school, as all of those are good schools. She should find out where she would have the greatest opportunities to do research in a biology lab doing stuff that interests her – this can vary by department and be independent of the reputation of the school. Having a glowing letter of recommendation from a professor with whom she did research (in addition to good grades) carries a lot of weight for graduate school admissions to molecular biology programs. Her name on a research paper would be icing on the cake, but even if that is not possible (because research takes a long time and she is going to have classes and coursework), if she can talk intelligently and enthusiastically about the research she did and its significance both in her grad school applications and at interviews, that is golden.</p>
<p>I agree that it is important to look at access to undergrad research for a student considering graduate school, and to see if your student will qualify for honors classes.</p>
<p>I would also take a close look at weeder classes at these schools, and ask about attrition rates. I do not think it is unreasonable to ask about curving policies, preparation levels of typical students (most would prefer not to be one of a handful of students who have not taken AP chem or bio and gotten a 4 or 5, for example, if grading is very rough), whether homework and exams are hand-graded or scantron-graded, whether help centers are staffed by other undergrads, grad students, or full-time grads, or whether TA’s are typically other undergrads or graduate students and whether they have to take classes in teaching methods or prove English speaking proficiency before being permitted to lead a recitation. I also do not think it is unreasonable to ask about course availability for regular and honors sections or university policy for repeating classes, or how professors are chosen to teach intro sections or honors sections.</p>