Any tips on how to make final decision on schools listed in order below? COA 45K or below ideal
DS wants rah-rah school—interests: business, science, classical music performance and active club sports bb/tennis.
Do some schools have better ROI and national rep, advising, alumni network etc. to make them worth paying double our NY flagship?
Thank you so much.
UMD (55K the first year and 62 K the next 3 years). 5K merit from Agnr school if DS double-majors in Environmental Eco together with Smith School of Business (Direct Admit). Is UMD Smith School worth 2x COA as Binghamton?
Binghamton Harpur School (30K In State) Didn’t apply to Bing SOM and understand hard to transfer internally. How is alumni network and reputation outside tristate area? Bing is the most doable.
Kelley School at IU (57K-3K Merit)
UVM (47K - 18K Merit)
Cornell Sophmore Transfer Option**- Has anyone done this? Very interested but not a guarantee.
Should we reconsider any of the following DS ruled out: UW, Madison (59K) Case Western (27,500K merit COA 60K), Rutgers (COA 37K) Univ Rochester (11K merit COA 79K) Stonybrook (COA 15K after merit)
The most rah rah sports school I see is UMD, it’s excellent and in a good location for internships etc - to me it might be worth the price assuming it is affordable for you. UVM is wonderful, but not sure it is a fit for your ds (no football, not a big sports culture - although the basketball team is pretty good, does have strong club sports). Madison is also big on school spirit, but I would probably go for umd at same price. Personally I would not choose a transfer option. Does your ds have a favorite? Has he visited them all?
For science or business + classical music your best choice imho Case Western within budget but NOT a rah-rah school at all. You do have lots of excellent pro teams in Cleveland.
Bing Harpur is solid for science and she could try to see if she can add a minor in one of her other interests but as you said internal transfer is going to be hard if she really wants Business. Also not really rah-rah.
UMD would have the best “spectator sports” environment+she got direct admit to Smith but… not remotely within budget so id cross it out
UVM is marginally cheaper than Bing so if she wants to go OOS and/or can have more flexibility for her choice of major it may be a consideration.
It may be worth checking if there’s any rah rah school on the NACAC list of colleges that miscalculated yield that is as strong as Bing or UVM for her fields of academic interest.
Unless spectator sports are a deal breaker Id pick Case or Bing.
Many kids who go to Bing have the transfer option (I did over 30 years ago and stayed at Bing) and very few do it but if your S wants Cornell it is definitely doable and leaves options ope, esp since costs will be low.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. DS liked UMD. Parent here is concerned that it doesn’t have the same wide-reaching alumni network as Wisconsin (which we didn’t visit bc we figured the extra plane flight would be an additional cost). So is double the cost from Binghamton worth it, for ROI compared to Binghamton. DS thinks so. Now wondering if we made a mistake. How would you compare UVM’s Grossman School of Business versus Smith School? UVM would be a happy medium between 30K and 60K at 45K … Cornell Transfer option is very stressful, we agree.
Bing is a great school. How is the alumni network and name recognition for the first few jobs out of school? Btw, the Cornell TO is not a guarantee so DS needs to be happy with his choice.
Agreed! Case Western is a great choice. But DS refuses to visit. Do you think paying 60K at Case versus UMD is to DS’s advantage regarding alumni network, job placement, etc.? DS thinks Smith School of Business is better rated than Weatherhead. Concerned Binghamton doesn’t have the same national/international alum networking opportunities, and is it worth using savings, etc., for a more expensive option?
Good question. We would have to use savings and have a junior applying this fall but … I am focused on the college experience and also the post college alumni networking and recognition as well.
Sorry , I thought she had a scholarship worth 27k, off 60k after need based aid, making it very affordable to you… if the cost after scholarships&grants is 60k then no. Case has a “whole university” policy, ie., when you’re admitted to Case for a major, you’re also admitted to the whole university for any major (and they’re very good for business, stem, and music!) BUT if it’s 60k… it’s not affordable.
Between Bing and UVM, does your daughter have a preference?
Bing is very well-known in NYS and to a certain extent in surrounding states so it won’t be an impediment to finding a job in NYC or the Mid-Atlantic. The issue is that if she wants to study Business, getting into the SOM from Harpur is very difficult.
What would she major in Harpur? Economics? Digital&Data Science?
@Lindagaf : what have you experienced about Bing’s alumni network, etc?
We recently Visited UMD CP, UW Madison and Case recently for our S24. My Son did not say he wanted a Rah-Rah school but he wanted a school with school spirt and some sports including club sports which he could participate in. After the visit the first school that came of the list was Case. He did not feel the environment there was what he was looking for after the admitted student day.
He loved both UMD and UW Madison but chose UMD because of its close proximity to DC, weather and he has merit there which makes UMD 12k+ per year cheaper than UW.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. What is your son majoring in at UMD and congrats on 12K scholarship!! I could not get my DS to visit Case and I feel still that it would be a good choice because it’s a small private school. However, my son wants school spirit and club sports as well. We got only 5K for the first year at UMD so it’s almost the same as UW for OOS. How would you compare the alumni network between UMD and Wisconsin
My son did not visit UVM I think it’s the happy medium between 30 K Binghamton and 60 KUMD or Wisconsin. Unfortunately, he did not apply to SOM, so I understand it is hard to get into it. He was thinking of economics or digital and data science. Does SOM have much better resources for the kids in terms of job recruiting etc. I don’t want him to feel less than …Do you know anything about the gross school of business at UVM
LOL. So do you think the 5K (guaranteed for second semester from the AGNR school if DS doublemajors with the Smith School which he is in, will not be renewed for the 2nd year?). It’s tough.
, I thought she had a scholarship worth 27k, off 60k after need based aid, making it very affordable to you… if the cost after scholarships&grants is 60k then no. Case has a “whole university” policy, ie., when you’re admitted to Case for a major, you’re also admitted to the whole university for any major (and they’re very good for business, stem, and music!) BUT if it’s 60k… it’s not affordable.