<p>So guys here’s the deal. Im a junior in a pretty competitive public high school (lexington) in MA. My question is this: should I reject a full ride at a weak public school (UMASS amherst) in order to pay full tuition at a private school like BU, Case western, vanderbilt, etc. I can get in to many good private schools, but I doubt w/ a scholarship. But w/ UMASS, its offering da adams scholarship, lettin me do my premed there for free. What do you think? Wherever, ill deff be a premed, but which is the smarter option? Should I take a full ride and give my parents a break for da first 4 yrs, or go to a private school, and pay the 30 K for a name when applying to med school?</p>
<p>Obviously this depends very highly on your family’s financial situation as well as the financial aid packages you’ll receive from the schools in question.</p>
<p>I’m afraid we won’t be able to help you much until your decision becomes a little clearer.</p>
<p>In the meanwhile:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=202936[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=202936</a></p>
<p>We have a decent financial status (120 K/yr for 5) but money is still an issue. My question really lies on does it really matter? I mean, how much of a boost would I get from a decent private institution over a large, weak( ranked 98th by US news) public school. I dont like the public schools here in MA, but a full ride is worth considering anywhere. What say you in regards to these terms?</p>
<p>My family is in a very similar financial situation to yours, and I go to a school that doesn’t give merit scholarships to anyone and a younger brother who goes to a 30k+ per year private school and only gets some merit money, so it is doable barring any extenuating circumstances, albiet not fun. I think the key is that you said you don’t like the MA public. If that’s the case, you may not be motivated to do well, and there’s not even really anywhere else to go at UMass Amherst to get away from the school, and this will obviously hurt your chances more than going to a big name school is likely to help you.</p>
<p>You’d certainly not want to pay the 30K for the name. That certainly would not be worth it. But 30K for the institutional support… well, that might turn out to be a pretty good idea, depending.</p>
<p>Although, $120K/year for 3 children (?) works out to about $60K after taxes. So $30K is starting to sound like an awfully big chunk of your parents’ after-tax income.</p>