So I just sat down to check my e-mail... one thing in my inbox, from University of Madison...

I GOT IN!

This is pure awesomesauce.. I'm a student coming from a cruddy community college, and got into the undergrad chemical engineering program at UW Madison, which is #4 in the nation according to wikipedia, ranked with Stanford, MIT, Caltech, University of Minnesota, and UC Berkeley WOOT!

Only problem... I also got into Arizona State University, my state college which is ranked #47 in chemE... and it will cost about 8 grand a year with financial aid. Compared to UW Madison, which I got no financial aid or scholarships for - 38k a year.

I talked to my parents and they said of course you're going to ASU, we don't want you to get those kind of loans when we can probably pay for ASU outright. How depressing.

Right now more than anything I want to go to the state of cheese, even though I'm vegan lol.

It may be because my aspirations could be considered ... 'lower' than most people but I'd be cool with your parents decision. In fact it would be my decision.

I suppose it might not matter much in the long run... but then again it might..

$38k per year is a complete rip. Hardly equality in education.

Here it's £3.25k per year no matter what university or college you go to. It's changing soon though because it was unsustainable.

Go with what you can afford. I know it's a shame to miss out on a better university but it's a massive difference in cost also.

That sounds nice. One of my old friends is going to Harvard for about $50k. Ridiculous, and I suppose it's not exactly sensible now that I really think about it..

I'm not sure there's a large enough difference between the two to warrant paying $100,000.

Neither of the two seems particularly competitive to enter, and they both seem to do fairly well according to abstract rankings. So big, though.

Will, it can get even higher here in the US. Most of the high-end private schools charge around $50k, and I believe $34k is the average. I believe public universities are around $10,000 average, but they're generally considered worse (probably not much worse).

Luckily, I get my awesome education for free. Apart from housing + books.

Nice (fraught with jealousy lol)

COME ON OBAMA WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU!

Nah, I rather like the current university system. The only thing I'd do was to grab a leaf from how Russia (and plenty of other countries) does it and make the state pay full tuition for the top X students in the country (unless they're really rich), but other than that, the universities charge people who can afford it and can subsidize it for those who can't. I have plenty of friends who are getting a lot of financial aid for their colleges. Maybe there are inefficiencies in the private university system, but those are part of the free market.

He's working on getting me a job that pays more than $7500 a year.

Echoing what most people said, UW Madison is a far superior school, but if you really can't afford the four-fold cost increase then you're probably better off going to ASU. A good student will thrive reasonably well in just about any setting (as you see, you came from "a cruddy community college" and got into a top program), and the benefits of going to a top school, while very real, aren't really worth $25,000/yr if you can't afford the cost.

Especially if you plan on going to graduate school, it's where your Ph.D. (or MS) is from, not where you got your undergrad degree that counts.

Your undergraduate degree only counts for about the first 1-2 jobs and 5 years after you graduate, after that it's not really that important. I'm pretty sure that the difference in education isn't really that much. Most state universities are pretty good on their own.

Here in PR it costs about $1.6k a year + living costs (these amount to only about $5k per year on average and if you pay housing). Pell Grant gives us $5.5k if you qualify. It's ridiculously cheap here. But then when you fill in your taxes you gotta pay a lot for the university to be almost free, whether or not you actually went there. Problems of a semi-socialist democracy.

Thanks for all the input. I suppose I'll give the UW the big nevermind... However sad it may be.

I wasted a full year at a college that was $35k a year after all was said and done. I was MISERABLE. The program was a disgrace compared to what it was presented as, and the people in the program were ignorant. The only staff member worth his salt was let go the semester following my drop out. I came home, and my parents gave me the "choose a degree, go to school, get a job or gtfo" decree...so at the last minute I enrolled at a local community college in their business school. Next year I'll be graduating from UCD (haha suck it CU Boulder: my piece of paper will still say CU Boulder on it, and I'm not paying as much! I know there's a few of you on here) in Intl Business, and I'm about one hundred times happier, as well as saved myself a whole bunch of money.

So...ask yourself this...
Think critically about your degree: will you be more likely hired if you get a piece of paper from Madison, or is it nearly negligible?

If you are willing to deal with the long term debt associated with an expensive university? Its easy to say yes now, but as you go on with life, it will become more and more of a hardship.

Which will give you more real world experience? Degrees are nice, but occasionally degree holders are passed over in favor of people with real world experience. Most work study programs look flimsy to employers. Not to mention, real world experience is just all around a good idea.

if you still want to pay the expensive tuition rate, keep this in mind. There are many programs available that will help you forgive the debt, especially if its government debt. Teach in low income/rural areas (if it applies), or get a job with AmeriCorps or PeaceCorps upon graduation.

Government student loans are the best loans you can get. But as I am sure, no loan is better than any loan. Think critically about what you want to do, and of course fill out FAFSA, taking into account the more expensive tuition. They offer more assistance the higher the tuition rate. You can also try your luck (depending on your standing) and call up Madison, tell them your predicament, and see what's available. If you have a really really high GPA and standing, they may be able to cut you a really nice deal, just to get you in.

Good luck, and grats

As far as I'm concerned, I got lucky. Colorado has COF, and between that and federal aid, the first two years of college were free for me - I just had to buy books. Last semester I had to take out a full loan, for about 5600 dollars for the semester.

Thanks for the input Fire... I just called UW Madison and they said sorry bud, scholarships are all dried up by now and you'll probably get a few thousand dollars in financial aid..

ASU here I come!

You waited too long, Madroc. The deadline where most colleges to announce scholarships and what not was about 2 weeks ago... They only have so much money to give

That's the joy of early decision. You don't gotta worry about this crap. I'm pulling in $15,500 on one scholarship, just shy of $10,000 on another, and even with those I still qualify for work-study. I have about $9,000 a year in student loans

I see. If I could go back in time I would apply for scholarships in February or whatever when they were due. I was applying to like 8 schools at the time and now I realize my misconception was that it would be a waste of time to apply for scholarships at each and every one. Ah well.

In all honesty, the quality of education at MOST universities is close enough to equal to laugh at a 20k or more difference. So, if you're actually looking for an education, it doesn't really matter. However, that 120k+ dollar degree that you'll be missing out on has a bit more power to get you into a job that'll help you pay that back (but that also depends on what kind of field you're going into...) I guess my point is that as long as you do decent at a university, you'll be fine - it doesn't matter where you go.

Hm, I just looked at the starting salaries for ASU vs UW Madison for chemical engineer bachelor's graduates... Both are $61k...


Surprising but okay that definitely settles things a bit...
Taking into account that and all of your opinions, I've made up my mind.

Quote from Madroc

Hm, I just looked at the starting salaries for ASU vs UW Madison for chemical engineer bachelor's graduates... Both are $61k...


Surprising but okay that settles things a bit...

"a bit"?
You'd be ripped off massively.

yyyep

Thanks everyone