Here's the punchline: for nearly all students, I don't think there's a justification for attending an expensive university over a "regular" university -- e.g. a "state school".
As someone who's attended three
universities and taught at one American university and two Australian
universities, my assessment is that it's more about the student (and
possibly the prestige/reputation of the university?), and not about the
"quality" of the school. That is: unless you're doing some
high-powered medical or science degree where there can be substantial
differences in the resources (high-end lab equipment) -- there are good
instructors and bad instructors everywhere, and it really comes down to
how smart, and how studious, the student is.
Maybe at the
ultra-high end there might be more opportunities for the "gifted"
student: but my impression is that the higher-end student will either
"make" his/her own opportunities, or else maximize the "standard"
opportunities (e.g. do a
really ambitious "capstone" project).
So
my 2c is that if there's an in-state/out-of-state tuition cost
difference, to just stay in-state. If she truly wants to get away from
the parents for "independence", just move to the other end of the
state. ;)
The exception is if you think that a "fancy" school (Harvard? Yale?) will build business networks that you otherwise wouldn't gain. I can't speak to that.
The other exception would be if there's a
very
specific program, or person you want to study under, at a specific
program. (And! Professors leave universities for a different one ALL
THE TIME -- so do
not attend a university JUST for one specific person; do it because the university
also has a strong program.)
For
"advanced" work -- sure, go for the peak. But as an undergraduate:
let's say the calibre of one program is 70% the quality of the other.
Is the student
really going to learn 100% of what is being
offered? Will the student **really** "max out", and absorb 100% of what
the professors have to offer...?
Unless the student believes that she or he will be the equal of the instructors at the end of the program (unlikely -- even for graduate students) -- she or he will still be developing and learning, right up to the end of the program.
Definitely, some programs are better than others. But (in my observation) it's more because some programs/departments are actively
bad (i.e. dysfunctional) --
not that some are definitively
superior to another.
Again: it comes down to the student -- both the intellect and the effort --
not the "quality" of the program. As long as the program's quality is at least "pretty good".
That said: if she
truly
wants to go out-of-state: if it's a state school, it would be far
cheaper to investigate the "residency" rules and (presumably) move there
for a year or two, work, and
then attend university once she can pay in-state tuition.
I ended up having to take a year and a half off between the first half and second half of my undergraduate degree: it was an
incredibly useful and informative experience, and I don't regret it for a moment. (I worked one and a half jobs -- but I was young and energetic, and it was only for a year and a half...)
That's my assessment, anyhow... ;)
--GG
Labels: university, wisdom
