Rutgers (free) vs. Top 20 schools

[lald99]

      Alright, so I'm in a bit of a sticky situation. I'm pretty much guaranteed a full ride (including room & board) to Rutgers University - New Brunswick. I'm not going to lie, so money is definitely a huge deal in this college application process for me. My family would be taking out loans for basically the whole tuition if I end up going to a better school (probably at least $200,000). My top choice right now is Brown but of course that's a reach school. I'm also looking at Cornell, Harvard (obviously a reach haha), JHU, University of Virginia, and a few others.
    Here comes the main problem: I want to do pre-med. I have family who did pre-med then went on to the med school application process and they mostly say it will really really hurt when I'm applying if I went to Rutgers =/. Things is $200,000 is A LOT of money. An I do like Rutgers...I mean its not a piece of crap school, its just not a great one either. Soooo....I'm asking for you guys to give me some advice please. Thank you

[Sodapopp]

I'm definitely not an expert on this, but from what I understand, if you excel at a lesser known school, it's pretty much the same as doing average at a top 20 school. And Rutgers isn't a BAD school; it's obviously not as good as the others you named, but it's not dismal either. I think as long as you make good use of your time at Rutgers, it's not going to hurt you that much. 
Personally I would go to Rutgers. You're going to end up having to pay tons for med school too, so you might as well save that $200,000 and use it for med school 4 years from now.

[Brent]

I would do your best to get into all the schools you want to, and then figure out the most bang for your buck, balanced with where you would be most excited to go.  You might get financial aid at those other schools.  However, I don't know your financial situation - your family might be very well off with some other circumstances leading to you being able to get all that money for Rutgers.  Otherwise, you will most likely be able to get some solid aid at other schools, so you should at least try.

[James]

Are you comfortable discussing general financial info, such as family income and # of siblings in college? (if your account is not particularly anonymous, please don't disclose this info). I ask because many middle income students at places like harvard and Yale get incredibly discounted tuition. At the same time, getting in is difficult. If you can afford it, I would recommend applying to a dream school like Brown. I might have missed this, but your Rutgers scholarship doesn't require that you apply early decision, correct?

[lald99]

Yeah, I forgot the financial aid situation...I'm pretty sure we're not going to get much. My family definitely makes enough...$200,000 a year...yet most of that goes to a mortgage and my brother's law school fees plus apartment rent. The scholarship is completely merit-based not financial. Its basically based on rank (Top 5% needed) and SAT math/CR (1500 needed) for that full ride. I'm definitely going to apply to these other schools, but my feelings now are that I'm going to end up in Rutgers, which isn't particularly bad. I just feel like some of my academic achievements then go to waste (or at least less of an accomplished feeling) than if I got accepted to say Brown and studied there.

[James]

Well, I think your concern about academic recognition is valid. At the same time, college is the first time in most people's lives when you can make your own prestige. By that I mean that, regardless of where you attend, you can make real contributions to science or the arts, or start your own business, etc. God knows I didn't do anything of note in college. Most people don't, and that's fine. But you can - and if you can channel some angst about Rutgers into a motivating force that will drive you to accomplish something unique while there, so much the better.

Plus, admissions decisions are a long way away. You might still get into a dream school. 

[Bernoulli]

Back in the day.......My Mom got a full ride merit scholarship to a lower tier college (Rutgers is way better!).  It was the only way college would happen for her.  She did well as an undergraduate and went on to get two Masters in Engineering from MIT. 

Now, my folks are limiting my sister and me to in-state public schools.  They'll let us apply to out-of-state schools, but admission would have to come with significant financial aid.   They will help us with the graduate school of our choice.

You are in the same boat as most college bound kids.  Except you will probably have some fine options.

[ohiostate]

apply to where you want, if the college you get into isn't insanely good, go for rutgers. It ain't bad anyways.

[mec de \'isb]

first off, if you are guaranteed a full ride at Rutgers, then you have SAT>1500 (2 subjects).  That's very very good

With these SATs, you should be in the ballpark for many schools that offer to meet 100% of your financial need with no loans, including harvard, yale, princeton, amherst, williams, bowdoin, and others.

So, even if it is a little more expensive, it may not be that much more.  And if your parents make <$60K, harvard and yale (and a few others) will pay it all also (tuition, room and board.  Try a couple of them.  See what comes out.

With respect to medical school, Rutgers has a 7 year BA/MD program that you apply to as a senior in high school.  Rutgers also has admissions to Robert Wood Johnson Med School in your sophomore year.   And finally, the NJ med schools do take kids from Rutgers when they graduate with a BA.

So, there are many options, even when money is an issue.

Good luck!!