I'm not sure if this is in the right section, since I hope to get people discussing this topic in general, and not just regarding my specific situation.
To tell you my problem, here's what you need to know. I'm having a very hard time deciding between two colleges for this fall. As an FYI, I hope to major in biochemistry or a related field and move on to graduate school. First off, there's Michigan State, which is a decent school, comparatively cheap (16-18k a year), and has offered me tons of opportunities. They've literally handed me lab research with a professor of my choice freshman year, along with honors college, and the freedoms to essentially take whatever classes I want. I've also got enough AP credits to essentially go in a class or two away from a sophomore. This will save quite a bit of money as well.
The other school, however, is Notre Dame. If you know anything about Notre Dame, you probably know that it's very hard to get into, has a gorgeous campus, and is Catholic (like me). It also has less partying, which I like (yeah, yeah, I know, what's college without the party, blah, blah, blah). My AP credits are worth pretty much squat there, though, since the science department wants me to take the ND versions of those classes. The price, even with my 29k scholarship there, is still about 22k a year as well. Also, I wouldn't really be able to do research early on, since that would mean working in a lab >10 hrs a week as well as work study and actually taking difficult classes. I'm pretty sure I can't juggle that much at one time, at least to start with.
So, now that you know where I'm at, I'll try to pull this out of my predicament a little bit. Basically, which do you think is more important in a college: opportunities and cheapness, or prestige and academic rigor? I've had a cousin go to Notre Dame, and she said I would be better off going the cheap way, but I've heard from others that the education I'd get at a more prestigious school is worth the extra money. Thoughts? Similar situations?
To tell you my problem, here's what you need to know. I'm having a very hard time deciding between two colleges for this fall. As an FYI, I hope to major in biochemistry or a related field and move on to graduate school. First off, there's Michigan State, which is a decent school, comparatively cheap (16-18k a year), and has offered me tons of opportunities. They've literally handed me lab research with a professor of my choice freshman year, along with honors college, and the freedoms to essentially take whatever classes I want. I've also got enough AP credits to essentially go in a class or two away from a sophomore. This will save quite a bit of money as well.
The other school, however, is Notre Dame. If you know anything about Notre Dame, you probably know that it's very hard to get into, has a gorgeous campus, and is Catholic (like me). It also has less partying, which I like (yeah, yeah, I know, what's college without the party, blah, blah, blah). My AP credits are worth pretty much squat there, though, since the science department wants me to take the ND versions of those classes. The price, even with my 29k scholarship there, is still about 22k a year as well. Also, I wouldn't really be able to do research early on, since that would mean working in a lab >10 hrs a week as well as work study and actually taking difficult classes. I'm pretty sure I can't juggle that much at one time, at least to start with.
So, now that you know where I'm at, I'll try to pull this out of my predicament a little bit. Basically, which do you think is more important in a college: opportunities and cheapness, or prestige and academic rigor? I've had a cousin go to Notre Dame, and she said I would be better off going the cheap way, but I've heard from others that the education I'd get at a more prestigious school is worth the extra money. Thoughts? Similar situations?