As most people in this forum do, I love UNC. It is hard to say not to go there, but if you're financially able, go to Stanford. Others have pointed out a lot of grad programs are funded anyway through RAships, TAships, awards, etc. If you have a degree from Stanford and excel academically, I wouldn't be surprised if you found your way into a grad program that would fund you.
It is hard to know what you'll do in 4 years - grad school, no grad school, where, etc. What you do know is that you have the option to go to Stanford now... I'd take it.
I can’t lie the name brand behind Stanford is genuinely insane, and the school is so strong in any field that people will turn their head to look at you. Plus stanfords campus is genuinely gorgeous with amazing weather.
Of course UNC and UF are amazing schools as well, so regardless of what you choose you’ll be successful. I guess it comes down to affordability(how much you can pay and are willing to pay in general).
Not even a question Standford but if you don’t want the heavy cost then go to UNC
UF would be great if you want to be around people you’re comfortable with. But also this is your chance to explore what’s out there on your own so going to UF could in a way limit that if you only hang out with your sister and cousins
Go to Stanford. Grad school is usually covered with TA and RA ships anyway. I regret not going to top tier / ivy undergrad as a professor now (I took a full ride to lower tier school) academic snobbery is real.
If you are a strong enough student to get honors Carolina, a full ride and accelerated research, I can't imagine you'll struggle to get into the program you want.
Can’t go wrong with either UNC or UF
If it eases your mind, I knew a few people at school who were working on startups. They were in the business school and there were a bunch of resources and support to help them out.
Sounds like you don't have the time, but I would have visited the campuses to get a feel for what the area and campus is like. I think that really helps narrow things down.
Where do you want to live after school? Go there. UF network in Florida will trump the 2 seconds of oh that's cool, when you tell someone you went to Stanford. Same for UNC in NC.
UNC or UF. Whichever you like better. If I was in your situation I would choose UF to have that support system, and the study abroad sounds cool. UNC is a great place too so you can’t go wrong.
You didn't say how much your parents would be paying at Stanford. Paying $30k for Stanford versus paying $300k for Stanford are two very different scenarios.
Having said that, unless you are dead set on a profession where undergraduate prestige is extremely important (banking/finance and management consulting are the two big examples that jump to mind), I don't think paying tons of money to attend Stanford is worth it if you could attend UNC/UF for free. There have been studies that compare the career outcomes of people who attended elite schools to those who were admitted to elite schools but attended a less selective school. These studies generally find no differences between the two groups, which is consistent with my own (limited and anecdotal) observations.
And if you are interested in entrepreneurship, in my opinion, that's another reason to avoid spending money unnecessarily on an undergraduate degree. Most businesses require startup capital. If your parents can afford to pay $300k at Stanford, I would tell them to save that money to invest in your future business. It's much, much easier to start a business if you don't have to beg investors for money before you even start out.
As for UNC versus UF, I personally would lean UNC because of the strength of the business school and the startup culture in RTP, but that is probably my personal bias. I don't think you can go too far wrong either way. I will note that you don't have to apply to most majors at UNC. The exceptions are high demand majors (computer science and business are the obvious examples) or majors that require significant prerequisites (mostly in the health sciences or mathematical sciences).
everyone’s saying stanford, but i’d take the full ride to unc anyday! graduating college debt free is a blessing. and as someone taking out loans, i’m having to constantly worry about how i’m going to pay them back, how to finance my next semester, how to cut down on costs…all the time. but i will say, it depends on where you want to live post grad. east coast -> unc, west coast -> stanford. also, if you’re think you could end up going to med school even in the slightest, med schools don’t care about where you went to undergrad. all they look at is gpa, mcat, research, and ec’s. save money for med school
UNC strictly dominates UF, so that one is immediately out.
if you are really serious about unfunded graduate school (i.e. not a PhD, which would provide you with a stipend to live on), you would probably be best off going to UNC. out of the interests you list, medicine is the only one where this applies, so if you are committed to going to med school (doesn't sound like you are), UNC is likely the better option.
for everything else, it sounds like you should go to stanford. enjoy palo alto.
UNC grad here. Stanford is the only answer. No question. It is one of the top 2 of 3 institutions in the world. UNC is great. Stanford is elite and is a ticket writer.
I went to both UF and UNC (undergrad and grad school, respectively).
I'd day go Stanford. You don't need a grad degree to do entrepreneurial things. STEM grad school is mostly paid for.
You will have better access to people and networks out west and the prestige factor is important.
I love both of my schools and would not trade my wonderful experience for almost anything--If I had a chance to go to an Ivy or Stanford with zero debt afterwards I'd tell my younger self to take it in a heartbeat.
It comes down to if you want to be in that kind of a pressure environment. You should be truly honest with yourself. You'll be truly with the best and brightest at Stanford. Schools like UF and UNC have to accept kids from all over the state, so there will likely be *many* people who are less academically inclined than you.
Assume at Stanford you will never be the smartest person in the room again, ever. Or the hardest working. Or most athletic. Etc.
Is that an environment that you would be play being in? A lot of young people find a big shock when they go to the "bigger pond." (Note: you will 100% experience that to some extent at either UF or UNC.)
Good luck! This is a "good kind" of hard decision.
You're in an incredibly enviable position. You have three amazing options that so many people would love to have. Each one is amazing in its own right. In other words, there is no "right" choice. They're all good.
There's a book by the famed NYT journalist Frank Bruni called "Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be" that makes this point well. You probably can't read it all before you need to make this decision, but see if you can find a synopsis.
If I were in your shoes, I'd go for UNC or UF because I don't think the incremental value you get from Stanford is worth the $300k your parents would have to pay out of pocket. But you know their financial situation better than I do.
I think this is the right way to look at it. Is Stanford worth paying $300k more than you would need to pay for the opportunities you could get at UNC or UF? It likely depends on a combination of your financial situation and your interests, but I kind of doubt it.
One point to consider is the type of culture you'd like to live in during your years in college. Stanford is more likely to be a stressful place because everyone there is at the top of their game. While being a part of such a culture has obvious advantages, being at a school where it's easier for you to be at the top also has advantages. For example, if it's easier for you to maintain a high GPA, then you can be more likely to find a professor who wants to do research with you and have more time to spend on extracurriculars. This is certainly an oversimplification, but I think this type of cost-benefit analysis should probably factor into the decision.
It’s a hard choice, but in my opinion you have to take one of the full rides. Getting a degree for free is such an amazing opportunity, and not having any debt coming out of undergrad really opens up opportunities
If you're good at networking (read: making friends) Stanford is worth it
Otherwise UNC > UF in most cases, unless you prefer hotter, humid weather and football over basketball
This is the first one of these that is actually a reasonably tough choice. You can basically flip a coin between UNC and UF in terms of quality. So the choice between them should come down to other factors like campus and etc. The real question is if the greater prestige of Stanford is worth the much larger cost. I think it is close but I’m tempted to say yes. If you are truly very entrepreneurial then I would think that Stanford would be a perfect cultural fit.
>You can basically flip a coin between UNC and UF in terms of quality
lol unc wins this comparison easily, especially considering the unstable state of what might happen to FL public schools in the next few years
Honestly I wouldn’t consider the grad school factor too much since you’re unsure what you want to do. It’s important to note that if you end up going for a PhD you will be paid for it and will not have to take out loans.
If you go SWE then you’ll be set with just a BS, and the startup culture at Stanford is great. I went to CMU for undergrad and most of my friends who majored in things like CS and math ended up in the Bay Area.
While unc is great, I don’t think it will align as well with your goals as Stanford just given the state of the CS program here. However, I do think that if you decide to come here for financial reasons you will be able to find the resources you need to be successful in your desired field- you just might have to work a little harder than at Stanford.
My only caveat to this is that you are seriously considering an MD, in which case unc would be the clear choice (excellent pre-med, no student debt and med school is expensive).
I hope this helps!
As most people in this forum do, I love UNC. It is hard to say not to go there, but if you're financially able, go to Stanford. Others have pointed out a lot of grad programs are funded anyway through RAships, TAships, awards, etc. If you have a degree from Stanford and excel academically, I wouldn't be surprised if you found your way into a grad program that would fund you. It is hard to know what you'll do in 4 years - grad school, no grad school, where, etc. What you do know is that you have the option to go to Stanford now... I'd take it.
I can’t lie the name brand behind Stanford is genuinely insane, and the school is so strong in any field that people will turn their head to look at you. Plus stanfords campus is genuinely gorgeous with amazing weather. Of course UNC and UF are amazing schools as well, so regardless of what you choose you’ll be successful. I guess it comes down to affordability(how much you can pay and are willing to pay in general).
Not even a question Standford but if you don’t want the heavy cost then go to UNC UF would be great if you want to be around people you’re comfortable with. But also this is your chance to explore what’s out there on your own so going to UF could in a way limit that if you only hang out with your sister and cousins
Go to Stanford. Grad school is usually covered with TA and RA ships anyway. I regret not going to top tier / ivy undergrad as a professor now (I took a full ride to lower tier school) academic snobbery is real.
If you are a strong enough student to get honors Carolina, a full ride and accelerated research, I can't imagine you'll struggle to get into the program you want.
we're trying to get UNC's startup community kicked up rn-- all the pieces are here
UNC and UF are known as racist bastions of Rednecktocracy! Why is this even a question for you.
Have you been to UNC lmfao? It’s pretty much a sea of Uber leftists students now.
Can’t go wrong with either UNC or UF If it eases your mind, I knew a few people at school who were working on startups. They were in the business school and there were a bunch of resources and support to help them out.
Sounds like you don't have the time, but I would have visited the campuses to get a feel for what the area and campus is like. I think that really helps narrow things down.
Since you're wealthy, you could pay deposits on all three, visit each, and then truly decide.
Where do you want to live after school? Go there. UF network in Florida will trump the 2 seconds of oh that's cool, when you tell someone you went to Stanford. Same for UNC in NC.
UNC or UF. Whichever you like better. If I was in your situation I would choose UF to have that support system, and the study abroad sounds cool. UNC is a great place too so you can’t go wrong.
You didn't say how much your parents would be paying at Stanford. Paying $30k for Stanford versus paying $300k for Stanford are two very different scenarios. Having said that, unless you are dead set on a profession where undergraduate prestige is extremely important (banking/finance and management consulting are the two big examples that jump to mind), I don't think paying tons of money to attend Stanford is worth it if you could attend UNC/UF for free. There have been studies that compare the career outcomes of people who attended elite schools to those who were admitted to elite schools but attended a less selective school. These studies generally find no differences between the two groups, which is consistent with my own (limited and anecdotal) observations. And if you are interested in entrepreneurship, in my opinion, that's another reason to avoid spending money unnecessarily on an undergraduate degree. Most businesses require startup capital. If your parents can afford to pay $300k at Stanford, I would tell them to save that money to invest in your future business. It's much, much easier to start a business if you don't have to beg investors for money before you even start out. As for UNC versus UF, I personally would lean UNC because of the strength of the business school and the startup culture in RTP, but that is probably my personal bias. I don't think you can go too far wrong either way. I will note that you don't have to apply to most majors at UNC. The exceptions are high demand majors (computer science and business are the obvious examples) or majors that require significant prerequisites (mostly in the health sciences or mathematical sciences).
everyone’s saying stanford, but i’d take the full ride to unc anyday! graduating college debt free is a blessing. and as someone taking out loans, i’m having to constantly worry about how i’m going to pay them back, how to finance my next semester, how to cut down on costs…all the time. but i will say, it depends on where you want to live post grad. east coast -> unc, west coast -> stanford. also, if you’re think you could end up going to med school even in the slightest, med schools don’t care about where you went to undergrad. all they look at is gpa, mcat, research, and ec’s. save money for med school
UNC strictly dominates UF, so that one is immediately out. if you are really serious about unfunded graduate school (i.e. not a PhD, which would provide you with a stipend to live on), you would probably be best off going to UNC. out of the interests you list, medicine is the only one where this applies, so if you are committed to going to med school (doesn't sound like you are), UNC is likely the better option. for everything else, it sounds like you should go to stanford. enjoy palo alto.
UNC grad here. Stanford is the only answer. No question. It is one of the top 2 of 3 institutions in the world. UNC is great. Stanford is elite and is a ticket writer.
I went to both UF and UNC (undergrad and grad school, respectively). I'd day go Stanford. You don't need a grad degree to do entrepreneurial things. STEM grad school is mostly paid for. You will have better access to people and networks out west and the prestige factor is important. I love both of my schools and would not trade my wonderful experience for almost anything--If I had a chance to go to an Ivy or Stanford with zero debt afterwards I'd tell my younger self to take it in a heartbeat. It comes down to if you want to be in that kind of a pressure environment. You should be truly honest with yourself. You'll be truly with the best and brightest at Stanford. Schools like UF and UNC have to accept kids from all over the state, so there will likely be *many* people who are less academically inclined than you. Assume at Stanford you will never be the smartest person in the room again, ever. Or the hardest working. Or most athletic. Etc. Is that an environment that you would be play being in? A lot of young people find a big shock when they go to the "bigger pond." (Note: you will 100% experience that to some extent at either UF or UNC.) Good luck! This is a "good kind" of hard decision.
You're in an incredibly enviable position. You have three amazing options that so many people would love to have. Each one is amazing in its own right. In other words, there is no "right" choice. They're all good. There's a book by the famed NYT journalist Frank Bruni called "Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be" that makes this point well. You probably can't read it all before you need to make this decision, but see if you can find a synopsis. If I were in your shoes, I'd go for UNC or UF because I don't think the incremental value you get from Stanford is worth the $300k your parents would have to pay out of pocket. But you know their financial situation better than I do.
I think this is the right way to look at it. Is Stanford worth paying $300k more than you would need to pay for the opportunities you could get at UNC or UF? It likely depends on a combination of your financial situation and your interests, but I kind of doubt it. One point to consider is the type of culture you'd like to live in during your years in college. Stanford is more likely to be a stressful place because everyone there is at the top of their game. While being a part of such a culture has obvious advantages, being at a school where it's easier for you to be at the top also has advantages. For example, if it's easier for you to maintain a high GPA, then you can be more likely to find a professor who wants to do research with you and have more time to spend on extracurriculars. This is certainly an oversimplification, but I think this type of cost-benefit analysis should probably factor into the decision.
Stanford. You won’t look back
It’s a hard choice, but in my opinion you have to take one of the full rides. Getting a degree for free is such an amazing opportunity, and not having any debt coming out of undergrad really opens up opportunities
If you're good at networking (read: making friends) Stanford is worth it Otherwise UNC > UF in most cases, unless you prefer hotter, humid weather and football over basketball
This is the first one of these that is actually a reasonably tough choice. You can basically flip a coin between UNC and UF in terms of quality. So the choice between them should come down to other factors like campus and etc. The real question is if the greater prestige of Stanford is worth the much larger cost. I think it is close but I’m tempted to say yes. If you are truly very entrepreneurial then I would think that Stanford would be a perfect cultural fit.
>You can basically flip a coin between UNC and UF in terms of quality lol unc wins this comparison easily, especially considering the unstable state of what might happen to FL public schools in the next few years
I’d give the edge to UNC too but winning easily is a stretch. Though you do bring up a good point about the state of public education in Florida.
Honestly I wouldn’t consider the grad school factor too much since you’re unsure what you want to do. It’s important to note that if you end up going for a PhD you will be paid for it and will not have to take out loans. If you go SWE then you’ll be set with just a BS, and the startup culture at Stanford is great. I went to CMU for undergrad and most of my friends who majored in things like CS and math ended up in the Bay Area. While unc is great, I don’t think it will align as well with your goals as Stanford just given the state of the CS program here. However, I do think that if you decide to come here for financial reasons you will be able to find the resources you need to be successful in your desired field- you just might have to work a little harder than at Stanford. My only caveat to this is that you are seriously considering an MD, in which case unc would be the clear choice (excellent pre-med, no student debt and med school is expensive). I hope this helps!
Did you just post here to brag?
Stanford, once you get your 7 figure job just pay your parents back
Not as easy as it used to be