OK, I'm updating on the loans thing, but I'm still not fully convinced either way. Obviously there's no guarantee of a good job, but a big name on your diploma will undoubtedly make it easier to get those jobs, no? Especially if you major in something sensible, and take appropriate steps so that you get recruited as you leave university?
I do think that having a big name on your diploma improves hireability (depending on what you intend to do), but I suspect, on average, that the improvement is substantially less than a hundred percent. And given that we're discussing a question of free for a smaller school, or potentially-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars for a big school, it's a very expensive less-than-an-order-of-magnitude improvement.
Now, the above is a little misleading. Even a full-ride scholarship, school costs money in terms of lost time and opportunity. That said, most people...
Since this fall I will be applying to college in the USA, I have compiled a hefty list of colleges based on the following criteria:
-4-year school;
-co-ed or all men;
-Biology major;
-"full-ride" financial aid available.
The problem's that I have quite a lot of choices, hundreds, as a matter of fact. So how should I narrow down my list even further, given that I don't care about other stuff, such as campus size or location?
Moreover, to how many colleges should I apply? As far as I know, mpst people apply to 6-9 colleges, but some even apply to 20! I guess that by applying to as many colleges possible, my chances of admission go up. But, I probably won't have time to write hundreds of admission essays, or the money to send in my application to all these colleges.
Lastly, as my objective is to gain admission somewhere, should I only apply to colleges with acceptance rates above a certain percentage? What should that percentage be?
If anyone would like to take this in private, I'd be more than happy to receive some advice from any member of the community!