Faced the same decision with my son about six years ago. We took the free ride and he still got into a T10 medical school. We are using the money we saved from his undergrad to fund his medical school debt free.

Full ride all the way cos an undergraduate degree is just a base camp to get to where you want to get to. Graduate school is where you get to spread your wings.

My daughter’s friend is at ASU. My daughter considered her to be one of the smartest students in her college prep private school but her college prospects got derailed because during HS, she took a year off to travel around the US in an RV with her family. Colleges were not thrilled with her RV camping HS gap year. She is a Physics major at ASU and from my understanding, ASU has an extreme kick ass Physics program. I bet most of her high school classmates that went to name brand schools would crumble if they tried studying physics at ASU. I would not be surprised that when she graduates and applies for jobs she will be on an even playing field with her peers who attended name brand universities.

Love that you shared this! Personally speaking, I think you totally made the right choice :)

You are well spoken, good video. I liked hearing your experience

Thank you for your deep insight!

Your story your simplicity your authenticity your honesty helped me tremendously. My son yesterday got rejected from all the Ivy leagues you can imagine how he felt . And me as his mom . But he got into Notre dame full ride and Georgetown. Now he will have to decide between those two . It was a hard day for us yesterday but we still very lucky 🍀 I wish you all the best you are an admirable beautiful young woman !! Congratulations 🎊

This is an excellent video. I wish someone had made a video like this long ago in 1986 when I was a HS senior. At the time, I was obsessed with my dream school, the U. of Notre Dame. The problem was that I was from rural AZ on an Indian Reservation. The public schools in rural areas are often of low quality with little or no exposure to AP courses. I was lucky to have had AP calculus but was far behind other students in chemistry, physics, and programming. I also missed out on many courses in history and theology taught at elite prep schools like Brophy or Xavier or a good public school system in Phoenix. I burned out at Notre Dame as a sophomore and almost left. I eventually graduated and went on to earn an MS in Bioengineering at ASU. Now, in hindsight, I need to point out a common problem that occurred among hypercompetitive HS seniors of the 1980s during that "Me" decade of the Reagan Era. I attended AZ Boys State the summer of 1986 at Flagstaff. The girls went to Girls State at U of A that summer. A common theme at AZ Boys State was that many students preferred to go to an elite Ivy League school or private school out-of-state or a public university considered more "prestigious" than U of A or ASU. For example, I had one guy tell me "Screw the in-state universities, I'm going to Stanford". Others went to Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, Northwestern, Cal Tech, West Point, etc. ASU and U of A were considered "safety" schools if one at Boys State could not get financial aid or wound up on the waiting-list or rejected at the Ivy League. To me, that was all wrong in hindsight. I think students from rural AZ or low quality school districts should stay in-state and ideally start with a community college and get some work experience. Rather than going to Notre Dame in 1987, I wish I had gone to a community college and gotten two associate's degrees - the first to "catch" up to HS students from the high-quality high schools and the other to find an area of "interest". Looking back, I wish I had gotten an AA in X-Ray tech and another AA in computer science. Then I should have transferred in-state to ASU, U of A or NAU as a junior in electrical and computer engineering. Then, after about 5-6 years of undergraduate studies with some work experience, I could have gotten a more realistic view of the career for me at the time. In hindsight, I think a JD/PhD would have been a great path - a preparation for the upcoming patent wars of the 2000s for computer engineering like mobile apps, AI, etc. As for prestige, an MS or PhD from an expensive out-of-state school is much more realistic at age 23 or so after a carefully cultivated set of undergraduate years in-state. Graduate students can also get much better financial aid. Going back to Notre Dame, if I had gone in-state for 5-6 years I would have been much more prepared for a rigorous STEM graduate program at schools like Notre Dame at age 23 or 24 compared to age 18. As an older graduate student, there would have been less of a culture shock thousands of miles from home in AZ. I think a PhD at ASU in ECE then a law degree at Notre Dame would have been ideal (or vice versa). But my youth is gone. I have to make the best of it. I am now old from Generation X. The 1980s and 1990s have long ended. I am a professional software test architect. Due to rapidly changing technology, I returned to ASU in 2021 as a PhD student in Data Science which focuses on AI and ML. I am about halfway through the PhD program at ASU. I also work full-time as a software engineer. I now have six master's degrees. Here in AZ, I went to both U of A and ASU for an MS. Over in FL, I have three master's degrees from FSU, UF and UWF. I also earned my most recent MS in Data Science at St. Mary's College in Indiana which is part of the Notre Dame campus network. However, it really would have been best to stay in-state long ago back in the 1980s. At modern ASU, I feel like Rodney Dangerfield in that classic 80s college film "Back to School" - lol. In the film, he returns to college after his marriage fails and his son is about to drop out. So, he enrolls to help. But he also has work experience he sometimes shares in class that isn't taught but must be gained from real jobs. I find myself doing that sometimes - in particular for communication and technical writing or software testing. I have seen young STEM students with communication issues that would get them in trouble with HR out in the industry. Despite my very advanced age, I still want to play rec center basketball one last time before I graduate. I have been running half marathons and 10ks to get fast enough to do it. I often hike from my apartment north of 202 down Mill Ave. to the Brickyard Building or STEM buildings near Noble Science Library. I came in 2nd in my age group for a 10k last weekend near ASU West. It went along the canal on a path I had run many times back in 1993-1997. I am probably one of the last 1980s teens in graduate school at ASU - lol. I'll be the last 80s teen on the ASU Rec Center basketball court. Despite my age, ASU is big enough that no one seems to care. I still have dark hair and walk around with a backpack and iPad, so I just blend in much of the time. Thank you again for the excellent video. I wish YT had existed with this type of channel in 1986. Your type of video should have been shown to that summer program of 1986 for "Boys State" and "Girls State".

TY😊. I shared this with my daughter.

this video is incredibly helpful as i’m in the same position right now in highschool! i think we have a very similar mindset and perspective, especially with the making friends part. you’re so smart. definitely taking this into consideration. thanks!

Thank you for this video! I'm a junior right now, also a native Arizonan. I'm so stressed out about where to go to college. While going in state is better financially, I weighing different factors, such as the availability of my intended major as well as the high crime rate and cost of living. However, this video was super helpful for me as you were talking ASU which I have a history with. Thank you so much. :)

this is really inspiring honestly. i am a california native and a junior in high school but i am concurrently enrolled in community college to cut costs of my undergrad. i am also planning on applying to all csu’s because the in state tuition is very cheap in comparison to out of state. like you, i also plan on continuing to a doctorate program. i think there is a large stigma against state schools, which in my opinion is stupid. i feel like a degree is a degree; yes, there is prestige behind some school names, but at the end of the day if i do not have the financial resources to go to certain schools, then it’s not in the books for me.

You made the right call

Girl Tysm for this.

In terms of 'A' students, when they go to college it doesn’t matter where they go... some studies have shown that they go further then Ivy League students.. I would speculate its their drive and prospective that helps them along. As long as you are studying something worthwhile (medicine, engineering, accounting) it doesn't matter where you go.

You made a wise decision in my opinion.

Thank you for sharing..

If you're considering grad school, yeah, full ride all the way (right choice). Where you go for grad school matters much more than where you went for undergrad.

I appreciate you sharing this, because this confirmed that I do want to transfer. I was in the final round for a full ride scholarship and was rejected. I chose to go to the cheapest state school anyway. Though I am not attending on a full ride, it is still by far the cheapest. I also have struggled to make friends who genuinely are motivated and who I feel like understand me. It sounds like you still have similar regrets. It also sounds like it did pan out where it was more difficult to get jobs, despite your work ethic. I have been accepted so far for transfer to WashU, and I am waiting on other decisions to return (this was my first decision from a T20 school). I know that the people here at my state school feel the same way that you just vocalized about their full ride: grateful but feeling difficulties with making friends.

Wow! This girl’s logic is off the charts! I can see why she was accepted to Yale. And she seems even smarter for not going. I am floored and inspired by her self-possession and self-awareness. Frankly, because this mental fortitude is very very rare… She is right: if it’s gold; it will shine. She doesn’t need the ‘shine’ of a name school… her personal strength and intelligence absolutely shines its on its own!

Full ride every time.

It depends on your major.

Its better flex to be debt free than going to IVY with debt thats all I have to say

Depends on your POV, if you want to challenge your self and take advantage from best resource, go to prestige one, regardless if you have to pay it or not.......and if money is your biggest concern, go to college who gives you full ride

Honestly, I know someone who went to Harvard and us regulars are always pointing it out and I think she just gets embarrassed.

Arizona State is basically the Yale of the West anyway. Dont @ me