One cannot equate tuition with value directly, otherwise very few students would attend universities that cost $90K. Perhaps those going banking or tech may have the early ROI. Hundreds of students at NU majoring in English, sociology, art history, theater, music education and whatnot. For med school your undergrad prestige doesn’t account for much (perhaps HPME is a good ROI though).
For my kid, perhaps I’m jaded as he probably wouldn’t have been admitted to NU although his stats were fine and he is smart enough to have done the work at NU. He decided to go elsewhere which I think is a great fit for him. He got merit scholarships which NU does not give, so I did not think $92K per year was necessarily worth it (would not qualify for any aid.)
Unpopular opinion based on research of admissions stats, observation on campus and interaction on visits and mentoring: I think NU is really deemphasizing the “smart suburban Midwest” students who made up the majority of the school in the 90s, for a mix of ultra elite stats students, upper class full pay, and first gen/underrepresented. As well as of course athletes and other “hooked” students.
