Hi everyone-
My S26 (26 refers to HS graduation year, right?) is a current sophomore. He’s just recently starting displaying an interest in college and I’ve been doing a lot of reading on here and some books to hopefully help guide him through the college selection process.
Our goal as parents is to put him and D28 through undergrad without debt. We’ve been saving, but at this time no debt = a max out of pocket somewhere between $30-40k per year.
Merit scholarships are a definite option on the table, and that’s where I’d like to request the community’s help. As a sophomore, my son scored a 214 on the PSAT, which puts him in the ballpark for NMF in our state of Kentucky. He also recently took the ACT (he asked to take it early just to get an idea of what it was like!) and scored a 33. By the end of junior year he’ll have 6 APs, and probably 10-11 by the end of senior, so rigor will be there.
CS is his current desired major, but I think that’s more due to exposure. We have him attending an engineering summer camp at UIUC this summer to expose him to engineering disciplines to see if something else sticks. His preferences are for a mid/large school in an urban/town setting -ie, not rural. He also doesn’t like hot weather and does not want to go anywhere hotter than Kentucky and preferably colder.
Since we’ll need merit aid to get costs in reach, I have come up with the following list thus far. Ideally we knock out a handful of visits to these schools over the next year+ before it’s time to apply:
Nebraska-Lincoln
Minnesota-Twin Cities
Purdue
Michigan St
Ohio St
Utah
Umass-Amherst
Pittsburgh
UIUC- definite reach, both acceptance and cost. But he would be a third generation UIUC grad, which would be kind of cool!
That’s the list for now. Skews larger, more urban and a little more affordable with potential merit. Also kind of narrow, and I think we should be casting a wider net at this point. So what are we missing? And thanks in advance so much, I’ve been reading a ton on here and learning quite a bit!
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How are grades looking? All or mostly A grades?
For auto merit…add Alabama, Arizona, Miami (Ohio). Some of the OOS schools on your list might be too costly as an out of state student at public universities.
No Kentucky publics on your list?
What about SUNY Buffalo? The SUNY OOS costs are a bit more reasonable than many other public universities. @aunt_bea
If he gets NMF status, there will be others to consider for merit aid, but right now, really, without a junior year GPA, that type of aid is hard to predict.
You’ve got some great ideas. I’m going to suggest mostly less selective schools here since you already have a few reaches…
If he’s okay with UIUC and Purdue towns, he should consider Iowa State and Mizzou. He’d get super fast admissions decisions, and automatic merit. The amount of auto-merit at Mizzou will depend on the county you live in. He’s also lucky to have great options with UK and UofL.
Take a look at Case Western (unpredictable for admissions but generous with aid and can change majors easily), Michigan Tech (it’s more rural but could be a great fit otherwise), Rochester Institute of Technology, Illinois Tech, U Cincinnati, and Buffalo too.
ETA: cross posted with thumper about buffalo.
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Yes, I guess I should have included this.
After 3 semesters he’s at 3.9ish UW and 4.2ish weighted. 2 5s on last year’s AP courses and he’s doing well so far this semester.
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I think he wants to get further away from home for Kentucky publics to be considered.
I should have added the University of Cincinnati to the list, though- there’s a slight premium to in-state rates for our county but it’s effectively an in-state rate in an urban location.
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Cincinnati is a great option. I honestly think that could end up being your school to beat due to the location, price, and their co-op model. Getting jobs in CS and engineering is greatly helped by doing internships and co-ops and mandatory co-op will really facilitate that.
I forgot about U Dayton. Check that one out for sure. They are generous with merit. My kid with a nearly identical profile got a super fast acceptance and 30K in merit aid. They also guarantee costs for all 4 years!
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These are the suggestions I’m looking for!
I’ll check out Mizzou and Iowa St. For context we did a small road trip to explore different campuses and size/location in the fall. We visited Rose-Hulman, UIUC, Indiana and DePauw.
Rose and DePauw were definite no’s. He didn’t take to Bloomington, IN, but loved Champaign… In my head that translates to 200k plus. No idea of he’ll like Lafayette or not at this point but Purdue is relatively inexpensive OOS and excellent in his desired major. Still need to explore fit and it will always be a reach
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This is very helpful info, and you did a great thing by doing the local tours of a variety of schools!
CS admissions can be tough, and you’re right that it can make admission to a given school a super-reach (e.g., Purdue and UIUC).
I think he’d get in to CS with merit aid at all the schools I’ve mentioned (Case is a wildcard though).
I’ll put Dayton on the list. UC and Dayton could be an easy overnight trip sometime this summer! Maybe even add Miami to that, although it’s a little smaller town than what we’re looking at right now
That’s kind of what I’m discovering too.
We have family outside Columbus and will probably visit Ohio St one weekend while visiting them. Case shouldn’t be too hard to add to that trip
I don’t think it is possible to get below 40K for Case without need-based aid? They are generous with merit, but there is a maximum. With max merit, I think you would be looking at a COA closer to 50K? (And tuition goes up each year…)
Case takes student interest into account when making admissions decisions. Consider attending one of their open houses which have informative sessions.
Ohio State doesn’t take interest into account when making admissions decisions. This is a helpful link to review when applying Who gets in - Columbus campus first-years - The Ohio State University there. Be prepared to wait until end of March before having a good guesstimate on net price since their merit aid rolls out and is not released with their decisions. They have a $4,000/yr engineering fee.
Miami University is a very good school to have on the list since they release merit and their EA decisions in a timely manner. Consider visiting in Fall or Spring when students are on campus.
You’ll miss merit opportunities and can be shut out of CS seats at many public universities if you don’t submit a completed application by their EA deadline. Some schools require supplemental applications for their really big (full ride) merit.
https://www.stampsscholars.org/our-program/partner-schools/
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Your son might want to consider New Jersey Institute of Technology which is near NYC and would give him full tuition & fees if he becomes a NMF. There are all scholarships for honors students living in the dorms, too. I think there’s also a good bit of flexibility if he wanted to switch from engineering to CS or some other field.
If your son decides that he really isn’t interested in engineering, then I would also give strong consideration to DePaul in Chicago.
Perhaps @DadOfJerseyGirl might have some other suggestions?
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This is good, adding a couple more locations.
Between the suggestions for Mizzou, Iowa St, Buffalo, Dayton, NJIT, IIT, Case and perhaps DePaul, I like the list.
My challenge now is to try and figure out how to organize visits in a manner that makes sense. A quick Cincy, Dayton visit - maybe sprinkling in Miami is an easy one for a Friday and Saturday this summer. Ohio St and Case go together decent, may be able to stretch and visit Pitt on that trip too.
The others are spread out enough that we’ll maybe try to plan a family trip around them and fit a college visit in.
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NJIT and DePaul are good suggestions @AustenNut
I would add U Delaware. They have a good CS program. Their list price is above budget ($57k) but they’re good with merit money.
Another suggestion is Stevens Institute of Technology - great program and location. Their list price is very high but they give up to $45k in merit money to top students which will bring it in budget range. Applying from Kentucky will definitely help a lot.
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Purdue has a Data Digest, here: https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/. Look at the interactive links to “Applications, Admits, and Matriculations” and “New First-Time Beginner Profile” for data that may be useful in determining your son’s ultimate chances for admission into Computer Science. Purdue is difficult to get merit money for OOS students, even with very good grades/test scores; regarding money for NMF status at Purdue, my son was NMF and got $250/semester. Assuming that Purdue continues its freeze on tuition/room costs, you will be looking at mid-$40Ks
I don’t know what your definition of “urban/town setting” is, but Western Kentucky University may be an opportunity for good merit money. (I know you mentioned your son wanting to get away as a reason for not putting Kentucky schools on your list; but a Kentucky public university may be a good safety option, and you should have at least one on your list.) Miami University is a good school, but it is in a very small town; my recollection of visiting there is that there was not much there besides the university.
Now a third trip is taking shape. Fly into Baltimore, Amtrak to U Delaware and then onto Newark for NJIT and Stevens. Fly home from Newark.
That actually sounds pretty fun.
Our SoCal high-achieving daughter, who got in everywhere, actually chose Honors-SUNY Buffalo for biotech/“premed”.
She received a rare full ride.
She changed majors to Electrical Engineering/Computer Science (EECS). No regrets. Had great internships and was a top-performing student and engineering tutor. Saved a ton of money and is an actively recruited CSW engineering manager.
Her organizational system, developed while at SUNYUB, went company-wide and saved the corporation big bucks in efficiency. She received yearly stipends and bonuses for that. She trains junior engineers and they put in requests to be on her team.
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Pitt will be tough to get into your price range. In recent years, CS majors have gotten very little merit. The school seems to believe that CS is capacity constrained enough overall that they don’t need to entice students – they will fill with qualified students without offering merit.
That said, it’s still worth the application. It’s a pretty easy app, there is typically a code to waive the fee, and if you apply early you can get an answer in September. I just wanted to set expectations.
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