Alfred State over RPI: Tell A Parent It Will Be OK

College Search & Lists
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My son got into a number of schools for Computer Science, including UB, RPI, and Alfred St. RPI was his first choice all along; Alfred was a safety but he applied because it was recognized for their CS offerings.

We knew that he would be taking on some student loan debt. UB didn’t offer any assistance, taking them off the table. RPI offered 30k off, still making it about 42k per year.

What wasn’t anticipated was Alfred: They offered him a full ride, everything paid for.

My son really wants to got to RPI, he had almost looked at Alfred as an afterthought. But with the reality of where we are right now (we as his parents both still have jobs but that could easily change), and the fact that he’d leave school with 80k in student loans (we’re assuming the other half of the obligation), I can tell he’s reluctantly choosing Alfred.

I’d like to know anyone’s thoughts. I love him to death for thinking of us in this decision, but I hate he’s not going where he wants to be.

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We’re NYS residents, so we know a little about Alfred. I think it’s a good school. CS is a great major, and I don’t think you need a brand name to get a good job after graduation. Congrats on the full ride. That’s awesome!

3

My friend’s D loves Alfred. She’s a happy junior. I do think given the new world we are in, taking on that much debt is a nonstarter.

4

$80k is way more than the $27k he can borrow without you cosigning or taking it as parent loans. Even with reasonable part time and summer work earnings, that is still too big a gap to cover.

However, where is the CS bachelor’s degree major at Alfred State?
https://www.alfredstate.edu/academics/majors

So Buffalo at $29k per year or $116k total (assuming in-state) would require about $80k from you (assuming that this is cash you have, not loans) and $36k from him, which should be doable with $27k federal direct loans and $9k in part time and summer work earnings. While this is kind of a stretch, it is the best of these three choices, since it is (barely) affordable and does offer a CS bachelor’s degree major.

TL;DR: RPI is too expensive, Alfred State does not have a CS bachelor’s degree program, but Buffalo is (barely) affordable and does have a CS bachelor’s degree program. So Buffalo is the best of these choices.

5

From my friend, whose D attends Alfred:

I think the school is excellent VFM; from my parent POV it’s very rural and there isn’t much to do in the surrounding area, but they have good sports facilities and they can also take classes & clubs at Alfred Uni if they want. It’s basically 8000 kids in a village LOL! The campus is nice and kept in good condition and the staff seem to be very available to their students.

6

My bad, he is either going for a BS in Computer Engineering Technology or BT in Information Technology.

And while I realize that he can borrow without co-signing, we’ve pledged to pay for half his education if he maintained high honor roll throughout high school (which he did).

Thanks for all the feedback, all.

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@blatchy Was your son admitted as a Computer Science major at UB? Can you afford UB with only the Direct student loans (no parent loans or cosigned loans)? If so, I agree with @ucbalumnus that this would be be the best choice. A Computer Science degree is different and has the potential for much better employment opportunities than either of the technology degrees at Alfred State. Plus, your son would be with academic peers at UB, but way above the average student at Alfred State. However, if Alfred State is the only school you can afford, I’m sure your son will shine there, be a favorite of the professors, and do well post-graduation.

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@blatchy Is your son eligible for the New York State STEM scholarship (top 10% of high school class)?

9

Does he want to do design and development of computers and software (more technical), or management of computers and software (less technical)?

A computer science major can do either (but many or most would prefer to work in design and development), while CET and IT majors would mostly be hired into management of computers and software.

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I think he would be more comfortable in design rather than network management. And in terms of STEM, he’s around 50th in his class, he has a very strong class this year, although he’s been high honor roll throughout and had a 1440 on his SATs.
He did declare as a CS major at UB.

11

Could he start out in the two-year CS program at Alfred that’s geared toward transfer to a four-year program? Then he’d have the option to end up at UB, and save $$$ in the meantime.

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So would the summary be:

Alfred State: free ride, less desirable major
Buffalo: barely affordable, desired major
RPI: not affordable, desired major

?

Seems like Buffalo would be the best choice, although being only barely affordable is not great (but being not affordable or not having the desired major would be worse).

13

Buffalo’s transfer credit database is at https://www.buffalo.edu/course_equivalency/search-by-school . Buffalo CS requirements are at https://catalog.buffalo.edu/academicprograms/computer_science_bs_requirements.html .

Here are the frosh/soph courses for the CS major at Buffalo and their equivalents at Alfred State. It looks like Alfred State has only the frosh-level courses. This does not include any general education requirements.


Buffalo                 Alfred State
CSE 115 and 116         CISY 1113 and 4003 and 4103 and 6503
CSE 191                 MATH 2163
CSE 199                 N/A
CSE 220                 N/A
CSE 250                 N/A
MTH 141                 MATH 1084
MTH 142                 MATH 2094
MTH 309                 N/A
Science requirement     Various

Buffalo’s transfer admission web site is at https://admissions.buffalo.edu/transfer/admissionrequirements.php .

14

Interesting. Where do the kids in the two-year CS program at Alfred typically transfer to, if the program doesn’t articulate well with the strong SUNY CS programs?

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http://catalog.alfredstate.edu/current/programs/computer-science/ says:

Looks like it targets transfer mostly into BA/BS programs in IT, not BA/BS programs in CS.

16

The programs aren’t the same - we’re talking probably 30% to 50% salary difference between Information Technology/Engineering Technology and CS.
If you can swing Buffalo, I’d really go with that. You can think of it as an investment and request that, if he attends Buffalo, he should find summer internships in CS starting summer after sophomore year (those pay quite well).

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