So why does she love Baylor or is it more ego ( related to the $$).
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She loves Baylor because it is a Christian college. My daughter is the least egotistical person I have ever met in my life.
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Did she apply to other Christian schools that might make budget?
The good news is - even at state schools, she’ll find religious groups to affiliate with.
Best of luck to her - but yeah, studying what you want (IMHO) should trump all - and the optical engineering is so rare - so it’d be hard to find.
She has great options!!
If you know of other Christian universities with Marching Band that usually accept her stats, has engineering, and offers generous aid, please let me know.
The programs might not fit well enough, but Belmont U is a Christian school that would probably give her enough merit, and their students can participate in Vanderbilt’s marching band Vanderbilt Spirit of Gold Marching Band | Vanderbilt Marching & Athletic Bands | Vanderbilt University (in the same way that UMiami’s band welcomes participants from other Miami-area colleges). Belmont doesn’t have ABET-accredited engineering, but they have an Engineering Physics program Engineering Physics Major | Belmont University and also an Experiential Design program Experiential Design Major | Belmont University. Maybe a stretch as far as academic fit but FWIW.
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These three show Christian and ABET for Mechanical.
They show marching bands.
Hope it helps. But either way she’s in good shape. She’ll find Christian life in Tucson too - and can even take religious classes. Best of luck.
Grove City College
Harding University
Liberty University
My daughter was notified of her selection for Baylor’s Invitation to Excellence! We are beyond happy. This feels like answered prayers.
Edit: we have not crossed Arizona off our list and are visiting soon
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(FYI - if it looks like you got a cranky face emoji that was me fat fingering and trying to give the celebration horn thing. I think I fixed it, but I didn’t want you to think someone was anything other than excited for you!)
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LOL, thank you! I would have wondered about it. 
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My daughter was accepted to Clemson, for Engineering, with a scholarship offer pending. I’m in shock and am surprisingly excited.
This might be a difficult decision!
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We wanted to pay no more than $40,000, even with $10,000 a year merit, it’s not $40,000. And yet, our daughter is a senior at Clemson!
How has your daughter liked it at Clemson?
It’s a process, isn’t it? In the end, the absolute cheapest option wasn’t the most important thing (she could have possibly attended several satellite schools tuition free.)
We realize we’re looking at mid 40s. Right now Arizona is around $40K and Baylor is at $44K. No idea how much the merit award at Clemson will be. No word yet on any financial aid amounts either.
She LOVES Clemson, her first week there she said she was the luckiest girl in the world. She’s now a senior (could’ve graduated last May, but chose to stay, on her dime), taking advantage of all they offer. I think the highest scholarship is $12,000 a year, but she has received extra merit, smaller awards from alumni scholarships that just showed up on her account. Most public’s don’t gibe much FA to OOS students, some of her Stanford loans are subsidized because she has 2 siblings in college.
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I know I said that we’re done applying, but before the January 1st deadline approaches, I’m panicking, wondering if my daughter should apply anywhere else.
Someone talk me down please.
What would be the benefit of your D applying to more colleges? What does your D want to do? (she is the one applying not the parents…I’m saying that gently.)
Not only is there a financial cost, but there’s the time commitment to do a good job on apps as well as the psychological cost of potentially more denials…that is hard on some students (but not all of course.)
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Good points!
The possible benefit would be getting an acceptance to a possibly “better” (higher ranked) school, especially if it is one that is financially generous.
I’m the kind of person who has to look at every dress in the mall before I go back and buy the first one I saw. It’s about leaving a possibility on the table. This is probably a character defect on my part.
I understand, but engineering in particular is relatively egalitarian and doesn’t necessarily follow the overall rankings (not that the rankings should be influential at all, IMO of course.)
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I’m reading back.
My question is does she have an assured admit at less than $40k?
You need to account for inflation.
If she does, you can be done. If she doesn’t, there’s more work. I listed many schools in my initial post.
You need it be assured, not maybe.
As for higher rank, maybe there’s 3-5 schoools that would matter. For most kids, the rank is just for a magazine sale. Akron or Arizona, Clemson or Colorado, Ohio State or Oregon State - not gonna matter.
Miami and Wake - even if get in, til you see the cost officially, don’t matter.
You can go sub $30k and $20k.
The schools are as good. The question/trade off is - someone says I don’t want to go here (Nebraska, K State, Alabama and UAH which are sub $20k). Are you willing to pay double or more for that reason ? These schools will be nothing like hs - nothing - so that’s what you need to determine.
I’d say that she could look only at other schools she thinks meet some of the following criteria:
- She initially overlooked
- Are a better fit for her preferences and needs
- Are much more affordable
- Differ from the other schools on her list in some big category
AND: the application isn’t onerous
If it really strikes her fancy, she could throw in another app or two. But if she feels good about her existing list, I’d rush to call it done!
I would caution against pursuing additional applications due to prestige. I don’t think you and your daughter will be satisfied with the return on investment for that pursuit. There are many possibilities for your daughter, and you will always be leaving some on the table. That’s the beauty of our US education system.
Like others have said, engineering education is pretty standardized and quite egalitarian. If you can’t stop worrying about prestige at this stage, just recognize that she’s got acceptances at highly-regarded big name schools already, way more so than is necessary for an excellent career in engineering.
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This is what I needed to hear! Really an excellent comment that I’ll be able to keep referring to. Thank you.
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