As “meets needs” schools with no merit awards, CMU and Penn do not enrich their offers as an inducement for yield. Accepted students will get the same aid offer regardless of whether they apply RD or ED to those schools.
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Which is also why it’s important to know the family’s EFC in order to advise. If they’re full pay, and $70K is the budget, Penn and CMU come off the table, as do some others probably.
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Lots of great info and advice for you to consider. Looking at your students profile (already taken some college credit CS classes) there may a few other things to consider.
First, CS is a broad field and many students start without knowing what interests them the most. However, your students profile suggests that there may already be an area of interest. If so, you should take a closer look at the curriculum of each school to enure they have depth in the area of expertise you’re interested in. Links like the one provided by @DadOfJerseyGirl might be a good starting point.
Second, you should investigate undergrad research opportunities and labs as they are a great resource to gain further knowledge outside of the class room and make contacts.
Finally, internships at large companies are widely open, but access to smaller and medium sized companies might be influenced by location. So, consider the local internships possibilities. How do your schools stack up as tech-hubs.
Have fun.
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Yep, UPenn, for example, is on track to exceed $100k per year within the next few years.
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In this case, assuming full pay, then OP would have to decide if their perceived benefit of Penn vs Oregon State (triple the cost) is worth it. Or double another etc another school.
Only they can decide that. For some, even over budget, it would be worth it. For others, it wouldn’t.
Yep, value is in the eye of the beholder and should (should!) be grounded in a rational assessment of what is truly feasible without tanking family and student finances under a mountain of debt.
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To add to that…
It’s important to have those discussions and set boundaries now. You don’t want to be in a position trying to figure out what to do with an acceptance that is much more expensive that the budget.
For some schools that offer merit you still apply, hoping for the right award, but schools that don’t are better left off the table.
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Thankfully it looks like the parents are fully aware of these tradeoffs (including the optionality that a school like Penn might offer if student changes academic directions) and their own finances.
Perhaps I missed it but I didn’t see the OP asking for any financial advice. In fact this was their polite response to it being brought up…,
In the spirit of the OP’s original “chance me”, your son looks competitive at schools like Penn.
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I agree with this, of course, but others think differently, as is their right.
And it scares me that people would risk this…but many, many, choose to do so.
The economy has been so good for so long and perhaps that’s part of it.
With layoffs rising and people seeing things like the stock market mini collapse - whether it holds long term or not - maybe that will cause people to become more realistic in regards to making this type of decision.
But as long as any family looks at all angles and makes the right decisions for themselves, then they’ve done their homework.
In a case like this, one of three things likely happened since OP shows a budget of $70K or less:
- OP didn’t understand the cost up front
- OP didn’t know that merit scholarships were not avail
- OP has need
No matter which, it’s good OP is here, and started a discussion, and I think has been given a lot of good thoughts (in finding a school that matches their kid’s interest) vs. just using a US News list to decide where to attend.
Curious as to why the University of Washington in Seattle is not on your list.
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There is absolutely no indication that this OP doesn’t have a sense of financial awareness.
They clearly stated both a budget and understanding of costs. Somehow they have managed to save $280k.
Please move on from discussions of the OP’s budget and “value”. That was not their question with this chance me.
Further posts will be deleted without comment.
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I am going to be a dissenter on Penn. Yes, like a lot of applicants, this student has a strong academic record. But there’s a surplus of applicants to Penn with stellar grades and rigor. What tips an acceptance?
Penn Admissions is quite clear about that. On their “preparing your application” page, they talk about impact through activities and commitments, and potential impact on Penn’s campus. They talk about community engagement. The supplemental essay prompt for the engineering school stresses that Penn is looking for the next generation of “global leadership” in technology.
So I observe that and then look at the extracurriculars listed by the OP. The tutoring can show impact, to be sure. Recreational coding games, skiing and chess? I’m just not seeing the leadership and community engagement at the level that Penn is so strongly seeking.
Look, this is all qualitative stuff. The stats are credible. But if Penn is what’s desired here, the ECs are not yet responsive to Penn’s priorities. Perhaps there’s more we’re not seeing?
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I respect and understand your perspective. I thought the following would make him “competitive” which is the word I choose carefully…
My suspicion is #1 (of a decent size school) from a relatively under represented state at least gets a strong look. Far of course from a sure thing and on this we agree.
At all of these sorts of schools the ability to differentiate and distinguish your narrative on the application will be the difference between admission and rejection but the OP’s son appears in my opinion to have the academic credentials to get fully considered.
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Oh, yes, he’ll get a strong AI score, which will put him into the conversation. I would encourage him to think strongly about presenting as someone who is making an impact and demonstrating leadership if he wants to enhance his chances.
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CS is an incredibly hard admit at U of Washington for out of state applicants. (2% for fall 2023). OP has a chance, but it’s very much a reach.
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I think with schools like CMU, Penn and UW OOS - I wrote this earlier:
“if it’s really the student’s desire, they should take their shot. They’ve earned that right with their record.”
OP seems to have a lot of advanced coursework, - including Linux and Java at the college level.
Does this differentiate a lot? I don’t know. But I noticed when I read the profile, this is an advanced student.
We’ve heard that they have a very small percentage of acceptance for out-of-state students for CS making it highly competitive, so is the case with UT Austin.
But we could try for Computer Engineering.
If you have interest, you should try UW. And if not, you shouldn’t. It’s a unique campus in a crowded area. Does it fit your student? That’s the question. It didn’t my son so again, you want to look - especially when in your case, I’m assuming you can easily get there.
As long as you have a couple safety/likelies (really one but it’s nice to have choices) - if you have a couple schools that work for you and you’re ok with rejection, it’s ok to apply anywhere.
In other words, if he likes OSU, then that alone and however many reaches you want to apply to - even at the Penn, CMU level, would be fine, because if he gets into none, he’d still have a home (OSU or whatever safety0 that he likes.
If a lot of rejection would sting, then throw in a few more safeties and likelies to balance that.
Not sure if RPI was mentioned - with merit, you’d hit the target, it’s a likely for your student, has great outcomes (tech focused school) and they offer the RPI Medal (but read about this). I think it’s the kind of school that those who maybe don’t get into the MITs of the world, consider. So it might be worth looking into.
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But would your son like that? CE is quite different from CS.
IMO it’s better to follow the path you like and find schools that fit, rather than pick schools and choose a (presumed) easier-to-get-into major.
Of course, it’s even better to go to a school that doesn’t admit by major or lets you easily change majors - but if that’s not the case, then choose the major you really want.
(Also, specifically with regards to UWash: CE isn’t that much easier to get into either)
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