I’m currently trying to decide between going to the University of Minnesota(in-state) CSE for computer science or taking part in Columbia’s combined plan.
Here’s the caveat: I’m already a student at another non-affiliate school. All of the schools I talked to require that combined plan students spend at least 3 years before being allowed to transfer. This means I essentially have to complete a 4 year degree and then the final 2 years at Columbia. The affiliate schools I have applied to are Occidental(my top choice), Dickinson and Grinnell (close second.) Occidental and Grinnell meet 100% of demonstrated need and base on the NPC it is about 9k per year for either school.
Based on what I have heard from other students Columbia is pretty good about meeting need for Combined plan students and the net price calculator is pretty accurate. According tot he NPC I would be expected to contribute about ~5k per year (my EFC is 0).
Would it be worth it to attend an affiliate school for 3 years, then Columbia for 2 years or should I just go to the University of Minnesota. The costs would be about the same for either option but one would take 2 additional years. I was already planning on doing 5 years when I started college. The costs are about equal for both options as well.
Occidental/Grinnell + Columbia:
BA is physics/chem or computer science
BS in computer science.
$50k (The U costs about the same unfortunately) for 6 years.
University of Minnesota:
BS in computer science
4 years and $50k
I’m only considering doing this because I’ve heard stories about how high profile companies and start ups like to recruit grads from top schools. Is the prestige of Columbia’s CS department worth it?
The majority of that 50k is because of the school I am currently enrolled at ($15k already). I should have just applied to the UMN as a CLA applicant then transferred.
If you are already in college, wouldn’t you be considered a transfer student by most schools?
Could you take the prerequisite courses for the CS major at your current school (or at a community college if your current school is too expensive or otherwise unsuitable) and then apply as a regular transfer student to various universities that offer a CS major?
Note that Columbia does not promise as good financial aid for combined plan students as it does for frosh or other transfers.
Are you in high school and dual-enrolled/PSEO at a college before HS graduation or are you a 1st year student somewhere?
Were you actually admitted to any of the affiliate schools?
I’m a freshman at UST. I’ve have to do 4 years because of you most of the colleges have 3 years residential/attendance requirements.
I’ve heard from a few students that the FA Columbia does give is comparable to what freshman get. I talked to a counselor on the phone and he told me it’s what the NPC says plus 3000, so 5k for me.
I know of the requirements because I’ve been looking into this for a long time. I’m just not sure if the Columbia education/degree is worth the additional 2 years of education.
Of course this is all skepticism until I get into an affiliate school. If don’t get into one then the choice is very simple, lol.
have you already applied and been admitted to an affiliate college? Or have you applied to several affiliate colleges?
Do you need financial aid? Because the “affiliate” college will consider you a transfer and you’ll get lousy financial aid there for 2 years before you transfer to COlumbia (which may or may not cover your need).
What’s your current GPA at St Thomas?
Are you at St Thomas on Scholarship, do you have loans for it?
Sorry, I didn’t realize those were your actual acceptances (I thought they were hypothetical as many transfer decisions haven’t been released yet.) So you’ve received acceptances and FA packages from Grinnell, Occidental, and Dickinson?
I don’t undertstand your financials: your EFC is zero … are the 50K AFTER FA?
Can you list this:
X University = (tuition, fees, room, board) - (grants, scholarships) = $… /year (loans, per year: …) => total for 4 years:
[or: total for 3 years + total for 5 years for the 3 other colleges].
Is UST the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota? It has a school of engineering, including computer engineering. http://www.stthomas.edu/engineering/undergraduate/
Starting over at a liberal arts college with hopes of completing a 3-2 plan seems like an unnecessarily long and uncertain path to a BS in engineering.
Maybe the 3-2 with UST and the university of Minnesota would be a better bet.
…“Of course this is all skepticism until I get into an affiliate school. If don’t get into one then the choice is very simple, lol.”…
No, he hasn’t been accepted at ANY of the Affiliate Schools. The way I understand the OP. He is currently a Student at UST. If he goes the Columbia University 3+2 route, he would first attend a Affiliate School for 3-years and transfer to Columbia (if he meets the assuming a 3.3 GPA, no less than a B in any class), This process would mean the OP spends 6 years in College and presumably, get two bachelor’s degrees at the end of the 6-years.
OP, I think you should attend UMN-TC and get your degree in fours years. If it is going to take you 5-years at UMN-TC, then I would consider the Columbia University 3-2 route. If you cannot meet the GPA requirement, you might be stuck at the Affiliate School getting a degree that might be undesirable. (Chemistry/Physics)
Do you think any of the Affiliate School would consider 2 (instead of 3) residency before allowing transfer to Columbia?
@Psata82 You are correct in your assessment of the situation. I already checked and the way the 3-2 program is only a thing because Columbia only has agreements with schools that are rigorous enough and with most of the classes that are required for the 3-2. So going to an affiliate for 2 years is not an option.
@Fifty It would take me 4 years to graduate from the U. I’m only transferring from UST in St. Paul because it would take me 5 years (my scholarship is for 4).
I’ve talked to some combined plan students before and they say that the 3.3 GPA is only for guaranteed admission. A good amount of people do get in with less than a 3.3 but that isn’t something I want to bank on.
I can’t remember, are you classified as an independent student? If not, it will be difficult for you to get loans that big. You will need a co-signer. Even if your parents apply for the PLUS and get rejected, that only adds 4k each year to what you can borrow on your own.
We understand that you aren’t as happy as you had hoped to be at your current U, but realistically, it doesn’t look like your other options are affordable for you.
It would cost more at St Thomas to graduate than both of the other options. My scholarship at St.Thomas requires 15K a year in loans for 4 years and at that I won’t graduate in 4 years($84k scholarship)
I’m not an independent student. My parents cosign for me.
This is tough. Overall, 50K in loans is the most one should take on for CS and I’d only see it if you do the affiliate/Columbia program, but the risks with that solution are high. All in all you graduate with a BA in CS from an excellent school (I’d pick Grinnell as a first choice for admissions, you may get some financial aid there and it’s the best of the bunch for science, then Dickinson then Oxy - others may want to argue in favor of Oxy) with possibly a BS from Columbia, so that’s what I’d try.
But I’m very uncomfortable with the 50K in loans for your parents.
ANy chance you can do a co-op at any of those colleges?
BTW, what do you dislike at UST and why did you choose it last year?
@MYOS1634 Yeah I’m leaning towards the Columbia option as well. Worst case is I get a CS degree from a good school in 4 years anyways.
The biggest reason I’m at UST is because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I didn’t even hear about the 3-2 program until a few months ago when I was looking to transfer. As a senior is HS I wanted to major in business and applied to mostly business schools. I didn’t apply to any schools for CS because I wanted to be a finance major. Anyways I got wait listed at Carlson at the U and didn’t get in anywhere else. I only applied to 5 schools total so that could have been a contributing factor.
If I had know about the 3-2 program I probably would have looked more into liberal arts colleges. I tried to stay away from small colleges(even though I like small schools) because I didn’t want to take on debt without knowing if I could repay it.
I’m going to try to transfer after 2 years. The application process is open to everyone who meets the general admissions requirements for the 3-2 program. If I don’t get in after 2 years then I’ll get a BA and look at my options from there.
The OP seems to be overly obsessed with this Columbia 3-2 Program as oppose to getting a College Education at a minimal cost. Right now he is saddling his parents with Student Loan debt of over $15K year, attending a mediocre University that appears to accept anyone with a pulse. You appear to have very “low” High School Stats and instead of attending a Community College for two years and then transfer to a 4-year institution, you elected to attend an overpriced private institution with a Tuition of close to $36K a year (not clear to me if you are paying for Room & Board).
Funding your future College education is contingent on you are piling on more debt onto your parents, who doesn’t seem to be in a position to pay off this debt in the event you do not complete your undergraduate degree. You need to take a timeout and re-evaluate your tertiary educational plan, with the goal in mind of minimizing student loan debt, especially debt that is being borne by your parents, who have to be co-signing for student loans that is beyond what you as a student can get on your own.
