@learning19 my kid didn’t want her two main in-state options either. She was accepted to UT Engineering and TAMU engineering. Ironically (since you mentioned your daughter doesn’t want to go to Pitt) she wanted to go OOS to Pitt. We were on board with that but 100% said it would not happen unless she got costs down to within breathing room of our those two in-state options.
She was able to do that with her merit scholarships at Pitt and she is doing really well. She has many friends accepting internship and co-op offers or accepting summer research positions. She just accepted a co-op offer at a large engineering company. Pitt has definitely been rigorous enough for her and I would daresay freshman year almost too rigorous. She was surrounded by many many many kids who were well prepared from very rigorous high schools.
Is your daughter going to get her costs down to your in-state options?I would heavily advise against signing for private loan debt. There are many many students who start out as engineering majors who change their minds after year one.