Finances $ Other - Michigan v. Purdue (v. TAMU)

Parents Forum
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<p>Hi! I have gotten some great opportunities for college and am facing some decisions much earlier than I thought I would have to.</p>

<p>I am one of the students the Dept of Engineering at the Univ. of Michigan –Ann Arbor has selected to come to the Shipman Scholars weekend. If I attend I have about a 50-50 shot at a $15,000 + Room and Board (about $10,000) scholarship. Everybody (all 40) who attend will receive a minimum of $7500.</p>

<p>Even if I got Shipman, I am still uncertain as to whether I would attend. My COA would be about $27,000.</p>

<p>This decision is difficult for me because by attending the Scholars weekend, if I choose not to go to UM, I would be taking $7500 from a student who would attend.</p>

<p>A month ago, I probably would have accepted without a second thought. Now I can attend TAMU for about $7,000 (total), and I am in the finals for a scholarship at Purdue that I am very likely to receive (covers everything). [There are X scholarships for X finalists, so I am not competing with anyone; I just have to interview well.]</p>

<p>I know I should probably only compare Um to what I **have<a href=“TAMU”>/b</a>, but I feel like, since Purdue is so likely I should also take it into consideration.</p>

<p>So, here is the comparison –
*** UM has more courses in my interest area (photonics and optics) than Purdue does. They also have a seemingly more active and larger optics and photonics centers. Of course, I’m just a HS senior, so my interests could change when I get deeper into my coursework (I’m going into Electrical Engineering).</p>

<p>*** While, with my agreement with my parents, my parents would be paying for my costs either way [they pay first $20K and we split the remainder, with scholarships counting towards my half for four years of college], I know I would be expected to go through UM in three years, whereas they would be fine with me spending four years at TAMU or Purdue.
[Both my brothers went through in strong engineering schools in three years (+ one study abroad/summer) with their AP credits]
This could sort of negate the benefit of UM offering more courses in my interest area.</p>

<p>*** UM is slightly more prestigious. But UM and Purdue are both in the top ten engineering schools by “US News and World Report”. TAMU is top twenty.</p>

<p>*** I have visited all three schools. I think I would be happy socially at any of them, though I am not a big fan of UM’s split campus.</p>

<p>*** Shipman Scholars is an actual program. I didn’t think my scholarship at Purdue would make me part of a program, mostly just provide me money. However, I don’t know much about Shipman and would welcome any input.</p>

<p>Considerations -
Because of my interest in photonics/optics and the R&D process as a whole, I think I’ll be going to grad school. This might make the prestige of my undergraduate university matter less.
I am very interested in getting involved in research/internships (not really co-ops).</p>

<hr>

<p>I think I should really focus on whether I would attend TAMU for $7k over UM for $27K, since Purdue isn’t final yet. I really welcome any input on the schools in general and on my situation in particular.
** Ultimate Question – Should I accept the offer to attend Shipman Scholars weekend at UM? <a href=“I%20have%20to%20decide%20soon”>/b</a>.</p>

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<p>I think you should accept the scholarship weekend at Michigan. At think point I think the person you need to think of is yourself and not if you are taking a place away from someone else.</p>

<p>One thing I would talk to them about is the probability of graduating in 3 years in the college of engineering. The one thing I hear about at Michigan is the availablity of classes and scheduling. My D has one friend who graduated in 3 years in engineering and he has to go for one summer, had a ton of AP credits and was accepted at the top colleges for grad school. In my very limited experience, it’s very unusual for someone to graduate in 3 years.</p>

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<p>It might help you if you put everything into one table side-by-side: <a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;

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<p>^ I’m not really looking at those (weather/social/location) sorts of considerations as much as the academics and opportunities available at each of the schools and their value realative to my COA.</p>

<p>I understand my financial situation very well.</p>

5

<p>Gee, LonelyHapax, only you can really give proper weight to the different things that are important to you. I’m very biased because of finances.</p>

<p>Do you know WHERE you want to wind up? Are you interested in the petrochemical/oil and gas industry, or what exactly? Geographically, where do you want to wind up?</p>

<p>I’m biased regarding TAMU.
[Texas</a> A&M Engineering moves up in latest undergraduate rankings | 14 | 09 | 2012 | News & Events | College of Engineering](<a href=“http://engineering.tamu.edu/news/2012/09/14/texas-am-engineering-moves-up-in-latest-undergraduate-rankings]Texas”>http://engineering.tamu.edu/news/2012/09/14/texas-am-engineering-moves-up-in-latest-undergraduate-rankings)</p>

<p>It’s just SO much bang for the buck. And where I live, TAMU and UT are THE Engineering schools that have the most respect in the industry I’m most familiar with. But things may be very different if you wanted a different industry, or the Northeast or the West Coast. Not sure.</p>

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<p>I would think getting the Shipman would be a good r</p>

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<p>It may be tough to cram engineering into 3 years, even if you bring a lot of AP credits. CO students with IB diploma start at CU as sophomores with I think around 30 credits. The engineering students don’t get as much advantage out of it because there are so many course sequending issues. Good luck whatever you choose!</p>

8

<p>@OP - congratulations, you have some great options and really can’t go wrong. I think all three schools are close enough in quality and prestige that you should simply take the best deal, once all the offers are in.</p>

<p>You seem a little concerned about taking someone else’s place for the UM event. However, UM uses that event as a recruiting tool, you are considering UM but wavering, and they put you on the invitation list. That’s a perfect match for you attending the event. You can be sure that UM will fill next year’s class, and will award that $7500 to someone else (perhaps not under the Shipman name) should you attend TAMU or Purdue.</p>