The mom may be calling a full tuition scholarship “a full ride”, when it’s really “full tuition”. Many get those terms confused.
We are from Virginia
I believe the most the student could have been offered is an OoS waiver and $2400 a year.
The rest will be competitively awarded via an application and interview process.
@20112parent With so many responses to your thread and first couple of early posts, all you can post is: We are from Virginia???
Well, at least we now know that you wouldn’t be paying OOS for VT if your DD goes there.
What exactly has your DD received from FSU. You mention a “Full Ride”…but it doesn’t sound like that is what she received.
If all she has received is a waiver for the OOS portion of FSU tuition and maybe a couple thousand, then there wouldn’t be much/any savings with her going to FSU.
But your concerns about job opportunities are baseless. No one, except a die-hard VT grad is going to choose a VT person over a FSU grad…and vice versa. The rest of the hiring folks won’t know/care about what US News has decided to rank. The rest of the hiring folks will be hiring based on resume and interview.
If the financial difference is substantial, then FSU will certainly be more than adequate. If there isn’t much difference, then have DD go where she wants.
So what are the net prices of the two schools after applying all scholarships and financial aid? The answer may not necessarily be the same with the actual net prices, versus the implied “free at FSU versus full out-of-state price at VT” that everyone was assuming.
Agree to look at overall cost. It would have been helpful to this discussion to know earlier that VT was instate . One of my sons is an ISE graduate from VT, instate. It is very highly ranked in that field with great recruiting. GT is ranked higher than VT in ISE but there would have been no way we would have paid OOS tuition for our kids to go there, when we had VT as an option. Rankings are important, but so is cost and fit. What is the draw for you to Florida (since you seem to be looking at more than one Florida school). Is there family there, are you from there originally? Is it direct admit to ISE at FSU? At VT, every engineer starts out in general engineering before choosing (and being admitted) to a specific major. We were always willing to pay instate tuition and our kids did not pursue merit aid at other OOS public schools because they both liked their instate options. What have you told your child you would pay? If the preferred school ends up being within that figure, then it’s all good. Good luck with the decision.
^^
Yes, it would have been helpful to know AT THE BEGINNING that the OP was instate for VT.
Andit would have been helpful if the words “free ride” hadn’t been used when it now appears that there is an OOS tuition waiver (waives only the OO portion) and maybe a few thousand towards the instate amount…which, if so, would mean that the costs would be about the same because travel costs would be far less.
FSU is a very good University, but the Colle of Engineering is not highly regarded. It is a jpint program of FSU and FAMU and FAMU has a ton of problems administratively. A “full ride” at FSU for in state students would be about 19000 a year with books room and board.
As noted before, FAMU is an arbitrage opportunity for an engineering major versus FSU, since FAMU is less expensive and offers automatic full rides (3.5 GPA and 27 ACT in state or 29 ACT out of state).
Not sure an OOS student who gets a scholarship at FSU wouldn’t get a scholarship at VT, which, even if that scholarship’s smaller, would make it the same price or cheaper than FSU since VT is instate (and about half the price at sticker price).
With the cost differential so small as is, I’d go with VT instate.
OP: can you tell us the net cost of FSU for your daughter (ie., cost after the scholarship, but before any loan)?
VTech instate is 20K. There are lots of possible scholarships.
https://www.finaid.vt.edu/types_of_aid/University-Scholarships/index.html
https://www.finaid.vt.edu/types_of_aid/grants/index.html
FSU costs for OOS are about 37k.
The crowd is right. If you are in-state for VT, it is a better school for engineering at less cost than FSU.
I don’t believe the child has been accepted yet instate to VT so that may be part of the issue. You have to be admitted first and engineering is not an easy admit at VT. Lots of the money available for scholarships is need based, geared toward diversity, smaller departmental awards, etc.
Folks, there was never any intention of misleading anyone, so give it a break for those that are hammering that. We are just trying to get some information. For discussion sake, the question is this: If our daughter was to receive the Presidential scholarship at FSU, it would effectively make the tuition almost zero due to the scholarships and out of state tuition waver (she has already been offered that and $2400 a year now, in the running for Presidential). We are instate in Virginia. The difference in the tuition alone would be over $10,000 a year. Room and board are similar in most places. Scholarships at Tech are much less, and extremely competitive. She is putting in, but is less hopeful there.
The question is multi-fold:
- Va. Tech is a much more highly rated school for Industrial Engineering vs. FSU. Does that really matter?
- How does the overall environment compare?
- Would Va. Tech be worth $40,000 more?
As I noted earlier, VT does not admit directly to Industrial Engineering. Your daughter could actually change her mind once she gets to school and explores other majors within engineering. VT has great recruiting , not sure about FSU but you could explore that. VT has an Engineering Expo which is one of the biggest engineering career fairs. Nobody here can answer for you whether VT would be worth $40,000 more. Since you went down a road searching for merit aid at OOS universities, I assume money is a big factor for you (which it is for most people). Only you know your budget and what you have communicated to your daughter in terms of what you are willing to pay, how much you expect her to contribute, whether or not you expect her to take out minimal loans to help out, etc… Once she sees whether or not she is accepted to VT’s engineering school. it may become clearer. If she hasn’t done so already, it would be a good idea to tour the campus and the facilities. VT has a brand new Engineering building and most classrooms in general for engineers are fairly central to the campus. Once the decisions are in, visits are done, financial packages are in, this may become clearer in terms of fit, cost , and opportunities. Good luck.
Looks like FSU with the Presidential scholarship would have a net price of around $16,000 per year total, or about $11,000 for billed expenses only (not including books, travel, and personal expenses which total about $5,000 in FSU’s estimate). Without the Presidential scholarship, probably $18,000 per year total, with about $14,000 in billed expenses only.
VT’s in-state costs are about $21,000 for billed expenses. The books, travel, and personal expenses would probably be smaller due to less costly travel.
FAMU, which shares the engineering division with FSU, would likely be just $5,000 or less in books, travel, and personal expenses ($0 in billed expenses only) if she has a 3.50 HS GPA and 29 ACT as an out-of-state applicant. http://www.famu.edu/Scholarships/DSA%20Scholar%202015-2016.pdf
Summary of costs:
School Billed costs Total estimated
VT $21,000 $25,000
FSU w/current sch $13,000 $18,000
FSU w/Presidential $11,000 $16,000
FAMU if full ride $ 0 $ 5,000
FSU also admits to pre-engineering (not sure about FAMU). But both FSU and FAMU only require C grades in the math and science prerequisites to enter an engineering major.
http://www.academic-guide.fsu.edu/Maps/Mapindustrialengineering.html
http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?Registrar&RegistrationRequirementsandProcedures
For comparison, VT requires a 3.0 college GPA to have assured entry into an engineering major; students with lower college GPAs may be admitted to engineering majors on a space available basis.
http://www.enge.vt.edu/_files/undergraduate/com_requirements/COM_GE.pdf
The other question is, would FSU be worth $44,000 more than FAMU if she can get the full ride at FAMU?
Maybe the OP is AA, but FAMU is a HBCU.
You do not have to be black to attend a historically black school, just like you do not have to be white to attend a historically white school.
The cost differential is likely to be $7-8,000 or so.
With a federal loan ($5,500) and $2,500 on your part, that difference’s covered. Or, with only a subsidized loan ($2,500), a summer job ($3,000), and $2,500 on your part.
Or with federal loan and summer job and no “difference coverage” from you.
Personally, I think it’s a good trade off because the opportunities in her chosen major will be greater at Vtech - not $48,000 greater, but definitely $2,500 greater.
Are the $2,500 affordable out of income/savings? (If not, it makes sense for your daughter to take on federal loans an work).
If you told your daughter you could afford VTech, she gets in, and she likes it better, will you say she should attend FSU anyway? You have to be ready to tell her right now, so that she can prepare psychologically.
Or are you ready to let her make the choice, but explaining to her that if she picks VTech she has to work summers and take on a subsidized loan, but if she picks FSU she’ll have to do neither? (Or are you considering paying for the difference?)
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The question is multi-fold:
- Va. Tech is a much more highly rated school for Industrial Engineering vs. FSU. Does that really matter?
- How does the overall environment compare?
- Would Va. Tech be worth $40,000 more?
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1 ) no, it doesn’t matter at all. Employers won’t like know OR care. Employers would not pay a VT grad more than a FSU grad. Plus, the idea of selecting a college (and paying more) based on an eng’g discipline is risky anyway. Many eng’g students either change majors completely or change disciplines.
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VT is more of a techie school, so a greater % of the student body will be STEM. Don’t know if your DD cares either way. FSU may seem more balanced because students will be a wide mix of STEM and Liberal Arts and performance.
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What does $40k mean to YOUR FAMILY? Is that an amount that you can easily spend and never miss? Or does you or your household have a need for that money (home repair, retirement contribution, etc. Do you have younger kids to put thru college?
VT grads would not likely be paid more but recruiting could be different In terms of what companies come to campus and where graduates end up (if that is important to the family). Lots of VT grads end up in the DC area. although many end up all over. Questions about cost, budget, location, fit, etc. have already been addressed with the OP and not really answered ( which is the OP’ s right). Yes, VT has many "techie students’ but other less technical majors are well represented in the large student population.