Help us pick UIUC [$42k] vs TAMU [$16k] vs Miami-OH [$23k] [engineering, need parent loans if >$16k] [also Tulsa full ride, Alabama and Nebraska <$16k]

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Shown is expected COA for us.
UIUC admitted, almost $42K. No merit aid, in state. Close to home (within 3 hours). Need loans, loans, loans. Senior loved it but expected some financial help. We know it’s an accomplishment to be accepted.

TAMU admitted, around $16K oos, big merit, honors tbd. Can swing this with the $5500 student loan. Senior liked it, is somewhat apprehensive about going so far away. No housing guaranteed might be a concern, could push costs up.

Miami-Ohio admitted, around $23K oos, big merit, honors. Senior loved it and felt the love back from honors placement and several personal touches after admission. This we could manage with the $5500 student loan and $7500 - $8000 in parent loans per year.

  1. Is there engineering prestige at Miami? It’s a public ivy so we assume that carries weight. Parents are not engineers so we don’t know.

  2. Is the wow factor enough at TAMU to go there instead of UIUC? The cost difference is significant.

Senior wants to attend a very well respected program for engineering and was admitted to all schools for that major. Only ABET schools were considered, we learned that much!

Senior got merit ranging from $10k to full ride at other oos flagships and a few private schools so no aid at UIUC was disappointing; with just $10k of merit aid it would have been UIUC all the way (with loans similar to Miami).
Thank you for your feedback in advance.

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TAMU is excellent for engineering and affordable, congratulations!

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Looks like Texas A&M is the only one without parent loans.

What engineering major is the desired one? Be aware that Texas A&M has a secondary admission process based on college record and essays (called ETAM, see threads on that). 3.75 college GPA is needed for automatic admission. Some majors like CS admit very few otherwise.

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Texas A&M is the easy (& best financial) choice among the three options.

It would be interesting to know which universities offered full ride scholarships to your senior.

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What full ride options or <=$16k options are there?

If the student wants a major that is more difficult to get into in Texas A&M ETAM, then a lower cost school with assured or less difficult admission to major may be more attractive.

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For engineering, and depends on the major, in the end, the where likely won’t matter.

Yes, UIUC is highly regarded as is A&M and Miami for engineering not as well known.

But guess what - they’ll be in the same jobs with the same money as the kids at Miami, Western Michigan and more. - They might just have to work a bit harder to find a role but with so many found on indeed and linkedin today, they’ll be seen. My kid had 20 interviews at a Miami like school engineering reputation wise and 5 offers by xmas and works with the Purdues and Michigans…and yes the Akrons and W Michigans…and yes, they all make the same.

Now, when you say engineering, there are many majors and Miami doesn’t have them all. But you know what A&M has - secondary admission - so if there’s a specific discipline, that might be a hurdle.

All this is well and good but in the end, you really have just one choice and that’s A&M.

You can only borrow $5500 a year as a student ($27K over four years) and yes, then the parents can borrow if they qualify - but now you have fees (you have to borrow more to clear what you need) and interest - and that’s just a financial strangulation that you don’t need, especially not knowing how the job market will be in four years.

So the reality of life is that finances drive the process.

And even if you said A&M is too far and Miami is drivable and the student is concerned with being so far - Miami is still $75K cheaper than Illiniois - so Illinois is simply not possible.

Miami is - but it’s too expensive and while I worry less about the pedigree, would offer less flexibility - but it is a manageable school size wise whereas A&M is huge.

Truth be told - A&M is the only choice here. If the student hadn’t applied anywhere OOS, they’d have to go to a community college as UIUC is simply not reasonable for a family with your finances. It is what it is.

Miami could work - but you’ll have years and years of loans of hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month and who would want that?

Best of luck.

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Thank you!

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Depending on the school, senior applied mechanical or architectural/structural/civil. Yes, TAMU said there will be a priority list/rank order with essays required (thank you for mentioning it). The other schools here were direct admit to mechanical.
My kid will need to keep a 3.5 college gpa anyway to keep the scholarship at TAMU. No partying first semester, ha!

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Mechanical engineering is one of the more competitive majors in Texas A&M ETAM, although it does admit some below the 3.75 automatic admission GPA.

According to ETAM - Freshman 2024 - #5 by ColdWombat , in spring 2023 ETAM, 41% (144 out of 349) of mechanical engineering first choice applicants who did not meet the 3.75 automatic admission GPA were admitted to the major.

Civil engineering was less competitive, with 86% (116 out of 135) admission rate for non-automatic first choice applicants. Architectural engineering admitted all first choice applicants that semester.

This could be somewhat of a risk.

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  1. University of Tulsa-full ride. Very difficult to give up but petroleum engineering appeared to be the focus based on tour of labs.
  2. University of Alabama-close to full ride (tuition, housing and a cash award that offsets part of food expense, plus a book award). Similarly hard to give up but fit is a concern.
  3. University of Nebraska-full tuition plus a partial one year award toward housing. This was a contender, and to answer someone else’s question was the only other school to come in under $16k after the merit.
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Very good point, thank you. Also I just now have answered your questions in reply to @Publisher (same content).

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Thank you for laying it out so succinctly. I think I needed this. I did have the loans for my own college years, and it was a pain for a very long time after graduation. (15 years?)

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Very helpful to know this!

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How is fit an issue at Bama but not A&M, etc.

Again, budget drives the price.

If you got Presidential Elite, it’s hard to pass up.

My kid chose it over Purdue with merit…not with your scholarship.

I get the fit thing - but you have budget constraints and you are taking loans to A&M and frankly, there is little fit difference between A&M and Bama. And Bama is direct admit.

One is a cult (in a good way - that’s A&M) and one has a smaller and nicer campus but still huge (Bama) and I can’t speak to A&Ms engineering facility but Bama’s are top notch. A&M campus is nice - but not Bama nice. And as big as Bama is, A&M is a monster size wise.

Totally get fit - but budget overrides fit.

If something about A&M made it work where Bama didn’t, then that’s personal. On paper I don’t see it.

Again, financially A&M is your only real choice - but the lack of direct admit and the requirement to keep the scholarship is onerous - when you have a like school with none of that!!!

If it were me, I’d revisit Bama.

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I agree that the full-ride-ish schools may have come off the table too quickly.

Are you sure that the tour at Tulsa reflected the reality? They may highlight petroleum because it’s a more distinctive thing to have strength in, but that doesn’t mean the other engineering majors aren’t well-supported. If he liked the MiamiOH “vibe,” then Tulsa is probably more like that (whereas 'Bama is more like A&M though of course not in all attributes). Another possible selling point of Tulsa, if your son has any fondness for foreign languages and study abroad, he could choose the International Science & Engineering dual-degree program, which adds a year of study + internship in a target country, and all five years would be funded.

I also agree that if it came down to 'Bama vs. TAMU, both may have their “fit” challenges but he should also be able to find his people at both, and direct-admit to major at 'Bama could be preferable to TAMU’s higher-risk secondary admissions process.

I do think the financial stretch for MiamiOH is too great for what are essentially environmental factors rather than ones of program quality. (Program is fine but not better than your affordable choices.) If those comfort factors are important, I’d reconsider Tulsa.

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If he likes TAMU, Alabama should be in play - similar vibe, better housing, and direct admission to major. Imho, TAMU is not worth the risk (a 3.3 in Engineering is pretty good, 3.5 is excellent) when you have such an excellent alternate.

UNebraska will be less Greek and less hot than Alabama if that’s an issue, and less intense/competitive than TAMU.

Tulsa and Miami Ohio share some elements - Miami is more bucolic with classical collegiate architecture, it looks like a private college even though it’s public. But both would have vibe similarities, smaller size than the large landgrants, and solid academics etc. And Tulsa would be cheaper while it sounds like Miami OH is too much of a stretch financially (though a really nice option).

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Agree with everything in this post…keeping the 3.5 will be key though your student seems well equipped to make that happen.

$16K for A&M is a great deal…it’s top notch for engineering with an enthusiastic and happy student body. It’s further away for you but A&M students are a very friendly bunch. A&M also has a great alumni base.

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It does appear to be a hit or miss environment. We have a family friend (northeast public) who transferred after a year. He was drawn by the sports and price but found it to be overly Greek focused from a social standpoint and not a great academic fit although he enjoyed the class room experience. Currently at Binghamton and has found his people.

According to the family great for some kids but suggested their kid wasn’t alone feeling like a fish out of water.

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This was the primary thing. Senior didn’t feel particularly “at home” when touring Bama, whereas the feeling at TAMU was “I think I like it here.” It’s very pretty at Bama, it looks like a movie set, but student didn’t fall in love for some reason. It didn’t help that the primary sport this student plays is located 45 minutes away at Bama (need car) but only 10-15 minutes away at TAMU or Nebraska (on bus line, in town).

Tulsa’s language/engineering program was the extremely enticing draw to apply, but size felt smaller than expected once we visited. It’s a small number of students, spread out really well. Miami is considerably larger (~18,000 vs under 3,000 students). And if we bring the sport into consideration, Tulsa doesn’t have it through the school, although you could play in a city league as an acceptable option, without any student fans cheering. Miami has it on main campus.

Practical senior was willing to try any of the options for a year to see how it goes. As parents, we don’t want to send student where they don’t see THEMSELVES, to encourage the senior to own this decision (which will hopefully mean they put more effort into becoming part of the community and sticking with it). We don’t want to just push free/close to free. (Well, we do!! Who wouldn’t?!? But we are not.) We’re pushing “which of these options feels like the best fit for YOU?”

There are other options, too, where accepted to the school offers came with too little monetary help. Meets need only addresses up to your SAI/EFC after merit when there is any, and our SAI is unreasonable/not actually possible. These are the schools we are considering with the packages in hand, and are considering appeal at maybe two of the selective options. It’s disappointing to the students who are good enough to get in without legacy or wealth, when the middle class income just isn’t enough to meet the SAI to make it an easy “yes.”

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Would the following be correct?

The <$16k (i.e. no parent loans) choices are:

  • Texas A&M: student liked it, far away, but needs 3.5 college GPA to keep scholarship, and mechanical engineering is more competitive in ETAM (but civil and architectural are less competitive); playing sport short bus ride away.
  • Nebraska: playing sport short bus ride away.
  • Alabama: student less interested (non-academic fit), playing sport longer car drive away.
  • Tulsa: felt small, playing sport in city league.

The less affordable ones that need parent loans are:

  • UIUC: student loved it, $26k/year parent loans.
  • Miami OH: student loved it, playing sport on campus, $7k/year parent loans.
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