@PurpleTitan - there are plenty of schools with stronger reputations for engineering than Auburn. That said, as long as it’s ABET certified, it’s fine. And before someone else brings it up, UNC does have biomedical engineering.
Back to the OP’s topic, if, IF the OP really plans to strongly consider pursuing engineering and does not want to have to transfer, and a desired school is affordable, then there is nothing wrong with going where it is available. Students do change their major all the time. (As an example, both my s’s started majoring in something else at their respective schools and then changed to Engineering in their sophomore years. And both graduated in 4 years).
Also, for the OP, there may be something to be said for being the top of the middle than the middle of the top (OP says he is a very strong student).
This is tough, but if money really isn’t an issue, go to Auburn.
- You want to go there.
- In theory, it should be easier for you to have a high GPA, and if you do go to med school, high GPA is VERY important.
- You might want engineering, which UNC doesn’t offer.
- You are more likely to be a big fish at Auburn, and being a big fish is great if you want to have opportunities with professors and research, etc…
In terms of convincing your mom, #2 and #4 might be your best bet. Seriously, med school is all about GPA and the MCAT. Having opportunities to do research might also be really helpful, and if you’re at the top, you should be more competitive for those opportunities. Good luck.
“Substantially closer” to in-state is not the same as in-state tuition. I’m suspecting cost is the real issue, since several applications went out to in-state schools, that you don’t seem interested in at all. Cost is ALWAYS what it boils down to, because that’s the only true fact you can rely on. Everything else is just subjective opinion vs subjective opinion, which is always a losing battle for a teenager. Mom and dad have the money. Unless you have a full-ride scholarship, they will always have the veto power. Auburn is only one school. You have a ton of great options. If you’re interested in engineering, NCSU is arguably the best engineering school in the state.
Are you independently wealthy?
No? Then you have to work with your parents. Your parents want you to go to a top school…
“University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is ranked 1 in Kiplinger’s list of Best Values in Public Colleges and is ranked 15 among all colleges.”
Be happy you have this opportunity. UNC will prepare you well for med school.
Pre-med
If you want to go pre-med then think about:
- The cheapest reasonable college so you/your parents can use the money for med school
- The college needs to prepare you for MCATs but still allow you to get a good GPA
- Access to volunteering opportunities (e.g., near a hospital)
- Success in graduates getting into med school
- Options if you don’t go to med school. You think you are going to med school, but less than 20% of pre-med freshman actually do.
@jeneric this is only possible IF the student is footing the whole bill. If the parents are paying, they very well could say they are not going to pay for Auburn over UNC CH.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please stop the off-topic, snarky comments. Any more such posts will result in warnings. I will go back and delete comments.
So, OP, what is the price difference between the NC schools (UNC or NCSU) and Auburn? Is Auburn affordable? Are there other sibs whole are in or will be going to college?
His mom’s arguments are logical, his emotional but both are equally important.
So once he says he wants Auburn for engineering then the parents might come back with what about NC State which has a great engineering program. NC has so many great options for schools…they are so affordable for instate families.
I don’t blame mom at all… Chapel Hill is hard to pass up. But he likes the culture /fit of Auburn. We are instate for UIUC engineering as the other poster alluded to with their child and we also went OOS for fit and yes… Loves Michigan Sports/culture over Illinois… This was part of his fit /culture he wanted and we can afford it. He is also extremely active on campus. As great as UIUC is couldn’t see him flourishing there as he has at his current school.
First off congratulations on being accepted to your schools of choice. Also going to college to me is a privilege. If it’s affordable… Then explain to your mother that you will just have more choices at Auburn especially if engineering is an option and you can switch into it easily… Check that out… If after that she suggests another instate school then that might be a hint of finances.
Have a serious sit down with her and explain your plan and have numbers to back it up since she knows hers. Also she needs to understand that both are very respected school in general and you being more happy on campus should lead you to be more successful and engaged with the campus cultures and opportunities. Also the big fish /smaller pond is a nice theory. Know many that have risen to the top with opportunities because of it where at UNC you might just be one of the regular students… Per se… Also if medical school is an option then it “might” be somewhat easier to get better grades at Auburn. Grades /Mcat is what counts for medical school if that is your direction.
. Also being undecided is what the majority of students going to colleges have as a major at lots of schools. Your college experiences will help you hone down to what your occupational interests might be.
While tuition to NC public schools are cheap- room and board is not. People often ignore that. That’s why so many kids flee campus the second year. There also is tuition structure that really forces you to max out as many credits as you can each semester- which is not always a good thing if you are in a challenging major.
There is a lot of brainwashing that NC kids need to stay in NC. Up until this year UNC system has not been kind with AP credit, and in the case of IB- basically giving no credit. We found it was cheaper to leave for certain schools. A lot of public universities in NC have invested little money in dorms- UNC-CH has some awful dorms and yet they charge a ridiculous amount.
The OP needs to compare programs, tuition structure, room and board. The family has raised the student on Auburn athletics, it doesn’t seem that they are completely opposed to the school, rather they like the prestige of UNC. Maybe if the OP re-looks at both they might end up seeing things that would sway them back into mom’s direction maybe not- but these would be the things I would bring up with parents.
There are families who relocate to NC because of the fine colleges. @katwkittens can attest to this.
Auburn is a fine school.
I always wonder why parents allow their kids to apply to colleges that they really don’t intend to agree to send the kids to. If the parents here really objected to Auburn, for any reason, the school should have been jettisoned before applications were sent, in my opinion.
In the Thumper household, applications were sent to colleges that we parents were on board with. In our cases, there really wasn’t any disagreement on either kids’ list. But if we had objected, it would have been before applications were sent.
@Thumper I don’t think anyone has said that the OP"s parents object to Auburn. Perhaps Auburn was the safety school. It was for my son. We live in Georgia and he did not make the cut for Georgia Tech. He is currently a junior at Auburn, loves the school and is thriving. Had he been accepted to Tech, I would have pushed him to go there. Free tuition with HOPE scholarship vs 10k a year with Auburn presidential scholarship and Tech is a more prestigious school. In retrospect, I think he would have been miserable at Georgia Tech.
As an aside, the one ranking where Auburn does top the rankings is student happiness. As others have said, the OP should tell his parents why he feels Auburn is a better fit for him. Auburn has a lot more to offer than just sports,
minor correction- At present, GT offers free tuition with Zell Miller. HOPE covers about 75% of tuition at GT.
@thumper1 I know all about the colleges here, grew up here, went to some of college here, moved back here, have 100s of friends who went to college here (most of my HS stayed in state) and most of my kids friends go to college here…
I love the schools here and think they are great. There always seems to be a backlash at kids who want to leave. The OP wants to leave, they have a nice option, as long as it is affordable, then they should try to make their argument.
As far as the engineering option goes, most engineering programs have a tight schedule of required classes. You generally can’t shift into engineering from a different course plan without adding extra time to graduation.
I feel like I’m missing something. The OP began saying he/she wants to be an RN, then a PA. I’d direct this person to a U that has a separate nursing school, like UPenn. I’m too lazy to look up the colleges mentioned to see if this is an option. Why attend chem/bio/orgo courses with future MDs/PhDs if that is not your goal? I halve no idea how engineering was under consideration. Perhaps I’m tired and not focused.
I’m not from NC. I’m from the Northeast, Ivy-league educated, and an MD. I know that UNC Chapel Hill has a great reputation. I never heard of Auburn. Your arguments that you want to go to Auburn to be closer to a side of the family that you don’t get to see as much doesn’t make sense. Most kids, when they go to college, spend virtually all their time on campus. I cannot remember anyone visiting relatives anywhere, except maybe for the few kids who had grown up in the close by suburbs, who might rarely go home for a couple of days before exams, so that they could cram in peace in a quiet environment at home.
Chapel Hill is the flagship state U, and probably in the top 20 in the country of flagship state U’s, maybe top ten. And it’s highly ranked even among all Universities. I’m sure they have many, many courses of study to choose from. And if you have an inclination towards engineering, but have been also considering medicine, apparently they have bioengineering. And it’s cheaper for you.
I think your parents are right. You should consider yourself lucky that you got into Chapel Hill, and go there.
As an Auburn grad myself, I understand you wanting to go there. My husband went there also, and he was out of state from NJ. Our son will be going next year assuming he gets in. A recent poll ranked Auburn students the happiest in the country and Auburn freshman having the best first year experience. If money isn’t too much of a difference, tell you’re mom that is where you will be happy and where you think you belong. Tell her your happiness means more to you than school rank. It really should be as important as money and more important if money isn’t an issue.
Wow - got a lot of folks on here hung up on rankings. Engineering is pretty much engineering as long as the school has the major you want to study and is ABET accredited and if you look at the career fairs at Auburn you will find the same major corporations that recruit at Georgia Tech also recruit at Auburn.
If you want to be a medical doctor, from what I’ve read on this website under numerous threads, your undergrad GPA is much more important than where you went to school. I’m not saying that, but it is what I have read on numerous threads on this site from many who identified themselves as MD’s and parents of medical students. You can probably search this site and find the same information.
I’m not ivy league educated and I have heard of Auburn, in fact my son is a graduate research assistant at Auburn and you couldn’t ask for a greater environment for a college education.
Good luck on whatever you decide to do and War Eagle!