When we started this process, S24 was completely visionless about what he wanted to study & what he wanted in a college. Since he thought he would get NMSF he was happy to just choose one of the inexpensive options that would provide. With some distance, I can see that not getting NMSF and needing to engage with the process more deeply has been very good for him. I’ve been very proud of the ways he has grown, and think that he is in a better position to take advantage of his college experience than he would have been otherwise.
And thank you to everyone who suggested Industrial Engineering! It is not a field I was familiar with, but it fits S24’s interests very well. Even if he ends up moving in a different direction eventually, it is a great place for him to start and it has given him energy and helped him develop some vision for his next steps.
S24 really likes at least some characteristics of each of the schools he applied to, so he is having trouble letting any of them go. Here is how things stand after the EA round.
Admitted
After looking more into the following 2 schools, he has decided they aren’t as good choices as others because they have fewer options for ABET accredited majors.
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Slippery Rock (accepted to IE; no word on merit; would need to apply to honors)
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SUNY Oswego (admitted to Elec Engineering; 2 merit scholarships make it $26,000/year)
Hates to let this one go, but in the end he thinks UMass beats it in every category.
- SUNY University at Buffalo (admitted to IE & Honors; $15,000/year merit makes it ~$31,000/year)
He really likes the vibe of K State and the cost of MS State, but he feels a bit uncomfortable with how far away they are. He’s still considering them.
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Kansas State (accepted to IE; didn’t apply to honors; OOS tuition waiver plus $3000 Engineering scholarship makes it about $21,000/year)
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Mississippi State (accepted to IE & honors, auto-merit + $3K/year engineering scholarship, plus first year housing scholarship makes total cost ~$6000 first year, and about $14,000/year after)
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SUNY Binghamton (admitted to IE; $15,000/year merit makes the cost ~$33,000/year; recently got word he was invited to the Scholars program & to the First Year Research Intensive)
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University of Rhode Island (Admitted to IE & honors; $15,000/year merit makes it ~$36,000/year)
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UMass Amherst (Admitted to IE & Commonwealth Honors College; $2,000/year merit makes it ~$33,000/year since he is in-state)
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Admitted to Industrial & Systems Eng; $35,500 in scholarships & $4,100 in grants makes COA ~$43,000, the most expensive but also the curriculum he likes best so far of admittances)
Rejected
Georgia Tech (This wasn’t a surprise)
Deferred to RD
Case Western Reserve University — After thinking it over, he wanted to continue to pursue this. As part of their “update us” they asked for what was basically a “Why CWRU?” essay and I thought he wrote a nice one.
Northeastern University — as of today, he says he is still interested but doesn’t see the point of sending a LOCI, which they don’t ask for but some people say is valuable if he wants a chance in RD
Regular Decision Apps
Rochester Institute of Technology
Lehigh
Tufts University