Merit-based aid for undergrad coming back for a second degree?

Paying for College
1

<p>I’m 22 and just graduated from the University of Michigan this past May with a bachelor’s in civil engineering.</p>

<p>My choice of major and first post-college job with a civil engineering firm hasn’t turned out to be the worst thing in the world; however, I am rather regretful that I didn’t major in computer science.</p>

<p>To make a long story short, I slowly learned some programming in college through some classes and some stuff on the side, and was close to switching but decided to stick it out and get my civil engineering degree since I was so far along and my dad was very strongly opposed to the idea of switching before my senior year.</p>

<p>In the end, I found myself not hating civil engineering, but still feeling very strongly that CS might have been a much better choice, both because of my enjoyment of it and because of the better career options.</p>

<p>While there’s the potential to try to get a CS degree while I’m working full time (kinda like I’m doing right now with a full-time job and taking two classes at a community college), what I’d really love to do is go back to a traditional university and be a full-time student again and get a CS degree. I figure it will take me 2 to 2.5 years with the credit I already have.</p>

<p>So…now that I’m facing this idea, I’m wondering…what am I likely to be able to receive for financial aid in this situation? How will universities view me…will I be a good candidate for merit-based aid, or will they be like, this guy’s already got a degree, he doesn’t need any help? If they will consider me, what will they look at, considering I just got a college degree and graduated high school four years ago?</p>

<p>The thing is, I kind of actually wish they would evaluate me based on my four-year-old high school credentials, because I got a 35 on my ACT and had 3.9-something GPA in high school. I realize now that I really didn’t play my cards right with this four years ago…I probably could have gotten a much better scholarship package than I did if I had shopped around more and wasn’t quite so concerned with “prestige,” which I now feel is overrated. (U-M didn’t give me much, but it was the only school I applied to.) My actual college credentials aren’t as impressive…I ended up with a 3.39 GPA for my bachelor’s degree.</p>

<p>But I really don’t know how this works at all. Anyone know anything about this? If I apply to some second-tier schools that might have given someone like me an nice scholarship package four years ago, am I likely to get a similar response now? Thanks so much for any info you can give.</p>

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<p>There is no need based financial aid for second degrees. No Pell, no state aid, no scholarships. If you have not exhausted your student loans, you may be eligible for direct loans, but it will not be enough for you to attend school fulltime.</p>

<p>Since you are working full time, if your job offers tuition aid/tuition reimbursement as an employee benefit, see what courses, they will cover to help defray some of the cost</p>

3

<p>i doubt that any univ will give you merit-based aid for a 2nd BS. </p>

<p>You can just continue what you’re doing, taking classes at a CC and paying for them yourself.</p>

<p>Since you already have an eng’g degree, you really don’t need a CS degree to work as a CS person. Just keep taking classes. Is there a univ near you that you could take upper division courses at night (if needed).</p>

<p>Start looking for other jobs…some might pay for you to take more classes.</p>

4

<p>

No, absolutely unlikely. The scholarships you are talking about that are based on high school stats and ACT scores are for freshmen. Freshman scholarships are generally the most generous scholarships and even transfer students that have not completed a degree generally find the scholarships available to them are much less generous (for instance at my daughter’s school the maximum freshman scholarship is a full ride and there are a couple of other full tuition plus some cash scholarships. Their most generous transfer scholarship covers maybe half tuition) . I doubt there is much, if anything, out there at all for second degrees.</p>

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<p>I agree you won’t get any aid other than federal loans for a 2nd bachelors. I also agree you don’t need a 2nd bachelors in CS to get into CS as a career. A 3.39 GPA at UMich in engineering is nothing to sneeze at. What was your engineering/math/CS GPA? </p>

<p>I would also suggest continuing to take CS classes on the side. If you really want a CS degree, check into the entrance requirements for a CS masters at a few schools. See if you need any additional math for that besides additional CS classes. You don’t necessarily need a CS bachelors to get into a masters program, just enough CS and math to satisfy entrance requirements. Many CS graduate programs have a research oriented masters program geared toward continuing for a PhD and a terminal masters program for those just wanting additional knowledge/credentials. Continuing to work at a civil engineering job in the meantime will help you to pay for this if your company won’t help subsidize it.</p>

<p>There also may be schools with CS certificate programs that wouldn’t require as much time as a full 2nd Bachelors degree with your engineering background.</p>

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<p>*what I’d really love to do is go back to a traditional university and be a full-time student again *</p>

<p>This part bothers me for some reason. It sounds like you want to relive the college years. Most kids are thrilled to graduate and MOVE ON…to a job or grad school. </p>

<p>I would do one/some of the following:</p>

<p>1) continue to take CS classes at your local CC for cheap.</p>

<p>2) If needed, take some upper division CS classes at a local state univ.</p>

<p>3) see if your current job will pay for these CS classes. (does your current company employ CS majors? If so, try to worm your way into one of those jobs)</p>

<p>4) see if there’s another company that hires both CivilE and CS degrees and get a job there…once you demonstrate your CS skills (resume, whatever), then see if they’ll move you into a CS position. This company may even pay for some of your CS classes. </p>

<p>5) While taking your CS classes, keep a running list of the skills that you know and have learned on a Word doc. Then use that list to incorporate into your resume. </p>

<p>Often a company doesn’t require a CS degree if a person has an eng’g degree and adequate math and CS skills/courses/etc.</p>