<p>[College</a> Results Online](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1ba.aspx?institutionid=214777,163286]College”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1ba.aspx?institutionid=214777,163286)</p>
<p>Penn State 4 year graduation rate: 58.2%
Maryland 4 year graduation rate: 58.4%</p>
<p>Thanks RTR. What I read must have confused its 4 year rate with its 6 year rate on your source of 84% (MD at 79). Thos 4 year vs. 6 year rates are really startling, and at OOS rates, the 6 year cost would be very high.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, some of those graduation rate numbers are very clearly tied into the percentage of minority population at a given school. Look at the charts on graduation by race/ethnicity and then also look at the percentages of minority students at various schools. </p>
<p>For graduation rates, one must also take into account what percentage of students are in a five-year major (such as engineering). And there is also the financial aspect…some kids just can’t afford to stay. It’s all very complicated to analyze.</p>
<p>agree R2R. There are some wonderful publics with dreadful seeming 4 year grad rates due to the populations they serve, many part time kids, re entry students, or students who have to take a hiatus because of money or family issues are served by public higher education and these kids simply take longer to finish.</p>
<p>My first instinct was to think…“WOW kids aren’t happy at U of X” but it is no where near that simple.</p>
<p>Yes, I know a real life example. S2’s roommate (at a big state u) had some sort of FA issues at the beginning of this sem. The aid money didn’t come through on time. He needed to see the FA folks to get it straightened out. He didn’t get to the FA aid office before the deadline so his schedule got canceled. So instead of attending classes this sem., he’s delivering Chinese food to pay the rent. It’s now impossible for him to grad. in four years. He hopes to get back in school next sem.</p>
<p>He’s a good kid with parents who are very uninvolved. He’s basically on his own.<br>
Stuff like this prob. happens all the time.</p>
<p>FlowntheCoopDad, has your S checked out Alfred University?
Full Disclosure, I have a freshman there! 
</p>
<p>[Alfred</a> University - Inamori School of Engineering](<a href=“http://engineering.alfred.edu/]Alfred”>http://engineering.alfred.edu/)</p>
<p>PackMom, I’m happy you said that because me, my S and his very good hands on GC actually had the same conversation about the chances that lab hours/coursework and practice would overlap and he would have to invstigate it football program by program to see if he can play</p>
<p>SLUMOM, No he hasn’t actually looked at Alfred University but ill be sure to tell him because he has really taken a heavy interest in this as of late and I’ll ask if he has any questions.</p>
<p>Does anyone here have a S who is playing football or soccer and is and Engineering major? If so he was wondering how they handled and overlaps in schedules</p>
<p>You might want to post that question in its own thread. More people would be available to give you input.</p>
<p>FTC Dad,
Is your son sure he wants to study bio-medical engineering and play sports at the college level? It is an incredibly hard major [and you mentioned no APs], so I might be a little worried about the workload. My older son who is a sophomore bio-med eng student, now switching to Pre-Med, is quite overloaded much the time with his studies and many ec’s. I can’t even imagine my 3.2 son entertaining such a schedule, even though some schools do make allowances for athletes, due to travel, etc. it still would be incredibly tough. Playing sports in colleges is nothing like playing in high school. My older son also played football in high school, as well as track, soccer, etc. He thought he could go off to college and keep all of the ec’s he was used to during his four years of high school, but soon realized that AP Calc in high school was nothing compared to ‘Math II’ in Engineering. 4-6 hours of homework doing problem sets, along with your 4-5 other classes is a lot to keep up with during the week. But then again, I’ve heard kids brag about how UDel eng is easy, and about 4.0s at CMU from students my son knows who were never at his level in high school, so I guess it all depends upon where you end up and the courses you take.
I loved WPI and even met a student athlete as our tour guide a couple of years ago. We also liked Lehigh, too, but it is pretty selective, more so than WPI. With so many engineers in our family and friends, I think all of the suggestions already made are great. It’s hard to find a bad engineering school! It’s just a matter of preference. Is your son a typical engineer (who likes to play magic at night with his friends or develop new cheat codes for their favorite games), or one who’s also running the Honor Society, or the captain of the football team, or finalist in the Poetry Outloud Contest?</p>
<p>It was challenging finding great bio-eng programs, but it made for a fun college search.<br>
I was pretty happy however, with my second son (3.2) who was interested in Liberal Arts Colleges…that was like a breath of fresh air after visiting all those labs!</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Hi All,
Just wanted to let you know that my son finally made a decision!!</p>
<p>He chose Clark University!! </p>
<p>He attended a class there last week and met the Dept Chair and a number of students. It was a good day. After lunch I coyly asked him if he wanted to go to the bookstore, and he said ‘yes’. He poked around a little bit then came up behind me with a Clark hoodie. I looked at him and said, ‘really?’, he said ‘yes’, and that was it. There was never any hoopla or ‘Yay, this is it’, just a sheepish sort of ‘I think so’ kind of decision. The mother’s angst continues!</p>
<p>Here’s praying that this ‘College that Changes Lives’ will be the one for my son! We’re feeling pretty good about it, and after seeing the schools where the professors hailed from [Penn, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, etc.], I figured it was a good sign. The young man in the bookstore who sold us the sweat-shirt was great, too. He was a graduating senior who had taken advantage of the 5th year free [*saving himself 80K for his masters, he proudly announced], was so nice to my son. He went on and on offering him wonderful advice and telling that ‘for real’ the people at Clark were really ‘nice’. When my son was a little worried that maybe all the nice-ness was just what he was seeing, he told him that Clark is known for it, so it attracts people who are friendly. </p>
<p>Have others sent in their deposits yet??!!</p>
<p>CCL,</p>
<p>Congrats! I think he made a great choice. I recall Gweetz’s son is going down to the wire, but thought otherwise it was on to the class of 2015</p>
<p>Congrats CCL! Great choice. Even though I’m happy with my son’s choice of Goucher (check’s in the mail as of this morning!), there’s a part of me that’s carrying a mild torch for Clark, if only for the selfish reason that he’d be able to come home a bit more often.</p>
<p>FTC dad,</p>
<p>You will find some schools (especially below the BCS schools), which deliberately either do not schedule classes after 4 to avoid kids having practice vs. class conflicts or schedule early morning practices for the same reason (and to encourage atheltes to go to sleep earlier). </p>
<p>Congrats onhaving a junior who is interested in the process–it is not that common on this thread!</p>
<p>Congrats to CCL and her Son! Yay!</p>
<p>Congrats to nightchef and Son!</p>
<p>CCL - Great hoodie story! He sounds like a cool kid. Congrats on the decision.</p>
<p>“Hi All,
Just wanted to let you know that my son finally made a decision!!
He chose Clark University!!”</p>
<p>Congrats, CCL! I’m obviously biased, but I think your son made a GREAT choice! Let’s try to meet up during orientation and move-in days. I can introduce my D to your S.</p>
<p>congratulations to nightchef and capecodlady and their kids! Having a decision is wonderful but there is that wistfulness. I still am in love with one of the schools my D turned down last year even though she is very happy and doing well where she is. I like the phrase “carrying a torch for.”</p>
<p>Clark Alum
Your D would let you do that? What a treat for you! I met a CC parent at an Accepted Students thing and our kids would have died at the suggestion much less the actual meeting. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, and Congrats Nightchef, Goucher is great, too! Mom2Sons, yes, he is a ‘cool kid’ …[blush]…love him to death and praying for a wonderful college experience.</p>
<p>ClarkAlum, thanks so much. Great idea. My son will like that, I think. Is your daughter going to do any of the pre-orientation programs? I know they are pricey, but I think it would be great for my son to do. My older son did one and really enjoyed it, and remains friends with some of the kids he met that very first week in Philly. </p>
<p>CapeCodLady</p>
<p>ps: I met a fellow addicted CC mom while attending Accepted Students Days with my older son a few years back, it was hysterical. We shared our stories and were glad that we finally could get out before needing a 12-step program! But alas, my 2nd son came up the pike soon afterwards and I was back here. So glad to have found this 3.0-3.3 thread and all the great folks here. I rarely visit the other places on this site any more…but there’s still time, my 3rd son won’t be looking at schools for perhaps two more years, so I will be back…that is if I ever leave! ;)</p>
<p>Congrats Clark Alum and your Son! </p>
<p>None of our 4 kids would apply to our schools: Syracuse & BC.<br>
However D#1 went to UCONN & her grandparents are both alum.</p>