Seeking advice from acceptances for my son with interests in mechanical engineering and computer science as a minor. Plus if he can explore aerospace courses. Maximum budget and stretching our family finances with still no loans is $30k. Update to add Vassar acceptance that was taken out because of the engineering 3+2 with Dartmouth but kid wants it part of the conversation
Northwestern $28k
Rutgers Honors College $24k
NJIT honors college $7k
Lafayette $21k marquis scholar
RPI $32k
Stevens $22k Clark scholar with it’s perks
Vassar $19k
Is Northwestern definitely worth it at that price given that we will need travel expenses from NJ and all the additional costs? Worried about the quester system as well. Son definitely has this as his first choice now. Thank you.
The only choice here, to me, is NJIT and Northwestern, and only because of cost. (Otherwise, I personally can’t imagine going to Stevens or Rutgers over Northwestern)
Money is money, only you know what the difference means to your family.
Engineering is hard everywhere. All will teach you engineering. I think if you can get into Northwestern, quarters will be fine. The classes are meant to be in quarters. That said, if student has learning differences or something, consider that (note, I think some kids with ADHD actually like quarters or WPIs short system)
Does the student want a STEM-focused school? or Northwestern? VERY VERY different atmosphere.
I have lived in New England and have lived in the mid-Atlantic (though not NJ) I hadn’t heard of NJIT (or Stevens) until my kids decided to major in engineering. Northwestern is known around the world, literally. Reputation isn’t everything but it is NOT nothing. If your kid wants to move to San Diego or London or Miami? Or decides not to major in engineering or decides to work in finance?
Northwestern will have kids from all over the country and the world. The peers will be learning all sorts of majors and be exposed to lots of different things in a way that is different than NJIT, which will be far more regional (and male). I think this is an amazing education outside of the classroom as well as inside it.
If you can get to admitted students weekends I would
But also look at class sizes, ease of major/minoring if that is really important. Personally I would question the value of a CS minor vs. just taking a couple of classes. At this point with AI, basic CS is not the skill it once was, and an engineering major will require at least a course or 2.
Anyway, my 2 cents, people pick schools for all sorts of reasons all the time, and it makes sense for them! I am a stranger on the internet:)
Thank you! “Vibe” wise to talk on his terms he definitely favors the full college experience as opposed to a pure technicaL one. Lafayette has always had a special place in his heart as he values the quality of the undergraduate experience and he feels Northwestern is the compete package in that regard with the academics and experience. For us definitely we want to justify the extra $$ and being far from home. But yes the sacrifice might be well worth it and not underestimate the magnitude of this acceptance?
The big advantage of NU’s quarter system is for students who are wanting to double or triple major. If that is your student, I would think long and hard if the $ works because it’s a great school!
If that isn’t your student, the pace of the quarter system can be brutal, especially for engineers. Yes, they only take 3-4 course/quarter instead of 4-5/semester but round one of exams is at the three week mark. There is no ramp up, no review, your child needs to be able to hit the ground running from day 1 of classes. It is intense.
The other factor is where does your child want to work/live during summer internships and after graduation. The quarter system makes the NU calendar VERY different from the majority of the schools on the east coast, which does end up restricting summer internship potentials.
I also agree with thinking about if your child would flourish more at a STEM focused school or not. Your student can be highly successful from NJIT if they want to be an engineer. If you think he could pivot majors in college, I would think long and hard about NU where it would be easy to make the shift and they are very strong in a number of areas.
Lastly, think about the vibe. NU skews wealthy. My daughter felt it gave “country club vibes”. Another family member who is a graduating NU senior felt it was just right. But, there is pressure around spring break trips, attire for formal events, and off campus housing costs for junior and senior year are high unless your child is willing to commute from Rogers Park (which many students do but it means taking the L).
I’m happy to chat via PM if you’d like. I’ve lived in Evanston for the last 8 years. 1/2 our neighbors are NU grads or profs, and we have a current NU student in our family. My daughter took a long hard look at NU for engineering as well.
I’m not sure what this means? What does he feel Lafayette is missing relative to NU?
IMO NU is a grindy place. That works for some kids, but not all. Plusses of the quarter system are that students can take more classes (easier to add minors/double major), and classes one doesn’t like are over sooner. But it does make for a fast paced academic experience, students study a lot there.
Updated to at Vassar acceptance which he likes the place a lot but not sure about the engineering but he also likes the math/ cs combo there. And digesting your very kind answer.
Just to talk about this a bit. It’s actually 2-1-1-1, not 3-2. I would first find out if the financial aid would be the same at dartmouth. My sense is no for the 5th year, and I’m not sure you can find that out ahead of time.
There also is an opportunity cost to paying for a 5th year and foregoing a year of professional experience and pay. Her outcomes from that program aren’t likely to be ‘better’ than from the other schools on her list.
I would also have your D think long and hard about going back and forth between campuses for the last three years…leaving friends behind, securing housing for the next year and the like.
ETA: Now I see this page on Vassar’s site that suggests maybe the program has changed to 3/2? Regardless all the same issues apply. Will your D want to leave friends for senior year of college?
Northwestern is unaffordable given your family budget of $30,000 and total annual costs for NU of about $35,000 (travel & books, for example, are not included in the tuition & fees figure of $28,000).
NJIT is roughly $7,000 and the student will have the privileges associated with Honors College status.
In my view, the quarter system is better than the typical semester system as students take 4 courses per quarter versus 5 per semester. The compressed time frame of the quarter system requires seriousness of purpose on a daily basis-which is a positive. Nevertheless, NJIT is the wiser choice for your STEM focused son due to COA (essentially 4 years at NJIT Honors College for less than the cost of one year at Northwestern).
First off I’d take out Vassar as I’m not a fan of 3+2 programs (and you would need to research the financial piece). I’d also eliminate any over budget schools.
After that, I’m all for going with the student’s personal preference.
As an aside my D graduated from Laf and had a wonderful experience in every respect. She had a number of friends studying engineering – many were able to study abroad (I think they had an abroad program specifically geared towards engineers) and some double-majored or minored in a humanities area of interest.
Most would say NU and it’s not close. And yes the travel $ would be worth it - and you may still be under $30K.
Yes, Vassar would make no sense - even if decided CS.
It seems like Lafayette was his favorite so then Rutgers and Stevens wouldn’t make sense.
Given you have to be there four years, day after day, you need to choose what you prefer and perhaps that’s Lafayette.
I’m normally not a ranking type person - but from a recognition, etc. POV, NU is far above anything on the list (except Rutgers and maybe RPI). That said, he likes smaller and even NU is much bigger than Lafayette - triple.
But I think it’s worth the $$ given it’s within your budget (even with travel) but I wouldn’t send anyone to a school if they feel that uncomfortable with it. Then, I’d choose Laf.
Just get there - it doesn’t have to be an accepted student day. If you find a cheap flight on a different day - just get there - you can tour, stop kinds on campus, even make an academic and/or club appointment, etc. If you find a day with a cheap flight, that’s great too.
As for study abroad, have you seen this from NU? It’s still on their webpage so I’m assuming still available - and sometimes you can go in the summer (even via other schools). My daughter did one through Nebraska as an example - and many are affordable. NU may even help fund - even if not a summer but a campus led trip or time at an affiliate.
I would think the clear winner here is Northwestern. Strong not just in ME, but you could also double major or pick a minor across the stronger disciplines that NU is known for — materials science, industrial engineering, etc. The savings by going with NJIT is not small, i.e. $21K a year, but I think this difference could easily be made up for with the career and academic resources afforded by NU. For context, the average McCormick grad makes about $97K a year in engineering and $110K in tech, with top earners making $200K+.
I do not know much about NJIT, but I believe that NU is a much better resourced institution with a $16Bn endowment. It also offers many interesting programs than just engineering (music, theater, communications) that are tops nationwide, not to mention access to Big 10 sports, a country club-like campus and the cultural scene in Chicago (an easy train ride away). Evanston is also a safe and beautiful little town. Congratulations!
Honestly, I used to live close to Northwestern and my friends went to NW. It is a great school but for your major, don’t think it worth the price. NW as other schools like Vandy, Emory is a good pipeline to the medical schools. Their other majors like Econ nowadays is a feeding pipeline to the traditional industry while UChicago is a pipeline to Finance. In Illinois, the top engineering program is in UIUC not NW. I would rather choose a cheaper school and get ready to transfer to somewhere like Georgia Tech in the second year for the brand name including recruiting opportunities and not pricy out of state tuition.
I would study career outcomes. G Tech placement rate is comparatively low vs schools that are ranked lower, some much lower. If you study US News criteria, top school is a popularity contest of academics - not based on selectivity or career data. Literally - it’s deans and academics rating schools 1-5.
Go to a school with a plan to stay. Ga Tech is wonderful but no better and in some cases worse outcome wise vs plenty of state schools below.
This is just of kids seeking jobs (not grad school). The knowledge rate is unknown but the overall school is 35%. Those who don’t show are more likely not great.
Here’s a much, much lower ranked school - it gets most everyone to report unlike Ga Tech - and it’s still seeking is a fraction of Ga Tech. This is why US News dept rank are….crap. Literally no data is used in them.
My friend’s kid went to GTech. The big companies like Google and Meta went there for job fairs. Her kid was also interviewed for NY top quant trading firm via the campus recruiting. I only heard of this type of recruiting from the top schools while have never heard from the same level of schools.
I’m just looking at success rates. And salaries aren’t much different. We had a parent on here whose kid took 10 months to find a gig. Eventually got a contract.
My kid lived with/interned with two. He got invited back a second summer. They didn’t.
I think a student should go somewhere and not transfer, at least the intention. Lots of Ga Tech kids aren’t finding jobs - they show the data.
This family gave a list of schools and has a tight budget. Ga Tech never would have nor ever will work. Bama would but that’s not on their list. Gotta choose from their list in post one.
I’m late to this thread, but I suggest Lafayette. Unless I am missing something, it’s great value for this student. The student likes it. Most importantly perhaps, they are ABET accredited.
