Parent's Ability to Pitch in Depending on Income

Paying for College
21

There are only maybe three schools in the country where we’d be willing to pay full freight . . . and that’s a big ‘maybe’ and we could afford to pay it if we really wanted to.

You are extremely blessed to have the UT option, debt free.

If your parents could give you UT and $140K at the end of four years, or Rice (or its equivalent) and nothing else - which would you pick? Just something to think about.

Rice is a great school, but is it $140K better than UT?

What your parents are willing to pay is a gift - I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. A private school or OOS public is not an entitlement.

22

When you say it like that I understand completely. Especially with the fact that I get my first year tuition free at any state school. Does not make sense to go there. The only school he has said he would pay more for is Georgia Tech because it has such an amazing engineering program. The 66% male to 34% female split scares me from there though.

23

It’s good that you asked here OP - helps to get multiple perspectives.

24

Your dad sees little value to paying $55k per year OOS for UCLA when UTexas is just as good.

You need to understand that just because the wallet CAN say yes, it’s not always wise for it to say yes.

People who have money know not to WASTE it.

25

Are you sure about that?

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1910828-chances-to-these-engineering-schools.html

26

‘He who holds the gold rules’.

What do you want to study? What is your plan?

Sounds like your parent(s) figure (like we do) that we want our money spent cost-effective, and the ‘value’ of higher cost institutions is not providing enough ‘value’.

Find a school you like in your parents’ budget for you - and it probably will be a great in-state school, or if you stats are high enough, somewhere else.

27

If you really want to go to an OOS school, and you have the stats for Rice, you should be eligible for full tuition scholarships at a number of schools.

http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

Give up on any of the UCs, though. As an OOS applicant, under their new policies you will not get the aid necessary to bring costs down to in-state level.

28

Right now, he does NOT have the stats for Rice and probably not UCLA as an OOS…not for schools “a tier lower than Ivies”…unless that “lower tier” includes the mid-tiers. His current stats put him in the mid-tiers.


[QUOTE=""]
ACT: 31 Math: 30 English: 31 Science: 33 Reading: 31 Writing 19 yikes!!!

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29

I’m retaking it. That was with taking 2 practice tests. I scored perfect on both sections of math besides trig ( I took dual credit trig last year) so now in math in making 35s on practice tests. 32 will be if I do bad. I’m expecting a 33. I just have to raise 5 points in any of my sections which is completely doable especially with the fact I’m studying like an hour or 2 a day and my test is in 2 months.

I also have some really amazing recommendations. One from my principal, the head of the Dallas Hispanic chamber of commerce, and a chemical engineering professor at UT Austin

30

@Jpgranier I agree with @mom2collegekids that it makes little sense to pay OOS for UCLA when UT is just as good. Too many students flock to the ‘Big Five’ (UCB, UCLA, Michigan, UVA, UNC) and are they really any better than Washington, Wisconsin, Illinois, UT, Florida, etc., or schools like Alabama with Honors?

A better argument can be made for a different size of school, such as something like Villanova or Santa Clara, or a LAC in a different region, like West Coast or Midwest or Northeast. A huge school like UT is not the best fit for everybody. I have a daughter at a large land grant university and see it as a warehouse for undergrads. Our D17 is not even going to apply at our flagship, as we have decided that Reed or Lewis and Clark is just a much better fit. More expensive, but as we can afford it (via inheritance; it is really hard to put money away for college, even for upper middle class), we are very willing to do it.

As a parent I will come out with a different perspective. If parents are wealthy enough to forecast leaving their children a large inheritance, why not have discussions with their HS grads about what is the best choice for college? It is a huge investment, but generally the more selective the college, the better the outcomes, regarding retention, 4 yr grad rates, % of students living on campus, and so on. Many parents have tunnel vision, that is in-state schools or else, as if the public schools are completely funded by the respective states, and tuition goes into some kind of kitty. (I have heard this very argument more than once, not by parents who are on CC, or ever heard of it). UNC Chapel Hill gets les than 20% of operating budget from NC. UVA gets less than 6%. So you are paying less, yes, but the FTE is also much less. Can you tell I am not a big fan of big state universities? Don’t get me started on the big sports focus, as one-and-done for basketball is a joke and travesty of education.

But overall I would suggest coming up with a larger list than Rice (A reach anyhow) and UCLA. UT is a great choice for most students, and you need a fuller rationale for something else.

31

I’m gonna go to UT probably. Will apply to others but there isn’t much of a point if I won’t be able to pay for them.

32

@Jpgranier…why not just create a balanced list and put yourself in the running for some competitive merit scholarships at schools that give some such as Vanderbilt, Tulane and others?

33

What are some good schools for mechanical engineering that offer competitive merit scholarships?

34

You need some safety schools as well. If you are in the top 7-8% in Texas, you are admitted to UT but not to your major. I knew many good students last year that were applying to engineering and not many got in. Some were in the top 1% of the class, others were already doing research at UT, and they did not get accepted to their major. Do not treat UT as a safety, it is a reach for all engineering applicants.

35

GTAustin makes a great point. Same situation at NC State and I’m sure many other schools, where you have t aplly directly to engineering. There are some LACs like Lafayette in Pennsylvania that have one portal for admission; if you are admitted, you can major in engineering. You could make a case with parents about OOS schools with engineering schools you can get into, if UT does not work out. Usually for good merit you need to be in top quarter of applicants.

36

This is an interesting thread, because this is about where I was with my daughter a few years ago. The house rule was that she could enroll in any school that was priced at the equivalent of UT full price. If any money was leftover at the end of four years, it would go into her graduate school fund. (She has intended from day one to attend graduate school.) If the money was only a small amount, then it could be used instead for a car, apartment deposit, etc.

All the variables about in-state, out of state, public, or private are easier to deal with if you can come up with a budget that is only in dollars. So find out what the entire college budget is, and then compare it with the Cost of Attendance at various schools. If the price of the school is too high, look for merit awards. If there are none or the awards are minimal, don’t apply.

37

Some good engineering schools that give merit are Ohio State, University of Pittsburgh, U Alabama.

Ethnic diversity and increased test scores might help with merit at OSU and Pitt. UA gives guaranteed merit for certain stats.

38

I would do some research on the schools you are more interested in than your instate options and prepare a report for Dad on each school and its merits and see what he says about them and decide where to apply from there. He’s not a bad guy for not wanting to pay more for a lesser or similar school by any means no matter how much he earns but it sounds like he wants to see a good rationale for why a program is better (like GA Tech) or perhaps extremely strong emotion on your part for a certain school.

39

This is a great discussion. The truth is not all families can contribute to the cost of college. College is an investment - but look for the most cost effective path to getting your degree. Schools are selling you a degree - so do your research and don’t overpay. Independent students are wise to consider community colleges first and their local state college or university. Don’t borrow more than your expected first year salary…based on your degree.

40

@Jpgranier

Texas is a premium engineering school. Not to put too much stock in US News rankings, but they rank UT at #11 for undergrad engineering. Rice and UCLA are tied at 18.

@GTAustin offers an excellent point above about UT Engineering not being a sure thing. It would be a shame to attend Texas and not get into the Engineering program. That being the case you might want to add Texas A&M (#15 UG Engr) into the mix, and possibly Texas Tech (#87), Houston (#87), UT-Dallas (#87).

Perhaps you could begin at Texas and shoot for the Engineering program, and if you do not make it, transfer to one of the other Texas schools. I assume your dad would be OK with that since it’s still going by his rules.

so here is the US News rankings for Undergraduate Mech Engr (take them with a grain of salt):

1- MIT
2- Ga Tech
3- Cal
4- Stanford
5- Michigan
6- Purdue
6- Illinois
8- Cornell
9- CalTech
10- TEXAS
11- Carnegie Mellon
12- Princeton

Your dad probably knows that Texas is a top 10 Mech Engr program that will cost far less and offer you the best value than any other school in the top 12.

here are the links to the US News UG Engr rankings, Competitive Scholarships, and Automatic Merit Scholarships. you can cross-check these lists for available scholarships at good engineering schools. or, just stay in-state.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/