Totally agree w/you about the mental health thing. D24 has chosen a major that’s going to have its fair share of challenging classes. I think that her odds of success will be higher if she’s at a place where she’s happy and feels part of a community. She’s already said that she can’t see herself at UNM or NMSU, but my DH right now only sees the cheaper dollar signs. 
1 Like
Re: the cost of attending for an extra year, be sure to also include the loss of income for that year when she might have been working.
Your daughter has some great choices!
1 Like
Hi sbinaz,
Tell your spouse that I teach many online courses (at a regional university), and your daughter should avoid them at any reasonable cost. (I won’t say at all costs–you guys shouldn’t take out parent loans!). Online courses cannot approximate in-person learning. I do the best I can, but I wish I could have all my online students in person at least once a week.
12 Likes
Added point those online classes will probably have an additional fee that you don’t see until after to sign up. My son’s school had a required class online only. Cost an extra 500 dollars for online instruction. Ugh
Also, some schools charge a class fee for each class on top of the fees you see listed on cost page. We were looking at one that appeared cheaper, but when you inputted classes there was additional 250 class fee for all science plasters. An additional 120 fee for every business class. But that was not in the numbers that the school shows because not everyone takes those classes but if you a science major it will add up quickly.
2 Likes
I will tell him that! Thank you!
The timeframe when D24’s classes were online during 9th grade did not go well overall for her and are a big reason why her UW GPA
ended up in the range it did. She HATED online instruction.
Her going to college and having to take a bunch of online classes would be a disastrous situation grade-wise.
3 Likes
The first college visit for S24, to USF, turned out to be productive.
Academics: USF has the distinction of being the fastest rising university in the USNWR overall college rankings, rising from #170 or so in 2013 to #89 this year. It also scores an A+ in the Niche rankings. Last year, it was also admitted into the AAU (American Association of Universities) - so that is also an endorsement of the quick rise. The Engg programs appear to be pretty good. It’s also a R1 university - very high on research spending - and that is important for S24.
Location: Tampa is a large metropolis and there appear to be enough things for students to do (Busch Gardens, beaches in Clearwater etc). I would guess that employment opportunities are also plenty. The weather was great when we visited (80F), but Florida can get hot and humid. Connectivity is also great with ~9 daily flights to NJ/NYC region.
Campus: The campus in Tampa is huge (~1500 acres) and really nice with lots of trees. It’s like its own little world, segregated in an urban environment, unlike Pitt which blends in with the city. The best phrase to describe it would be “big metropolitan campus”. It is a lot bigger than FSU, where S23 goes. It’s a contiguous campus and safe, although we have read that the surrounding area is a bit sketchy. The campus was quiet for a weekend - some of it likely due to the large number of commuters to school. We felt this would actually be an advantage for S24 who is an Engg. pre-major. There are enough on-campus residents (~7000 out of a total student population of ~45,000).
Dorms: The model dorm room we saw was pretty standard for freshmen - double occupancy and good enough space. The challenge is that dorms are limited and hence not guaranteed for freshmen. Space runs out after freshman dorm selection in early March - everyone after that is put on standby and then it’s a matter of luck. Selection of a dorm room in early March involves paying the non-refundable $200 enrollment fee and $50 housing application.
Affordability: This is where USF (& Florida publics) stands out for OOS students. Total COA without any scholarships is about $31k which is the same as in-state Rutgers, so it’s a great value for money option. Other OOS schools typically run upwards of $42k and most are in the $50-$55k range.
All in all, it was a short but productive visit. USF is certainly in our college list for final consideration.
12 Likes
Glad you had such a good visit!
1 Like
Alrighty, here’s where D24’s rankings are now after she completed scoring of U of A and UNM:
- Austin College - 242 total score
- Southwestern - 235 total score
- U of A - 182 total score
- Centre College - 160 total score
- UNM - 138 total score
- NMSU - 131 total score
- ASU - not scored because “Mama, Daddy, there’s no way I want to go there”
Individual scores for each of the criteria for U of A:
| Priority (high, medium, or low) | Score (1-5, where 5 = highest) | Weight (High = 5, Med = 3, Low = 1) |
U of A Final score for each criteria | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | high | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| Small class sizes | high | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Strong pre-health program | medium | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| Classes are all in person | high | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Ease of getting internships, doing research w/profs | medium | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Not too far away from home | high | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Not too cold in winter | medium | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Fun stuff to do on & around campus | high | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| In or near a large suburban or urban area | medium | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Easy to get to airport to fly home | high | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Strong PA grad school partnerships | medium | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Campus safety | high | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| Choir scholarship available for non-music majors | low | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Final total score | 182 |
UNM:
| Priority (high, medium, or low) | Score (1-5) | Weight (High = 5, Med = 3, Low = 1) |
UNM Final score for each criteria | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | high | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Small class sizes | high | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Strong pre-health program | medium | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Classes are all in person | high | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Ease of getting internships, doing research w/profs | medium | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Not too far away from home | high | 3 | 5 | 15 |
| Not too cold in winter | medium | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Fun stuff to do on & around campus | high | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| In or near a large suburban or urban area | medium | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Easy to get to airport to fly home | high | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Strong PA grad school partnerships | medium | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Campus safety | high | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Choir scholarship available for non-music majors | low | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Final total score | 138 |
I’m so glad she had a “no way” moment! 
And that it was ASU, which academics really dislike, for all the reasons you can imagine. I can’t wait to see which one she chooses in the end.
Austin College & Southwestern:
| Priority (high, medium, or low) | Score (1-5) | Weight | Austin College Final score for each criteria | Score (1-5, where 5 = highest) | Weight (High = 5, Med = 3, Low = 1) |
Southwestern Final score for each criteria | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | high | 4 | 5 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 15 |
| Small class sizes | high | 5 | 5 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Strong pre-health program | medium | 5 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Classes are all in person | high | 5 | 5 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Ease of getting internships, doing research w/profs | medium | 5 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Not too far away from home | high | 5 | 5 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Not too cold in winter | medium | 4 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| Fun stuff to do on & around campus | high | 4 | 5 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| In or near a large suburban or urban area | medium | 5 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Easy to get to airport to fly home | high | 5 | 5 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Strong PA grad school partnerships | medium | 5 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Campus safety | high | 5 | 5 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| Choir scholarship available for non-music majors | low | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Final total score | 242 | 235 |
1 Like
I like the chart you all are using. We are going to need to do something like this once the admitted days are finished. I will say we recently went to do the admitted tour for ASU and while I was more impressed than I thought I would be, my daughter decided a week after she needed to be a drivable distance from home. So, ASU is now off the list. It looks like it will now be between Elon, Miami of Ohio, and probably Indiana.
2 Likes
Last year my daugther was accepted to SDSU OOS and although it was within our budget, we crossed it off our list because we thought there would be a strong likelihood of her needing more than four years to gradudate.
2 Likes
Headed to Sherman, TX on Sunday for a quick 2 1/2 day trip to Austin College. Looks like the high on Monday is going to be 66 with sunny skies. D24 is already pretty stoked that the high will be >20 degrees warmer than it was in KY a couple of weeks ago.
I sent an email today to U of A’s housing and admissions departments asking for clarification on a bunch of questions I have about signing up for a dorm, is the dorm deposit refundable (given all of U of A’s financial problems lately, answer to that is probably a NO), etc.
6 Likes
Have a great trip! Looking forward to the report.
1 Like
I’m not sure what is a good place to ask this question.
What is the difference between freshman admission vs transfer student?
S24 got admitted to USF as a freshman. However, he wants to go study abroad for the 1st semester.
We’re trying to confirm about study abroad requirements.
As far as we know, he needs to take 12 credit hours for Italy student visa.
USF acceptance states that he can only do < 12 credits to be considered as a freshman.
If he does 12 credit hours, our understanding is he may need to apply again as transfer student. What is the downside? Either way, he will start in the Spring 25 at USF.
We’ll check with USF anyway. I want to get your opinions 1st.
My guess is your son will need to reapply as a transfer student to USF if he takes 12 credit hours or more in his Study Abroad program. This program is through a partner university, as I understand, and not through USF Study Abroad and hence this issue. Since he already has been admitted as a freshman, I don’t think he should have a problem getting admitted as a transfer student. The best option would be to talk to the Admissions Office at USF though and get some guidance.
Can he take 12 credits but only try to transfer 11 of them?
Good idea. Not sure ( usually it is 3 credit hours per course) 3x4 =12
So, my understanding is school will not drop credit hours already taken.
It is confusing when they allow only so many credit hours to be transferred. In that if you have 30, but they allow only 25hours, you lose 5 hours.
My other idea is to maybe then take 9 credits matriculated and 3 credits non-matriculated? (just thinking outloud- bc traveling abroad is so much fun)
1 Like