We are in NY so SUNY would be max 35k in state so that is our budget since we assume we won’t get anything other than loans. But note, this would not be an easy year financially but we would cut expenses and use savings
New Paltz did offer him a merit scholarship (3k a year) but he didn’t like the engineering program. We are hoping Bing admits him
We have run the calculators for all the schools. Merit is the variable. He is going test optional since he was unhappy with his 1350 SAT. He is taking 4 AP classes this year and 2 last year ( got a 4 and 5). School doesn’t rank nor weighs gpa but his gpa is 98 I believe.
Is Bucknell very different than Lafayette? With both schools we are concerned about heavy Greek Life- he is not interested in that at all).
Just want him to find his people and be successful.
Sorry for the confusion. I usually think only in terms of financial aid.
We don’t qualify for financial aid from most out of state schools ( I think maybe UVM or Delaware offered a small grant ), so for those schools it would come down to merit. And I highly doubt we will get a merit scholarship that will bring down the tuition to close to SUNY levels so I am trying to get ahead of the situation and offer other potentials options. It’s difficult because it’s been hard to get my kid to articulate Why he likes some schools and not others
private schools that require the Profile, we seems to qualify for need based institutional aid but the need aware aspect means maybe he will get rejected because of that. I will look into that Lafayette article mentioned.
We are solidly middle class, in public service, in a high cost area with significant student loan debt myself. My goal is not to have my kids burdened as we were.
That totally makes sense…and I really like BU for a number of reasons, but I am curious, do they find BU “chill” and “laid back”?
genuine question…
Did you consider URI, It seems very chill, really new engineering building and your kid sounds like they would be up for decent merit there, though not sure exactly how much obviously. I think they have a new STEM scholarship too. I think my OOS kid got 15K (by memory) last year in pure merit, and I would bet your kid has much better stats. Ended up at RIT. chill in different ways.
Also, U of Scranton gave a lot of merit..seems a different vibe, but I got sense they were trying to build up engineering.
When I had just seen your title and had not yet seen your list, Rochester and Villanova, along with Syracuse, were three that immediately came to mind. I would continue to view those as promising.
People obviously think of GWU first for things like international relations, but I have repeatedly heard good things about some other programs, including SEAS. It isn’t a huge program, but not tiny either. Their Science and Engineering Hall is relatively new, and appears pretty impressive:
And the bottom line is it is ABET accredited, including for Mechanical.
It also has an excellent location in a very fun city for students (not least because so much you can do is free). I can’t speak from personal experience to the vibe among SEAS students, but I would think it is a decent bet to be maybe at least a notch more chill than at some other notable options.
So I’m reading a few things - we’d like UMASS and Pitt - two fairly different schools - and we likely qualify for need aid - would it be enough?
Then I read I’d love if he landed at BU - which is nothing like UMass and Pitt. Northeastern would be more so but still not.
I think you start with the SUNYs - such as New Paltz which you already mentioned he didn’t love, Bing, Buffalo, and Stony Brook.
I don’t see how schools like Union or Lafayette fit - because he wants bigger. Rochester too. But you want assured private - York College of PA. Very low cost.
Syracuse fits - but - will it get to cost?
I’d imagine the two privates most likely to get to cost are Clarkson (smaller, tech focused - my counterpart is paying $40K for his kid - and Hofstra, which has big aid.
A recent UNH parent posted their student got $20K merit - so that would put you at $36K if it happened. URI could hit with merit. U Maine is known for matching.
One suggestion - and they don’t have ABET mechanical engineering but they do for general engineering - James Madison is $47K but potentially can get to 35. They have a concentration in Electro-Mechanical Systems. Gorgeous campus - more in line with UMASS but the actual campus is smaller…but not the undergrad population. Harrisonburg is a smaller town.
One final sure thing:
Pitt and WVU are 75 miles apart. If you consider Pitt the NE, then WVU is the NE. I don’t know where you are in NY - but I used New Rochelle as a starting point, and both are 6 hours 15 minutes (they were 6 minutes apart).
I bring this up because WVU, which shares aspects of UMASS (smaller city) and Pitt (big time athletics) - is $44K. I don’t know where you fit - but it’s going to cost less than SUNY - potentially substantially.
I’m all about the sure things - because you’re really grasping for something and that something will be vastly different than you want (which is really Syracuse based on what you described).
I probably would describe BU as laid back but my daughter had found a diverse group of friends from lots of different schools and has had a great experience there.
They have a great program and Boston is such a vibrant place for students. It feels like he would likely find his people there. Although the lack of a “true” campus would be a loss. Fantastic study abroad options which my son really wants
Most, if not all schools, have access to great study abroad. It may end up through an affiliate or other school but all have access. My daughter’s school kept canceling, then we signed up for one through Case Western…cancelled. Finally we found the perfect one through U of Nebraska…had my daughter not signed up, it would have cancelled. So they’re never assured but for engineers, it’s even tougher.
So if he wants to study abroad, that’s unlikely to be an issue - but in many cases, engineers may have to be more flexible (like summer) - it’s a harder major to go abroad for although URI has an international program (but it’s 5 years) and he’d have to learn a language.
We haven’t visited UPitt so I didn’t realize it and Amherst were so different. I just know that based on his research he says he really liked Pitt. He isn’t set on being in a city s small town. We live in the suburbs so he spends time in the city and loves the outdoors as well. He just doesn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere ( took UConn out of the running).
Size isn’t definite either. He thought he didn’t want small but after spending the summer at Tufts, he changed his mind. He can be slow to warm up to people and he wonders if a large school will make it hard for him to make friends. So now he adds smaller schools to the mix but I do worry they will be too small.
BU is on the list because his sister goes there and likes visiting her. It’s a known entity so feels safe for all of us.
My son is a bit of enigma. I didn’t think he would have liked. the NYU Brooklyn campus but it’s on his list now.
Clarkson worries me due to financial stability and location seems too remote. Hofstra gave my daughter a pretty poor package compared to all the other schools she got into so we never considered ot for our son. Will ask him to look more closely at GWU
Pitt is urban - and the campus not overly large. That’s the difference between it and others.
Morgantown (WV) would be smaller town like Amherst but much bigger sports scenes that’s assured cheaper.
UNH has the train that goes directly into Boston. It splits the really large school and small schools - size wise.
One private to look at is UHA. It may hit the price point. Yes, the name isn’t great but for Meche that doesn’t really matter. ABET accreditation does. I noted York of PA b4 - another likely private to hit.
I should have clarified that BU makes it really easy for engineering students to study abroad. He could do an entire semester abroad and his financial aid will follow him as the programs are school affiliated. It would be financially feasible for and it’s actively encouraged for engineering students to broaden their global perspective and he would still graduate on time . Seems like so many engineering programs make it difficult to study abroad for an entire semester because of the program regiment.
Pitt is similar to BU in that it’s integrated into the city - something my son really didn’t like - he did like University of Rochester where he ended up and thrived in engineering. It has a nice, contained campus adjacent to a city, so if the numbers work it might be the chill vibe he’s looking for - my son definitely found it collaborative. Avoiding competitive schools was pretty important to him. People have mentioned University of Maine, my son found it pretty isolated, so if your son likes BU and Pitt, I don’t see it being a great fit. I can’t compare directly to UMass Amherst as we didn’t visit.
UMaine, Union, Case Western all come to mind and have been mentioned upthread. Pretty different from each other but all share attributes with one’s on your list and may be more affordable.
If going abroad is important to him, the International Engineering programs that tsbna mentioned may well be worth considering. These are dual-degree, five-year programs… but really just 4.5 years in terms of academic semesters, as half of the full year abroad is spent in an international internship, and many students end up launching careers with their internship employers. Both URI and UConn have these programs:
Although not embedded in a city, nor in any way as diverse as BU….climbing rankings quickly but very much NY/NJ/CT people (shockingly so) and very white in comparison - this may not be an issue, but it is a very different vibe to pretty much only have kids from the northeast corridor.
