@ANewName105 And keep in mind, WPI is more of a regionally known school. Won’t help you so much if you try to get a job in California. RPI is more national known for some reason. So think about what taking on debt will actually buys you. The only schools I would take on large debt for are Stanford and MIT.
I think Case Western is out - I think you needed to apply before 1/15. You could look at UT Dallas. If you apply before 2/1 and accepted by 3/1, you are elgible for consideration of AES scholarships. If you receive any of them, you would get instate tuition. The one your stats are average for would pay tuition, fees and $1000/semester for living. Not a guarantee but you have an edge - you are out of state and they are looking for that. It is a good STEM school in a dynamic work/social environment - lots of potential internships and the cost of living is quite reasonable. Easy to get to as well. Take a look.
Do we know what this student’s major or career goal is? Since he’s applied to Olin and WPI, I’m guessing eng’g or some STEM.
He’s missed many merit deadlines, but there are some schools that still offer merit.
@ANewName105 Please ask your parents how much they WILL pay each year.
What is your major and career goal?
If Eng’g, apply to UAHuntsville. UAH has very good eng’g, large merit is still available, and lots of co-ops and internships since it’s located in Cummings Research Park, the 2nd largest research park in the nation. An int’l airport is only 5 minutes away. Huntsville is filled with transplants, so it doesn’t have a southern feel at all. It feels more like a southern Calif city…like Irvine.
I’ve started looking at some more colleges, and I’m wondering if any of you have input on them in terms of costs and possible merit/aid I might get:
- Temple University
- Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT)
- Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
- UMaine Orono
I looked on the UMaine Orono website and it seems like there’s a large disparity between costs for in-state tuition and out-of-state, but there’s also tuition for “New England Regional (NEBHE),” which is still significantly lower than OOS tuition. As a Massachusetts resident, would I be able to get the NEBHE tuition at UMaine Orono?
@gearmom mentioned RPI as a more nationally known institute than WPI, but it seems like overall costs are similar. Does RPI have good merit/aid? Is it unlikely that I’d get anything with my stats and my late application anyways?
As far as speaking with my parents and doing NPCs, I’m going to be running those later tonight, but when I spoke with my parents they expressed an alarmingly small concern over costs, making it seem like anyone can afford college. They also expressed the opinion that graduating from a good school will land me a good job and I’ll be able to pay off all my debts, and that going to a lower caliber school might make it more difficult to find such a job. What are your opinions on this? I figure it’s safer to go with a cheaper school since there’s no guarantee that I’ll ever get a high paying job, even with a more expensive education, so better to have little debt in the first place than wager that I’ll be able to pay off more debt.
Edit: Also just heard about Bowdoin University. It seems fairly expensive, but I’m told they have really good merit and aid. At this point is it likely that I’d get good enough aid to Bowdoin to make it worthwhile to apply, or should I not bother?
Of the big automatic scholarship schools with engineering in http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ , the ones with applications that still might be open are:
Alabama - Huntsville
Alabama - Birmingham
Tuskegee
Florida A&M
Mississippi
Temple
Prairie View A&M
The following are past deadline:
Alabama - Tuscaloosa (12/1 scholarship deadline)
Howard (first come first served scholarships, probably has run out by now)
Louisiana Tech (1/5 scholarship deadline)
If you are a Massachusetts resident…beginning 2016-2017 school year, you would pay the instate rate for Massachusetts if you attend U of Maine-Orono.
@ANewName105 RPI could possible have better aid than WPI. I’m surprised that you have not received apply free offers if you were accepted at WPI. RIT could possibly give you a nice aid package. What is your field of interest exactly? We were torn between URI our state school and UMaine. My guy did get into UMass with an O’k scholarship but it was bigger in size than what he wanted. WPI was the first choice but even with a scholarship it was 40kish and he doesn’t want debt. We really liked UMaine. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere but the engineering seemed solid. URI would be comparable to that and actually many of the UMaine professors went there. Your final cost for either school would be around 24kish for OOS if there is still $ left. In three years at URI there will be all new engineering buildings, 140 million dollar project. One thing that we didn’t really consider was location. My guy is in a club that competes at UMass, Harvard, Brown, Yale and frankly it’s fun to get around. I know Lowell is not an awesome location but technically it is a solid choice. He has great internships at a big Mass company so the school name will not matter for him. Sorry this is rambling.
Once more…as a Massachusetts resident, this student would pay the Massachusetts in state rate if he attends University of Maine-Orono. New initiative beginning this application round.
You can only borrow ~$5500/year, so the extent of your debt will be ~$27k total. Are your parents willing to pay the difference out-of-pocket or take private loans (in their names) to cover the cost of expensive schools?
@gearmom Didn’t consider that, but location probably is pretty important, in the sense that if I can get good internships with well-known companies it’ll probably benefit me more than any college name could, right?
@mom2collegekids I currently intend to major in Computer and/or Electrical Engineering. I haven’t thought too much about a career goal, I just want something that will let me pay off my debts swiftly and fund my hobby of building computers (not always cheap). Frankly, I’m not sure what I want to do yet, I just know I want to be involved with computers.
@thumper1 Thanks for that information! So I would be paying the tuition and fees rate of UMass for $14,171 at UMaine? That’s a large step better than $26,640.
You would be paying the UMass Amherst tuition/fees costs…plus add in room and board at Orono.
Tuition and fees at UMass Amherst are just under $15,000 a year. Add $10,000 for room and board. Your costs to attend UMass would be about $25,000 a year…and would be aboutmthemsame for UMaine Orono, I believe.
You would,not be paying the out of state tuition rate…which would make your cost of attendance at Maine about $40,000 a year.
Contact U Maine and ask! They will give you the definitive answer!
@thumper1 @ANewName105 You have to add room and board to that 14K number. So thumper, with the very large merit scholarships for OOS in the past, you pretty much paid an instate rate already, do they stack merit on top of that deal? THAT would make it worth it. UMaine has good internship program. I’m an engineer and so is my husband. Internships are huge for future employment. Run the NPC for UMaine @ANewName105
Your best bet is to show love to UMass. You’re instate so you do not have a big perspective but it is a really good and highly regarded engineering school. They track your interest. Go on Spire and check your status. They know if you check. Call them and check your status. I know that they are running behind but they were supposed to tell you by Jan 15.
Look at the web site for UAHuntsville. Excellent in engineering and STEM - with a lot of engineering government and private industry (research park) opportunities. It is a quality engineering program. You may find this a good low cost option based on your merit. Merit is spelled out on a chart - GPA and ACT/SAT.
UA-Tuscaloosa was more of the big school stuff, but you missed the deadline.
I added room and board. Cost to,attend UMaine would be about $25,000 a year. See post 51. Still a better deal,than OOS $40,000 costs.
I don’t know what they do about merit aid for this at UMaine. It’s a brand new initiative starting this application round.
Hmmm UMaine had an automatic 15k Flagship scholarship for good OOS students for sometime which has made the final cost 25k. This new offer is a good deal for weaker students and becomes dazzling if they offer merit on top of that. Engineering will often offer a 1k scholarship on top of that which is why I gave the 24k estimate. Which reminds me @ANewName105 Go check out the Dearborn Scholarship which is only offered o select schools which includes WPI and UMaine. You might be too late and it’s a bit of work but I bet you’d do well on the mechanical portion. Think it’s worth 5K.
I think UMaine wants to attract more students period…and this offer to OOS students from these states is an appealing one…especially for students who want to go OOS, and whose parents have said they will only pay instate costs.
Also, if you love the outdoors, Maine has four season outdoor things to do. Great for those who love skiing, hiking, biking, and anything outdoors!
Of course, you also have to want a very remote, rural campus!
@thumper1 I just went to the UMaine website. This is actually just really smart marketing. Flagship match top tier awards which are based on stats are not as high as last year’s flat 15k flagship award.
@gearmom Just looked up the Dearborn Scholarship, and it looks like it’s open until February 15th, so I’ll have to get started on that immediately.
@thumper1 @gearmom So far UMaine is sounding pretty good, but from what I’ve gathered, costs are about the same as UMass? Or are you saying there’s an additional scholarship that might apply to me that was $15k last year, which would bring the cost of UMaine down to lower than UMass?
To anyone wondering about how much my parents are willing to pay for my college, I asked them and they said that they can’t pay any cash upfront but they’re willing to help me with loans if necessary. Also, it appears that I have no college fund. Where does this leave me? Will I be able to afford anything OTHER than the ~$25k estimates people are making for UMass/UMaine? For that matter, will I want to afford anything other than the ~$25k estimates for UMass/UMaine?
Thanks again to everyone who’s helped me out so far!
If your parents cannot or will not contribute to fund your college costs, this leaves you needing to come up with a large amount of money on your own.
You can take a $5500 Direct Loan for the first year. This might cover most of the tuition at a community college. I can’t see that you would easily be able to fund a four year residential college…with tuition, room board and fees costs yourself.
I would also be very careful in terms of the amount of loans you take out.
You can check to see what U Alabama Huntsville would guarantee for a scholarship for you. Then see how much is left for you to fund.
Is there any college to which you can commute?
Did you apply to UMass Lowell? It’s less expensive than UMass Amherst, and you might get merit aid there.
Also, is it that your parents are low income, and can’t afford to contribute, or what?
Those schools on your list that meet full need will expect your family to contribute the family contribution. You won’t get need based aid to cover that.