DD26 has most of her decisions and has it narrowed it down to UT-Austin v Syracuse (she is still waiting on CalPoly SLO (which seems unlikely as she wasn’t in on the first wave), Cornell and ND).
We live in TX, so in-state tuition (which can be locked)/living at UT for all 5 years of the Barch we’ve estimated at 187K. Syracuse gave her the Orange award for 32K/year, but tuition increases/travel/living we’ve estimated around 389K for all 5 years.
Both schools have highly regarded BArch programs and Syracuse might have a bit of a major edge but UT has an overall edge in “prestige” factor.
Because UT was a reach (DD was not auto-admit at top 7% and even had she been, Arch is one of the hardest admits to get), she cast a wide net and we visited many places. She fell in love with vibes of both CalPoly and Syracuse.
My husband and I both went to UT, so she has grown up visiting, going to games, and always had UT on her list of desired schools - but because she was not auto, she stopped hoping for it because she really did not think it was going to be a choice.
As for her preferences, she does not want to be involved in Greek life, wants a school with a good sports atmosphere and a beautiful campus in a fun city (she likes big or small). She also really wants to get out of Texas and do something new, be in a place with a different culture (and weather). She wants a diverse campus (we are in a very homogenous suburb).
There is enough money saved for either school to be funded (barring a stock market crash, tuition skyrocketing or her losing her scholarship). However she would be able to keep any money left over and there is quite a large difference in cost. The pressure of keeping a 3.0 for the Syracuse scholarship is something I am also concerned about. She is a great student but I know architecture is very demanding and grades can sometimes be subjective depending on professors. Without that scholarship, she’d have to take out loans to finish her degree. Architects don’t have massive salaries and average between $50-70K out of school.
Additionally, the move to a different state would necessitate changing doctors for some chronic health issues she deals with and the inability to come home often or get support easily if needed. It is a lot to manage and that would add more pressure for her in a new school/area.
(Oh, and her BF is going to Cornell, so even though she says it’s not a factor, he will be a 1 hour car ride away versus a plane ride.)
She is leaning Syracuse with her emotions, but her head (and her financial advisor Dad) feel like UT is the smarter choice. She is very conflicted and we are all a little stressed about how to help her make the best decision when there are so many variables and unknowns. I’m also a little concerned that if she hates architecture for some reason and wants to switch majors, she would be overpaying for her second choice major of Political Science at Syracuse and would have no money left if she wanted to pivot for a grad or law school track. UT gives her the option to transfer fairly easily into a Liberal Arts major at a low cost with money left for post grad life.
Any advice for us or her would be greatly appreciated!
I keep reminding her that good tortillas will be hard to find in upstate NY!
