<p>Congrats lindz, on picking the best fit for you. You are right in doing so. The truth is, none of use can really tell how “good” an education anyone will get at school A vs school B, and I truly believe that a passionate student will go after what they want/need and get it at any school they attend. My nephew is at UMDCP - a very bright kid. And very happy there.</p>
<p>Back to the q about engineering. Yes, I believe drizzit is right-- a lot of regional hiring does happen. Easier for them to recruit on campus. My s is staying in his college town (city) for the second summer in a row for a mech E internship. Both last yrs and this yrs oppties are with big, international companies, so he would, if he is hired by one of them, have an opportunity to go anywhere (hopefully). But for now, the bulk of the internships are regional.</p>
<p>Slightly different topic. I cant find the post right off hand that did a great job of describing my younger s. He is one of those kids who doesnt like to “stand out” or have attention called to him. He will participate in discussions and all that, but he doesn’t want do do something that makes him look “different” or “better”, even if it is beneficial for him. I may not explain this well without accidentally offending someone, but I will do my best.</p>
<p>We have had this "better school/ no money, lesser school/ merit $$ scholarship discussion many times over in our house. He would rather go to a smaller (small to mid-sized), “better” school, where he will not be different, will not be lost in a large crowd, where he can get smaller classes and where everyone is pretty bright and takes their studies seriously than go to what might be considered a slightly “lesser”, perhaps bigger school and go to the honors college. He absolutely detests the idea of getting “preferential” housing, would feel embarassed by getting early registration for classes, special travel funds, etc. I think he’s being silly. Its not like the honors kids where a special uniform or a big red “H” on their shirts or something. But he feels quite strongly about this. He would rather be the middle of the top than the top of the middle. Unfortunately, this means he’ll likely be applying to schools where he’ll be lucky to get in, and it is unlikely any $$ (other than NM, hopefully) will be at issue (if it is a school that offers NM, which is usually a small award, not likely to make a dent in the tuitions we are talking about). He is currently thinking he wants to go premed, and realizes we have a finite “pot” of education dollars set aside. He has mulled this over and has gone back and forth, but keep coming back to wanting the smaller, “better” undergrad experience, realizing it’ll eat up the education dollars. We are expecting him to apply to flagship U as a safety (but again he is avoiding the very well respected honors program). The rest of the schools seem to be ones that will cost us big bucks. He did go look at College of Charleston (was willing to at least look at the Honors program) and disliked it. He’s still got schools like Pomona, CMC, UNC-CH (out of state), Emory, Vandy, Davidson and Rice on his radar screen. Might peek at U of Miami or Tulane as ones that muight offer $$, but he wants a school that has a lot of on-campus housing, and U Miami doesnt. I am still nervous about Tulane… so we’ll see. So, we may not be facing this $$$$ vs “prestige” decision, as I dont know if he’ll be offered any $$ if he focuses on these schools. Thoughts??</p>
<p>As an aside, Cheers, starting salary for engineers is in about the mid 50’s, but unfortunately they plateau quickly. Many engineers make bigger $$ by getting off the basic engineer track. I am sure you know this, as you are likely to interact with many enginers in the courseof your architecture work. But it will take engineers a while to pay off those loans.</p>
hardee-har-har! Now what’s this all about???
And hehe… I would be a bit “MOOOOOOOOM! grrrr!” if it turned out mi beloved madre always knew my new girlfriend’s family ;]</p>