<p>Apply: [UAHuntsville</a> | Prospective Students<a href=“click%20on%20Apply%20Now!”>/url</a> Easy to apply online. If I remember correctly, no essays or recs are needed. The school admits and awards scholarships purely by stats.</p>
<p>Send me a PM if you have any questions. (Since you’re new to CC…click on my screenname and a menu will open, click on “send a private message.”)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>If you also want to try to get the Presidential & engineering scholarship from Bama, let me know, I’ll tell you how to proceed with that. :)</p>
<p>*I have three sons and I have saved up 130K for each son (only the first 2, the last one is in junior high). *</p>
<p>Are you saying that you’ve saved $260k for two kids’ education? I realize that that is not enough for 4 years at a private for each kid (and you have a 3rd son).</p>
<p>So, it looks like you’re trying to save on the first 2 years, to pay about $110k for the last 2 years…is that right?</p>
<p>I thought that Purdue had a new scholarship program where if you had high stats it would be about the same cost of a in state public.</p>
<p>As a parent of one child at a good Tier 3 school and one at Tier 1 school, I completely agree with the posters who say that classes are harder and the curve higher at the better ranked school.</p>
<p>Saying that, my child at the Tier 3 school has had great leadership opportunities, great professors, great internships. I am not worried at all that he won’t be very employable. He is at a school which is regional and has a very good reputation in engineering.</p>
<p>Be very careful about transferring credits. I know a woman who a few years ago transferred from Cal to University of Hawaii in engineering. Very few of her credits from Berkeley were accepted at UofH. Took her three years to graduate from UofH, after two years at Cal. </p>
<p>(I really can’t comment on someone transferring the other direction…)</p>
<p>^ Most of the upper division required courses are not transferable. Easterndad, your son should be in good shape if he attends an ABET accredited school and graduates > 3.3 GPA if he goes into engineering.</p>
<p>Many people transfer out of these engineering schools. Acceptance does not insure that a kid can do the work. Your S’s scores would indicate that he can as long as he works hard. Before I sent a kid to one of these schools, I’d want some assurance that the kid understands that it will be lots of hard work.</p>
<p>I’m not an engineer, but a professor in a selective state flagship that guarantees to accept kids as transfers from in-state community colleges, provided they have a high GPA. That’s not very different from what you’re envisioning. The transfer option is a good deal in a way, because the first two years are much cheaper, but there can be problems that are hard to foresee. Kids coming from the less-rigorous environment don’t really have the same background as kids who’ve been at the state flagship for their first two years, so they can find themselves unprepared for upper-level classes just at the point where they really need to be specializing in their major field, where they need high grades for graduate schools etc. Also, many universities do little to orient transfer students; the “nurturing” that they lavish on first-semester freshmen is lacking and some of the kids don’t get adequate advising. A really self-motivated, gifted go-getter can make it work, but I’ve seen quite a few kids flounder and get discouraged. I’ve tried to help such students when I’ve come across them (I was a transfer to an Ivy League school myself, and had a very hard time my first semester). But it’s difficult when I’m teaching an upper-level class and the kid really needs what I would consider a basic freshman introduction.</p>
<p>Check out ABET on the web, for engineering accreditation at schools throughout the country. In our state there’s a lower tier school that is accredited and our flagship school is not. The students graduating from the accredited program are sought and have 100% placement- the rigor is high even though the school is a “lesser” name.</p>
<p>These days, nearly the only people who can transfer into a UC or most CSU’s are those who attend the feeder cc. So, unless he’s going to Berkeley City College, he’s not transferring into Berkeley, and even then it’s not assured.</p>
<p>1) Can my S still apply to a CC in cal for fall 2010 ?
2) What would be the admission process for the a good CC and which one would you people would recommend for Berkley ?
3) What if he goes to the state school for 2 years and thinks about a transfer (if not Berkley, what about schools like Michigan and Illinois ?). I might also add that he is a very bright kid and works really hard.
4) As far as the finances are concerned, I might take up loans if he gets into a top school by transfer. So he would have to really work hard for it (Whether it is the state school, CC or UAH) </p>
<p>You will have to look up info on California CC’s, there is a website, and check OOS tuition. This is a viable cost option for instate people who live at home with their family and the transfer agreement is solid as long as you fufill the requirements. Still no guarantee that you get into any specific UC. But this seems a strange route to take for young OOS kid. Usually there are no dorms, so he has to live on his own with no help from the school. The students are a mixed bag, often struggling and lots drop out, might be better in math type classes.
[California</a> Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office](<a href=“http://www.cccco.edu/]California”>http://www.cccco.edu/)</p>
<p>I agree that out of state transfer will have no shot at a UC. I find this whole transfer plan worrisome. Different 4 years will have various distribution requirements and you will have to be very careful in planning. Also, the overall transfer rate for top schools can be extremely small. Even a large school like Perdue only has 1,715 transfers in last year reported on [Free</a> College Search | Scholarships | College Admissions Requirements](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5DFree”>http://www.collegeboard.com), and that is all departments transfer rate, don’t know engineering alone. In addition, Perdue says that some departments are not open to transfers, better check if Eng is one.</p>
<p>It is very likely that schools with programs that have strong national reputations may be reluctant to admit students from such lower tier schools. It is possible they may not feel the student is as well prepared as in their own program. This you should check school by school before assuming you have a viable plan.</p>
<p>I can’t say that I know much about engineering, but my own daughter was in math/CS and her department reputation was certainly a factor in getting into a top grad school. And overall the quality of peers, faculty, research availabilty was so outstanding…but then I didn’t have the dilemma of having to shell out the big bucks. In your son’s case, I can’t help but think that some doors would be opened by going to one of the schools with the national reputation, if you can.</p>
<p>Several of my sons friends are engineering majors in top 20 schools. There is a big difference in the type of work they do compared to lower tiered schools. These lower level classes are his foundation to the more difficult classes and if he is at a lower tier school I would think he would be at a great disadvantage. </p>
<p>If finances are an issue why not consider a medium tiered school that he could complete his education. I just don’t see the purpose of going into a school with the hope of transferring with a degree like engineering. This is a very plausible plan with many degrees but I don’t think it is the right way to go with engineering.</p>
<p>Your son has been admitted to 3 top 10 engineering schools. You have 130K saved up. I agree that Michigan ($45K per year) is too expensive, but Purdue and Georgia Tech are each about $35K per year. You have $130K saved up. I think that the small difference can be made up through loans or his summer employment. You are very close, and it’s not a lot of debt for a would be engineer. Am I missing something?</p>
<p>momma-three–If the OP’s kid has AP credits, he may not even have to take “lower level” courses at the “lower tier” school. </p>
<p>My S will enter as a sophomore in engineering, due to AP Calc., chem, bio, physics, and stats. He will be ahead of kids who haven’t had calculus at all, perhaps because their HS didn’t offer it, or they weren’t on the “track” from Jr. Hi. Doesn’t mean they’re stupid cause they didn’t have the background to get into the top 20 colleges…just a year or two behind. In other words, “Tier” is a misleading designation and may not refer to the Engineering school within the university anyway.</p>
<p>And I expect some kids will have better mechanical or hands on engineering skills than my S who mostly has book larnin’. ;)</p>
<p>I too am an engineer. I went to CWRU in the '80s. I work with young engineers now. The engineering curriculum of this time is not like it was in our day. </p>
<p>Your son got into very very good schools. You can probably almost afford them. It is a huge mistake to make him go to a Tier 4 school or community college. These options are for people who have no other options, and they then rise above them if they can.</p>
<p>Im not sure why you didnt have him apply to midrange schools where he would get merit aid? His stats are strong but not super strong, they are typical of people who are very happy to get into places like Purdue.</p>
<p>I completely agree with ClassicRockerDad. Doors open from these schools. Is your S willing to take out loans? Why did you let him apply to these schools if you want him to go to community college?</p>