<p>An anecdote. Friend’s son went to GaTech. By second year he got job as RA, then TA. The resident adviser job paid for room and board. That saved 15,000 a year.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the advice. </p>
<p>S has applied to UMN and UAH so far (but according to the admissions office his chances are slim). His acceptances so far have been :-</p>
<p>1)Michigan 47.5K/year
2)G Tech 38K/year
3)Purdue 37.5K/year
4)Minnesota State University - Mankato 15K/year
5)St Cloud state University 17K/year </p>
<p>He was rejected from Stanford, MIT and Berkley.</p>
<p>Even though money is a problem. Sending S to college at just 17 is a bit of a problem as It has just been a year since we moved to the US and he has done most of his HS in an non-English speaking school and he still has some issues with communications. </p>
<p>I do know that it has been my fault as a parent to have done some research but it has been a rough year with the new job, the house and the new schooling system as it has just been a year since we moved here. </p>
<p>S and I have so far eliminated G tech and Michigan. </p>
<p>I am very much confused with the decision I make.</p>
<p>You need to choose between St. Cloud and Purdue to put down a deposit in the next two days. </p>
<p>As I said, my recommendation would be Purdue for 1 year - It’s a one-time $20K cost while you gain MN residency. You can put down the deposit and still try to get into a University of Minnesota campus </p>
<p>When will he turn 18? Is the issue the size of the school, or the distance? </p>
<p>If the 17 yr-old issues are still a big concern, a couple of other things that I would try is to call University of Minnesota-Morris and see if they will take a late application. They say they have a Mar 15 deadline, but there may still be some openings. That has several features that would make it nice for one year before transferring automatically to Twin Cities. </p>
<ol>
<li>Liberal Arts college - presumably smaller and more supportive that an big university</li>
<li>Not too far from home - 17 year old issues</li>
<li>Has quite decent students (60% in top quarter of class)</li>
<li>No OOS premium - $17K costs</li>
<li>Direct transfer to UM Twin Cities</li>
</ol>
<p>Another liberal arts option, which I’m pretty sure he’d get into immediately is Truman State College in Kirksville, MO, about a 6 hour drive from the Twin Cities. That’s also a public liberal arts college with very high performing students. That costs about 18K. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, the door on Purdue closes in 2 days, and I would deposit to keep it open. You can’t deposit to two schools though.</p>
<p>If your son is still learning English, I can understand your hesitation in sending him away. One thing you might do is contact these more distant schools to see if there is a X student association (X being your country of origin). They might be able to support your son.</p>
<p>None of the other parents have asked this question, so I will:</p>
<p>Are you waiting for Minnesota in-state residence, or are you waiting for your US Legal Permanent Residence? In-state residence will bring your son’s tuition and fees down at UMNTC. US Legal Permanent Residence will mean a bit of difference in financial aid packages and the kinds of student loans your son can take out.</p>
<p>Since your son has been here for only about a year, whether he believes it or not, he needs to stop by the International Students office where ever he goes to study. They have specialized counselors and programs that will be very useful for him in his adaptation to US college life. He also should take advantage of any specialized Advanced Academic English courses that are offered for students who have not studied in English for very long. This can make a really big difference in his success in university-level courses.</p>
<p>Yes, he CAN make a successful transfer from wherever he starts to wherever he would like to be. BUT in order to do so, he needs to take a look at the courses he would be covering in the other program, and do his best to take equivalent courses at his first university. He also needs to earn excellent grades, and to take advantage of any internships, clubs, research opportunities, etc. that will help him develop relationships with the professors who will eventually write his letters of recommendation. Likewise, it is not remotely necessary for him to graduate from a “top” university in order to pursue post-graduate work at a “top” university in his field. Again this will come down to his courses, his grades, his letters of recommendation, his GRE score, his work experience.</p>
<p>Having a parent who is a working engineer, and who also makes hiring decisions and can see the degree programs and work experience that get people jobs, is absolutely priceless. You are worth more to him than attending a “top” school. Your professional network will be invaluable when it comes time for him to job hunt. The difficulty is that he is talking to a bunch of teenagers who probably don’t have this kind of connection, and who have been overly influenced by USNWR and their peer group. He needs to be talking to working engineers, not to the kids.</p>
<p>It is OK for you to say, “I know you were admitted by X, Y, and Z. However, the financial aid you have been offered is not enough to make any of them affordable for us. So, you need to look at A, B, and C which are affordable.” It also is OK for you to say, “Sorry, but the truth is that only D is affordable. You can try again in two years when you are ready to transfer.” I had to have that conversation myself. Happykid will be at our community college for two years.</p>
<p>It is also perfectly OK for you to say, “Your mother and I are not comfortable with sending you across country to X, Y, or Z. We feel it is important for you to stay closer to home for at least one more year.”</p>
<p>Like everything else in life, what you make of college is mostly up to you. The student does indeed make the biggest difference.</p>
<p>Wishing all of you all the best.</p>
<p>I disagree with you Happymom about going to a CC or a lower tier school. This isn’t only about cost anymore. This isn’t about USNWR rankings, it’s about the pace, challenge and standard of excellence that the OP’s son needs to be competitive with his peers. </p>
<p>The OP’s son is an excellent student and was accepted into top engineering programs. Even without the Minnesota residency, spending 1 year at Purdue and 3 at University of Minnesota will only be $110K - within budget. Each year of Minnesota being a resident saves 4K. Once residency is obtained Wisconsin-Madison (a beautiful school indeed) will also be in the mix at an astonishing low cost of about $17K/yr if he can get in. </p>
<p>Since the OP WILL be a Minnesota resident, his other kids will have those options too, so I think it is worth it to splurge for the year or two pending residency to maintain a first-rate challenging curriculum.</p>
<p>I agree with ClassicRockerDad.</p>
<p>You can send a deposit to Purdue, then keep pursuing UMNTC. Your son’s high stats may get him in despite the late date.</p>
<p>I understand your concerns regarding his young age, and his new immigrant status. Nevertheless, his English must be quite good if he scored over 2100 on SAT.</p>
<p>If you feel that he is not mature enough to go to college further away, I am sure you can defer for a year, and let him work or volunteer while living at home, but at least he will have a good option secured for next fall.</p>
<p>You let him apply to Stanford, MIT and Berkley - I am guessing that if he got accepted you would let him go there. Just like there is a huge difference between St Cloud and Stanford, there is a huge difference between St Cloud and Purdue.</p>
<p>EasternDad,</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad mentioned Truman State University a few posts ago as a school to start out at, prior to transferring to MN-TC or WI. I’m pretty sure it is not too late to get an admission. They are a very generous school with merit scholarships, and they do like to get OOS students. Whether or not merit money is still available, I don’t know.</p>
<p>There are many high stat students at this school, due to the generous merit aid. Probably the largest chunk of the OOS students are from the Chicago area, partly because Kirksville is on the Amtrak route to Chicago (a few miles away, but the school sends a shuttle to and from the station).</p>
<p>Kirksville is a small town. If one of your concerns is a young kid getting swept into the seamier side of American college life, I think it is safe to say that is pretty remote at Truman State University. The student body is involved in campus activities because many of the merit scholarships require participation in school and community volunteer groups, clubs and organizations.</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad is a very smart guy, and has a creative mind. He is giving you some interesting–and good–ideas. And although he hasn’t presented his credentials on this thread, I’m pretty sure he is a working engineer with at least one degree from a very tippy top engineering school. Give his suggestions some thought.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks Midmo :-)</p>
<p>Yes I am a working engineer with BSEE, MSEE, PhD in Electrical Engineering, all from MIT. </p>
<p>Not sure how smart it is of me to be addicted to CC, though if I can help some people, maybe it’s ok. CC has been a huge help to me.</p>
<p>Well, you are not going to wow the crowd here with Minnesota State-Mankato and St. Cloud State, but any ABET accredited program whose graduates regularly pass the engineering exams are good places to go. Finding out who recruits there would also be informative. No, they are not the best, but they aren’t horrible either.</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad: Would you think think that UW-Stout could be an option? It is only an hour east of the Twin Cities. My husband has a couple of non engineer employees from there and they had positive things to say about it.</p>
<p>EasternDad: University of Wisconsin-Stout is a public polytechnic. <a href=“http://admissions.uwstout.edu/[/url]”>Admissions & Aid;
<p>I have no idea. I only mentioned Morris because as you said, it’s an easy transfer to UMinn and it seems to have a lot of good (not great) students judging by SAT and ACT scores. I only mentioned Truman because it’s cheap, not too far, has good students and probably still has openings. I think the lowest risk option is still Purdue - while pursuing admission to UMinn. The kid moved from Europe and despite his communication difficulty was still able to do extremely well in HS and get admitted to top engineering schools, including Michigan, which needed an essay. Unless he’s extremely shy and withdrawn, where he might be afraid to seek out help if he needs it, I think that he’ll be fine at Purdue. If he is really shy and withdrawn, maybe a year at a smaller more nurturing liberal arts college like Truman or Morris would be beneficial. I do think that it’s worthwhile going to a place with a core group of excellent students.</p>
<p>Eastern Dad,</p>
<p>Please take a look at UW-Platteville. It has a wonderful and highly regarded engineering program and you might find a friendly admissions department there. It would be an easy transfer to UW-Madison after a year or two if that was best for your son.</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>*
S has applied to UMN and UAH so far (but according to the admissions office his chances are slim). His acceptances so far have been :-*</p>
<p>For UMN? or for UAH? I can’t believe that his chance for admission or for scholarships would be difficult at UAH with his stats.</p>
<p>Sending S to college at just 17 is a bit of a problem as It has just been a year since we moved to the US and he has done most of his HS in an non-English speaking school and he still has some issues with communications.</p>
<p>I would get him into some kind of English immersion or something over the summer to strengthen his English skills.</p>
<p>Both my brothers barely graduated high school. (Bright but lazy and smoked way too much pot. It was the early 80s) Both went to junior college, got good grades, transfered to a Tier 5 or Tier 6 school in engineering because it was close to home and inexpensive. So, while they had decent college grades, they had hardly an impressive educational record. </p>
<p>Today both are esteemed professionals in high positions with top employers and both make very very comfortable incomes.</p>
<p>It can be done. Without a Tier 1 (or even Tier 4!) education</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad,</p>
<p>I certainly agree that there are qualitative differences between the educational environments at different institutions. However, I am struggling with the math that EasternDad has described for his family situation. </p>
<p>If the 130K mentioned is for the first child, and there is another 130K available already for the second child, and time to save for the third child, money is certainly much less of an issue than if the 130K is the total available at present, and of that 1/4 is not actual cash saved but some kind of bank credit that is available for the family. In the latter case, there would be a total of 97.5K available free and clear for all three children over the course of something like 12 years of college or about 8K per child per year (in present dollars). This would mean that money is indeed an issue for the family.</p>
<p>I do not know the community colleges in Minnesota, but if the student is interested in completing his degree at UMNTC, and if money (and/or emotional maturity) is an issue, two years at the closest community college that has a formal articulation agreement in his major with UMNTC would be a reasonable way to start. One particular advantage of this plan is that all of the community college students would be expecting to transfer after two years, and a decent number of them would be headed into UMNTC. A fair number of them will probably transfer there after the first year. </p>
<p>At present, there is a 20k/year difference between Purdue and St. Cloud, a 22k/year difference between Purdue and Mankato, and about a 17K/year difference between Purdue and UMNTC. If this family were to follow the suggestion that the student spend a year at Purdue with intent to transfer back to Minnesota, there is the very real chance that the student will not want to (or be able to) transfer to UMNTC. This could leave the family locked into paying four years of out-of-state tuition - or somewhere in the range of 80k over in-state rates. I just cannot in all conscience recommend that route given my understanding of their finances.</p>
<p>Another person who agrees with ClassicRockerDad. I would seriously consider Purdue. It sounds like you are not a resident of MN so I would send him to Purdue the first year. Once you have that first year down, if he wants to transfer to a school in MN or UW-Madison or Platteville, it would make great sense and he would be with peers who are like him. The money sounds like it would not be any/much different than the instate school he is considering.</p>
<p>The great thing about Purdue (and I sure someone will correct me if I am wrong) is that all engineering students take the same curriculum and then apply to the major of their choice. Also Purdue has a great co-op program which he could take advantage of. I can not emphasize the importance of a school such as Purdue and it’s contacts. A co-op would further add to what he could contribute to his education. My S has earned enough on his summer internship to pay for his room and board. It has greatly helped us afford his education. </p>
<p>As far as him being young at school and far away, I would hope that he would be fine. It sounds like he is smart enough for great schools to accept him. They think he is mature enough to handle the work. Purdue is a great school and the people of Indiana are very friendly. I would think he would do fine at Purdue and if he doesn’t, you can bring him home after a semester. I think that it would be worth it to try.</p>
<p>My S knows engineers at UW Madison and Platteville. He’s very impressed with their schooling and opportunities if your S would want to transfer after a year. Seeing as he could go to these schools instate I think that they are very respectable. </p>
<p>I think that schools are important for engineering but in different ways than just prestige. They are important for their reputation in the engineering community and the employers that recruit from that particular school. That translates to better co-op opportunities and job prospects. And ultimately how much they make after school.</p>
<p>katliamom</p>
<p>That was 30 years ago. Today it is not the same.</p>
<p>Not same, of course. But not dramatically different either, according to them. Both brothers do a lot of hiring and they often look at grads from the lesser known schools. The east coast brother says in his experience those students are hungrier and seem to feel less entitled than their counterparts from the well known universities. And the brother who stayed on the west coast still recruits from the same Tier 5-6 school from which he graduated.</p>