<p>Search and PM Miamidap for some insight on Miami university.</p>
<p>Two of DS1’s friends went to Miami University. They paid OOS tuition with some kind of scholarship. One of them received almost 70% full-ride at our state U. I would guess that Miami U must be a pretty decent school.</p>
<p>^ No, Miamidap is from Miami Florida. This Miami is Ohio. Anyway, go to cheaper option. You’ll be doing fine graduating from an ABET school.</p>
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<p>Wrong. Her daughter graduated from Miami of Ohio.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you call someone at Miami and find out if you can get into the Honors program either now or after you’ve enrolled at the school. I know some colleges have a system where you can apply to the Honors program once you’re enrolled if your GPA is above a certain point. I’d also ask about the Honors dorms – if this is important to you, you could ask if there is any way you could get into one either now or after you’re a student there. </p>
<p>Best wishes. I know you like Case, but I agree with the others that your debt burden would be too high there.</p>
<p>JVT…not only did Miamidap D’s daughter graduate from Miami-Ohio, she got a large merit scholarship there to attend. I know this for a FACT! She’s now a first year med student at Case.</p>
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Is he paying for your sister’s college education?</p>
<p>*My dad is willing to take out a PLUS loan. </p>
<p>He has good income, but between mortgage, saving up to retire, my sister in college etc. etc. he just can’t pay much out of pocket. I have no college savings fund either.*</p>
<p>How much is your dad paying for your sister? Is he willing to pay the same amount for you? If not, why not? A parent should split the amount so things are fair.</p>
<p>Will your dad be responsible for paying back the Plus loan or will you? If you’ll be paying that back, then that’s a bad idea.</p>
<p>sometimes there is a floor or wing of a dorm that you can request to be on called “Substance Free”. The kids pledge not to use/have alcohol, drugs etc. A nice way to meet others with a like mindset.</p>
<p>Frankly, the way it works at “party schools” is this…</p>
<p>The STEM majors tend to be more serious students and party a LOT less. </p>
<p>As a CS or EE major, you’re going to have a bunch of very serious classmates who don’t have time to party-hardy like those in the less-demanding majors.</p>
<p>My kids’ undergrad has a much larger rep for being a party school, but my kids’ majors are Math and Chemical Engineering…little time to party.</p>
<p>My DS is just finishing his sophomore year at Miami and loves it. The learning and educational opportunities are great - with a lively social element. Miami does have a reputation as a “work hard, play hard” school. However, M2C is correct, certain majors tend to be more serious and less likely to over do the partying. While you might have missed the application deadline for Honors, check the website - you can apply as a Miami student.</p>
<p>Miami has a lot to offer with its USN&WR 3rd in the country ranking for undergraduate education, original “public ivy” designation, and its phenominal reputation in the job market. Don’t send your dad to the “poor house” over leveraging for a dream. While DS’s merit scholarship is nice, I’m still paying OOS tuition - I wish we had instate tuition! Don’t let a few beer bottles or plastic cups dictate the decision because the reality is, unless you are at BYU or a bible college there will be partying. Even at Miami, less than 1/3 of the kids are greek - you should be able to find plenty of kids who aren’t out to make a fool of themselves.</p>
<p>I do not think I would want to recommend the high debt load, but most of the debt is actually going to be your fathers. I</p>
<p>We have no evidence that the debt will be the dad’s.</p>
<p>All we know is that the dad wants to save for retirement and he’s willing to sign a plus loan. That doesn’t sound like he’s paying it back. Someone “saving” for retirement instead of helping with college isn’t likely going to pay back Plus loans.</p>
<p>It sounds like the dad will sign for the loans, but the student is supposed to pay them back.</p>
<p>But if the dad signs for the PLUS loans, he will be on the hook to the federal government to pay them back. If the student can pay Dad for them, well and good, but the student is not legally on the hook. It’s when it’s the kid taking out the loan and Dad cosigning that it becomes the Kid and Dad Act since both will be on the hook, both will get their credit reports duly noted and both will be dunned by the lender and both will face all kinds of issues if not repaid, and if either dies or drops of the face of the earth, the other is still fully liable. The evidence that the debt is Dad’s will be when he signs the PLUS.</p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>At Miami you don’t have to be in the Honor’s program to request honor’s housing!!!</p>
<p>Just make that your housing selection and you will be with a more quiet group. I had two Ds in Tappan Hall. It was great. </p>
<p>Also, I have spent time in Oxford during the week and on weekends. It’s really not that crazy. People are out on weekends walking uptown and socializing. That is part of college. Weekends after midnight can have some noise on High Street and some of it can be loud guys horsing around. It is a small percentage of the 16+ students that go there. There are house parties, some more rowdy than others, I would guess. The students are too busy to party too much. They wouldn’t be able to maintain their grades. I can tell you they spend a lot of time on schoolwork. </p>
<p>You make your college experience what you want it to be no matter where you go. Become active in groups that interest you and you will be fine. A cappella groups are very strong at Miami as is the men’s Glee Club. There are many things to chose from that don’t involve drinking and you won’t feel like a geek for being a part of that group. It is not high school. D2 is not involved with the Greek system or partying and does just fine with what she is into. </p>
<p>It is wonderful to graduate with no debt! You don’t realize that yet–but it is! Follow the money.</p>
<p>D1 was accepted into 9 top universities for grad school, some with scholarships and great assistantships. Miami has been a great place for her undergraduate education. She will cherish the friendships and her years at Miami.</p>
<p>But if the dad signs for the PLUS loans, he will be on the hook to the federal government to pay them back. If the student can pay Dad for them, well and good, but the student is not legally on the hook.</p>
<p>Oh I agree. But let’s face it. If the agreement is that the child pay because Dad can’t pay for college because he has to get ready for retirement, the parent/child relationship would implode if the limited income retiring dad ended up having to make or help make the payments. This is the only parent this kid has…do we want that to possibly happen?</p>
<p>Going into debt for a school “name” just isn’t a good idea. Once you’re working and you find out that your colleagues from other schools (like MiamiU) are earning what you’re earning, the annoyance at making loan payments is going to sky-rocket.</p>
<p>Miami U will provide him the education he needs.</p>
<p>Don’t saddle yourself (or your parents!) with huge debt. Engineers make good money, but not that great of money, especially right out of school. Think what you can do with an extra $750/month!!! You can get a car, save for a house, do some traveling… Also having that amount of debt to repay could limit where you can afford to live. What if you get a great job offer in California or New York? This could make the difference between being able to reasonably live in those areas or not. Engineers don’t make enough more in those areas to compensate for the high cost of living. You may think a salary of $60K per year sounds great, but after taxes it isn’t enough to live the high life. </p>
<p>You will find the kind of kids like you where ever you go to school. Just try to maximize your chances by living in honors dorms, taking honors classes, getting involved in activities that other kids like you are likely to be involved in… </p>
<p>You’ll get that first job if you get an engineering degree and get good grades. Once you walk in the door of your first employer where you graduated from ceases to matter. From then on it is ‘what can you do for me now…’</p>
<p>My son is finishing his first year at Case. It is $54,000/year and we too got the same help for him. We took the grant, and we saved since he was born and are using that and paying monthly. It is a financial hardship on our family. BUT… he loves Case, he is now in a fraternity who the members have an average GPA of 3.8. This was not his first choice school but his safety choice. He was in Biomedical Engineering, but has switched to Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism for Pre Med, he wants to go onto Med School. We are from Michigan, and he we wanted him to have the experience away from home. We could have done a public school here in state, but feel he has made the right choice. You have to go where you feel is you. I struggle with the debt thing and the sacrificing we are doing now, but feel we are setting him up for success. I always tell my kids, I will pay for your education and your smile. Let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>In Chicago, Miami of Ohio would receive much more name recognition than Case Western Reserve. Go to Miami, don’t drink, study hard, and you will be fine…and relatively debt free.</p>
<p>^^ Totally agree with this. In my neck of the woods, Miami of Ohio is well regarded and Case is largely unknown.</p>
<p>That’s interesting, but I don’t know about places other than Illinois. Besides, I already know the general population has never heard of Case, but I have heard that employers do know plenty about Case, and that it is very well regarded. It doesn’t matter though, because I know Case is not viable. Anyone ever heard of Ohio Northern University, and care to weigh in on it?</p>
<p>My dad will take out a PLUS with the expectation that I will pay for as much of it as I can, as soon as I can. I plan to hold up my end of this agreement. He actually makes a really good income, about a third of which is actually retirement income from a previous career. He just puts a really huge portion of it directly into his savings for after he stops working, and he doesn’t have much left to spare from what he allows himself to spend. So I guess you can think of it as “self-imposed unaffordability.”</p>
<p>I’m an engineer and hiring manager in the electronics industry (25 years experience). Safe to say that school image and prestige provides little or no advantage to a new Engineering grad being hired, or their career salary track (unlike other professions such as Law and Medicine). That said, a few prestigious Engineering schools (MIT and Caltech) do get attention on resumes. So do many excellent state schools that are far less expensive (Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly SLO, and Colorado School of Mines). They emphasize “learn by doing” and place importance on “hands on” instead of being pure theory.</p>
<p>The key is to graduate with real world know-how. Take advantage of internships- they provide a far greater hiring advantage than “Designer Label U”. Several school such as Boston U take a holistic approach to Engineering…cultural awareness, good communication and people skills, etc. are vital nowadays as Engineering has really globalized.</p>
<p>Please, stop obsessing over “ever heard of it?” and focus on schools with a well-rounded Engineering program and who partner with local industry. I’m in California; my comments could be somewhat different in other areas of the country. Ask engineers you know for their opinions. Also, most recruiters in the tech industry will be happy to offer guidance and advice.</p>
<p>One exercise- look up the bios of very successful engineers…most are alums of fairly obscure schools. I know that’s also true with my colleagues. An exception to all my comments is if you plan to get into pure research…the pedigree of the school, GPA, and degrees matter a lot more. Examples are doing research at Sandia Labs or an aerospace “skunk works”.</p>
<p>On the earlier comments about PLUS and other government loans: They are “forever” until paid off. In retirement Uncle Sam will even garnish 15-20% of Social Security and Medicare benefits if a PLUS or Stafford loan is past due.</p>
<p>Sorry to be long-winded, but hope this perspective from the “other side” is helpful.</p>