My DC with very strong stats got the following results. Kinds of left us with mixed feelings.
It is extremely competitive out there. If you do not have much money, do not bother to explore. Focus on your safeties. (That what we will do for other kids.)
I am sure results would be quite different if we would commit to ED, but we did not want because of finances.
UMD EA - Got accepted for Honors college in state (half ride - 5k merit) - this was safety school.
Ga Tech EA - waitlisted in RD, automatically eligible for guaranteed legacy transfer after first year with 3.3. GPA and 30 credits after graduation.
Case Western EA - got $27,500 - considered it safety
Carnegie Mellon RD -accepted with 6.5K gift.
University of Michigan EA deferred to RD then waitlisted.
Boston University RD - not selected
Rice RD- not selected
Franklin Olin RD - not selected
John Hopkins RD - not selected
Duke RD - no selected
So choices with cost to family.
UMD (5 k if lives at home) - then transfer to GaTech in a year (30-40 k depending on housing and study abroad.
UMD (5K a year) for 3 years - Bioengineering program . A lot of credits.
Case (40K a year) - 4 years - some limitation with credits.
Carnegie (65 k a year) - 4-5 year. Only double Engineering option.
Let start from bottom up.
4 . As much as my DC was excited about Carnegie, this is not realistic option.
BME there exist only as add on second Engineering major. Double Engineering will take extra time (likely additional year). Will be very challenging. Will cost way too much.
3. Looks like a good solid choice. Visited. Felt like step above UMD. BME program is well established. However it is a bit pricey.
Can be very cold in winter. Not big fans of Cleveland.
This choice does not make sense if to consider transfer to GaTech in a year.
2. UMD - solid school. Close to home. No BME, only Bioengineering. Relatively new program. This is basic no thrill choice.
1. UMD ->GaTech.
This is most logical choice. However it also has a lot of drawbacks too.
Here they are:
If plan to transfer, it makes not sense to go for Honor’s program and spend money for LLP (campus). This would be a year without attachments and without freshmen excitement.
Need to carefully pick only classes that will transfer to GaTech. Those are not necessarily classes that are required for program at UMD. There is some uncertainty what will transfer and what will not. (Looks like nobody transferred from UMD to GaTech from BE. BE UMD classes are not populated in GaTech Oscar for some reason.)
Something may not work and transfer may not happen. ( Even though it is guaranteed transfer you need 3.3 GPA and 30 credits in one year.) In that case it would be mostly wasted year.
With a lot of credits already under the belt, this would be mostly just year to take something to get GPA and credit. Most classes will not be transferred to GaTech.
However DC already has 1 full year of credit for GaTech now…
Your thoughts?
DC is not very excited about transferring. Not very excited about UMD too…However, is ok to go to UMD, since all close friends end up in UMD.
Going to Case in current uncertain coronavirus economy does not look like very rational decision. It is good program, and good fit for DC. But program is not as good as at GaTech to pay so much money.
I can’t see Case or CMU being players. I would go for UMD Honors, leave GT on the table and see if s/he wants to do that or not after being in college a while. It keeps options open and is affordable.
The real best solution. Go to UMD. Stay in dorms first year. Don’t transfer. Get degree in Mechanical Engineering. At end if still interested in BME, go get a Master’s. .
@momsearcheng my D is a freshman BioE at UMD in the Honors College -University Honors. She is interested in BME and was accepted EA to Case, EA Deferred GA Tech and Waitlisted RD, EA deferred U of Mich and Waitlisted RD. She loves UMD and we are OOS so the price tag was made easier with the Presidential but you are in state and that is a great Eng school. Have you been to Case? The atmosphere is much different than UMD.
Thanks @mom517. Looks like your D experience almost identical to my DC (Even same acceptances, wait-lists, Honors programs and scholarships :)). That gives me some hope. Yes we had been to Case. Yes DC liked atmosphere at Case more than at UMD. I guess the big difference is home state. All teenagers believe that grass is greener on the other side of the road. It is also difficult mentally to work so hard all HS and end up only in local program that was your almost guaranteed safety. DC was never really interested in UMD, that is why it is so difficult to commit.
Was UMD your D’s one of top choices? Was she happy to commit? What is your home state (if you do not mind?)
UMD was not a top choice. Her top choice was Villanova which she got into EA. I am an alum. She applied to their Chem E (no BioE)program. We live about 20 mins from there. We are a full pay family so that was off the table as they gave no money. Second choice was Univ of Miami which I consider the sexy version of Villanova in a warmer location lol. She got the Presidential there but still way too much money. My D wants a social life and school spirit and sports as you can tell by the above two schools so that ruled Case out immediately. We went to the overnight- Weekend deal. She wanted some Rah Rah with her academics. The first time set foot on UMD Campus was late April. One week before decision day…Sulking. We visited so many campuses on our college tour and UMD is a beautiful campus–a classic college experience. At the end of our long day of touring she knew she had found her home AND she saw kids from Villanova accepted students day and Case and Univ of Miami during her Orientation later in the summer. UMD is a very highly ranked Engineering school. You are getting it for a steal! UMD was my daughters safety also but that is not an easy school to get into–especially the Honors college. She honestly loves her school and has made so many friends…there is always something to do. The University Honors dorm-Hagerstown is a real bonding experience. I got a lovely video of the kids make Friendsgiving dinner in the shared lounge.
Thanks @mom517.
Sounds like your DD is very happy at UMD and was excited from the beginning. It is huge accomplishment to get into UMD OOS with Presidential scholarship. That makes big difference. For in-state students it feels quite different; more like you are not good enough for anything but local school. Due to money huge number of smart local kids end up there. We also visited overnight at Case and felt fine there (kind of neutral). DC is absolutely not interested in sport events and not very social. Any quiet place with good library, research, tinker lab, and opportunity to participate in local theater would work. All tours at UMD unfortunately made my DC less than excited. DC treats situation like unavoidable. It is not the best fit. Paying for dorm and food 15k that is 40 minutes from home feels like wasting money. All close friends end up in different honor programs too. At least they will be on the same campus and could spend time together in food court or library. Life is full of compromises. I hope DC will find a place there and will not be mad at us for the rest of the life for not giving opportunity to go to other schools.
@momsearcheng the beauty of UMD is that she will be able to find that space there as well. I can certainly tell you that as a parent of an OOS student my daughter for a time spent time alone because as you know much of that school is in state. My D was still mad at me even at in October a little bit when I said…see how much you like your school—still bitter. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “Well so and so is letting their kid go to Bucknell and they are taking out 150K in student loans.” Okay. All I know is I am being a good parent by not saddling my child with that debt because I can’t pay it (we have 3 other kids behind her) and our kids being in Biomedical E…they might want to go onto futher ed. Case btw is where many do that. My D has complete blinders on to any conversation about that.
Paying for her food and dorm is not a waste of money. You would have been paying for her food anyway but that so so important for her college experience. The connections she is going to make. I can’t stress that enough. That is what has cemented that for my D. The Hagerstown community those kids are outstanding.
Eta: No problem that her friends are in different honors LLC. They just won’t be in the same dorm. That just means she will have other dorms to visit which are close by. Not a big deal.