Can't decide Where to go to college

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>So I've been accepted to U of Michigan, U of Toledo, Case Western, Miami OH, and several Ohio LACs. T've recently decided that I want to go into Engineering or Phyics, but I'm still undecided about what exactly (Although I'm highly considering MechE, AeroE, EngPhysics, or BME). The big question now is where to go to school. </p>

<p>I would really love to go to UM, but I haven't gotten any scholarship money or FA, so I will have to shell out in the vicinty of 40,000 per annum. CWRU is another top one, but I will still have to pay 25,000 a year to go there. Miami is a nice school, but apparently has an entirely unheard of engineering school, but will cost only 12,000 yearly. U of Toledo seems to be an awful, unheard of school that everyone in my hometown seems to think has a really great engineering program, for reasons I entirely fail to get. It would only cost about 9,000 a year though.</p>

<p>I am really unsure of what to do about any of this. I want to go to UM or CWRU, but I don't want to graduate with over 100k worth of debt! And what if I can't handle the engineering program and drop out? What if I fail to get a job?</p>

<p>But if I go to MiamiU or Toledo, I will have less opportunities, fewer chances of being able to get good co-ops or research experiences, less chance of getting a good job, and still a decent amount of student debt.</p>

<p>What do I do in a situation like this? I want to be able to go to grad school of some sort too. I just don't understand how people can afford to go to such big name colleges. And I just get really frustrated that I wasn't offered a single full-ride, since I thought my stats gave me a decent chance at a least one lower-tier school. But thanks to all for any assistance.</p>

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<p>Did you not apply to OSU?</p>

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<p>LOL, that was also the first thing i thought of after reading this, whether or not the OP applied to ohio state.</p>

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<p>Well… it’s actually a funny story about OSU, not really funny more like sad I suppose.</p>

<p>I applied and was accepted to Ohio State (And got a 2,500 merit scholarship), BUT I never applied for the Honors program or went to the merit scholarship competition. At the time I thought I wasn’t interested in OSU, because of the size of the school and my personal dislike of it (Stupid reason I know). Now I am wishing that I wouldn’t have “closed” this option to myself (even though I could still go) because OSU would have likely been an excellent balance between prestige, program, and cost.</p>

<p>I suppose I could still go and try to get into the honors program or get more scholarship money later? But I’m not sure, and I am really kicking myself over this whole OSU thing. Ugh… lol</p>

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<p>go to ohio state then… compare losing the $2500 to paying an extra $35000 a year or something at michigan. this is assuming you’re in state for ohio of course…</p>

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<p>Ok. So we’re trading off three things: academics, cost, and your personal interest in the school.</p>

<p>Now let’s get a clear picture. List each school, your expected 4 year tuition, and on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) your perception of how happy you would be at that school.</p>

<p>After we have that info, we can probably start to eliminate schools (and include OSU - don’t eliminate it yet).</p>

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<p>Okay, I will do that. Thank you both again for all of your help</p>

<p>Toledo-
Happiness- 5/10
Tuition after scholarships- 500 a year, 2000 total
Cons- Unheard of school, very urban campus, poor academically and got a poor impression from visit.
Pros- Close to home, cheap, decent engineering school for its low rank</p>

<p>Miami-
Happiness- 8/10
Tuition after scholarships- 5500 yearly, 22000 total
Cons- Farthest from home, seems to have weak engineering program, some majors only recently got accreditation
Pros- Relatively inexpensive, nice school with good balance, seems like good honors program, not terribly high ranked but tier 1</p>

<p>Michigan-
Happiness- 9/10
Tuition after scholarships- 30000ish yearly, about 120k total(!)
Cons- Ridiculously expensive, really really expensive
Pros- Great engineering program, dream school, close to home</p>

<p>Case-
Happiness- 7/10
Tuition- 15000, 60000 total
Cons- Pretty expensive, reputation of being incredibly difficult
Pros- Good engineering school, small size, pretty well-known, many engineering and research opportunities </p>

<p>OSU-
Happiness- 5/10
Tuition- 6600, 26400
Cons- Very large, missed scholarship opportunities, seems like party school, I’m not at all a Buckeye fan
Pros- Well known in Ohio and Midwest, many opportunities for engineering and research, did get accepted into honors program, seems like a solid engineering program</p>

<p>Those are all the stats. It actually helps a lot to organize them like this, it makes it a lot easier to compare and think about things.</p>

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<p>Wow how did u get so much scholarship to Miami. If I were u I would choose that school cuz it seems like the best value for the money. Don’t worry about how good the specific engineering program. It’s still a good school and remember the student makes the school.
Good luck.</p>

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<p>Looking at that, Miami supercedes Ohio State and Case. </p>

<p>So you have cheapest: Toledo
Most preferred: Michigan
Compromise: Miami</p>

<p>So now you have to consider: is $20,000 worth going from a 5 to an 8 and if so, is $100,000 worth going from an 8 to a 9?</p>

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<p>Well looking at everything I’m really starting to believe that Miami University is the best option. I think the extra 20,000 in tuition is worth it to go to a university that I enjoyed more and is significantly stronger academically, but paying another 100,000 in tuition is just too much for me to be comfortable with.</p>

<p>I guess the biggest question about Miami is am I making too big of a deal out of the reputation of its engineering program? Most majors only recently got accredited (ChemE 2007, CompE 2006, EE 2006, MechE 2003) and its BME major is very new and not yet accredited. Should I be worried about these facts or not really that much? When I visited Miami I did notice that they had a new and very nice engineering building, so I suppose that is a positive sign.</p>

<p>It seems like I would most likely be majoring in MechE or Engineering Physics, as these are the broadest of engineering-related majors, and I would be perfectly capable of working in or going to grad school in Aerospace, Nuclear, or Biomedical with these degrees, correct?</p>

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<p>Aerospace and Biomedical for sure with MechE, not sure about Nuclear or Engineering Physics. Here are some thoughts that I think will make you feel better about attending Miami U.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>It doesn’t matter where you go to school if you aren’t happy there. Whatever additional opportunities that a school could potentially give you, you won’t do as well if you are depressed.</p></li>
<li><p>Miami is a good enough school that if you do well, you should be able to go to a good graduate school (assuming the rest of your application is strong as well). </p></li>
<li><p>Michigan is appealing, but not at that price. Michigan is a great school, but I don’t think it will give you $98,000 worth of additional opportunities. (Especially considering it sounds like it you are paying for school yourself.)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Think of it like this, would you rather have a Michigan degree? Or a Miami degree and $98,000 dollars? Before making a decision I would strongly urge you to visit both Ohio State and Case Western as well.</p>

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<p>I also urge you to contact the career services department at both schools to get an idea of average salaries, the percent of students employed at graduation, the number of offers per student, the companies that typically hire, and the typical graduate schools attended.</p>

<p>A Michigan degree + $65,000/yr job might be a better investment than a Miami degree + $100,000 + unemployed. On the other hand, a Michigan degree + $65,000 /yr job might not be better than a Miami degree + $100,000 + $60,000/yr job.</p>

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<p>I got to OSU and Im in the Engineering Honors program (FEH). I would at very least come check it out, I think honors days are coming up soon. The work load is pretty manageable and the classes are curved really nicely. Plus most of my professors have been really helpful and easy to get along with. If you have questions about OSU or Engineering at OSU feel free to PM me.</p>

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<p>Okay thank you all for your help. I’m really busy now but next week I plan to contact career services at these schools as well as arrange for visits to OSU and Case. I am really leaning towards Miami, since I think for the price I will enjoy the environment there the most but will still have many opportunities. But that will largely depend on what I find out from the career services and the results of my visits.</p>

<p>Thank you all again for your help; it is really great to hear totally fresh prospectives when you’re stuggling with a problem!</p>