<p>Please help my son decide which school to go to. Case is offering generous merit and financial aid, RPI not so generous, and Boston U hardly any aid (mostly loans). I don't want to pick the cheapest school for my son (Case), but it is very compelling, since the difference between attending Case and RPI is about $24k per year. I'm concerned about him fitting, (Asian) and the crime stats. It seems RPI grads are pretty much guaranteed jobs at graduation. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Hi! You can’t get any better than Case for MechE! They give incredible financial aid to students who are top tier! Case is about 25% asian, and the crime isn’t nearly as bad as they make it seem- campus is very well patroled and pretty safe- you just need to be smart-- when its dark, don’t walk by yourself! Case does a really great job with job/grad school placement, especially with engineering majors since ther are so many companies affiliated with Case! I’d recommend visiting the campus and doing an overnight to get the full experience-- money is very important but certainly not everything, and he has to be happy at his school!</p>
<p>I think there is not much to think about here. Go with Case and save about $100k and use that for grad school or whatever you wish. There are really not a big difference between the two schools. Both are great top 50 university in the country focusing on Engineering. In terms of ranking, they both are about the same, and in terms of number of Asian students, Case actually has a lot more in percentage. Case probably has higher crime rate but that statistics is a lot less relevant if your kid follows a few rules and be smart about things like never to walk alone in the dark late at night or wonder off to questionable part of the city next to the school. And job after college, I think how well you do in school is a much bigger factor for these two schools with similar reputation. RPI probably gets a little better recognition in Eastern part of the country and there are probably more potential hiring RPI engineering grads on the East coast but I can’t see it being such a huge factor.</p>
<p>One other thought is that you can also try to get RPI to match that offer. Show them Case offer and see what RPI says.</p>
<p>Hi Jujumak, I just sent you a PM!</p>
<p>Thanks jkartist, you were right! and TTParent, I took you recommendation, and I call them, and they asked to see copies of my son’s awards from other schools… we’ll see… but as of now CASE is awesome!</p>