Depends on the college. There are some schools that meet full need for all accepted students…including transfers.
But this student has options on the current list that could very well work financially.
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can get NPC of 15k for Rice which is 100% affordable, can pay up to probably 27k
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Yeah, I was looking into UA as I think I can get full ride purely based off ACT. I’ll look into mississippi. Thanks!
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Hopefully it’s clear that I’m not cheerleading for Union - it seems unlikely that OP will end up there. But they state that their need-based aid for transfers is the same as for first-years. So, it completely depends on what the NPC says. It is also possible that the extent that being high-need impacts an applicant’s chances of admission is different for transfers than for first-years. I don’t think there’s any way to tell. But if a student is accepted as a transfer, they should be able to expect whatever need aid the NPC projects.
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How? Your subject says <$15,000 from parents. So where is the other $12,000 coming from.
Please don’t say loans! Honestly, you have a great academic record. I will be very surprised if you don’t come up with an acceptance that is within your price point without parent loans.
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Yeah, I might be underestimating UTK, I know it’s a good school, just have heard cs professors aren’t that great and curriculum is a little outdated. Double majoring at UTK does sound interesting as credits can transfer and I will have more time for cs classwork. I will look into the industrial design major, thanks! Yeah I’ll look more into rice, epecially since my NPC is really good there. Thanks for the other options, I’ll look into Northeastern, CWRU, and Lehigh more. LAC’s don’t get me too excited as I do want to do some engineering, and cs + engineering sounds best. Yeah I am going to look into RIT, and I’ll check out some others you mentioned, but still kinda want the college experience RIT I think would be lacking. Yeah that makes sense with debt, having a clean slate entering a job would be nice and widen my options. + less stress. Well thank you so much for your long detailed response! I will look more into some of the ones you mentioned.
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Yeah thanks! I’m doing a ton of research around each schools cs and engineering programs and don’t really consider colleges that have bad cs. I haven’t done much/any reaserch on how my credits will transfer. I’ll make sure to do that for each college going forward. Thanks and will keep all these points in mind!
My 3d printer business I started was lucky enough to bring in around 25k I just have sitting in the bank. + I was planning on the rest coming from FAFSA/loans
Ok, thank you so much for your detailed response, I will pull NPC’s for each college I’m considering, and that is true that privates probably aren’t going to accept as many DE’s so I need to contact each one. Yeah I just saw the 50% acceptance to u of wash and assumed it was to every major lol. OOS our probably going to be too expensive for the most part that’s good to know. So 5.5k is the most i can possible take out for loans? can I take out loans from the school? and how are people getting into 120k debt if 5.5k is max?
Your direct loan limits in your name are limited to:
Freshman $5500
Sophomore $6500
Junior $7500
Senior $7500
How are people getting into 100k+ of debt if that is the limit?
They take private loans that their parents co-sign or take out. Or the parents take Parent plus Loans.
Really…I think you will have options with far less debt…and those should be explored.
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ok that makes sense, yeah I would like to have minimal debt out of college but i figured coming out with cs would make paying it off not too bad, but i was probably just underestimated to burden of it
I told my kids no schools with loans. I did not care was it Harvard, or Stanford (they were not interested in them anyway.) When DD got to CMU with $5k FA and no scholarship, we laughed and said NO… I would not cosign on any loans and I hope your parents will not do it either. You have great free or affordable options.
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Also, some of the nightmare debt stories you hear are grad-school debt, which doesn’t have the same limits on what the student can borrow on their own.
You’ve gotten good advice. Please avoid debt, especially for an undergrad CS degree.
UTK for cheap is a nice option. Maybe add another safety like UA Huntsville. Apply to Honors programs.
Take a look at FSU. The OOS tuition waiver would put costs around $20k. Generous with AP credits so I’m assuming DE would be same. 3 years would be doable. Also look at UCF. Very good CS program. I think they offer OOS scholarships.
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Cornell, Princeton or Columbia. Reaches of course but good for CS. Tennessee residence might be a slight bump. Run the NPC. Good luck.
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Notre Dame in Indiana is also very generous.
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There’s 77 messages - so hopefully I’m not too repetitive to others but I didn’t read them all.
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You have a $15K budget - so applying to UIUC, Purdue, UF, U Mich, UT Austin, Ga Tech is pointless. Not because you’re not worthy - but because your bank account isn’t compatible. Now UNC and UVA are too publics that meet need so depending on what they say, it might be worth it.
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I heard UTK isn’t good for comp sci doesn’t mean it isn’t. Check the program. Compare to others. I know a few right now who have internships - after sophomore year. Now, perhaps on campus recruiting isn’t great - but on campus recruiting is slowing down a lot of places and the internet - Handshake, Linkedin, Indeed - pick up the slack.
I just looked up CS and CE on Cornell’s career outcomes. Cornell pretty good - right? 99 got jobs via internet postings (likely indeed), 88 from linkedin, 31 from handshake. The dominant source of their jobs are likely similar to UTK. So who wins? The kid with grit and persistence - no different than my kid at a like school - Bama - who had 20 interviews last Fall and 5 offers by xmas for jobs. The point - you can be successful anywhere - and UTK on its own is very respected.
So in the end, you have a budget and there are tradeoffs. You’ve already seen you can borrow $5500 the first year and taking on significant debt (you said $40K - not sure where it came from ) is not assured - and will be strangling.
And while you think you’d do well in CS and CE and I don’t disagree, many actually say they’re the fields most likely to be crippled by AI - so as a young person, you won’t remember the bad times - but bad times do come - it’s just that we’ve been on such a win streak.
So I think your profile is wonderful and I think you’re worthy of any school. Forgetting a UW only takes 3% from OOS is not why you shouldn’t apply. That you can’t afford is why you shouldn’t.
So realistically and there may be more - but three schools that come to mind are Alabama because you’d get $30.5K off $32K tuition - so a UTK sub, UAH for smaller and Mississippi State. Even a TN Tech is getting top kids.
It looks like you’re looking at NPCs and that will tell you a lot. And then schools like Rice and its Rice investment - if your parents make less than $140K, youd get at least free tuition.
So there are those type options - many schools meet need if they decide you have need.
My advice - you have solid public options that will be loaded with accomplished kids like you. Use them as a backstop.
If a private - an RPI, Miami, Rice - whomever - can get you to the $20K you need to be - the $15K and loan - great.
if not, attend one of the three publics that seem affordable and there might be others i’m missing and don’t look back.
And you’ll be applying for the same internships as those kids from schools you think are better - and guess what - if you spread your reach enough, someone will take a chance - and once you have that first job, it becomes easier.
It’s about you - and not necessarily the school you attend - but you are fortunate that you have public choices that frankly are better than you’re giving them credit for.
Good luck.
They offer large merit scholarships for stats, but they are not full rides.
Alabama offers a $28k scholarship for your stats, but the list price is $56k, leaving a $28k net price.
Arizona offers a $30k scholarship for your GPA, but the list price is $58-61k, leaving a $28-31k net price.
Mississippi offers a $26.8k scholarship for your stats. List price is about $40.5k, leaving a net price of about $13.7k.
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Thank you! I’ll look into FSU, and would consider UCF if I had gotten national merit semifinalist but missed it by a point 
FSU has a really good program so if I can get OOS waiver that would be amazing