College Decision

Guys I am at a crossroad at this point. I have 6 different roads leading from here…I will be studying Engineering and opting for Electrical and Computer Engineering in sophomore year…

Road 1: “The” Ohio State University(Columbus)…which offered approx. $23000/yr in merit scholarships,financial aid (I will not be taking loan)…Honor Class…

Road 2: University of Wisconsin Madison…$10000/yr in financial aid, scholarships…Honors Program…

Road 3: Purdue University(Main Campus)…$5000/yr in financial aid

Road 4: University of Michigan…$15000/yr in financial aid, scholarships

Road 5: Rutgers University(New Brunswick)…$5000 in financial aid,scholarships

Road 6: University of Kansas…meeting full OOS tuition cost in merit scholarships, financial aid…Honor Program…

I have paid the acceptance fee in all these universities…But by this month, I want to take a final decision…Please advise, and my friends, plz dont intentionally slur against any university…

road 4 since they have a terrific engineering program

I agree with @171College - UMich is a pretty amazing school for Eng, and with 15k in FA/scholarships, quite a good deal. @Adwaya

Don’t touch road 5.

@LBad96: k…so which one do you think I should choose…?

Wait. Which state are you in? Road 5 wouldn’t be so bad if you’re from NJ I guess.

@Adwaya

it would be much more helpful if, instead of listing how much $ each is giving you, you could list the cost of attendance that remains after each FA package is applied.

You paid the acceptance fee? Do you mean deposit? You’re not allowed to do that. You have to pick one and let the others know you aren’t accepting. I would do that ASAP if you paid the deposit.

Otherwise either Ohio State or Michigan.

1)Tell us the Net Cost of each school.

A 20K scholarship from a 60K school costs more than a 5K scholarship from a 30K school.

You should defintely defintely not pay deposits at all schools! You have until May 1…pick one!

  1. What state do you live in?

All are ABET accredited and are fine fine schools.

  1. How much can your family afford?

Double depositing is not allowed (on top of that, you won’t get any of the deposits back). Give us your net cost for each and what you can afford. No one wants to go look up the cost of each college.

They’re all great schools. Assuming that all of the financial aid you listed here is non-repayable grants and loans subtracted from the total cost of attendance from non-residents, that makes

KU = either $15K or $25K (depending on whether by “full OOS tuition cost” you mean that they are giving you full tuition or whether they are covering the difference between OOS and resident tuition).
Ohio State = $23K,
UW-Madison = $34K,
Purdue = $39K,
Michigan = $42K,
Rutgers = $42K.

Is money a factor in your decision, or no? If money is no object, then Michigan’s the best school on your list - both overall and in terms of the specific major you want.

If money is a factor, then this all comes down to how much of the rest of that cost you would have to borrow or how much would be coming out of your parents’ pocket. If you have to borrow the entire rest, then KU (assuming it’s $15K) is the only one that’s really close to feasible. Ohio State maybe, but that would saddle you with nearly $100K. Even a young engineering grad doesn’t make enough to pay that off.

If your parents can pay some and you can take some loans, I think Ohio State, UW-Madison and Purdue are probably your best deals. There’s a $64,000 price gap between Purdue and OSU, $44,000 between Purdue and UW, but only $20,000 between UW and Purdue. So at that point it depends on what you/they can afford. If you are a domestic student you can only borrow $5,500 as a freshman, so at OSU your parents would have to lay out $18,000 per year. Can they pay that? Can they pay $34,000 per year at Purdue?

Assuming you’re OOS for Rutgers, don’t go there. There are only two NJ schools that are worth attending if you’re from OOS, and Rutgers is not one of them.

go visit the schools (if you can) and see which one you prefer the most

@LBad96: nope…OOS for Rutgers as well…

@Ruby789 and @intparent : and @bopper : Well, I have already paid the deposits at all schools…(ya i know it is a waste of money, but I wanted to keep my options open till the last minute…and anyway the deposits were peanut amounts…)…and what do you mean double deposits are not allowed? How can any of the colleges know that I hav also deposited the fee of other colleges…? Surely, once I make a final decision, I will let the other colleges know that I am not going there…

@171College: Nope…cant afford to visit all schools…living in Singapore at the moment…and going to each college is gonna cost a college semester tuition fee…and I cant go alone that far…my parents will also have to go with me…It is not possible…

@juillet : full OOS tuition cost means the cost of the tuition fee at KU (meaning I have to pay for housing, food, lodging…etc), which is approx $15000/yr…
ya…all the aid I listed was without considering the loans they offered…
And ya…money is definitely a factor…I mean my parents have assured me they can pay upto $27000/yr at most…but the rest would have to come from loan…and my parents, to tell the truth, are not that enthusiastic about the idea of taking loans, unless it is absolutely necessary…

i do realize that UMich is best ranked in this list…but it will be expensive…and UMich and Purdue didn’t accept me into the Honor Program(assuming there is one)…do you really think Umich is worth all that money…?

@Wien2NC : @bopper: @intparent : plz see post 10

@bopper: I am a US citizen, but at the moment I am living in Singapore…and I can pay $27000/yr without taking loans…

everyone…my OSU financial aid was revised…it is now $20750/yr…