I think you should probably go to Ohio State. It’s affordable for you and I think it would be better than KU.
do you mean OSU will cost you $20750 per year, or that’s how much financial aid they are offering you?
you said parents can pay up to $27K per year. according to post #10, the only two schools that come in under that are Ohio State and Kansas, right?
cross off Rutgers since it seems that you have better, more affordable options.
Michigan, Purdue, and Wisconsin are great engineering schools but exceed your budget.
OSU is an excellent engineering school that appears to fit your budget, although it might be tight. so I think OSU is clearly your best choice over UM, UW, Purdue, and Rutgers.
however, exactly how much less will Kansas cost? It sounds like Kansas will cost $15K vs, what, $25K-$27K for OSU? that’s $10K-$12K, adding up to $40K-$48K over four years. that’s a lot of money.
IMO, OSU is a better school overall, and for engineering, than Kansas. but is it $40K-$48K better? personally I would say no, but I know there are lots of people here who would disagree.
another factor is that publicuniversityhonors.com ranks the Kansas Honors Program as one of the seven best in the nation:
http://publicuniversityhonors.com/new-top-programs-by-category/
so while acknowledging that OSU is the better school and it fits within your budget, personally i would save the money and take advantage of all the opportunities offered by the University of Kansas and their Honors Program.
Some of these schools use the Common App. You signed an agreement not to double deposit when you completed your application. If a college does find out, they can rescind your offer.
^^^
yikes. that would be a disaster.
Not that you can undo what’s done now, but you have until May 1st to make a decision. It was completely unnecessary to put down a deposit to hold your place. (And as other have pointed out, not allowed!)
I also am guessing OSU is probably a better choice in terms of diversity and inclusive social atmosphere. Sorry, not a fan of KU or Kansas in general and that’s one of many reasons my D is not going in-state. But that is just my own admittedly biased opinion. If OSU was not affordable for you, I would’ve said OK, go to KU.
@Wien2NC: OSU is offering me financial aid of $20750/yr which means I gotta pay around $24000/yr outta my own pocket…
Thats the question…am confused…to tell the truth I did cross off Rutgers in my mind…but the rest of the offers are alluring…it wouldn’t be right to say $27000/yr is my budget…That is the amount my folks can pay without taking loan…
@intparent: I did…?..ahhh I hope that dont happen…after everything i did to get my SAT scores…
Well, be sure to notify the colleges you are not attending by May 1 that you are not coming.
@intparent : Of course…I intend to take a final decision within april anyway…what is your opinion…?
Ohio State. It is in the middle of the list in quality, and is what you can afford.
@Adwaya: Besides being wrong for telling a college that you plan to attend (but you won’t be), and therefore taking a space from someone who would like to attend, colleges can (and most likely will) rescind your acceptance if they find out. Certainly May 1st hasn’t arrived yet, you still had time to decide, so why take the risk of having your acceptances rescinded?
I don’t know how often it happens that schools find out a student double deposits, but it does happen, and students do have their offers rescinded. You’ve increased your chances of being found out by depositing at a lot of schools, and having posted about it.
I have no idea how you get out of this, but I would consider the fact that you paid multiple deposits to be an urgent problem. You should talk to a college counselor, and your parents immediately.
I wonder if it isn’t as dire a situation since the OP plans to inform them prior to May 1st. I would think colleges would be less annoyed by that than by someone who double deposits to extend their decision making time past May 1st.
OP, can you explain why you deposited multiple places when you don’t have to commit to any of them until May 1? I’m just curious.
Well Wisconsin is $5k less per year than Purdue (for you) and as good or better in just about every major, eliminating the need for Purdue; and unless you and your parents are willing to take out heavy loans to attend Michigan, I’m thinking your best options are, in order of affordability:
Kansas, Ohio State, Wisconsin
There is a perceived difference in quality, and most certainly a difference in reputation, among these schools: most folks would put Wisconsin first, then OSU, and finally Kansas. The question you have to answer is, “Is the difference in quality/rep worth the extra cost?”
That is a question facing a lot of students.
(I’m assuming here that you could take out about $7k per year to afford UW. If not, concentrate on OSU and KU.)
I’d pick tOSU. It’s a very strong university for engineering, it’s affordable and even leaves a little aside if you want to visit a bit or take an internship in a high-priced renting market (San Francisco, New York City).
(Kansas is experiencing terrible budget shortfalls due to their governor’s policy mistake, and I can’t imagine universities won’t suffer too, along with K12 and everything else).
Agreed with everyone that tOSU is the best choice. KU isn’t that great tbh, doesn’t even compare to most of the other schools on your list.
I think this one is going to come down to OSU v. Michigan. I wonder if the OP even realizes the irony that he will be choosing between two schools that have a long history of animosity. I’m a bit surprised that others are not suggesting that OP just bite the bullet and take out loans to cover the difference between what the parents are willing to pay (27k/year) and what UM will cost the OP (42k/year). 60k is certainly nothing to sneeze at but there would certainly be a difference in reputations and strength of the departments and it is quite conceivable that taking out the loans might be justifiable in this case. I’m not saying that it definitely it is but its certainly worth considering.
I would suggest that OP do some additional research regarding post-school job prospects, starting salaries and mid-career salaries. All of this is available online and can be done with a half hour of research. College Factual (affiliated with USA Today) is one site that I know offers salary information for graduates at each school by major.
@Ljtjrose: Animosity…u mean these schools are rivals…???..ahh…thats refreshing…perhaps I can bully one school that I will be going to the other, and make them give me more money…ha… just kidding…Anyway, yes, by nearly all rankings, UMich is a bit above OSU, especially in Engineering. But the thing is, UMich didn’t offer me Honors Program. Also college starting salaries can be deceptive…for example if I do my undergrad in OSU and then my grad in UMich, then how wud u state what my salary will be,…(or vice-versa). or even any third college…? I dont really want to select my university on what websites say about their mid-career salaries…they cant be trusted
@Youdon’tsay : @Ruby789 : Well…I was just under the impression that if a university sees that I am committing to them, maybe they will start paying more attention to me…for example at OSU they gave me my final financial aid package just a day after I had paid the deposits…