I should add that there are extra challenges for internationals, in that a master’s is almost the entry level degree to a US job. Even then, a citizen with a BS from New Mexico State who can get a security clearance has some real advantages compared to a non-US citizen with an MS from MIT. Not commenting on fairness, just an observation.
It’s pretty clear that the average alumni starting (or mid-career) salaries are different from school to school.
The question is whether the higher averages result from anything but cherry-picking the best applicants.
What do we mean by a “good” engineering school? What’s the cheaper alternative?
If we’re comparing MIT to an obscure poorly-resourced regional college, then there might be a significant difference in the ROI. Northeastern or Rochester v. a SUNY? Maybe not.
In the NE, there just aren’t that many schools with engineering programs clearly better than the SUNYs for a comparable net price (without need-based aid). There’s Cooper Union or Olin, if she can get in (which probably would take much higher SAT scores). I believe they both still offer ~half tuition scholarships to all admitted students.
Maybe a few less selective universities are clearly better in specific engineering disciplines, for example UDelaware in chemical engineering. But then, how likely is the OP’s D to get enough merit aid from a place like that to bring the cost down to SUNY levels? For Delaware it would take ~$20K/year; their average merit award is about $7K. Would it be worth the full ~$20K/y difference out of pocket? Hard to say. If it meant landing a great first job at a company like Dow, maybe so. But that would be far from a sure thing (even if she were sure that’s what she wants.)
Who makes a career at the first place they hire into? In engineering, there might be a few people, but it isn’t many - and they’re hard to work with (They say: “We’ve always done it that way!” Which you counter with: “Well, maybe that’s why it’s so expensive!”).
To be crystal clear: the long term goal isn’t the good college, nor even the first job. The long term goal is a couple of jobs after that. It also isn’t as much about money or working conditions as it is about taking great satisfaction and pride in your work. You won’t know that about any company until you’ve been there a couple years.
You’re living right when you can honestly say “I would do this work for free, but I take the money so the company knows they care.”
The student doesn’t have to do that. The family can afford to be full pay at a SUNY school. Binghamton, Geneseo, and Stony Brook all have students with stats similar to this student.
Look into The Inamori School of Engineering at Alfred University. Biomaterials Engineering, Ceramic Engineering, Glass Engineering Science, and Materials Science and Engineering all fall under the NYS college of ceramics and tuition is $17,200 for NY resident. Mechanical, Renewable Energy, and Undecided Engineering tuition is $23664 NY resident. total COA for former engineering programs is $33300, $39794 latter. Scholarships for student HS GPA 3.7 or above is $10k for state supported programs,$16500 for the others.
I have one daughter that graduated in 2013 from the Art and Design program, and another that is currently a sophomore in Psychology/Women’s Studies. First daughter’s program was state supported, second is not. Grants and scholarships still came out even for each. Both love the school, and daughter attending now’s boyfriend and roommate and both engineering majors, as well as her roommate’s boyfriend.
The glass and ceramics engineering programs have both gotten high rankings nationally.
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Good students can make about 15K each summer in internships. T
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That is a very high estimate…very high. That would be about $30 an hour, and most internships don’t pay that well.
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@lostaccount: The student does not seem to have the kind of scores that would yield the level of merit that could bring down the cost to 30K without really going to a school with very weak students.
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That is so not true. He could go to a school where his eng’g classmates will be strong with similar stats and get merit that brings costs down to $30k
His score is a 1900…not especially high at all.
A summer internship lasts about 2-1/2 months. If I “gross up” $15k to an equivalent annual income, I get $72k. That’s a helluva summer job!
^ Yeah. Not happening.
A typical summer amount to expect is about $4,000. Expecting more is unrealistic although it may happen if one is lucky. One just shouldn’t “expect luck”.
^^ Right.
My kids were lucky to earn/save $2000 over the summer. They can’t save every penny! lol They have to spend “some” of it…even if it’s on daily transportation, a soda out of the vending machine, or a Friday lunch with the group. A few summer dates and a couple of movies with friends is also going to eat some of it.
Plus, typically they wouldn’t start the “day after” school ended, nor would they stop working “the day before” the school year started. Just not mentally-healthy!
mom2collegekids: Please check what the major companies are paying for interns. Not all internships pay that much but there are a ton of students making that much-especially those in computer science and engineering. The point is that these students are in a different boat than those who are taking humanities and social science, for example. I know many students making that much and more on internships and many are given lodging.
According to a Associated Press article from 2014, “Silicon Valley tech firms pay their interns more than any other sector in the U.S., according to a Top 25 list of 2014 intern pay by online career website Glassdoor.
Palantir Technologies, a Palo Alto-based cybersecurity firm, topped the list with $7,012 average monthly base pay. Also on the list: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, eBay, Google and Apple, all of which pay more than $5,000 a month, or $60,000 annually if these were full time jobs. And that’s not counting the perks, which at Facebook even include housing in this high rent region.” This was last year. This year those interning at the major silicon Valley tech firms got more.
tk21269, There are many strong engineering programs in NY-U of R, RPI, RIT, among others.
“I should add that there are extra challenges for internationals, in that a master’s is almost the entry level degree to a US job. .”
This is simply incorrect. Most grads from engineering schools get jobs without MS.
Pitt and Delaware may be within the stated budget without merit aid.
Hi %50N40W - which college are you referring to when you mention NM TEch. I am new to this site.