Cornell full price vs Virginia Tech OOS

My daughter got into every engineering school that she applied to, and received merit aid from all but Cornell and Virginia Tech. The price differential is $30k even with OOS tuition at VT; she could also choose RPI, Case Western for roughly the same as VT. She had her heart set in Yale, and it was the only school she DIDN’T get into.
Please help me talk her Dad doennoff a ledge ((Cornell alum) he wants her to go, he doesn’t want to pay. ?? She doesn’t like Cornell all that much.

ALMOST every school

Why not RPI or Case?

I’m not sure how much outsiders can help you with hubby.

So what choice would he make? What does D like? Who likes what for what reasons and how much are you willing to pay?

What doesn’t she like about Cornell? The weather? RPI and Case will have similar weather. One great thing about Cornell engineering is that it is 50% female, which is unusual for an engineering school. My D is a freshman MechE major at Cornell and absolutely loves it. Cornell has so many opportunities to get involved, especially for engineers. She is heavily involved in one of the big project teams, which had given her a great network of friends from all years, as well as real hands-on engineering training. Cornell has a very strong alumni network as well, especially in the NY area. I’m an alum myself, and spend a lot of time mentoring recent Cornell grads who want to go into my field. D also looked at RPI but was wary of the lopsided gender ratio, and its extreme tech focus (even the "liberal arts’ requirements are tech classes). I don’t know much about VaTech. $30K is a big chunk of money though - only you can decide whether it will be worth it.

Edit - Is that $30K total or $30K per year? If that is per year, then that is a much bigger consideration - not sure Cornell is worth $120K more over those other schools.

If her father isn’t willing to pay then he gets no say.
If he doesn’t pay, can you afford Cornell out of income and savings?
(DO NOT take on parents loans for Cornell just because dad is pushing for it!)
If you can afford Cornell: has she visited? Or does she dislike it because it’s Dad’s alma mater?
If she doesn’t like Cornell, what’s your rationale as to why you’d pay for her to go there?

Case would be a nice compromise - nice urban area, private university, excellent for STEM, variety in class offerings, less skewed m:f ratio than at RPI.

Then again, RPI is a powerhouse in STEM - in case academics matter most to her their focus is clear and strong. (The city it’s in isn’t the best and the m:f ratio is really skewed but the reputation in industry is great).

See if she can do overnights at Vtech and Case. It’ll clear things up: does she prefer a city or a college town, etc.

We (Mom and DD) visited VT and loved it. Dad hasn’t seen it. He also ruled out Northeastern because “you don’t pass up an Ivy for $10K a year merit”.
He favors RPI because he went there undergrad and Cornell fo his MEE or however you engineering people say that.

She didn’t like Troy, especially since he has described it as “a pit”, and the lopsided ratio and the strictly STEM curriculum are concerns. She LOVES books; her Yale essay was about the library having a Gutenberg Bible. She got $25.5/yr from them tho so that is a chunk.

VT is $42k vs. $72 for Cornell, and yeah, that is per year. My husband is just freakingnout because we didn’t realize the EFC in the CSS was PER CHILD. Our son is at UMiami in half tuition butnits still $45+ and we have a multiply handicapped 10 yr old that we are moving to private school in the fall because her public school isn’t providing services. Long story, sorry!
Bottom line- husband is torn because he is proud of her for getting accepted, and because he works with a ton of two-engineer families who have their kids at MIT and Princeton…they have been congratulating him and assuming he will send her there. I don’t work, and can’t really because of my youngest. Big difference.
I think my daughter would be happy with VT. It’s #14 vs Cornell’s #10. So I guess I just want people to give me Support that VT is a very fine school for either EE or MechE…and that her job prospects will be much the same. And since we missed the Hokie Focus weekend (funeral) get Dad down to take a look.

Send a letter to Cornell Financial Aid highlighting the situation with your 10-year old. You’ll have to provide pretty detailed information so it might feel intrusive. However a medical situation and having to send a disabled child to private school for accomodations as well as costs associated with disability CAN be taken into account and may result in Cornell offering a bit in financial aid.

Also, are you sure you input the fact you’d have TWO in college (UMiami + daughter) in the CSS Profile? Check.

Thanks

As an engineer your husband should understand there is no discernable difference in the engineering education she will receive as these schools

There will be differences in opportunities outside of engineering.

So what about Case?

Is she guaranteed her major at VTech?

None of us have seen Case. I haven’t found a reasonable flight to Cleveland and it’s an 8 hr drive. She only applied because I told her my friend had seen it and liked it. She wants to see it, and I feel like it may help her feel like she is CHOOSING VT. But really? I hate the idea of going all the way to Cleveland for her to look around and say “yeah, it’s kind of noisy here. I like VT better”

Also Case is much lower ranked and $10K more per year.

Honestly, USNews rankings are definitely NOT a perfect metric.

Has your daughter looked into Hypatia, the living-learning community for female engineering students at Virginia Tech? I had a son at VT. He loved it there. Just anecdotal, but my son had a female Cornell engineering student on his team for an internship. They were both offered full time positions at graduation. VT has a very large Career Fair. There are detailed post grad surveys available online and VT engineers are very well recruited by many different companies. Of course, Cornell is an excellent choice as well. Any of these schools will provide an excellent education. She may do best at the school she feels most comfortable at, which may not end up being where others think she should go or want her to go ! Good luck with the decision!

This is just my opinion, but I bet she’d be very happy at VT. My niece is graduating from there in a month (tears!) - after my sister her mama (a quarter century ago LOL).

They both love VT with all their hearts.

It’s a thing, truly!

JMO, again.

“She doesn’t like Cornell all that much.” That is significant when there are so many other good schools out there.

@Gudmom Wow. I feel like your post is directed right for us. Background: S’s grandfather went to Cornell for CE. Other grandfather went to VT for ME. Father went to VT for ME and Mom for business. Some of his good friends are going to UMD. He has been accepted to Cornell, RPI, VT, and UMD with merit/honors recognition at all except Cornell. Cornell COA $72k, VT and RPI $40k, UMD $22k per year. We have visited all schools. Everything everyone says about the individual schools above is true.

Sounds like your D is not that into Cornell or RPI. Then it should be a no brainer for her; Case or VT. It sounds like if she went to Cornell or RPI; it would be for the benefit of her Dad and not her choice. My S is still figuring it out, but he has no issues admitting VT is the prettiest campus out of all of them…including Cornell. Cornell has the “old feel” to it and it is definitely pretty, but for him the Hokie Stone everywhere is awesome and the dining halls are incredible. If she is an outdoors person, VT is a wonderful place.

I would suggest saving your money for undergaduate (especially if that is where she is leaning) and have her apply to Yale for graduate work…all that would be less than 4-yrs at Cornell. That is likely what my S will do. I have this feeling he will stay IS and go to UMD and get a great degree in engineering. He has always been a more urban/metro area type anyway. Then if he can prove himself, he will apply for grad school at Columbia/Berkeley/etc. Again urban type.

I dunno but for me 4-yr UMD/VT and 2-yr Columbia/Yale is >>>>>>>>>>>> 4-yr Cornell and potentially STILL LESS $$$.

Set up a Monday visit to Case. Visit with both parents, if you can bring or arrange coverage at home for your 10 year old; otherwise just one parent will do. Leave on Sunday morning, share the driving, have dinner in the Italian area close to Case, maybe drive around Cleveland, which is an interesting city. Stay overnight, visit Case the next morning. You can be back on the road by 12:30 and home before 10 PM. It’s a fine school and worth it to visit IF the extra $10,000/year isn’t a deal breaker. If she decides on VT, which is also a fine choice for engineering, you are right that she’s “choosing” it. Plus you get to spend a couple of days with her, which won’t happen that often once she leaves for college.

Hard to go all the way to Cleveland and not see The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

Well, why doesn’t he put his money where his mouth is?

If that is the case, and it is much more expensive, then it does not make much sense for her to go there.

That’s the main issue with VT. She needs to earn at least a 3.0 GPA as a first year general pre-engineering student to be assured of her choice of engineering major. Otherwise, those engineering majors which have space available are competitive by GPA. https://enge.vt.edu/content/dam/enge_vt_edu/undergraduate/com_requirements/COM_GE.pdf

For what it is worth, Cornell requires engineering students to earn a 2.5 GPA to enter their majors.

It does not look like RPI or CWRU have any special requirements to declare or change engineering majors based on a glance at their web sites, but you should verify with the schools by asking directly if you cannot find anything on the web sites.