My son is interested in pursing an undergrad degree in engineering. He’s been accepted to Case Western with 22k per
year, RPI with 15k per year, Northeastern with 12k per year and BU with no money. Great choices all but he can’t decide. I’d be interested in hearing from CC contributors. Thanks.
Unless you are wealthy, cross off BU.
Has he visited these schools? If so which one seemed like the best fit? Will the cost difference be a burden to him and to you?
Thanks Tom. Yeah, not sure why BU offered no money. We’ve visited them all and he liked them all. Of course he’s leaning toward BU and we’re leaning toward Case. Like most, we have some money saved but would have to take big loans if it’s BU.
It doesn’t make sense to take out loans if you don’t have to, and all these choices are great. So narrow them down to the ones that are truly affordable in relation to what you have saved, or with minimal loans, and then choose the best fit from those.
S also got in BU with no money and CWRU with 22K and Rochester with 12K. I can’t see justifying BU - of course it’s cool to be in Boston but I don’t think the education will be any better. I haven’t squashed it (though dh is nearly sure too) - would like to see S’s list of reasons for where he wants to attend and why.
Hello AndyNJ, I think your son’s two best bets are RPI and CWRU. My own son goes to CWRU and its more well rounded than RPI. Case offers an interesting urban campus next to Little Italy , and offers a full gamut of liberal arts and sciences as well as solid engineering. RPI has a more traditional campus near the Hudson River Valley, and Albany NY, focused on engineering, business and architecture, as well as the sciences. So if your son wants some options in English, history or could change his mind, Case may be a better choice. Northeastern, while a fine school in a good location, is not as focused on engineering as either RPI or Case. BU is really up and coming in Engineering, given all the new faculty from MIT Lincoln Labs and Bell Labs in New Jersey who have joined, but I would agree, its not worth the full price tag. Also, BU has a very urban campus
that blends right into Boston, with high rise dorms that do not appeal to every student. Visit if you can. We have been very pleased with CWRU, our son is a sophomore majoring in math/computer science/economics. Its a flexible school with a good set of writing requirements, so he will come out literate we hope, with a job offer. CWRU has offered our son good research opportunities, and a travel grant to attend a leadership conference at Annapolis this year. He also traveled for a long weekend with other students to Toronto, and Case picked up most of the costs. The students are very friendly at Case and he has had opportunities to tutor inner city Cleveland students in math, found great friends, and loves the Cleveland Orchestra, a truly wonderful music listening opportunity, in Severance Hall on campus. Students can buy a season ticket to the Cleveland Orchestra for a large discount and get a free Cleveland bus pass. Our son is waiting to hear about a research proposal he submitted to work with a young faculty member on econometrics research this summer. He says summer housing is very reasonably priced and readily available, so he will rent an apartment with another Case friend who is also working in Cleveland this summer.
Has your son visited the schools? Because you have two schools in a major metropolitan city and two schools in small markets (one in middle-america and one in RI). These are very different locations with very different environments.
@informative RPI is in Troy, New York.
Thanks for the advice. We’ve visited all of these schools and he seems to be drawn to a larger school with more of a surrounding area with plenty to do and see. So this seems to have eliminated RPI, which is a great engineering school but is in the middle of Troy, NY. That leaves Boston and Cleveland. More reading up on both and asking questions.
Case Western
Case Western
@AndyNJ Smart decision to visit. Boston and Cleveland are very different from each other. Some people prefer the small market environment, while others thrive in the big metropolitan cities. Neither is better or worse, just very different environments.