<p>I posted this on the parents' forum, but I'm posting it here too, in case there are others in this situation.</p>
<p>With all these people talking about Harvard, I feel a little sheepish just asking this, but this is our situation:</p>
<p>My son was homeschooled, and started attending the local cc in 10th grade. He's supposed to be in 12th grade right now and will have 36 hours (of core curr. classes and foreign language) by the end of this semester. He is extremely intelligent and an independent thinker, and is at the top of all his classes (even though 2 years youngers). I think if he really wanted to, he could have a good chance at getting accepted almost anywhere, because his writing is so stunning that he really catches the attention.</p>
<p>But, we've never really considered any 'elite' college due to their prohibitive cost. I don't want him to depend totally on scholarships. I hope that he does get some scholarships, but not as many scholarship options are open to transfer students, so I don't want him making plans that depend on scholarships, because what if they don't come thru. And, we have one of the best state schools virtually in our back yard - UT Austin -which he really loves due to the political activism, in addition to the academics. And, he loves the city of Austin. So, the plan is for him to transfer to UT Austin in fall 2007, with around 40 hours.</p>
<p>What's happening now is that he has a job working as a technical consultant at Best Buy, and is doing so well that he has an opportunity to move up into the Geek Squad. The Geek Squad is computer repair, and pays $12-$18 per hour. Not bad for an 18-yo high school senior (beats flipping burgers!), plus it's great experience.</p>
<p>So now he is wondering if it would be 'so bad' to just attend college part-time, and continue working. He wants a well-rounded life. We're not rich and he is enjoying the independence of having some $$. He wants to buy a car. But, most of all, he is feeling a sense of fulfillment from his job. He knows that $18 won't sound like a lot of money years down the road, so he still does want to get a degree. But, he also doesn't want to put his entire life on hold and follow the normal 'college track.'</p>
<p>He's never done things the 'normal' way. He's always tended to do things out of sequence. That's one of the reasons we homeschooled. He taught himself computer programming and webdesign at age 14, for example. His stats are not 'standard' as in they don't fit the mold, but they are stellar in certain key ways. This is a double-edged sword, in a way. If he can convey the uniqueness of his high school years, I'm confident that any admissions officer will appreciate that most of his accomplishments were completely self-motivated, and that's got to count for something. But, at the same time, he would have to be viewed in that light, since his stats just are not the same as the typical high school graduate. We prefer to think of this as a plus, but we are also realistic about not assuming that he will get admitted to some elite school that is looking for certain criteria.</p>
<p>Anyway, we've learned that UTSA, part of the UT system but not 'high-ranked' like UT Austin, is considered a 'rising star.' Supposedly the only reason it is not so high-ranked is that it is a relatively new school and still has plenty of room on campus, so they don't turn anyone away. At first glance this looks like it's not a good school, but the simple reason that they accept all qualified students and UT Austin does not, is that UTSA has plenty of room for them, whereas UT Austin is overcrowded. UTSA is in its expanding phase. Their selling point is that they have a top-notch faculty who provide lots of personal attention. I'm wondering whether he might even get a better education, in some ways.</p>
<p>There are several advantages to attending UTSA, at least for a year or 2. We would save a bundle because he can live at home (and he's not sure if he's ready to move out yet, anyway, so he is ok with another year at home)...he could attend part-time and keep his job...it is a LOT cheaper, and he might even qualify for some scholarships that he might not get at UT Austin. Also, UTSA's website says that they are determined to become a top-notch university, and they are hiring top-notch faculty. They have just built new sceince buildings and are expanding their science/engineering programs.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.utsa.edu/today/2006/02/bse.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.utsa.edu/today/2006/02/bse.cfm</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.utsa.edu/today/2005/11/tobin.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.utsa.edu/today/2005/11/tobin.cfm</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.utsa.edu/today/2004/07/30.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.utsa.edu/today/2004/07/30.cfm</a></p>
<p>So, I'm not comparing Harvard and UT. I already know that UT Austin holds its own quite well. But, I am wondering what would be the effect of having a degree from a 'regular' state school vs a highly-ranked state school.</p>
<p>We're still planning for him to transfer to UT Austin even if he does attend UTSA for a year, but I'm looking at this possibility in case next year he has a serious girlfriend here in SA, or for whatever reason, wants to just save $$ and complete his studies here.</p>
<p>Any comments or advice would be appreciated!</p>