Hi to all,
My son has been accepted to Georgia tech, UF, U. Illinois at Urbana, U. Minnesota, Rensselaer for chemical Engineering. He entered UF honors program, has scholarship, all costs covered. Rensselaer gave him half scholarship, Minnesota a percentage… I would love feedback for any of these universities, if possible.
Thank you
Percentages don’t matter. What are the costs after aid at all of thse places? Which of those after-aid costs can your family afford? Some? All? Only really UF?
Frankly, it is hard to beat honors at UF with a scholarship that covers all costs.
Your son has GREAT options. Congrats.
If cost was not a concern, I would personally choose GT but if it is, UF Honors all the way without a second though.
Thank you for your response. It has been so stressful. One has great national and international recognition (GT) which has been his dream university, while UF although growing steadily is know mainly as a state level.
I have one who graduated Gt and another on the way, so if you want any specific info feel free to ask.
GTech and UIUC are equivalent, but UIUC sucks for financial and merit aid, so drop it. RPI and UMN are equivelant, and RPI peovided a better financial package, so drop UMN. That leaves your GTech, RPI, and UF. RPI is not that much better than UF that it’s worth the difference in cost, especially considering that it’s UF honors. So drop RPI.
That leaves UF Honors, all costs covered, versus GTech. If cost isn’t an issue or at least isn’t a big issue, than GTech, if going to GTech would incur debt that would be a hardship for an entry level engineer, go with UF.
^ we don’t know net cost at any of these universities - percentages don’t explain anything.
What’s the net cost at each?
(Tuition fees room board) - (scholarships, grants) = …
What’s your budget?
Is Georgia Tech affordable without your taking on loans?
Is any university beside UF affordable without any loans for your son?
Minnesota is among the top universities in the country for chemical engineering and would be equivalent to GTech for that field.
Does he want a big city (Atlanta, twin cities) or a college town (UF)?
Did he get honors college anywhere beside UF?
The only fact is money. Everything else is completely subjective. Think of it this way. If someone handed me the keys to a brand new Toyota Camry, why would I turn it down so I can spend 25k for a Honda Accord? I’d be nuts to turn that down for more debt. If someone is paying you 100k to go to school…TAKE IT!
I wouldn’t call RPI and UMN equivalent if you are talking about the college of science and engineering within UMN for chemical engineering. UMN is ranked 8th for undergrad chemical engineering and the average ACT for UMN CSE is 31-34 (similar to GT actually) as opposed to 28-32 at RPI. RPI is a great program and I would choose it as a less expensive option but UMN is a stronger program. GT is #2 for undergrad chemical. Those are US News rankings which I definitely don’t consider the be all end all. UMN often gets looked at as a whole but the individual colleges and programs have very different stats. Major metros tend to draw strong faculty to them. Your programs are priced by strength coincidentally.
Both my spouse and I graduated from UMN CSE. Great program, great location. But I would be all over the Florida offer in this position unless you had all the cash for GT burning a hole in your pocket. All these programs are well regarded and ABET programs. I don’t think you can go wrong!
From a cost perspective, UF all the way. It is a great school and has a lot of non-financial perks (nice weather, great school sports, nice weather, research opportunities, nice weather etc).
Go to free Honors. I would have gladly sent my kid to free or nearly free Honors College — my kid was NMF. But he somehow got into Stanford and wanted to go there. I think going to college free takes a lot of pressure off everyone.
What are the net costs?
For engineering, all ABET accredited schools are going to give you a similar education.
go for price!
My d is a Freshman in UF honors. It is a top ten public university becoming more well known nationally.