Dilema: Full Ride vs $140K for Prestige

<p>I’m a believer in letting the student make the decision of where to attend, within the limits of the family finances. There will always be setbacks and difficulties at college, and as a poster said upthread, it is better for the student to feel ownership when addressing those difficulties.</p>

<p>I am an engineering manager in NJ. I know professionally a couple of people who studied engineering at Lafayette, and none from Rowan. That worries me slightly about Rowan’s job placement, since over a 20+ year engineering career I’ve worked with and/or hired people from all of the other engineering schools in the NJ/NY/PA area (Rutgers, Stevens, NJIT, NYU Poly, Lehigh, Drexel, Princeton, UPenn, Cornell, RIT, etc.), although it might be just because the Rowan program is newer. I know slightly one current Rowan engineering student, and have frequently seen her “back at home” at events at the dance school she used to attend (which my D attends), which implies suitcase school characteristics.</p>

<p>I would agree that Lafayette is certainly more prestigious than Rowan, and its students have much stronger stats. Both schools are under consideration for my D, not for engineering, Rowan as a safety and Lafayette as a reach. I think the biggest difference for the student between the two schools is who his peers would be, less so within the engineering classes as engineering universally requires strong students, but in the school as a whole. I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me, but the % of students in the top 10% is probably much higher at Lafayette than at Rowan.</p>

<p>Good luck to your S with whatever the decision is.</p>

<p>Some of you have asked about job placement, and graduate school opportunities for both schools and the following is what I was able to find:</p>

<p>For Lafayette, from their website:
Selected list of graduate schools, class of 2010:
<a href=“http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/files/2011/05/2010-Selected-List-of-GHLs.pdf[/url]”>http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/files/2011/05/2010-Selected-List-of-GHLs.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Selected list of employers, class of 2010:
<a href=“http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/files/2011/05/2010-Selected-List-of-Employers1.pdf[/url]”>http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/files/2011/05/2010-Selected-List-of-Employers1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For Rowan, I couldn’t find where this information was posted on their website, but in the letter my son received from the chair of Mech Eng it says: Rowan Mechanical Engineering graduates have gone on to graduate school at Princeton, UC-Berkeley, U of Michigan, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, U of Texas and other top-tier graduate research institutions. In 2008, the College of Engineering had a 97% job placement rate after six months and the Mech Eng program had an enviable 100% job placement rate.</p>

<p>I am biased but I think it is very hard to keep a good engineering graduate from any school out of a job since they can acquire enough analytical and programming skills to land a job in something or the other.</p>

<p>Engineering is one field that is much less status driven than many others. Unless you go to MIT it does not matter that much at all so long as the program is ABET approved.</p>

<p>[Accredited</a> Programs details](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=821]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=821)</p>

<p>My S earned around $8K from an engineering internship last summer, and the company gave him a $5K scholarship at the end, so $13K for the summer.</p>

<p>I didn’t think this was atypical for engineering, maybe I’m wrong. He’s at a state school, btw.</p>

<p>We faced this choice back when, only we would have to borrow most of it. No way…</p>

<p>My feeling is, if you take the $140,000 in 20’s, stack it is a pile in your backyard, and burn it, will you miss the money? If not, let him go wherever he wants, If so, there’s nothing wrong with taking the scholarship. There’s nothing wrong with letting money drive the decision. It’s a big freakin’ pile of money.</p>

<p>A couple other comments:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>You can’t really predict how someone is going to react to a big (or any) college. They all shrink down to what flies in your daily orbit. After the first year the classes will all be much smaller. There is generally much more to do on large campuses, many more clubs, etc. My S had much the same list - small classes, etc. - he loves his school and is very happy he went there.</p></li>
<li><p>“He is not interested in football games, or fraternities, or partying” There’s a good chance that fraternities are more prominent on the small campus, and a larger percent of social activities revolves around them vs a large college. And the partying is probably a lot more frequent/intense on the small campus, because there is much less to do there. I’ve been to Easton and Bethlehem… yeah.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>It sucks to say no to our kids sometimes, but $140K…</p>

<p>*My S earned around $8K from an engineering internship last summer, and the company gave him a $5K scholarship at the end, so $13K for the summer.</p>

<p>I didn’t think this was atypical for engineering, maybe I’m wrong. He’s at a state school, btw.*</p>

<p>Yes…that is atypical. </p>

<p>It is unusual for an engineering student to earn that much EVERY summer for 4 straight years. Twice my kids have earned about $5k over the summer, but other times much less because of REUs (that do pay, but not that much). Many eng’g students would find it hard to come up with that much money for frosh and soph years especially since that money would need to be earned as rising frosh (right out of high school) and rising soph (right after frosh year). It’s very hard to get high paying internships after only frosh year of college.</p>

<p>And, it’s one thing to earn X and it’s another thing to have X to put towards college. Taxes and other expenses are going to eat away at X.</p>

<p>* “He is not interested in football games, or fraternities, or partying” There’s a good chance that fraternities are more prominent on the small campus*</p>

<p>I agree. </p>

<p>And as far as football goes…you just never know. My son and a friend’s son had NO INTEREST AT ALL in football games…NONE, NADA. My son went to a big football school and ended up becoming a fan. Never would have guessed that. My friend SWORE that her son wouldn’t go to any football games. Guess who we saw on TV with a painted chest? Her son. Sometimes, people with no interest do catch the fever. lol</p>

<p>On setting a precedent for college costs for other children in the family, I would encourage you to read some of the posts by cptofthehouse (I hope I got that right) who has written about the lingering results of paying for the dream school for kid number one.</p>

<p>Excellent post by Ana1…soo true</p>

<p>I wanted to provide an update. My son chose Rowan University. It seems I overestimated his desire to attend Lafayette. After revisiting each school, and getting a better feel for the student body and atmosphere, he felt he was a better fit at Rowan. I know he’ll be in good company though because I’m learning there are other engineering students like him, who had opportunities to attend more prestigious schools, including ivies, but chose to attend Rowan instead. Saving $140K doesn’t hurt either :)</p>

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<p>Congrats, busybeemom. I hope your son enjoys Rowan University.</p>

<p>This is a very interesting thread.</p>

<p>The best thing was that I learned how to make the fancy quotes. I always wondered how that worked.</p>

<p>I never heard of Rowan University before so I learned something else today.</p>

<p>I think knowing what the “A” is and what the “B” is relevant because the decision to pay $140K extra depends on much more the “A” is than the “B” is. College education has a couple of components - one is an investment in future earnings. This is often the focus of cc posts. It is also hard to evaluate in advance because of the unknowns in career paths. The other component is consumption in education. There may be value in having the opportunity to study at school “A” vs school “B”. The value is very subjective and depends in large part in the wherewithal to pay for the difference. Prestige would also fall into the consumption category - it is like the difference between wearing an expensive coat versus a cheaper coat that keeps you just as warm.</p>

<p>I do agree with those who posted that there is prestige in a free ride. I also agree that Lafayette is not a school that is worth $140K for the prestige factor.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

<p>Your son made the right decision. Just because Lafayette was offering a 50% discount doesn’t mean much if the tuition is grossly inflated to begin with. It certainly isn’t worth $140,000.00 over a free ride to Rowan. Your son will be relieved with his decision in four years when he is not saddled with such debt without any real advantage over a graduate of Rowan.</p>

<p>I was going to put my vote in for the full ride. The fact that he did get that offered is something to be very proud of. Whether we like it or not, money is a pretty big influence in all of our lives. It is something that always needs to be considered.</p>

<p>I would agree with the other posters that it is much better to get through school without being saddled with a ton of debt. Most of us don’t have a choice, so that is wonderful that you guys do. My thought was all of the things that your family would be able to do with that money instead of spending it on college. A car is one thing, one very nice thing for any college student to have. Have you thought about putting some in savings?</p>

<p>I have no idea where you were planning on getting that amount from, but if it was something that you were going to pay gradually, i think a nice savings account would be a nice idea. That way when he is all finished with school, you guys can help out with a down payment on a house or something. </p>

<p>It is nice to hear about kids working hard and getting those nice full rides. Congrats!</p>

<p>Lafayette and Rowan?</p>

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<p>I’m trying out that quote thing too! his has been a very informative thread. I have already been struggling with the decision of how much we should volunteer to pay toward college, with many of the same thoughts as OP…kid has worked so hard, deserves it, best fit, etc…a lot of good points were made here. So much to consider.</p>

<p>I think “deserves it” shouldn’t be a factor in selecting. Nobody buys houses or cars that they can’t afford because they believe they “deserve it” because they “worked hard.” Going to college at all is the reward for working hard, and we have to stay within our means.</p>

<p>Besides, there’s nothing to say that your best fit can’t be at a school where you get big merit or that’s less expensive. There are several stories here on CC (including my own) of students who chose large merit scholarships at schools at which they were in the top 5-10% of applicants, or who chose their public universities over expensive privates, and who are doing fine - thriving - and went on to successful jobs or great grad programs.</p>

<p>I totally agree. I feel I deserve many things also for working hard my entire life. I would love a bigger kitchen, a nicer home and car, vacation and travel, and not having to go to work anymore. But I choose to live below my means in order to have financial freedom.</p>

<p>Every decision made has financial implications. Students need to know the cost of each school being considered, and understand their own expected contribution. They will make different choices knowing they must share responsibility, wouldn’t you? If your boss relocated you and allowed you to select any home, without regard to cost, every person would pick the nicest home in the area. But if he said you must pay for half, or give you a max he will pay, your choice might be different. I see this same thing happen with my daughter when we are shopping for clothing. She picks out a lot of nice things when she has the expectation that I’m paying for all of it. But when I tell her she must pay for half or I give her a cap, she carefully reconsiders every item. Those expensive jeans she “needed” 5 minutes ago, suddenly are back on the rack.</p>

<p>One of the reasons my son chose Rowan was because he didn’t want ANY loans, not even a few thousand dollars. He also felt Lafayette was just not worth that huge expense, and that Rowan had just as much to offer. Also, no school is going to make or break you. Success lies within YOU.</p>

<p>Thank you everyone for your support!</p>

<p>Read through the entire thread, glad OP/son chose Rowan over chasing the spectre of non-existant prestige at Lafeyette.</p>

<p>So, I’m curious - having just gone through the same decision process, how did your son like Rowan? Any second thoughts on your decision? Is he staying or transferring out? </p>

<p>That’s the one thing that wasn’t mentioned in the thread that we’ve been including in our decision - whatever choice you make, it’s not something that can’t be changed down the road. Transferring can have complications -but if you truly don’t like where you go at first, you can make a change.</p>

<p>Thx!</p>

<p>Update: My son absolutely loves Rowan!!! His first year was a huge success. He made many new friends and enjoys many new activities. He hasn’t gone to a single party because he stands by his decision not to drink. I can also tell you without a doubt that Rowan is NOT a suitcase school. My son came home only once or twice, other than breaks. Some kids who live closer go home more often, but most stay on campus, and there is lots to do.</p>

<p>Academically, my son received straight A’s his first semester and likely also will his second semester (finals start next week). Engineering projects included building an air compressor from scratch, and making biodiesel fuel, among other things. Rowan offers plenty of job and internship opportunities. My son landed a research internship at VA Tech this summer. </p>

<p>We are so proud of him! And we are so happy he chose Rowan. There are absolutely no regrets at all. My daughter is also considering Rowan, but TCNJ is her first choice.</p>

<p>I’ll update. DS chose the full scholarship at Alabama. He turned down Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, and Lehigh IBE–all highly prestigious options at full price (which we could afford if he wanted). </p>

<p>Thanks to generous AP credits, he entered with sophomore standing. As a member of the honors college, he has priority registration (a perk that cannot be overstated). This combination means he was able to make the exact schedules he wanted. He rode that to straight A+ his first semester. He will finish his first year with a 4.0 GPA as an honors engineering student. He also played on the UA mens volleyball team, played intramurals, joined clubs, made friends, and had tons of fun. Not to mention front row seats for every basketball game and football game (of a championship season).</p>

<p>So far he has no regrets, hasn’t looked back at all. He’s having a great time as a star student. Though it remains to be seen, I expect him to progress to great internship or research opportunities, whichever he may choose, and ultimately top job offers or grad school choices. Meanwhile I’m still saving six figures.</p>