@LakeWashington and @colorado_mom SDSM&T really does have good OOS tuition rates and pretty good reviews online.
I know more about CO School of Mines (high OOS tuition) because it’s in state and DD started there. But at work I had a talented co-op helper from CO School of Mines with at brother at SDSM&T (smaller but similar)… and he had very high praise for both schools.
However, not every kid will like being isolated in SD - that’s why I suggest a visit.
I don’t think this was mentioned, but you might want to take a look at West Virginia University’s engineering/CS school. Though WVU is fairly easy to get into, the engineering department is considered quite good. My son, a budding engineer, has good grades (3.6 UW, 4.2 W) and pretty good SAT scores (690 M, 590 CR) and has been offered 2 generous merit scholarships that will bring the price down to about the same as our state flagship (UMD). All the merit scholarship information (requirements, amounts, etc.) are right on the school’s website. The OOS tuition even without scholarships is fairly reasonable. My son wasn’t overly interested in the school until he went to an engineering open house there. My engineer husband and son were both very impressed with what they saw there and then WVU became one of my son’s top choices. There’s another engineering open house in a couple of weeks, I believe. We’ll be heading there next weekend for their admitted students day. Hope this helps. Good luck!
P.S. My son also got into UMBC, RIT, SUNY Buffalo, and UMD College Park. He got his preferred major (computer engineering) in all but UMD College Park. Well, not UMBC either because students don’t declare a major till later.
Rapid City SD is no Paris, but it has its charms. Nevertheless, I agree with Colorado Mom. You should really get a feel for Rapid City and the Black Hills region before committing to the school. I know a New York student who enrolled site unseen and absolutely loves SDSM&T. People who enjoy Rapid City say it has a good balance of small city entertainment and outdoor recreation. When surveyed SDSM&T kids report that are are genuinely satisified in most aspects of campus life, and the academics are superior. One of the favorable things about SDSM&T is that the number of out-of-state kids among the student population is substantial.
Another option to consider that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is Tennessee Tech. OOS sticker price is approx $32k. Their education and job placement record in engineering is top-notch. I don’t have any personal experience with their CS dept., but I can’t imagine it’s not good as well.
@jcc thanks for the recommendation. Hopefully, the college tours later this month will help him decide what type of school he wants to attend.
Colorado Mom is right that Rapid City is not for everyone. There was a poster from New Jersey who reported that he ended up hating the place a week after enrolling as a freshman last year. To be frank, I suspect that he wasn’t as broad-minded and accepting of unfamiliar environments as are other students whom attend college far from home. For what it’s worth, I personally know two non-Dakotans (engineering majors) whom are quite happy to be at Mines; a New Yorker whom was admitted to RPI and WPI, and a sharp and creative kid from California.
Well, it’s been a few months since I started this thread and the Spring Break college tours are over. He now has some direction. He is leaning towards Computer Science/Computer Engineering. We visited 5 Virginia schools since he would prefer to stay in state. Surprisingly, his top choices were not what I would have thought:
1-VCU-Engineering school established in 1996. Very urban. Total shock to me.
2-Va Tech-Engineering school would be a huge stretch. The average GPA is 4.12. He will still apply. His second choice would be University Studies, with hopes that he can transfer to Engineering later. The downside is that the requirements have changed. To transfer, the credits HAVE to be taken at VT.
3-a tie JMU-liked the vibe and the new BioScience building is beautiful
and CNU-I have never seen such a beautiful campus! Only 5,000 students, but he would have to KNOW he wants to major in Computer Science or Computer Engineering. There are no other options.
4-ODU-it has all of the majors he could ever need, but he just didn’t like the school or the area. He will still apply.
We go see GMU in mid April.
Thank you again for putting us on the right path!
Neither of my kids applied to VCU but they both had friends who went there and seemed to enjoy it (although the friends were not in engineering) . Thanks for the update and hope you enjoy the visit to GMU.
Back here with some updates. We visited all of the Virginia schools on his list. Tech is still his first choice.
His GPA is now 3.2457 weighted
SAT score: 1970, CR/M 1360
ACT: 31
He is signed up for 4 AP courses and 2 Honors courses next year.
I don’t know how much weight the testing scores will carry. His GPA will still be the hurdle to overcome. This is really a stressful process for the kids.
@ThreeRedheads, applying ED is usually the way to go if the student has a clear favorite and borderline stats. Not sure about Virginia Tech specifically, but that might be the way to go. He gets it out of the way and can work on other applications while he awaits a decision.
You’ve probably seen these, but just in case it offers any additional insight: http://www.admiss.vt.edu/apply/freshman-snapshot/
@LucieTheLakie thanks for the info. I will definitely pass that along to him!!
My son applied ED to VT but it did not help. His SAT’ s were in the top 25 percent and he had great EC’ s but his weighted GPA was in the bottom at about 3.6 He was deferred, then waitlisted. He did get off the waitlist but we felt lucky as the average GPA that year was 3.9 +. I believe it may be even higher more recently. But, it is great that your son has raised his scores and it may not hurt to try ED. Just have some backup schools in mind that routinely accept a lower GPA. And, check with the GC to see what the average accepted GPA was from your particular school. That is what really could matter most. Congratulations on the great improvement in scores!
And yes, this is stressful. My son also got deferred EA and waitlisted by JMU. He also got off that wait list but it was a very stressful few months. Take care and good luck!
As I mentioned before, being an A or not is not a concern when going to engineering or CS. Being a survivor in these majors is the goal. There are many who simply do not survive as engineering is the hardest majors of all UG majors and CS simply requires such a passion, it is a tedious and time consuming task for the novice to debug your own software, the person without a fire for this type of work simply will not survive in CS major.
@MiamiDAP, you have to get ACCEPTED into an engineering college you can afford before you find out if you can hack the major. I believe this what the OP is focused on at present.
OP,
dont let your son “waste” an ED application at VT.
Applying ED there will not make his chances of his acceptance greater unfortunately, because of his SAT scores and GPA.
IF he wants to apply ED somewhere, AND his stats are in the middle to upper range of accepted students, AND you can afford to send him there, then go for it.
@MiamiDAP I know the average student changes their major three times during their college years. He might find out he doesn’t have what it takes in Eng or CS, but along the way, I hope he finds a course of study which fits his skills, inspires passion and something he will be happy with.
@LucieTheLakie Yes, the focus now is getting in to the college of his choice. Who knows what the future holds for him.
Heck, I changed my field of study three times and ended up working in a field in which I don’t use my degree.
@menloparkmom his second choice is Virginia Commonwealth, which was a complete surprise to me. The cost is about the same and he’s at the high end of the test scores. He has a list of schools which he will apply to and hopefully, one will be a good match and he will be happy. THat’s the ultimate goal.
Thank you all for your input. I really appreciate you taking the time to chime in. I value all of the advice given.
We have learned SO MUCH since I first posted this thread in February. This community has given some very helpful advice.
Yes, get accepted into engineering first. That is the key. Then, you’ll probably quickly see if you can hack it.
JMU and GMU have EA, not ED. That was my son’s strategy-ED to VT and EA to JMU and GMU. I think the GPA is the bigger issue than the SAT scores here.
Just saw your post about VCU. Good idea. As I said earlier, neither of my kids applied there but they had friends who went there and enjoyed it. It is also closer to your son’s profile, GPA wise. And not as difficult to get accepted at as VT or JMU.
@sevmom The GPA is the biggest concern. The disparity between his GPA and test scores might indicate to the schools that he has the aptitude, but is lazy. I warned him of this. Now he has to live with the consequences. Ultimately, as everyone says, there’s a school for all. I like your son’s strategy regarding the ED/EA.
"you have to get ACCEPTED into an engineering college you can afford before you find out if you can hack the major. I believe this what the OP is focused on at present. "
- I disagree that you have to be accepted to find out. No, you need to know if you have enough in you to succeed. What was the reason for the original concern, why a student is concerned? Isn’t it because a student could not achieve an A in certain classes? Does applicant posses a hard working ethic, does an applicant have enough background? Being accepted is a very different story from surviving in the most challenging major. And again, engineering is very different from CS, require totally different skills and thinking process. I agree, that this part could be answered by trying. I am a good example of that, I was in engineering, I did not like and after 11 years of working, I switched to CS. I could not discover it in UG, I had no problem with engineering academics, I actually liked it, I just did not like the job.
I do not see any problem being accepted, and one can attend at any UG for these majors as most engineering companies and most IT departments (including the ones at huge international companies as my current employer) hire locally anyway, the name of the school does not mean much to them. My H. is an engineer as well as most of our friends and I know whole tons of people in IT after working at 9 different places, many of them are very well known internationally. I do not know a single person, who graduated from any other than either local or in-state (public or private) UG. None went to some Ivy / Elite UGs. All love their jobs, happy and successful. I never heard a story of not being accepted to the engineering major or CS major, this concept is brand new to me.