We are from Ohio and my son has been accepted to all 3 (in addition to Johns Hopkins, Northwestern and CWRU) with varying financial packages. Ohio State has offered a full ride, Notre Dame will cost about $30,000/yr and Duke about $45,000. We are a middle-class family and we are shocked at those numbers. He plans on studying BME so Duke is obviously his first choice but that number makes it very unlikely that he can go there. He has visited ND on Reilly weekend, just got back from Duke this weekend but has delayed visiting OSU as it really wasn’t high on his list. FAFSA says we should be on the hook for $19k but of course, these schools have their own “need-based formulas”. We could maybe push it to get to the 30 but can’t see the 45 happening. Struggling to determine how much debt is too much with May 1 just around the corner.
If Ohio State is offering a true “full ride” (Tuition, fees, room & board), then OSU is the best option as finances are a significant concern to you.
I agree. Private schools have a way of making these decisions pretty easy. Most people can’t afford them without taking out large amounts of debt. It’s not worth it for a bachelors degree. He has a full ride scholarship at Ohio State already guaranteed. All he has to do is say “yes.”
Surprising that you dismissed Hopkins for BME. If Duke costs $45,000 for you, that’s what they think you can afford to pay based on the financial information you have submitted. If you think you should be receiving significantly more aid, it wouldn’t hurt to speak to someone in the financial aid office. If you can pay but choose not to, that’s a completely different situation. It is a question of what you prioritize as a parent…
What are the costs for other schools? It’s interesting ND is in the running. I know it’s probably due to non academic factors but all the schools you got have highly ranked BME (congrats) except ND.
My daughter actually decided against applying to ND because their BME program seemed non existent. Since graduate school is a likely necessity in this field, I would take that into consideration when looking at the financial aspect. Ohio state seems like an incredibly wonderful option. Good luck with your decision!
We have contacted Duke and ND and they are both came back with new offers. Dukes was actually MUCH better which was very surprising. They got us very close to the FAFSA number. So now the decision is really difficult. Free is tough to pass up but his goal has always been to get to an elite university.
Wow sounds like the appeal really worked. Good for you! However, free ride to OSU is really hard to get.
Did you son get an Eminence Fellows scholarship? Only about 25 kids are awarded that each year. More than just a full ride. A lot of other great opportunities go with that as well. Congrats to you son.
From what I have heard, BME is a tight hiring field. Prestige of undergraduate program is very important. In this case, I think it behooves the OP to seriously consider Duke.
Congratulations to your son and congrats to you on contacting the FA office at Duke and getting a better offer! @JenniferClint
My daughter is a junior at Duke, double majoring in BME and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). She has an internship this summer with a leading national/international biomedical device company. After meeting the recruiter at Duke, and going through a series of phone interviews, the company flew her to their headquarters where she then had four additional face-to-face interviews. While I am, obviously, extremely proud of my hard working daughter, her experience is an example of the outstanding education she is receiving at Duke, as well as the opportunities that are available through companies that recruit BME majors at Duke.
I will also add that I have read several times on CC that work is not available for those students who only have a bachelor’s degree in BME. Perhaps it’s because my daughter is a double major, but she was considered to be qualified for her internship on both the hardware and software side of the project to which she is assigned (which absolutely thrilled her). Her internship is as an Research and Development engineer intern, which is exactly what she hoped for. She plans to get experience for a few years before going on to graduate school. The company was very transparent about their intentions to offer employment after graduation if both parties feel it’s a good fit after the internship.
Good luck to you and your son! We just went through the process again with my younger daughter, and am so happy to have it behind us. Free is hard to pass up, but it is a complex, multi-layered decision for sure. All the best to you and your family!
Duke is now much more affordable. It is now the obvious choice (IMO). Congratulations on taking the initiative and making life much easier for yourself!
Go OSU and save money! All ABET accredited Engineering programs are going to be similar.
The online EE program at DeVry is ABET accredited. The Mech E program at Stanford (brick and mortar) is also ABET accredited.
Are you suggesting that students who graduate from DeVry’s online program will have the same opportunities as students who have Stanford degrees?
@JenniferClint - DeVry “University’s” “EE” program is not electrical engineering. It is engineering technology only (which as been very well discussed on other CC threads, is not the same thing as an electrical engineering program). It is ABET accredited as an Engineering Technology (not Engineering) program. DeVry is not an engineering school and has no ABET accredited engineering programs. There are no ABET accredited fully-online engineering programs. There are some ABET accredited partially online programs, but they require in-person attendance to complete laboratory work, which cannot be reproduced online.
All ABET accredited engineering programs meet an adequate standard of quality in their professional training, academics, and rigor, but nobody will claim that a graduate of an online, for-profit school such as DeVry is going to have the same opportunities as a graduate of a brick and mortar, in person, engineering program at an established non-profit school.
I don’t believe the opportunities for Duke graduates will be that much different than those of OSU or other established ABET accredited schools. The demand in engineering today is such that all engineering graduates will have good opportunities starting out. Once one starts his or her career, the quality of work he or she does becomes a much greater factor in success than the school he or she attended. After a few years, it makes virtually no difference.
For BME, there is Hopkins & Duke, and then everyone else. What was Hopkins’ offer? If not comparable, Duke for near-fafsa is a no-brainer.