Hello - struggling with some good choices for D. Part of me thinks that to a large extent, with an engineering degree, almost any school is a good choice. Curious for your opinions however:
UMass Lowell - 18k net cost / yr
Purdue - 45k
Cal Poly - 35k
WPI - 35k
Northeastern - tbd
UMass Amherst - 25k
Really liked Purdue, but that will entail some debt. The idea of launching a kid into the workforce with no debt (ULowell) is pretty tempting.
How much can you afford? How much debt? What kind of student is your D?
A lot of people think that. As an engineer, I personally think it depends on the student. A student that is going to be good enough to go into research (which means creating knowledge) can benefit from the environment and competition found in a better school than Lowell to help bring that student to the frontier of knowledge. A student that is happy just getting any old job and doesn’t really have the curiosity for research really doesn’t need a better environment. A student with low self-confidence would benefit from a school like WPI which is a gentler approach to engineering than Purdue’s . Many students benefit from the kinds of co-ops done at Northeastern. UMass Amherst can be great for a driven self-motivated student, but may not find the help he or she needs when struggling.
Sometimes debt is worth borrowing. Sometimes, not so much.
What is the debt / no debt cost line? How much debt in total does each school translate to?
Personally, UMass Amherst sticks out to me as the best value. With all the options, I don’t think Purdue makes sense with its price.
Cal Poly and WPI are better than UMass Amherst but about equal to each other depending on fit - does your daughter have a preference between the two? I would go ahead and make that choice and limit your options there so that the list gets shorter.
Northeastern is really the X factor here - they don’t offer the best financial aid usually though - merit scholarship are usually the best way they lower the price. That said, if Northeastern is under 35k, it would certainly be a viable option. I would say it would be your best option overall if it was 25k or under.
All of this also depends on the debt / break even line if you can provide that.
IMO - Revised List:
UMass Lowell - 18k
One of Cal Poly / WPI - 35k
UMass Amherst - 25k
Northeastern - TBD
Regardless, you have some great options and can’t really go wrong with any academically - financially is the decision it seems. Best of luck!
Classicrockerdad - thanks for that; i see what you mean at UMass Amherst, my oldest D is there at Isenberg and is chasing every opportunity and having success. If she wasn’t so aggessive things could easily be different.
Pengsphils - i think anything over 25k per year gets into debt territory, some for me and some for her. Yes NEU is very much a wild card, but i’m not expecting big $$ based on previous D experience.
Really have to go see Cal Poly - not the cheapest trip to take, but i guess i would consider it a vacation expense.
UMass-Lowell is stronger, much stronger than you think. It began as a technology school decades ago. While overall it was ho-hum, engineering at Lowell was always good (which explains why it remains a majority-male student university; most large universities today are majority female). The UML president whom just recently moved on, made tremendous strides in raising the university’s profile and programs, which is why he was just hired a Chancellor of the UMass System. One more engineering asset at UML is the nuclear reactor on campus, one of the few STEM schools to possesses one.
Is it too late for her to apply to a school with very good eng’g and little/no debt (lots of merit)???
what are her stats?
We toured accepted students day at Lowell and were impressed with facilities, ongoing investment, etc. She also got into the honors program so some benefit there. Also the only school (of several) we have toured where the student tour guide knew just about everything and could answer any question.
2030 SAT and 3.9 gpa…but I think it’s too late to apply elsewhere. We are happy with the choices, but sometimes I think we are better off with less.
Assume you didn’t qualify for aid at Purdue even with another child in college which means your EFC is pretty high?
Purdue didn’t give you any $$ so full tag of $45K. Then NU is likely to not give you much if Purdue gave you nothing.
With that in mind, cost should not be a huge issue?? If it is not, I’d go with NU because of the academic reputation of engineering, the coop jobs which are so strong in engineering and the city of Boston.
If you don’t have such deep pockets or one of your kids wants to go to Med School and you want to help support them, or just have other expenses coming up, then worry about $$.
Then I’d go with Purdue or WPI. WPI is in a high tech area, Rte 495 and Worcester have their share of high tech, so summer jobs should be plentiful? With 2030 she’s a solid student and so does she want to work after graduation or go into research? MBA plus engineering degrees are a great combo but not getting a lot of aid for MBA costs.
I’d just go see the campuses again and then choose.
This revises the list to:
UMass Lowell - 18k net cost / yr - easily affordable
UMass Amherst - 25k - affordable, but may entail small debt as costs rise
Cal Poly - 35k - stretch budget, if student takes federal direct loan ($5,500) and contributes her own work earnings
WPI - 35k - stretch budget, if student takes federal direct loan ($5,500) and contributes her own work earnings
Purdue - 45k - too expensive, needs parent loans (not a good idea)
Northeastern - tbd - wait until you see the financial aid offer
Note that it does look like UMass Amherst and Purdue admit to a pre-engineering status. UMass Amherst requirements to enter an engineering major are not difficult (2.0 GPA and C grades in specified courses; see https://engineering.umass.edu/current-students/admission-major ). Some majors at Purdue appear to be more difficult to get into (see https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/Academics/FirstYear/T2M ).
Northeastern’s curriculum is built around co-ops, so she needs to consider if that is a desirable aspect for her. Co-ops may be an option at other schools.
Graduating debt-free is always ideal. However, bear in mind that your D will be getting a degree in a field that typically pays quite well, and therefore her ability to pay off that loan is considerably better than if she were getting a degree in social work or art history, for example. My D will be graduating with $20K debt (total) but it’ll be well worth it given her college and degree. I’m not recommending debt but I think you have to balance it with the potential pay-off.
Having said that, it’s hard to justify $20K/year of debt to attend Purdue over UMass Amherst.
Incidentally, the entire Boston metro area is a high tech corridor, so don’t get the impression that WPI has an advantage over UML or Northeastern for that reason. Otherwise, I like WPI very much and it was on Lake Jr.'s short list. He didn’t apply to Northeastern or UML.
Classic’s advice is good, as always, but “any old job” might be a little misleading in this context. I think he means any regular engineering job in industry (as opposed to research/academia).
UMASS-Lowell is well supported by the state in terms of facilities, but at least for undergrad, they still do not attract the best students and the classes are often easy and watered down. It’s not really in the same league as the others mentioned.
Thanks. Actually, what I meant was an “innovation” job versus the many other engineering jobs available in industry. The innovation jobs are the ones where successful companies invest their R&D dollars to build the next big things. They require a combination of curiosity and expertise well beyond what is taught as an undergrad. There are many many jobs that don’t involve the innovation process that are critical to a companies success. These may be in test, quality, manufacturing, field service, support, systems engineering, etc. While many of the innovation jobs require an advanced degree, not all do.
Narrowed it down; considering D wants to study biomedical E or chem E, with an eye towards med school perhaps. Down to:
UMass Amherst - 25k, no debt
WPI, Cal Poly - 35k, finance 10k per year
Purdue - 45k, finance 25k per year
Seems to me the cheapest option could be best, because if med school happens, having undergrad debt is not a good place to start. If med school does not happen, an eng degree is a great thing to have.
Of course debt will not all be on the student at this point.
Any input appreciated!
Keep in mind that most jobs in biomedical E require a grad degree. You might be looking at grad school either way.
I posted tables of the baccalaureate origins (where student got their undergrad degree) for awardees of NSF Graduate Fellowships in Engineering. It is a measure of the size and strength of the Engineering dept and it’s broken out by field.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19561240/#Comment_19561240
Purdue appears on table 1 at 36 total. Scroll down for the other schools. The have totals in the 10s. Look at the first post in the thread for a description of the data.