In many places this is not suitable for engineering. One would have to be sure their cc offered engineering courses (ours does not) and that they will transfer to the desired school. Engineering starts freshman year and runs through senior year booking almost all class hours. Even places that have other required courses often make some exceptions for engineers due to the hours needed just for the major.
Around here if a student starts at cc, then decides they want engineering, it merely means they have 5 years of school, not 4. Some “other” courses might transfer, but those don’t save any time.
Seems like some of the problem may be the lack of frosh/soph math and science courses that are accepted for transfer.
In California, almost all community colleges offer math to multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations, calculus-based physics for physics and engineering majors, general and organic chemistry, and typical social studies and humanities courses (general education for engineering majors). So even if the community college does not offer some of the soph-level engineering courses, junior transfer to engineering is typically doable, although it may result in back-loading engineering courses after transfer (after front-loading most general education and taking math and science at community college before transfer).
But it seems like community colleges in some other states do not offer all of even the math and science courses, or they are not accepted by the same state public universities. For example, University of Michigan seems to be stingy even with Michigan community colleges, and Penn State seems to prefer that students start at the more expensive Penn State branches than the Pennsylvania community colleges.
Basically, a student is better off starting Engineering at one of the Rutgers branches than at a NJCC (which is why NJ Stars is kind of a rip-off, especially for high-achieving kids).
(Note on some above posts: Your eldest son is really off-topic here. He did very well for himself and can afford his rent. The situation when he went to college and nowadays with your other 2 kids is different. Let’s focus on them lest the thread be derailed.)
Do look at your FAFSA. Having 2 in college should have changed your EFC slightly compared to 1 in college.
(It may not impact your FA… but it may. So, if you find a mistake, correct it, and refile, it may make a difference.)
Your son has very good stats, so he’ll land on his feet.
NJIT BTW is very good. They had to work on their Career Center because it was lacking but I believe they got their act together a couple years ago - check the website/your son can email about internships, workshops, career fairs.
Is it affordable? Did he get into the Honors College?
Can you afford Rutgers Engineering without scholarships or is it unaffordable? (And have you communicated either situation to him)?
Can he commute to Stevens? Have you run the NPC on it (if not, it’s not too late to do it and get an idea, so you know what to expect when you see the FA award.)
If he prefers NJIT over Rowan, be it. Will he be open to applying elsewhere (ASU, Arizona, UNewMexico, etc., for now; and from the NACAC list in May? - I’m thinking most Florida public universities will have slots, because their board of governors refused they go TO for the Fall and as result applications dropped 30-50% there since there were simply no tests administered.) Any geographical restrictions? Because there ARE excellent choices for him that may be cheaper but if you or he are sure it’ll be Rutgers v.NJIT no point in us looking for bargains on your behalf.
I am working on him. NJIT gave him a very nice financial aid package making it the most affordable option at this time. And, yes it is a very good school, but in a bad location.
No matter where my youngest goes we are going to have to take out loans. Besides digging into our home’s equity, there really isn’t a lot of money left over to kick in. Luckily, my Rowan freshman only had to take out the basic federal loans and received a $4k merit scholarship. He lived on campus in the fall and elected to go remote from home during the Spring, so we were able to pay the remaining tuition out of pocket, without having to take any personal or parent plus loans. But next year, that will not be the case and we will have to take a small loan to cover the tuition. My youngest did apply for a few scholarships. One of them is for specifically for students with medically documented learning disabilities. The application indicated that 20% of all qualified applicants receive something, anywhere from $500 to $20,000 a year and the scholarship is renewable each year if they reapply. I am hoping something comes through with that one because they have personally reached out to him to ask for more documentation, so they are definitely looking at his application. And he has several other scholarship applications out there as well. He did receive a small scholarship from my husband’s IBEW union, but just enough to cover maybe a new laptop. That money is not paid to the school, but rather directly to my son once he commits to a school and shows proof of enrollment.
Both boys know where we stand financially. Stevens Institute would be my son’s first choice, but he knows the annual tuition is more than I make a year, so he kind of backed off on it and is waiting for the financial aid offer, which I am sure once all is said and done, will not be much.
Here’s my question–Rutges, NJIT, Stevens all have a commit date of 5/1. If he commits what happens if he were to apply to one of the schools on the May list you indicate is coming out and gets in and wants to go? Will that be an issue, or will I just lose my deposit to the school he committed to?
@Debnbill would your son be open to a gap year and re-applying? that way he can open up the auto merit at places like AZ, Alabama, Miami OH, New Mexico and perhaps competitive merit at South Carolina? Like you, we are on a tight budget with 3 kids spread out, and cannot afford what most colleges think we can. Chasing merit is our only play. If I hadn’t stumbled upon this site when my eldest was a sophomore… then I would have most likely been making posts like yours in March of her senior year.
Eldest is at Bama with tuition paid. Not her first choice, but the school has LOTS of opportunities for involvement and internship across business, engineering, comms and liberal arts and those that chase them up do well. She is having a great time and learning a lot, inside and outside the classroom. Lots of kids from the NE too esp NY/NJ.
@Debnbill, many many people have salaries at or less than the median for the area, and have rent or a mortgage that is close to or even OVER half of their income and still manage to save $50-$100 per week, maybe $200 for some. My husband and I lived like this for almost a decade, and were also paying off (some) of our medloans. We never went out, used every penny wisely, and learned very good habits. Many people spend their whole lives living very frugally, and I do not even consider what we did to be truly “frugal”. My parents are truly frugal and have never had much at all their whole lives. It is a shame merit is not what you think it should be, and that your EFC is higher than expected, but I do want to acknowledge that there are people who do manage to save along the way.
I am sure there are many people who save along the way and make a lot less money than I do. My point was not to belittle anyone who is making what is defined as a median income. In the area that I live, it would be almost impossible for a family of 5 to pay their mortgage, taxes, car insurance, utilities, food, medical, etc… on a $75k a year salary. And, I do not live in a big, fancy house–it is a 4-bedroom 2,500 square foot ranch. My property taxes are close to $14k a year; car insurance for myself, my husband, and two sons is $6,150; and my homeowner’s insurance is $2,900 a year–our home essentials are over $20k a year. Each of us has different circumstances. I was 20 years old when I had my son, who had a dead-beat dad. I worked full time and went to school full time. When I decided that I no longer wanted to pay rent and purchase a small condo for my son and me, I cut off my cell phone, we no longer went out to eat and I saved as much as I could towards that 10% down payment. It took almost 3 years to do it, but I did. So I know how it is to live frugally and with no help from anyone. Since my two youngest sons are only 16 mths apart, we made the decision that I will stay home until the youngest was in kindergarten because day care for two infants would have cost more money than I would have brought home. So, with one working parent, 3 kids, a home, etc…there was very little left at the end of the day to dedicate toward savings.
This should not get personal - I think you see the options. It sounds like only NJ is still in play and it is too late now to apply to others since CC is not an option as I learned - but I’d recommend you look at Arizona (you can still get in), UAH - not sure if they are still taking…but they auto merit. Yes, it’s not NJ- but there is Facetime/Skype so you can see your kids…and financially you’ll be able to tackle it.
you are right, I apologize. I just did not want anyone to think I was belittling families who earn the median income because that was not at all my intention.
There are certain schools that focus on STEM and get outstanding results. UAH - Alabama Huntsville - used to be with a 30 ACT (like last year) you got free tuition. See if they are still accepting apps. Same with Missouri Science & Tech…used to be Missouri Rolla - they place lots of engineers.
Huntsville is Space City USA - they all work for rocket / defense companies coming out of there.
Just don’t know the deadlines…but Arizona is May 3rd. An easy app and a two week decision.
