<p>Is anyone else in the same boat that can't pull into a port and finally DOCK?! DS still can't decide which school to pick and I am starting to really worry now. Any tips to help him make the decision? </p>
<p>I can't blame in, I can't decide which school he should pick either! His choices are: </p>
<p>1)Columbia SEAS for engineering-good finaid package=will cost ~7200
2)Pomona-just a little more $-will cost 8500
3)UC Berkeley with Regents-will cost 8750 (as long as he keeps a 3.0)
4)UCSD=full scholarship-will cost 0 (if he keeps a 3.6 or it will cost 8750 if he
keeps only a 3.0)
(*For 3 and 4, if his gpa slips below 3.0, the it would cost ~$20K per year but
DS is confident that won't happen to him-never had less than an A.)</p>
<p>He is at Columbia admitted student days right now and has visited all the others for overnights and LOVES every single school. He wants to do engineering so it seems like he shouldn't choose Pomona but Pomona is such a great school, it's too hard to cross it off the list when they have a lot of great options taking classes at the other Claremont colleges including Harvey Mudd.</p>
<p>We have looked at the required classes for each school and they all sound good, interesting, and exciting for each school. We've compared the AP credits and some give more than others but is that really a reason to choose a school? He has looked at all the rankings and some are better than others but none are scraping the bottom of the barrel so that doesn't seem to be a reason to cross one off the list. We were told that he should "probably" pick a good financial aid package over a merit package but after S went to UCSD and met with the other scholars, he was told no one has ever lost the scholarship. His SAT scores are >100 points over the average admitted student in every section so it seems reasonable to expect he could keep high grades but then he would probably be more challenged at say, Columbia, where his scores are in line with most of the other students.</p>
<p>I am so on edge waiting for him to decide and can't really help him since I don't know what is best either! YIKES! Is my son the only one who hasn't sent in a SIR to date?!</p>
<p>How about looking at other costs–transportation to/from, EASE of transportation, will he live on campus all 4 years? If not, off campus housing costs–is there a significant difference there? I would also look at the costs without that 3.0. While it is likely he will stay above that, having “all A’s” isn’t always the best indicator of college GPA either, add in an engineering major and it could be an eye opener.</p>
<p>What would he do if he didn’t stick with engineering? What are the programs like for other possible majors. A lot of kids pick engineering to start but few finish.</p>
<p>Also, what are the historical cost increases for the colleges? Is there a significant difference there and will his FA keep up with those increases?</p>
<p>I would scratch off the schools with the GPA requirement scholarships and go with the schools that offered financial aid based on income. Your S could have a bad semester and end up with a 2.9 GPA. At school 1 & 2, I’m sure your son would not have to worry about losing his funding, but the same GPA for school 3 & 4 will end up costing more than the privates if you end up paying $20K per year. Would your get his scholarship back at school 3 & 4 if he increased a 2.9 GPA back up to over 3.0 in a future semester?</p>
<p>I would make a decision based on funding and keeping scholarships. Even if your son states he would never fall below a 3.0, can you afford the $20K per year if he does?</p>
<p>I’ve had some success when my daughter was being indecisive by telling her that if she doesn’t pick, I will, and I will allow no complaining afterward.</p>
<p>If you can swing it financially, I would pick Columbia.</p>
<p>DS’s “confidence” that “it won’t happen to him” are famous last words I’ve heard from far too many college classmates and undergrads who were straight-A students in HS only to end up with far lower grades…including GPAs well south of 3.0. </p>
<p>This is even more likely in a field like engineering as many intro courses are curved and designed to “weed out” students who are underprepared and/or who aren’t willing to put in the time and effort needed to stay afloat…much less do well. </p>
<p>Best assumption going into college is to assume the academic-level will be much higher than one’s HS experience and one will need to work much harder to compensate. </p>
<p>If it turns out that assumption is wrong as was the case with myself and others who attended math/science centered public magnets or academically rigorous HSs like TJSST, Bx Science, Stuyvesant, Hunter College HS, etc…it’ll come as an extremely pleasant surprise with no downsides.</p>
<p>As far as college GPA requirements go, missing a 3.0 is probably not a very high risk for a top scholarship student (though the risk is non-zero), but missing a 3.6 is a more significant risk.</p>
<p>I have my favorites, but that’s not the point. Go wallpaper the house. There are no bad decisions to be made here, but you don’t want him blaming you if you steer him toward the “wrong” choice. If he wants to talk about it more, let him come to you.</p>
<p>“Best assumption going into college is to assume the academic-level will be much higher than one’s HS experience and one will need to work much harder to compensate.”</p>
<p>Funny - I found academics at #1 LAC to be significantly easier than I experienced at the high school we both went to (granted, it was in the Dark Ages), and definitely less competitive. I did have to learn how to write (the private school kids already knew how; many of them just didn’t think very well). I definitely spent less time on it (unless I wanted to spend more.)</p>
<p>Have you looked at each colleges Career Services? Who provides the best assistance and placement for internships and jobs? Any grants for internships? Even taking a step back from that, what kind of help in figuring out what a student wants to do? Besides financial consideration, this was the one priority that I insisted on in looking at colleges.</p>
<p>Also, where does he see himself living after college?</p>
<p>If he is really sure about engineering and hasn’t had many struggles with higher-level math courses, I’d choose Columbia SEAS. </p>
<p>If he has any doubts about engineering, choose Pomona. One thing to keep in mind about Columbia SEAS is nowadays if a SEAS student wants to change to a non-engineering major, they’ll need to submit a transfer application to Columbia College which’ll be evaluated no differently than if he was applying for transfer from other colleges. </p>
<p>It’s not a pro-forma administrative procedure as it was 20+ years ago. This was probably put into place to stop students with strong STEM/math SAT stats from using SEAS as an easier backdoor into Columbia College as so many HS classmates did back when we were applying for colleges in the mid-'90s because historically Columbia College has been considered more prestigious and much harder to get into than their SEAS counterpart by virtue of overall SATs & HS GPA.</p>
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<p>The vast majority of US high schoolers didn’t attend highly competitive academically rigorous high schools like we did.</p>
<p>If transportation costs aren’t an issue there is a lot to be said for exploring a new part of the country for college. But I agree with mini, they are all good choices one way or another and you should really try to stay out of it. He should definitely found out whether engineering is possible from Pomona. I don’t know exactly how that five college consortium works. Both my kids waited until the very last day to choose the college. I did send them links or info about the colleges they had narrowed it down to, but tried very hard not to steer them in any way. Well that wasn’t so hard, because I was as torn as they were!</p>
<p>If all things are in your eyes, basically considered equal, then I would start picking apart each school beyond academics and job placement. What does he love doing? Is that “thing” available at each school (ie, surfing…beach…skiing…snow) Have him, or do it yourself, post on each schools CC board and ask what is the best part of School X what is the worst part? You might find some really interesting things out by doing that. Don’t ask on those boards “what school should I choose?” because it will be biased. But best and worst…could be revealing.</p>
<p>What percentage of students who want to be engineers at 18-years still feel that way at 22? What percentage of 18-year-olds even know the various vocational options for those who like math/science? </p>
<p>Go to Pomona for a general education (I don’t think you will get that at an engineering school), then go to grad school if you still want to be an engineer.</p>
<p>Only if OP’s S maintains a 3.6 GPA. One bad semester could easily destroy that in any major…especially one with weedout intro courses like engineering/CS. </p>
<p>IMO, not worth the risk considering all the factors.</p>