<p>Son was accepted w/free ride to State U (not flagship)</p>
<p>Also accepted to one OOS flagship, state flag ship, and one private (with rankings in that order)</p>
<p>waiting for 1 more private that is ranked slightly better than all above</p>
<p>so we had planned on paying for son, not eligible for fin aid--until his safety gave him a free ride...how do you turn down free???</p>
<p>currently his favorites rank in the reverse order presented, so Free U is #5 (possibly #4 as I think OOS flagship is almost off the table (no merit aid and same rankings as in-state flagship)</p>
<p>he is thinking ME, though undecided at this point. If he goes to Free U, we would pick up grad school... </p>
<p>how to counsel him? (my background says you never turn down free, but experience says you at least need to think you can be happy there...)</p>
<p>Whatever the decision is, make sure it’s his decision and not yours. 4 years (or more) is a long time to spend in a place you don’t like just because your parents pressured you into it.</p>
<p>Have you visited any of the schools? Talked to people from those schools? Make sure your son gets a lot of information before making a decision.</p>
<p>It is really hard to give any real advice without knowing the actual schools. No one on here is going to report you to the schools, and the schools would not do anything if they did, so you don’t have anything to lose by telling us what schools you are considering. Plus, if you name the actual schools you may find some alums able to offer specific perspectives.</p>
<p>we’ve saved knowing there would be no fin aid and can pay for all the above–but is a degree from WPI worth $200k more than Lowell? (I’m thinking probably…)</p>
<p>Out of these choices, I would vote for UMass Amherst. Why? I think it is sufficiently superior to Lowell to warrant the cost, but none of the others are really better. Coop at NEU is certainly nice, but I’d probably still stick with the flagship.</p>
<p>Of course, he needs to be happy wherever he goes.</p>
<p>Tough one, although being happy for 4 years may not be worth being unhappy with 10-15 years of loan payments. I do not know the ranking of ME program at UMass-Amherst so I cannot really give any advice. If your child said computer science then it should be UMass-Amherst who has a very good program.</p>
<p>Still, $17,000 for the state flagship is not shabby at all. WPI may be better, but not $37,000+ better. Like others said, one has to also like UMass-Amherst but hey…big state school usually = big state fun.</p>
<p>@noimagination–yes, NU= Northeastern. UM Amherst will be re-visited, but was not son’s fav place–he’s a city boy and the happy valley doesn’t quite do it for him. </p>
<p>@globaltraveler–there will be no loans whatever S decides. but just because we can pay for it, doesn’t mean we should… :)</p>
<p>Son thinks ME, but husband is trying to steer him to CE or even CS…(DH went to NU and then UMass Amherst for grad school)</p>
<p>Even tougher decision. Hmmm…now I do lean to the thinking of “if money is not an issue, do what makes one happy regardless cause you only live once”</p>
<p>i would say UMass Amherst or Northeastern. IMO WPI is not worth the extra $10K, particularly with the coop opportunities that NEU offers and the location in Boston rather than Worcester. UMass Amherst is kind of like its own little city, too.</p>
<p>I know how you feel. Last year, my son was offered a full-tuition scholarship to a small liberal arts school in Pennsylvania. He was torn between majoring in science or engineering. He finally decided he wanted to go to UT-Austin engineering, OOS. Ack! I even took him to accepted students day at the small school. I really liked their honors program, but my son just couldn’t bring himself to go there. We DID ask him to take out a total of $12k in loans in order to help pay for UT. We want him to appreciate the fact that he’s going there. He should be able to qualify for in-state tuition starting next year (it’s much easier to become a resident of Texas than other states).</p>
<p>Note that just because a university does not have a required co-op program like NEU’s does not mean that students are prevented from taking quarters / semesters off for co-op jobs. In many schools, doing so is a common enough option that the school has procedures in place to handle students who do that. But you may want to ask each school how common it is and how streamlined the procedures are.</p>
<p>thanks everyone. I probably shouldn’t even have WPI on the list as S is still waiting to hear…I do think WPI is the best “fit” for S. Quarters w/ 3 classes per 7 weeks would fit his learning style to a T. </p>
<p>We definitely will visit UMass Amherst again as his only visit was on a rainy Sat last spring. the campus was totally deserted and grey and since it’s not the most attractive place to begin with…I don’t think S really got a feel for the school. (I’ll admit to being a bit biased against the physical campus (not the students or the education!) having attended one of the other 5 Colleges).</p>
<p>What I seem to be hearing is that Lowell is really not worth it even it is free when there are these other options.</p>
<p>I really appreciate the input! This is going to be an interesting April… :)</p>
<p>You should try talking to the other schools on your list, tell them about the offer your son got from Lowell, and see if they compensate a little. I remember back when I was looking at colleges there was no way I could afford my first choice, but after I told them how much my second choice offered me, they matched the offer (over a few thousand a year difference).</p>
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<p>Also, not a lot of people know this that aren’t in the field, but if he goes for his PhD and gets in to a good school, he’ll not only be fully funded, but he’ll also get a stipend to live off of (and it should be enough such that he doesn’t have to eat ramen three meals a day).</p>
<p>Good point, RacinReaver. I got a full fellowship just for my master’s degree in engineering, and I never intended to go on for a PhD. I had more discretionary income than I do now, lol! I even took flying lessons, something I could never afford now (when I met my future husband, I ditched the flying because I wanted to spend all my time with him).</p>
<p>I think this thread illustrates why it’s important for parents to be as clear as possible with their kids about parent resources to be spent on college.</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure where the OP fits into these hypothetical positions that parents can be in, but here they are . . .</p>
<p>1- We have $45,000 per year that we have set aside for your education and you can go where you want.
2- We have $45,000 per year that we are willing to spend on your education and if there is a school that costs that your parents and you agree is worth the expense you can go there.
3- We have $45,000 per year that we could spend on your education but we’re only willing to spend that much if there is something truly extraordinary about that school.
4- We have up to $20,000 to spend on college per year so the net cost can’t be more than that amount.
5- We have up to $20,000 per year and we have to agree on the school you go to.
6- We have up to $20,000 per year but we want you to go to the lowest cost school available.</p>
<p>In our family we were in between #5 and #3 but with different dollar amounts.</p>
<p>I’m not advocating any specific position here . . . just that it’s best to be clear with the kid about what’s possible. In our case it let the kid know ahead of time that the “dream school” had to be such a great deal or it was off the table.</p>
<p>P.S. I second the “inform the preferred school(s) about the other offers and ask for reconsideration of financial aid award” . . . that was a $5k/year conversation for us.</p>
<p>@kei-o-lei–that is a good discussion to have, but not one that we needed.</p>
<p>I guess our situation restated is: we can and will pay for any of the above, but is an NU/WPI degree really worth $160-200k more than a UMass Lowell degree? He applied to all of the above really not knowing about acceptances after all the horror stories we heard and his stats being good but nothing to make him stand out–I actually expected waitlist at NU with all the apps this year.</p>
<p>My background is that of a 1st gen college student who got to attend a great LAC because with all the grants/scholarships it was less than state schools. Huge bonus is that it was my first choice. But cost was paramount. You can take the kid out of the working class…</p>