I’m a HS Junior from Illinois, and I got a 214 on my PSAT. I feel pretty confident I’ll be able to become a NMF because I’m from Illinois, and I have good EC. My question is if I were to become a NMF if I should go to one of the schools that gives a lot of $$, or should I go to UIUC. I want to be a CS or CSE major so I know UIUC Is a great choice. So which would be better for my financial future, a cheaper school, or UIUC which is top 5 CS and CE. Also if there are any schools that have good cs or ce and offer nmf scholarships please list them.
What do your parents say? What can they afford to pay?
I have to pay for my own college
My dad says go to Bama and save money. Mom says UIUC because it’s a top ranked school for engineering
How much debt will you accrue if you go to UIUC?
Without scholarships it will probably cost about 120k over 4 years
I’ve heard that UIUC is going to start giving out my scholarships soon to attract more IL students. Also I’m a minority(African-American) and first gen college student. My parents make less than 65k a year
Too many hypotheticals at this point. You can’t make this decision until:
- you see what your scores end up being and if you’re NMF
- you apply to colleges and see what financial aid/scholarships you get
UIUC is a great choice, but it depends on the cost diff with Bama. At $50K total cost difference, could be worth, at $120K total cost difference not.
You csn only borrow ~$5500/year. Focus on schools that will give you merit aid.
Can you see what scholarships and grants you get before you make a decision?
With your stats, hooks and everything considered, please apply to the ivy leagues as well. You will most likely get in somewhere and get a practically free ride. They have tons of money to give if you have financial need and are someone they want attending their school. Good luck! Even MIT and Stanford.
PS-That is if your grades are great and you end up doing very well on the tests
One other variable to consider is whether you get direct admission to the CS major at UIUC. If you get general admission, be aware that getting into the CS major later is very competitive. You need a 3.76 college GPA with at least A- grades in two prerequisite CS courses just to be eligible to apply.
https://cs.illinois.edu/prospective-students/undergraduates/transfer-students/transferring-another-university-illinois-major
You can only borrow $5,500 without a cosigner (cosigned student loans are a bad idea) and earn a few thousand dollars from work. A net price of about $10,000 per year is probably the maximum you can reasonably be expected to self-fund. Note that even Alabama with a full tuition scholarship may be too expensive (non-tuition costs are often up to $15,000); you may need a full ride scholarship or equivalent financial aid.
https://secure.osfa.illinois.edu/NPC/NPC.asp is UIUC’s net price calculator. For an Illinois resident with parental income of $65,000, $7,400 in federal and state income tax paid, no siblings, and CS major, the net price shown is $27,298, far too high for you to self-fund (and unrealistically high even with parental contribution – UIUC has poor financial aid even for Illinois residents).
If you make NMF, you can try this list:
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
There are also these lists:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
Check each school for whether the scholarships are still available when you apply, and note that you probably need more than full tuition to get the net price under $10,000. Also pay attention to college GPA thresholds needed to renew the scholarship and enter the CS major.
No, don’t go into $120,000 of debt! Taking more debt than your parents’ yearly income is obviously a terrible idea.
You have great stats and some hooks, so definitely look into schools that meet need!
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/09/14/colleges-that-report-meeting-full-financial-need
@Nfisher32
Apply for the questbridge scholarship so you can get a full ride somewhere
- African-American (hook)
- First-generation (hook)
- Income < 65k (hook especially if applying through QuestBridge)
- Likely NMF
- Applying as CS major (where AAs are even more under-represented)
Your choices shouldn’t come down to UIUC for 120k vs. Bama for room/board/expenses. If I were you, I would definitely apply to 10-15 of the top 20-30 private universities and/or LACs, nearly all of which would give you pretty close to free tuition (and likely free tuition AND room/board at the most generous schools like HYPS) and end up much cheaper than UIUC.
Yes, look at the highly selective schools that have good financial aid (check their net price calculators – HYPS are among the best with need-based financial aid). But realize that none of them are safeties; consider using an automatic full ride school as a safety.
First of all, a 214 from Illinois is nowhere near a lock for NMF.
Second, I find the idea that it’s an “or” (full ride or great school) kind of silly. If you do CSE all you need is ABET accreditation, really, no matter what you perceive as better or worse.
But go through QB
Actually, CS is not a field where ABET accreditation is considered that important (except perhaps if taking the patent exam is a future direction), although ABET accreditation for CS does set a minimum standard (one may have to look more carefully at the offerings in a non-ABET-accredited CS major, though). Some top-end CS majors (e.g. Stanford, CMU, Berkeley L&S CS) are not ABET accredited (though MIT and Berkeley EECS are), probably mainly because the ABET accreditation requirements for CS do require some non-CS science.
I specified CSE on purpose. The OP mentioned both CS and CSE, and so I assumed CSE meant computer systems engineering.