Getting Accepted does NOT mean that a Merit Scholarship will be forthcoming....

nevermind

@DesperateMomDad Is your son planning to pay the difference between the sniff backup schools sniff and the OOS school? His major could make a difference in the choice, though.

I’d pick Rutgers over njit because the area is not one where you want to spend time in, it’s partially unsafe partially depressing in a “gutted community” kind of vibe. The campus itself is rundown but it’s the environment. We can compare it to Temple, but Temple has Philadelphia and a great campus that they make sure is very safe.
Rutgers however is a perfectly good choice.
Now, did the son apply to merit scholarships at the oos school ? Is the cost of the school within the budget you’d provided -if you hadn’t provided one, are you able to pay for the other school, is it a surprise for him, is he only learning now that there’s such a thing as a budget?

*Is not rundown, "… a word was dropped

My son wants to take Biomedica Engineering. A GPA of 4.0 and ACT is 35. He applied for scholarship and was offered
half of the OOS tuition excluding room and board. We save some money to pay for 2years worth of schooling but the rest will be his parents working overtime and him geting student loan. I just want him to think wisely but his thoughts are that he will recover the money if he goes to the better school and that are the OOS schools.

If you can pay the first two years without his borrowing, and you won’t borrow for the oos school to which he gets a scholarship, the oos school sounds doable financially. Is the oos ABET accredited ? Is there some concrete criteria that indicate it is “better” indeed ?

@DesperateMomDad Your son is misinformed. Engineering is fairly standardized under ABET accreditation. Fwiw, my husband and oldest son are both engineers. They both work with engineers from across a full spectrum of schools, Pay at graduation is the same no matter where they earned their degree. Promotions and raises are based on job performance and not school. People from higher ranked universities can make less than engineers from Podunk U.

(Do high school students really have a clear understanding about corporate hiring practices?)

@DesperateMomDad wrote

Then he should think long and hard about biomedical engineering. It’s an “engineering lite” degree w poor job prospects w/o a graduate degree.

@MotherOfDragons wrote: “…If you could afford it you’d send your kid to one of those in a heartbeat. I would.”

Maybe. Maybe not. D2 attends a small private HS on scholarship, and you know, for some kids, there’s a price to pay for being submersed in an atmosphere of mostly high achieving kids from affluent families. The pressure to be PERFECT is palatable. You’re never ENOUGH. That’s not coming from us (her parents). It’s in the culture at her school.

I have often thought it would be better for D2’s mental health to be in a college environment with academic diversity, as well as economic. That’s probably part of the reason I’m not broken up about not being able to afford her dream school. YMMV

@Midwest67 , true enough-it’s an impossible reality so who’s to say. The whole perfection mentality now that’s so pervasive is really troubling, I agree.

To @Mom2aphysicsgeek 's point, I work with a graduate of a non-flagship state u who was the boss of a guy with an ivy league bs/ms combo. It was one of the lesser ivies, but still…
Get an ABET undergrad where the student can graduate debt free - sounds like excellent advice to me.

Student perspective: followed that school of thought in my senior year and chose a school where I had a full ride all the way up to the total cost of attendance. I get close to 10k in refunds per year to go here – a private, non-profit, ABET-accredited university, and am fully employed at the max 25 hrs/week in research because there’s so much opportunity.

I’m thrilled. Mom is thrilled. Not worth going into debt for engineering. Follow the money/pick a school at the intersection of good and cheap.

》》he should think long and hard about biomedical engineering. It’s an “engineering lite” degree w poor job prospects w/o a graduate degree. 《《

You mean you’ve done it, @GMTplus7 , you’ve identified the easiest engineering degree?? (Aka the “lite”) 8-> :> :))

Oops, wrong thread!

I just read this entire thread over the past 24 hours, and it is without a doubt one of the most useful “doses of reality” here on CC. It should be pinned at the top of this forum, IMHO. Many thanks to @mom2collegekids for starting it, and the many contributors who shared their stories!

Over the next few weeks, many acceptance letters and FA decisions will be revealed to aspiring students throughout the country. Here’s hoping that many families will make wise decisions, and not cripple themselves financially for years to come.

Can we add to this discussion - Just because you are admitted, with less than a 3.0 AND a high test score, does NOT mean a merit scholarship is coming.

D has a friend who applied to a bunch of reach schools where she was rejected, and was admitted to her two “safeties” - state flagship and a smaller state school. It turns out that both “safeties” are unaffordable for her family.

She applied to the two most expensive state schools in Illinois, and wants to double-major in subjects that could be taken at any school.

This was apparently her parents’ advice to do so. They believed that because she got a 34 on the ACT that her low GPA would not matter, and she would still get merit. They EXPECTED it. Now she is scrambling to apply to cheaper schools with rolling admissions.

They are also dumbfounded that she only qualifies for loans and received no grants, although they are solidly middle-class.

Thankfully, she can afford the local community college, which is a very good CC and with a good program for transferring into the two schools she cannot currently afford… She may be able to swing one of the directional schools as well…

Moral of the story - For merit aid, you need the test score AND the GPA.

This student applied with a 2.8 GPA and a 34 ACT and, believe it or not, her family did not want her applying to any directional state schools. (She still would not have received merit but they are much cheaper and her family can afford them). They told her she was too smart for them. !!! I checked for her and she’s not even eligible for merit at any of them.

I agree. The anxiety that we are not choosing the “best” schools, that even when a child gets into a good school there is one better, is poisonous. There are many, many excellent colleges and universities in the US, many excellent public universities we are fortunate to have. If only we could erase this shallow approach to college searching, as if it is all a popularity contest. Instead, we should focus on states and the feds robustly funding public schools so lower income students can attend without racking up debt or forgoing college altogether because the price is too high.

Depends also on the ECs and how the college views them. My kid had highish SAT, above 3.0 but not good GPA and really good ECs. He got two good Merit awards based on his ECs. Of course it is hard to gauge that ahead. He had applied to colleges that we could afford without Merit and to some just to see his luck. He also had applied EA to colleges so we could gauge a bit ahead how his app would be received. I always recommend a bit of strategy, a good dose of reality and of course some good luck!

The part about pay at graduation being the same no matter where they earned their degree is not quite true. For example, the average starting salary of an MIT CS grad is ~$95K vs. ~$60K for an Auburn CS grad. While the pay in any particular company can be similar, there are different opportunities available for graduates depending upon the school.

After graduation, the school attended makes no difference in promotions and raises, and makes a marginal difference in subsequent job changes.

@zoosermom, are you willing to share which colleges were on your son’s list?