My son has narrowed it down to 2 schools, same cost, same merit. Engineering program. Aside from location( 3hours vs1.5 hours from home) - what specific questions can I ask him to help him commit to a school. It’s his life, it’s his decision. Clock is ticking and he is still focused on high school.
Is he attending Accepted Student days at both? My S is in a similar situation where we are torn between 2 schools. We are revisiting both and hope one just “fits” better.
- Has he signed up for accepted student visits? Stay overnight if offered. 24 hours on campus is very revealing. Even if he has some EC commitment or something, he should do this instead. It has a big impact on his future.
- Do they offer the same engineering specialties he is interested in?
- What if he changes his mind about engineering? Which one is stronger overall if he switches majors?
- Where does he fit into the admitted student body - big fish in a small pond to just another fish in the sea?
- Who else is he besides a future engineer - available extracurriculars or activies related to his interests?
- Campus, food, and dorm where he feels comfortable? Class sizes?
- Is there competition for research or other desirable opportunities, or plenty to go around?
Agree with the others, I would have him attend accepted students day at both schools and then decide.
IMO not knowing the two schools it is impossible to come up with meaningful questions, but I would focus on finding differences between the schools – any academic differences, size and location of schools, prevalence of Greek Life and does he want it, social comfort level at both schools, availability of specific activities he is interested in pursing, does one school have big time sports and is he interested in that etc.
“same cost” takes away my first question.
Are they both ABET-certified?
I agree with attending the accepted student’s day at both schools.
I also agree with seeing where his stats land on the scale of admitted students at both schools. For engineering, being in the top 1/2 is probably a good plan – engineering is not a particularly easy major, regardless of the type of engineering.
I bet he’s more focused on college than you realize! I think they tend to pull back a bit as a way of processing this big life change. He will come to a decision, and you are a good parent for trying to help!
Just putting in my 2 cents - I was 1 1/2 hours from home. It was the perfect distance - not so close my parents could drop in unannounced, but close enough for them to visit fairly often and take me and friends out to dinner. (And close enough to run forgotten books back and forth after vacation - lol!)
Yes! Visiting both. Just nervous since housing opportunities have begun and I don’t want him to end up living with the janitor because he waited too long.
- What is the gpa required to maintain scholarships at each school?
- Which school has done the best job connecting their students with internships and what % of graduates are employed or in grad school within 1-2 years?
- Size (big or small) campus setting (urban, suburbs, rural) food options and dorms (are they guaranteed all 4 yrs).
How about a good, old fashioned pro/con list for each school?
You could set it up into categories:
Educational
Social
Campus Life
Ties to Home
Comfort Level
Or anything that seems to separate the choices.
Thank u all for your relevant and effective questions. I will write them all down and try to offer your insights to him. It’s between RPI and Stevens Institute for Civil Engineering/ Environmental
OK, so one thing that would matter to my daughter would be location. Hoboken, just across the river from Manhattan, is a totally different enviorment, different climate, different feel, from Rensselaer.
If the programs are relatively equal on prestige and comprehensiveness, he should go with the campus/town he likes better once you put aside what his major actually is. Honestly, a class is class is class wherever you go, whereas you spend the other 140+ hours per week on campus or in the town generally. Pick the one you would rather sit in a quad at, hang out in the student center, or be stuck with on weekends (movie theaters, bowling, etc.). People get WAYYYY to hung up on deciding between schools based solely on a program ranked #11 versus #19 vs #28, rather than spending more time asking themselves where they want to live for the next four years.
Male/Female ratio
Opportunities for research/coop (if he is into that)
Opportunities for non-STEM classes
Ease to travel home
If he let you make the choice, what would he be afraid you would say? Sometimes we don’t know the answer until the choice is made and we are disappointed.
I can’t think of three questions because everyone has already got most things covered. But what I always do myself or tell others when faced with a tough decision between two choices is choose one randomly and behave as though that’s your pick and then see how you feel about the other one. It sounds odd, but often you’ve got an internal inkling which you’d prefer but it just hasn’t surfaced to your brain yet. So make the decision randomly and then see if you’re happy or unhappy with the result. It tells you a lot! 
@HRSMom U make a good point. my s has visited both campuses twice, he knows we think RPI is his best fit, but the distance of Stevens, their placement is so high and the nicer city of Stevens is a draw.
I read somewhere to ask the student “which environment will you be most comfortable in when you are stressed?” Inevitably, kids will have some stress. They seem to answer this question with the school that “feels” best.
@DadTwoGirls
You said “I also agree with seeing where his stats land on the scale of admitted students at both schools.“
I am wondering how I can do this for my daughter.
Thanks