<p>Hi. I'm from New York City.
These are the two schools i want people's opinions on and which would be a better option.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Clarkson University
-Very expensive private school 56k~ a year. Hopefully I will get some aid to bring that cost down.
-middle of nowhere
-Good Engineering
-Very good Job Opportunities. Better than Harvard it think. like the kids getting a job right after 4 year graduation. stats for this part is top notch.</p></li>
<li><p>Stony Brook University SUNY
-Close to home.
-middle of nowhere in long island
-Inexpensive..17K? a year
-Good engineering program.
-don't know squat else about this school</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Have you run the net price calculator on the website for Clarkson? Look on the school website on the financial aid page for the college, and get your parents to help you run it. Unless you get a lot of aid, I would say Stony Brook all the way.</p>
<p>I visited Clarkson a couple of years ago, and while I do LOVE rural schools, the campus felt a bit run-down/outdated and small. They may have made improvements in the past couple of years, though.</p>
<p>ummm…i used the calculator and got roughly…26,000 of aid money…so the price of the school became 26,000~ which is kinda affordable. but not really sure if i will get this much. </p>
<p>If the cost is $56,000, and you got $26,000 in aid, then the cost would be $30,000, right? And was any of that “aid” in the form of loans? Most calculators are fairly accurate unless your parents are divorced, own a small business, or own rental real estate. Then it will probably show more aid than you would really receive. </p>
<p>My mom owns a small business and I’m not sure. Gov it said would provide around 5.5k in loans. And the 26k was under grants/scholarships </p>
<p>They are still loans that have to be paid back. Government loans have more protections for the borrower than private ones, but still better to take out less debt in most cases. If your mom owns a small business, you may not get as much aid as it shows. I own one… I plugged in my business assets as if they were my own to get a better feel for how a college might treat them.</p>
<p>The thing is… you don’t have to decide between them now. Apply to both (and a couple more as well). Try to visit, and learn more about them. Some good sources of information:</p>
<ul>
<li>Fiske Guide to Colleges has a helpful write up on both of them. See if your guidance counselor or library has a copy.</li>
<li>Both have forums out here on CC. Go read as many back threads as you can stand. :)</li>
<li>C-o-l-l-e-g-e P-r-o-w-l-e-r website gives good insight (had to type it that way, this site will * it out if I don’t)</li>
<li>Go to the college website and read all about it. See if they have a virtual tour. Sign up on the admissions page to get mailings from them.</li>
<li>See if the student newspaper is online. Great way to get past the marketing message and see what things are really like on campus.</li>
</ul>
<p>See how your financial aid sorts out, and keep an open mind until you have the FA packages in hand and figure out if you can really afford Clarkson or not (assuming you get in). Make sure you apply to at least one college where your stats are on the high end and you KNOW you can afford it as a safety, too.</p>
<p>If cost is an issue then I would definitely say go with Stony Brook, especially since you’re in state. I definitely wouldn’t say Long Island is the “middle of nowhere,” but maybe that’s just me. Both are good engineering schools. I have a friend who goes to Clarkson and seems to enjoy it; I believe he’s receiving a ton of financial aid, so with the aid it becomes an affordable school. I would personally visit both and potentially apply to both and consider some other schools as well (Alfred comes to mind). </p>