<p>Are you guys set on sending your kids to the U of MN? Or are you like me.....I would be thrilled if my son decided to attend, but am still waiting to hear from a couple of top schools. We are waiting on Wash U where he has a slight chance and Princeton where it seems like you need to be a one legged juggling unicyclist who has won multiple academic awards. </p>
<p>If either of these two schools accept S2 then I will really have to spend some time rethinking the value of a dollar since we will be full pay. We are sending S1 to a small LAC and are justifying the price because he really needed a smaller more focused environment. </p>
<p>The U of MN is a fabulous school so why am I still wavering??????</p>
<p>We are waiting until all decisions, merit and need based aid packages are in. </p>
<p>We are on the bubble as far as need based FA. For us, a FA package could range anywhere between nothing to very generous, depending on which of the school(s) D2 gets into and whether or not D1 attends grad school. In addition, she’s waiting to find out about merit aid at 2 schools, only 1 of which might be more desirable than UMinn.</p>
<p>Finally, we visit later this month, so what she thinks about being a Golden Gopher after the visit will also be a factor. I’m just so very happy that she has an excellent OOS college that is affordable as an option. </p>
<p>I totally understand where you’re coming from as far as the value of the dollar, it’s such a difficult personal decision. You also have to consider what they might do in the future. Both of mine are pretty sure about med school, so I’ve advised them that they should try to get through UG relatively inexpensively if possible.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t feel bad about wavering, there’s a lot of pressure these days (both from ourselves and from others) to send kids to the highest ranked, most selective school possible, which usually coincides with the most expensive. My D1 experienced both sides as an UG, I’ve told parts of the story before and can likely be found here with the Search function. In the end, each kid has their own needs and every school has it’s strength and weaknesses.</p>
<p>My son made up his mind to attend U of MN. He is in the honors program and was accepted at other fine schools into their Chem Eng programs. Overall it was a great fit for him - Urban Campus, top program and I must say the people at U of MN have been in a lot of communication with him and have been the nicest. He is a NMF so he had his options but in the end this was the right place for him. He is excited to get going and I am for him.</p>
<p>D1 will be a Golden Gopher in the fall. It started out as an “OBTW” visit as part of a girls weekend trip to Mall of America, but as soon as she got on campus she immediately felt it was where she was supposed to be. Our experience with admissions, campus tours, etc. has far and away been the most pleasant, friendly, and responsive among all the schools she applied to, and as we are “first timer” college parents that made a great impression on us. While their guaranteed NMF money is not as high as Alabama, Auburn, etc. they offered a great merit aid package overall, and given that their OOS tuition is one of the best values among major colleges in the nation…we were sold!! We’re thrilled and blessed that her first choice college is also the most affordable for us as parents. She hasn’t found anything yet about U of Minn that she doesn’t love the idea of…Honors program and housing in Middlebrook, CBS programs (Biochem major), College of Pharmacy (ranked 3rd in the nation)…it’s all good!! Now if the football team can turn it around in the next 4 years that would be perfect!! As long as they don’t beat my Wolverines…</p>
<p>S1 is a freshman at UMN and it has been a good choice for him and for us. For him, he’s in the honors program in CSE and his classes are very challenging which is good. For a straight A high school student, he was surprised at how hard it is to get an A in his honors math/science classes. In his first semester he ended up with a 3.5 gpa and he worked hard for it. For us, I cannot say anything bad about my experience with the U. The parent/freshman orientation in the summer was great. It was my first time seeing the campus, and son got a room at one of the dorms and got to see what an average room (well one with a shared bathroom) was like, and got to check out the dorm food. The experience as definitely positive. Move-in day was hectic (expect long lines if you have a later check-in time) but doable. Freshman week was fantastic for my son, he had a great time doing all the planned activites, especially the spirit night at the stadium. Parent Orientation was great for my husband, me and my son - we had a good time. Even paying tuition is very understandable (we pick paying it in 3 installments for $35 more). All my interactions before S1 accepted UMN were helpful, and actually haven’t had to contact the university since we have had no problems since S1 started. If you sign up for parent e-mails, you get updates on what is going on at the campus about once a month. I am one happy parent, my son is one happy student…can’t get better than that!</p>
<p>It’s so hard, when your kid is sitting for several months on some very nice offers from good engineering programs at large, state flagship universities. Like entomom, we are waiting until all decisions, and aid packages are in. D is waiting on several selective Universities, where I think she’s likely to get in, but end up with a much higher price tag than what we’d pay at Minnesota, and also on Princeton. Kajon summed it up well - it seems like to get in to Princeton you need to be a “one legged juggling unicyclist who has won multiple academic awards”. So, we’re sort of figuring the choice will end up being between the three flagships she’s already got offers from, but not making a final decision until all the facts are in. At this point, April 1 can’t get here fast enough. I’m tired of thinking about this whole thing!</p>
<p>^That’s exactly why we’re so relieved everything worked out the way it did. Having the decision made allows D1 to enjoy the rest of her senior year, and the financial aspects allow my wife and I to sleep at night!! Plus it makes D1’s wardrobe choices each day a little simpler…“Do I wear the Minnesota T-shirt, the Minnesota sweatshirt, or the Minnesota hoodie?” Best of Luck to all of you and your children as you wait on all the various decisions and offers. Whichever university these kids end up attending will be the real winner. God Bless!!</p>
<p>One thing that was helpful to both me and my daughter: We recently attended an event held by U of MN College of Science and Engineering for honors students. One of the professors there said that all of their choices are good. That was really reassuring for both daughter and me. When all is said and done, she will have a tough decision to make. But that’s because all the choices are good.</p>
<p>One very compelling reason to consider the U of MN is that their credit for AP classes is quite generous even with AP scores of 3. So in addition to the OOS tuition value, AP credit makes it even more appealing…</p>
<p>mountainlover, a couple months back S2 received a pie chart from the U of MN showing how many credits he knocked off via AP tests and his progress toward a degree. It is a great selling feature.</p>
<p>I am with HoComom - I just want this to be over.</p>
<p>D1 will be graduating in 2 months with a degree in electrical engineering/ computer engineering under the honor program. Her GPA is 3.95. She had many generous scholarship offers from mostly 2-tier universities before decided to enter the honor program at the U of M. She has enjoyed the overall experience at the U and internships and coop programs from various companies. She has received an acceptance letter from UW-Madison with fellowship to pursue graduate study in computer engineering, while waiting for status from other top universities.</p>
In general, most top schools, such as Standford, do not provide merit scholarships. They do however offer finance aids (FA). If your son/daughter does not qualify for FA, any merit scholarship from a well respected university, such as the U of MN, is definitely worth pursuing. As I mentioned in an earlier post, D1 has had a wonderful experience at the U.</p>