Husband hung up on National U's vs Regional U's

Parents Forum
1

<p>My daughter is interested in attending college in CA. We live in CO. She is interested in biomedical engineering. Many of the schools are out of reach due to price (we will not qualify for need based $$), not her academic performance.</p>

<p>Stats:
4.0 unweighted
4.2 weighted
32 ACT
SAT- still waiting on scores
8 AP classes
National Honor Society
National English Honor Society
Band
Varsity Dive
Lifeguard in the summer</p>

<p>My husband wants to rule out California Polytechnic State University-- San Luis Obispo, because it is ranked as a regional university and not a nationally ranked one.</p>

<p>Any thoughts or counter arguments are appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Try Harvard.</p>

3

<p>Not what you want to hear, but I would really research the state of the California public university and college system. They are really raising out of state tuition at the same time as cutting course offerings. Many students report that it is impossible to graduate in 4 years.</p>

<p>The economic situation is bad at most state Us but it seems to be at its worse in California.</p>

4

<p>UC San Diego is another really good option.</p>

5

<p>The UCs will be too expensive for the OP’s D: OOS COA is in the $50k range. </p>

<p>Cal Poly SLO is a great school for engineers, but yes, it might take five years to finish, and the California budget situation is scary. It’s also not easy to reach. If a prospective OOS student takes a careful look and decides it’s worth the downsides, then fine. It seems like a steep price (meaning not just money but ease of dealing with the school etc etc) to pay just to go to school in CA. </p>

<p>OP, your D might be able to get some merit money at USC. FA can be very generous at Stanford, but admissions is of course a lottery ticket and only you know if your financial situation might fit at all in their parameters.</p>

6

<p>If cost wasn’t a factor I’d say she should look at UCSD since it as one of the top ranked bioE programs in the country (plus it’s in a nice location). </p>

<p>However, UCSD out of state will be expensive. So will any of the other state colleges OOS. But it’s a personal decision as to whether the cost is a significant factor for your family or not.</p>

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<p>out of state ucsd will be 40k+. and I disagree about it being in a good location. college students are provincial, they rarely wonder beyond a few blocks of campus in 4 years. The UCSD campus is one of the largest campuses in the US and one of the worst designed campuses. there is no sense of community, no student meeting points, and no main entries.</p>

<p>the place feels deserted when school is in session.</p>

8

<p>COA last year for OOS at UCSD was indeed just under $51k. Since the OP mentioned that schools were ruled out because they were too expensive and the family didn’t qualify for need-based aid, the UCs won’t be a good choice. Which is a pity, because otherwise UCSD would be an attractive option.</p>

<p>OP, is there any way that your D would consider other states? Her stats are excellent, and she could certainly find merit aid at other schools, both public and private.</p>

9

<p>CalPly is a perfectly fine school.</p>

10

<p>^^^ seems like OP’s husband objects to the ‘perfectly’ part ;)</p>

<p>OP, if the UCs are out of the question financially, and DH doesn’t want the State Us, that only leaves you with privates, right? Or did I misunderstand the issue?</p>

11

<p>This is way out of left field, but I thought I’d throw it in the mix. Stony Brook University has an excellent biomedical engineering program.</p>

<p>Long Island couldn’t be further from CA, but the part of LI Stony Brook is in is suburban/exurban and not as cold as its upstate siblings.</p>

<p>Because of its relationship with Brookhaven National Labs and Cold Spring Harbor National Labs (both about 1/2 away) the program is cutting edge.</p>

<p>There is an honors college as well. </p>

<p>OOS costs are very reasonable at SUNY’s.</p>

<p>2011-2012 Estimated Yearly Cost for Full-Time Undergraduates*
Direct Costs
Payable to the University NYS Residents Out-of-State International
Tuition $ 4,970 $13,380 $13,380
Room ** $ 6,828 $ 6,828 $ 6,828
Meal Plan ** $ 3,886 $ 3,886 $ 3,886
Fees $ 1,850 $ 1,850 $ 1,850
Health Insurance*** $ 1,155.50 $ 1,155.50 $ 1,089.75</p>

<p>Indirect Costs
Estimated annual expenses NYS Residents Out-of-State International
Books**** $ 900 $ 900 $ 900
Transportation & Personal Expenses $ 1,868 $ 1,868 $ 2,537.25</p>

<p>Thus, COA is around $25K.
I think some honors college students get free tuition, but I am fuzzy on that.</p>

<p>I live right near the school and it used to be an ugly mud pit, but it is now quite pretty. Negatives are that it does tend to be a suitcase school, but I know quite a few kids very happy there.</p>

<p>S’s best friends attend, including the Val and Sal, in a class that included kids at Cornell, Princeton, Williams, and UPenn.</p>

12

<p>I thought the California public universities were too pricey 4 years ago to justify an OOS application, that goes doubly so today. I’d look for privates in CA where merit money might come into play.</p>

13

<p>

I disagree with that description but there’s no point debating it here.</p>

14

<p>If your daughter is interested in biomedical, CU-Boulder or the Colorado School of Mines would be the most affordable choices unless she gets merit aid at a private school. To really pursue that career she will probably need a Master’s degree and it is better to hit a home run on graduate school than to go big on the undergrad. CSM has special undergrad programs in biomedical. There aren’t that many undergrad degrees in biomedical engineering. </p>

<p>It sounds like you are in the place I was in a year ago (my daughter just graduated from HS). I had some fantasy that merit aid would be easy (my daughter was IB, all 5’s on many AP exams, and 99% percentile on every standardized test), and that state schools were inexpensive. Wrong on both counts. </p>

<p>In state at CSM if she stays on campus, with all books fees and incidentals, is about $24K per year. CU is a few thousand less, but I’m sure you heard that they raised in state tuition 10% this year and that will probably be the case for the foreseeable future. Out of state costs are prohibitive for most prestigious state engineering schools now, regardless of state. There are a few gems though. I know a couple of kids going to South Dakota Mines and they are really happy. It is less expensive to go there from out of state than to go to in state to CU or CSM! </p>

<p>Good luck with your daughter’s search.</p>

15

<p>Have her investigate Santa Clara University. It offers a bio engineering program [Undergraduate</a> Admission - Major in Bioengineering](<a href=“http://www.scu.edu/ugrad/academics/majors/bioengineering-major.cfm]Undergraduate”>http://www.scu.edu/ugrad/academics/majors/bioengineering-major.cfm) This April several students with good GPAs and test scores like your daughter’s were offered terrific merit-based awards for SCU and chose it over other institutions that were higher-ranked because of those aid packages. I can’t remember where all of those threads are buried. I think a couple of them are in the Financial Aid Forum.</p>

<p>Other places that would offer her serious money can be found in this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

16

<p>Why not take a peek at Rochester Institute of Techology? (a.k.a. RIT)
As a female, she would probably get a lot of merit aid.
COA is about $42,000/year. </p>

<p>[RIT</a> - Office of Financial Aid - Scholarships & Grants](<a href=“http://www.rit.edu/emcs/financialaid/scholarships.html]RIT”>http://www.rit.edu/emcs/financialaid/scholarships.html)</p>

17

<p>My son also is looking at biomedical engineering although I am not sure if he will look at CA schools. We do know that the U of Miami has a good program and give good merit aid. Your daughter would probably be offered at least the Dickenson scholarship (20k a year). My friends son had similar stats and was offered a merit scholarship of 24K a year (though I can’t remember what the name of his scholarship was). Another good thing with Miami, they have non binding early action. You get your admission’s decision at the end of January/beginning of February…and the the merit award is in the big envelope!</p>

<p>Look into it at: [University</a> of Miami](<a href=“http://www.Miami.edu%5DUniversity”>http://www.Miami.edu)</p>

18

<p>Here’s a plug for the University of Minnesota, one of the less expensive public flagships for OSS. [Department</a> of Biomedical Engineering : University of Minnesota](<a href=“Biomedical Engineering | College of Science and Engineering”>http://bme.umn.edu/)</p>

19

<p>She thinks she wants to go to school where it is warm. LOL I guess she is done with Colorado.<br>
She is open to attending other schools in other states- if she can get some merit. CU is her safe school and we are willing to pay the 25K per year that it costs. So, she is looking for merit $$ to combine with our 25K to make OOS possible. She is not interested in taking out loans for her undergrad when she has many years of school ahead after her BS.</p>

20

<p>if she can get a 2150 or better SAT (or ACT equivalent) with a 4.0 uw, then she might win the 15k annual scholarship to USC, but the other 40k is on you, per year</p>