Instate tuition options [for a US citizen living overseas]

Op asked which is better of the four in their last note for EE. And I answered that.

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No doubt, kids themselves are responsible for their success.
I believe these kind of forums helps in making the final choice as sometimes one tends to overlook some very important factors.
Before you mentioning the direct admit thing , we had totally overlooked/ forgotten about it. Also weather , he is a soccer player and likes warm weather.
We are late but have certainly heard a lot about U of Alabama . I am sure it must be outstanding.
But without touring , it becomes hard.
We are doing virtual tours and you tube

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Thanks
Yes , we are done applying.
Need to pick one now.

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And your student willā€¦and he will be fine!

Such an exciting time!!

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Was simply noting there are other choices when mentioning expense. Wasnā€™t trying to steer to alternatives. But when I hear the word loan or debt, I cringe. To me, any schools that require it would be out. That your son got into these three shows heā€™s impressive.

But any with debt are not good when there are debt free alternatives and I think you said one or two on your list are.

But being in a city is not good if thatā€™s not you. Being in a smaller town is not good if you want a city.

If you hate snow, that matters. Then UT wins. If you like four seasons, then UT doesnā€™t win.

It could be all are wonderful.

I was simply trying to show how there are so many inputs and all see them differently. For some itā€™s dorms or food.

Cost should always be a factor and not just first year. My daughter goes to school in a city and we are paying about $1350 a month or so for an apartment (b4 food) and thatā€™s for 12 months. So far more than a campus dorm etc. so thatā€™s for later years

I imagine, but donā€™t knowā€¦,that UT off campus housing will be far more than Purdue, as an example.

Thereā€™s no wrong choice about the 3 admits. But there may be a wrong choice (or not) for you. Thatā€™s all I was saying.

To me, taking on debt, thatā€™s an easy first cut. Purdue, has at least for many years, not raised tuition.

Good luck.

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Iā€™ll give my opinion about this. Itā€™s very likely your student could get internships at any number of placesā€¦not necessarily confined to West Lafayette Ind.

@momofboiler1 might be able to comment here.

The location of the college does not necessarily determine where a student does internships. Purdue is highly regarded in engineering. I would think there would be a number of places actively seeking interns from this college.

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Agree with @thumper1 . Internships are not limited to the local area. My kids both had summer engineering Internships in the DC area, despite going to school hours away in Charlottesville and Blacksburg.

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This is not a correct statement. Alabama is normally near the top in National Merit Scholars, not Finalist. A place like Harvard you canā€™t get there due to a university scholarship. That is how almost all get there at Alabama.

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The #s show what they show.

Regardless the point Iā€™m making and I know a school like Bama or UTD are not Harvard but the point is that there are super smart kids in so many places. People feel like they are stepping down bcuz itā€™s not the big name but they will not be alone bcuz of reasons like thisā€¦usually affordability.

https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/nationalscholars/

Since this poster is not adding more schools, lets move on from discussing NMF and other schools.

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Internships are unlikely during a school year in engineering. Either during the summer or a co op is more likely. The schoolwork is just too much.

That said, one can intern anywhere and will - regardless of school.

Mine interned in Tn and Ms but had an offer in NY and interviewed for internships in Nevada, Oregon, NC, MN and a few others.

Job wise everywhere from Wisconsin to Ga to Mass to Florida. His job will take him to four unknown cities over two years with one being in Ohioā€¦the other can be anywhere coast to coast.

So you will not be limited at all.

That said I know thereā€™s a Subaru plant by Purdue as well as some other engineering type businesses. When my son went to STEP there after 11th grade, they had tours of four or five local firms. My son went to Subaru to tour.

Good luck.

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Thatā€™s what I said in my post. I was not talking at all about interning during the academic year.

Or did you not mean this as a reply to my post!

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Sorry to OP

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Likely not a fit for OP, but in case others are scouring this thread for info, Southern Illinois U. is another school where in-state tuition would have been possible - they have a waiver program for all domestic students. And as already mentioned, youā€™d only have to pay OOS rates for one year at Utah if taking their path to residency (strong engineering programs, generous merit, easy airport access).

But it sounds as if Purdue is doable and a solid choice for this student. As others have said, Purdue students get internships and co-ops all over the country. Congrats on having great options!

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I think the days of predictable generous merit at the University of Utah are gone. DS applied this year as a 4.0UW, 4.8 W, 34 ACT, 10 APs, 5 DEs, most other classes either honors or PLTW, solid ECs and he only received WUE (not exactly a bargain in my opinion). His experience appears to be pretty common after reading other posts on CC and reddit.

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Ya, internships are for summer , I get that.

Not always. At daughterā€™s school, some did internships as part of an on-campus semester (for credit usually, but some might have paid).

Another possibility for internationals living abroad is if the parent is in the military. Several schools give instate tuition for military members, and others have the Yellow Ribbon program.

Wyoming has an automatic scholarship program (Brown and Gold) for all OOS students, including internationals. It can make tuition close to instate when stacked with other scholarships (engineering has an automatic one, many departments have them, there are ā€˜alumā€™ scholarships for many departments or just general, there are Cheney scholarships for study abroadā€¦)

Other states also are pretty generous with OOS scholarships like Maine, Montana, Arizona. It may not be ā€˜instateā€™ rates, but pretty close. New Mexico, Florida schools (although not UF), Louisiana. You have to think outside the box. Not going to get money at Michigan or Georgia, but try other less well known state schools.

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Sorry, I havenā€™t been on in a LONG time, but this showed up in my email so Iā€™m happy to respond. The easiest way is definitely by purchasing a property. We did that in May before my LHD began freshman year and she was able to attend summer school the summer after freshman year (which was the first summer during Covid) as a resident for dirt cheap. That year they also offered the courses to residents at 50% off the in state rate because of covid so it was the best bargain one could ask for. This and a few other things will ultimately enable her to complete the iMPA program in 4-1/2 years as opposed to the typical 5 as well as with a double major and saving us well over $100k in tuition.

Once you buy a property, you canā€™t apply for residency for at least 11 months which means you canā€™t get the in state tuition until sophomore year, or if you buy the property sooner (as we did in May) then you can attain residency prior to when summer school begins.

If you contact the UT residency office they are phenomenal and they will actually walk you through the entire process. Feel free to send me a private message with any questions.

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As a resident of Illinois with a student at UT who absolutely LOVES it and 2 kids in Engineering elsewhere, that refused to go to Illinois and both decided not to apply to UT for engineering, I would choose UIUC Engineering over UT Engineering any day of the week. And yes, they are both direct admits.

UT is an amazing Engineering school/program but the one big problem there is you are pigeon holed in the major youā€™re accepted into and it is very difficult to change majors. You can change out of Engineering into other majors like Math or some science majors, etc but it is near impossible to switch into other Engineering majors, difficult if you want to switch in McCombs (Business) and also near impossible if you want to change to Computer Science, which is not in the College of Engineering but in the College of Natural Science. UIUC if you donā€™t like your major it is much easier to transfer between the different majors.

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Thank you for your insights for both UT and UIUC
Will certainly keep those in mind.