Is Carnegie Mellon engineering worth the cost?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

I’ve narrowed down my college list to CMU and UVA but I’m having a lot of trouble choosing between the two.

In terms of location, class size, school culture, etc. CMU is a much better fit for me than UVA. I also believe that the internship and employment opportunities at CMU would be notably better than those at UVA. CMU has been my dream school for a long time and I was thrilled when I got in, so I would be very disappointed if, because of financial reasons, I was unable to attend.

However, I have in-state tuition for UVA, so the estimated cost of attendance for engineering is about 40k per year, significantly lower than the estimated cost of attendance for CMU which is about 70k per year. My financial aid package for CMU hasn’t come out yet but UVA didn’t give me much need-based aid, so I don’t expect CMU to do so either. My parents can contribute about 25k per year, maybe a little more.

Is it worth it?

2

It doesn’t sound like either of these are financially feasible. Carnegie FA should be out in a few days do you will know what your COA will be.

How do you plan to pay for either option? You can personally only take out $5500 in loans freshman year. Plus what you earn this summer/have in savings. The rest is parent contribution or loans in their name.

Less debt for undergrad is a good choice.

3

Sounds like you cannot afford CMU, and no it’s not worth it! UVA is a fantastic school!

4

Wait and see what CMU gives you, they are more generous by far than a public school like U of Virginia.
What field do you want to study?

5

That cost at UVa looked like a typo, but I checked here https://sfs.virginia.edu/cost/19-20 and you’re right, to study engineering is $40,000 COA in-state at UVa.

That’s per year, not for a whole degree program! Is there any other state where in-state tuition is so high?

6

@oniongrass Virginia has one of the best in-state programs you can buy!

Pennsylvania has some of the highest costs for state schools…

Good luck getting a penny from CMU. We didn’t.

7

@caz0743 CMU is not a state school.

8

I think

was a response to

and it’s just coincidence that CMU happens to be in PA.

and yes, PSU, Pitt, Temple are all in the mid $30K now, while the PASSHEs are around $10 less I think. As a PA resident, I’m a bit in a “misery loves company” kind of cheered up to see VA is even more expensive . It’s crazy frankly.

9

@TomSrOfBoston… Yes of course, that was not by point! State/public schools in PA don’t compare to states such as VA and GA(who uses the lottery to fund the Hope Scholarships etc.) PA is 3rd in the country behind Vermont and New Hampshire for highest public tuition.

https://www.wesa.fm/post/pennsylvania-ranks-third-highest-public-university-tuition

Btw, S19 has a chance at a better financial package from an Ivy than CMU. Waitlisted at 2!

10

How is it that they don’t compare? Lower expenditure per student, worse student/faculty ratio, lower faculty pay, worse graduate placement?