I was talking to my guidance counselor lately and we were talking about the transition from high school to college. I had a lot of questions but she was already pre-occupied with things for the seniors. Going to college is going to be a big transition and a pretty costly one too. I know I will get homesick and all that. And also travel from home to school will get expensive depending on where I go. My GPA, SAT, and ECs are good enough to get me a few scholarships but I don’t think I will get a good financial aid package. So here is my question, is it logical to go to my state school, Rutgers, for my freshmen year to do MechE, to save money and get acquainted to the college life while having my parents a phone call away and then transfer my sophomore year to a better school like Purdue (my top choice) or maybe GaTech or should I just go straight to a good college out of state. I honestly do not mind if I have to take loans but I don’t want my parents to be financially strained due to other siblings in grad and pharm schools. I ran the NPC and I will have 20k at Rutgers as opposed to 40k at Purdue. I really care about academics but I care about my college experience as well. It is going to be a huge transition both physically and mentally. I do not mind Rutgers but I wanna go to Purdue because it’s has better rankings and it just looks like students love it there and it is OOS so I can get that typical fun college experience without your parents coming to check on you every weekend. That being said I do not wanna put too much stress on my parents because I do plan to go to grad school. So yeah, please help! Thanks.
purdue , is a great school if it is less money go for it …life is about adjusting and changes.
Going anywhere for one year with a plan to transfer for sophomore year is generally not a good idea. Once you start at Rutgers you will need to consider the transfer application, this before you have a sense of grades, and before you get to know your professors. Better is to focus on your freshman year, and to become involved socially and academically with Rutgers. Academically Rutgers is a great university, equal to other publics. Keep in mind that financial aid from public universities to out of state students is low, and even lower for transfer students.
Why not just go to Rutgers and complete your degree there? It will be substantially less expensive than Purdue, based on the net price calculator results you reported.
I agree with fogcity-- don’t plan to transfer out after one year.
You’re a junior. Apply to both, as well as a host of other schools. Visit them all, and consider doing an overnight at your top choices.
I’m a big proponent of NOT overdoing the loans if possible… besides, there’s a limit of something like $5500 that you yourself can take out.
Rutgers has a great reputation… it would be my choice in your shoes.
Whatever financial aid package you get as a freshman is likely to be much better than what you can get as a transfer. Most schools don’t offer a lot of grants for transfer students. You can only borrow ~$5500/year, so it’s best to find out how much your parents can pay per year and go from there.
Rutgers is as very good engineering school. I know we in NJ don’t give it props, but it is as good as any other engineering state school.
I think if you tell your parents you are opting for the 20K school but you want them to treat you like you are in Indiana they could go for that.
What is your GPA/ SAT?
Around a 3.5/3.6 and my SAT is around a 1800
@bopper
To me, it honestly sounds like you’re trying to sell yourself on Purdue. You know that Rutgers is cheaper, of similar quality, and has the advantage that your parents are there if you want to go home for a weekend. If you’re concerned about your parents popping in unexpectedly, tell them that you would prefer that they tell you in advance when they’re coming and double check that it’s ok with you. Not a big deal, just a mature conversation and a little boundary-setting.
I agree with bjkmom. Apply to both, and apply to other schools as well, and see what happens. You have a year to make this decision, and probably visit these schools. Who knows, you may visit Purdue and find that it seemed a lot more fun in the brochure. There’s no rush to pinpoint a school now.
To be honest, SAT 1800 and 3.5 GPA isn’t going to get you into Purdue or Georgia Tech engineering. You may not even get into Rutgers engineering. You will need to do a a serious search for a range of colleges (reaches, matches, safeties) for both academics AND finances.
Other schools to consider:
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
The College of New Jersey
Rowan University
@harvardandberkeley Rutgers engineering stats range from a 3.7 W GPA. Mines a 3,5 UW GPA which equates to a 4.0 W. and the 1800 is my starting score. Plus I have ECs that top tier students have. But yes, I will take your advice and I will do more research.
@Harvardandberkeley is correct. Your stats are low. You might not get into engineering at Rutgers which is a very good engineering school.
You need to try to raise your SATs.
@gearmom what are some engineering schools within my stats range?
http://admissions.rutgers.edu/Academics/AdmissionsProfile.aspx
Average engineering stats at Rutgers 1900-2180 SAT 3.7-4.2 GPA The GPA is on 4.5 scale. That is you target SAT score. What is your math score? CR score?
WSJ Top 25 schools for job recruiters:
**#21 Rutgers/b
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060
At the end of the day, you want to be gainfully employed.
I just checked my SAT score and its a 1830. Math is a 710 and CR is a 600. Writing is alright although my PSAT predicted it to be around a 690.
That is great news. 1310 is all that matters. Writing does not count. Actually Howard would give you free tuition, free room and fees.
@gearmom my brother got in to Rutgers with a 3.3 but 2100 SAT score. He got into Purdue, GaTech, VaTech, UofA, NJIT, UW,and some other schools out west. He went to UMD for biomed and now he is in Johns Hopkins for Med school.
@gearmom I am not really aiming to go to D.C. But I am aiming for the scholarship at UofA. My GPA is the minimum for them but my SAT score is 90 pts lower. I need that 1400. plus my GPA is going to go up. because of my APs