<p>I'm currently interested in studying either civil/environmental engineering or geology and am not sure whether my approach to looking for a good school is justified. I live in the state of Texas and am in the top 1% of my class, so I have automatic acceptance to UT-Austin. For that reason is it justified to go to an OOS school or private school where I would pay OOS or private-school tuition rates?</p>
<p>I know I will get 0 financial aid due to a very high household income, but my parents are also willing to pay for me to go to any school I get accepted to. I've run the calculators and unless I get non need-based scholarships, the price will be exactly as it is displayed. </p>
<p>So I've come to the reasonable opinion that I shouldn't pay to go somewhere else unless the education is overwhelmingly better than UT-Austin and I'm not sure it is. Could you tell me if I'd be getting a better education by going to UC-Berkeley, UIUC, Purdue, etc. that would justify paying about triple of what I'd pay at UT-Austin? My ultimate goal is to not take my parents money even though they are willing to give it to me if there's no purpose.</p>
<p>UT Austin has a very good nationwide reputation, I wouldn’t say any worse than the other schools you listed. However, if you are top 1% of your class with test scores to match, you should be looking for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>It is worth placing a call to your top choices and asking them about merit scholarship information, or looking online yourself. The best situation to be in is to be looking at several colleges and comparing the expected cost after merit scholarships.</p>
<p>There are at least two compelling reasons not to go to UT-Austin that would justify paying a much higher price elsewhere. 1. UT-Austin isn’t particularly good in your chosen major or doesn’t have the connections you need to succeed. I don’t think that’s the case here. 2. You are the type of student who wouldn’t do well in the large classes likely to be found at UT-Austin. If you prefer or need a more LAC-like environment and your parents could afford it, it might be worth making the move.</p>
<p>I’m hard pressed to come up with other reasons, although I’m certain they exist. If you got merit-based scholarships and they made the other schools only slightly more expensive, that would be easier to justify.</p>
<p>@rhandco I’ve looked at merit scholarships and the only two schools I solidly feel like I have a shot at merit scholarships are USC and Purdue. And if I were to get the merit scholarships I’d probably pick either of those two over UT-Austin, but without them I wouldn’t.</p>
<p>@MrMom62 Those are both good points and I have to say both don’t apply. I go to a 6A high school, thus anything under about 5000-7500 students is too small in my opinion and my preferred school size would be 20000+(undergrad and grad combined). </p>
<p>Thanks to both of you! Definitely helped me feel better about choosing UT-Austin unless I get a merit scholarship elsewhere.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t see the need to turn down UT-Austin for your field given what we know about you. Even with merit aid, while I would give serious consideration to USC if costs are about the same (personally, I’d pick them), I wouldn’t pick Purdue if costs are the same unless I preferred the Midwest over TX as a post-grad location.</p>
<p>BTW, I understand the feeling. I went to a magnet HS whose grads were almost guaranteed admission to our state flagship. So going there didn’t feel like any sort of acheivement. Yet the flagship was stellar in the field I ended up majoring in. I went to an elite private instead (cost was only a little bit more because I was heavily dependent on fin aid). However, while going to the school I did might have helped me, looking back 20 years later, I frankly don’t think I would have done worse if I had gone to the flagship instead (might have done better; like many in my HS, a few kids from my HS a few years younger than me went to the flagship . . . . . then they went to Silicon Valley and started companies).</p>
<p>As for not taking your parents’ money, that’s going to be hard to do unless you go to a school lower in brand than UT-Austin (getting full-tuition from either Purdue or USC appears difficult from where I sit). Can your parents comfortably pay for in-state?</p>
<p>Given your preference for a large school and UT Austin’s high reputation in your prospective majors, it would be difficult to justify paying more than in-state UT Austin costs for any other school.</p>
<p>The large merit scholarships tend to be mostly at schools with lesser reputations; how price sensitive are you in relation to your desire for a high reputation school?</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with having your first choice school be a safety (assuming affordability). Indeed, if that is the case, your college application process will be simple and stress free. (But make sure that UT Austin is a safety for you for civil engineering – check whether the engineering division has supplemental criteria to be admitted to an engineering major.)</p>
<p>If you get into Cockrell Honors before enrolling, you’re guaranteed a merit award from $20k-$48k which should bring down your total cost to $60k-$88k over four years. Since you’re top 1%, unless you seriously botched your test scores this shouldn’t be a reach. Just remember to apply for Cockrell Engineering Honors; it’s a lot easier to get into than Dean’s, Plan II, and Turing but it still gets you a good bit of money.</p>
<p>UT Austin is a solid engineering school and while you’ll be paying significantly more to go OOS, odds are you won’t receive a proportionately better education. Before factoring price in, UT Austin is solid but beatable (not easily, of course). After, it’s got no real challengers outside HYPMSC.</p>
<p>(To be entirely fair, I made a different decision than what I’m advocating here, but I’m not in the same situation as you as I’m working on a different major with a certain set of goals + I receive financial aid so the additional cost isn’t that high and the return on investment appears to offset it; it comes down to a lot of factors that go beyond program quality- which, imho, isn’t really something you can interpret in a linear fashion- and class size)</p>
<p>The only reason I could think of would be if you want to get out of TX for a little bit to experience life in another spot for a few years (more than mere vacationing). For some, this is just as important as the education. Others prefer to stay near home. Only you know which category you fit into. </p>
<p>@PurpleTitan I definitely agree with you there. I almost feel like I’m not going somewhere special even if the program is great because 50+ of my classmates will be going to college with me. And money isn’t an issue especially UT-Austin. For your second post, almost all students are guaranteed their first or second choice major. And yes there are study abroad opportunities, Maymester, Summer, and Semesters are offered.</p>
<p>HY do not have civil engineering. PMSC are too small for the OP’s size preference of >20,000 students, and paying list price for one of them over in-state UT Austin list price is still a questionable proposition if one is not aiming for something like Wall Street or elite consulting.</p>
<p>Berkeley frosh engineering applicants apply directly to the major (and selectivity varies by major); if admitted, they are in the major to begin with. Applying as “engineering undeclared” is possible (but more selective than applying to most specific majors); such students who enroll can then freely choose a College of Engineering major during their first year.</p>
<p>The need to apply to the major in one’s sophomore year applies to the business major and a small number of enrollment-capped majors in the College of Letters and Science (where all frosh enter undeclared).</p>
<p>But some other schools like Purdue have all engineering frosh in a first year engineering program, where meeting a high enough GPA (higher than the minimum needed to keep good academic standing) is needed to enter some or all engineering majors.</p>
<p>(But in the OP’s situation, in-state UT Austin makes a lot more sense than out-of-state Berkeley or Purdue.)</p>
<p>I’d say go to UT unless you want to have an out of Texas experience. Have you lived other places? Traveled to other places? I agree with the poster above who noted that living somewhere different is educational per se. But as you said, you can take a semester abroad or do a Maymester, too. </p>
<p>A semester abroad may be difficult as an engineering major, due to sequenced prerequisites including courses unique to one’s main school.</p>
<p>But summer job or co-op job opportunities may exist in other areas of the country. Seeking such opportunities may be the best way as an engineering major to “sample” living elsewhere.</p>
<p>If one really wants to study abroad as an engineering major, consider schools like HKUST, whose price for international students is close to in-state UT Austin. Obviously, the whole degree would be study abroad in this case.</p>
<p>True, and many engineering majors end up in summer school to finish on time. But if OP’s folks can afford him taking an extra semester and if he isn’t stressed about finishing in more than four years, he could study abroad. </p>
<p>Or if OP has some AP credits he can use, he might be able to study abroad and finish on time. I have known kids who did it that way, </p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I was talking about the engineering school as a whole, absent OP’s preferences. But factoring those in, it does seem like there’s no real competition outside a few niche programs- or perhaps a full ride at someplace like A&M.</p>
<p>For the study-abroad thing and the OOS experience:</p>
<p>While only 5% of UT Austin students are OOS (compared to 11% at Berkeley and 50%+ at many elite privates), studying abroad is an option that UT Austin actively promotes. I know one professor who has a one-semester program in Austria (and the surrounding region) and you do get credit for what you do there; I’ve talked to a few engineering majors who went there and many didn’t add an extra year. Co-ops and working somewhere else for a semester (even abroad) is a very common experience at Cockrell from what I’ve heard. If OP wants, they can just do the study-abroad program and then stay in Austria and intern for a company. People have done so in the past.</p>
<p>I’m fine with four more years in the state of Texas, I’ve lived in various parts of the state my entire life. I’ve traveled all over the US and to other countries and I definitely only see myself in the South/Midwest later in life or maybe California if I had a lucrative job offer.</p>
<p>I’d only be interested in doing a Maymester or a summer abroad as my ultimate goal would be to double major in Plan II and Civil Engineering or the new Geosystems Engineering major. But I’d still want to graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>And I’m full IB (HL English, History, Chemistry, SL Math, Spanish, Physics, and Art). Yes, I understand those courses don’t pertain that well to my intended major, but every student is required to take HL English and History and SL Math. The highest level of Physics offered is SL. Also, I took and will get credit for AP Human Geography(freshman year) and AP World History(sophomore year) and will hopefully get credit for AP Chemistry(junior year) and AP Calculus BC(senior year)</p>
<p>@concertoallegro You’ve visited UT-Austin, right? If not, I think that’s the final step. You seem like a perfect fit based on what you’re saying- in terms of career opportunities, geographic goals, etc. And your academic record doesn’t seem different at all from people at my school who got into Plan II + Cockrell with the $48k Merit scholarship.</p>
<p>After reading all that, I think your decision is the most justified one you could make. With your set of preferences, there’s nothing that fits better than UT.</p>
<p>@dividerofzero I visited the school on a tour once, performed at UT for state solo and ensemble twice, and I have been to Austin more times than I can count. Thanks for your advice! It makes me believe UT is the right choice for me.</p>
<p>If we use the US News grad school ratings for civil engineering, there are only two programs ranked higher than UT-Austin - Cal-Berkeley and UIUC. Stanford is tied. If UT-Austin fits, there is absolutely no reason to look elsewhere - it’s an awesome deal, and would be even if you were from OOS.</p>