S22 has set his heart on cog sci as his major. We are in Kansas.
W - 4.5
UW - 3.93
ACT - 28
Given the limited number of colleges that offers cog sci as major and that we cannot do more than 30-40K , what are his best options ?
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Will you qualify for aid? University of Rochester has a great department, but that is a reach.
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Rice has cog Sci as well as tuition assistance based on income, but they are very selective.
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If he can bring his ACT up a bit, McGill might be a good option. They have different tuition for their different majors, and Cognitive Science is considered a “Bachelor of Arts and Science” and is one of their lower priced tuitions. When you look into it, you will need to convert the tuition from Canadian dollars to US dollars (right now the exchange rate is .78 US dollars to 1 Canadian dollar) so that brings the costs for a cog sci degree (including room and board) to mid-30k in US dollars.
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A 28 ACT is not going to be within range for Rice, but Rice is test optional for next year.
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As a reach idea, see if Vassar might be affordable:
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Also, re: your budget. Will you qualify for need-based aid? Knowing that will help open (or limit) your options.
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Check to see if Juniata (in PA) has enough cognitive classes in their neuro major for your liking. (Check other colleges with neuro too.) If so, then run their NPC to see if it comes back as likely affordable.
https://www.juniata.edu/academics/departments/biology/areas-of-study/neuroscience.php
His ACT score should fit in well there and it’s known as a good school within PA.
It’s in a more rural area, so take that into consideration if there’s a preference.
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Rice is test optional for 21-22 and 22-23.
From their admissions page:
Testing Policy (2021-2022 and 2022-2023 application cycles only)
Rice will allow first-year and transfer student applicants to undergraduate degree-seeking programs for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 application cycles to submit SAT or ACT test scores, if they choose. Students who are unable to submit test scores or prefer not to submit test scores will be given full consideration in the admission selection process.
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I don’t think we qualify for aid. Income is $150,000.
I wish he had focused on his act, but too late now.
Will check the npc on vassar and rice. Juanita’s course and location doesn’t seem a fit for him.
We thought IU would be within reach financially and academically but doesn’t seem like.
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It is probably worth running the Net Price Calculators at some of the colleges of interest, just to see. Some of the more generous colleges will give need-based aid at 150k income – however, they are also some of the more selective colleges. But it is likely worth taking some time to see.
As for the ACT, he can take it through December and most colleges will still accept the score. And he should also try the SAT practice tests – some kid do much better on the SAT than the ACT, and vice versa. And of course, many colleges are test optional right now.
Two schools that have Cog Sci and that are within your price range even as an out-of-state applicant with no need-based aid are Cal State Fresno and Cal State Stanislaus. However, most of the Cal States tend to have a large commuter-based student body, so he has to be okay with that – and California is taking fewer out-of-state applicants these days. However, with his GPA he will be a strong applicant, and the Cal States are not accepting standardized testing for class of 2022.
And as noted above, I would take a serious look at McGill, especially if he can meet their GPA and testing requirements. They have an excellent Cog Sci program and would be affordable even without assistance.
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What about Cog Sci interests him? There are often different Cog Sci emphases (AI, neurobio, linguistics, etc.) so I would do a decent amount of research to make sure that his area of interest is offered at a particular college.
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That’s a good point – and often a college’s psychology department will have significant cog sci offerings, even if they don’t actually have a Cog Sci major
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University of Evansville I believe has a Cog Sci major and with Merit could fall into budget.
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As @lkg4answers says, it’s pretty important to know which aspects of CogSci are of particular interest. Some schools have CogSci majors that are really no different/better than other schools where you would major in psych with a CogSci minor. Some programs are computation-heavy. Some emphasize neuroscience (and if that’s what you like, you can as easily look at neuroscience majors and broaden from there). Some have a lot of linguistics; others almost none. It’s good, as a starting point, to know what your top-priority areas are, and what you think you might like to do with your background. (Someone who wants to do neuroscience research needs a different background from someone who wants to get into UX or NLP, for example.)
That said… the strong but affordable program that jumps out at me is at U of Arizona. They have a very good honors college, generous OOS merit, and a robust undergrad Neuroscience & Cognitive Science department with two tracks, one emphasizing Neuroscience and the other CogSci: Choose Your Path: Neuroscience or Cognitive Science | NSCS Undergraduate Program
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If you get the $10K scholarship and then apply for Honors, you can get IU to about $40K. You go TO - no issues there. Worth the app - easy in for you.
Sounds like you want a big school - but Hendrix has a program where, for some, they will match your state flagship tuition…so that would work. It’s a solid school…albeit small. Susquehanna is $50K tuition alone but has scholarships up to $40K a year. At third tier LACs, a half scholarship is not uncommon - and that’d get you under $40K. It’s a solid school.
MS State - tuition $24K and he gets an $11K scholarship so $13K - so you’re under $30K. It’s a really nice campus, btw.
Rice - TO unlikely but everyone is unlikely - but let the NPC run your decision. At a school like Rice, at $150K, if your assets are small, you’ll get some money. Enough - I dunno. Of course, getting in is a whole other issue.
U of Delaware - depends on the scholarship.
I think you can find minors in cognitive science and I think a lot of schools crossover from psychology and there’s different aspects as someone mentioned earlier.
Good luck.
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He should go test optional - this will open the door for more schools due to his higher GPA
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