My son is planning on being a junior transfer studying mechanical engineering and possibly mechatronics/robotics. He wants to leave Los Angeles and go anywhere north from Santa Barbara up through Oregon or Washington.
We want a school with a great program and smaller class size. Would appreciate your recommendations and possibly explanations as why you recommend one or more schools.
TIA.
There are many possibilities, but the limitations would be grades and budget.
What are his grades?
How much will you pay?
The Washington and Oregon schools would be quite expensive since he’s OOS.
The cost of UCs and CSUs could vary based on family income.
The Calif privates could likely be costly.
Much will depend on how much you can pay per year.
WUE is a big plus.
I don’t WUE works for UWash or UOregon.
That said, WUE schools can be great for those families who are willing to pay the full WUE costs. They’re not a great deal for those who would need aid, since rarely can you get merit scholarships and WUE rates.
If the family can pay a large amount for college, then look at Santa Clara. As a transfer, I don’t think there would be much aid available, but the classes would be smaller than larger publics.
I should clarify that by smaller class size I mean 30 or less in upper division classes. My son is doing high school and college concurrently. His grades are very good so far. We’ve identified that Cal Poly SLO would be a good choice, but I keep thinking that there must be so much to learn from everyone who has been at this research longer than us. I do want to know about both private and public.
<<<
My son is doing high school and college concurrently.
[/QUOTE]
Ok…you seem to be making a big mistake.
If your son is still in high school, even if he’s taking college classes, do NOT have him “transfer”. He needs to be an incoming freshman, even with college credits.
Transfer students get less aid, less merit awards, etc.
Some people make this mistake. They think that because their high school student will have college credits, or even an AA degree while in high school that their child is a transfer student. NO. The child is still needs to apply as an incoming freshman.
Also, what are your financial restraints? Is money no object?
What are his stats? What are his test scores?
We can afford a state school. We would apply for aid for any other school. We weren’t planning on him taking the SAT/ACT because he was going to be a transfer student. Nothing is set in stone though. At the moment he is entering 11th grade and has 13 college credits under his belt.