<p>I want to study Electrical Engineering in college, and currently am a senior. Based on what I've seen on the engineering boards, as long as the engineering programs are similar in ranking (Ex: Michigan vs Cornell) job prospects, undergrad teaching etc are basically the same and fit is more important. Its only for law or IB that prestige/rankings (HYPMS) is important</p>
<p>Going by that, I've realized its better to go to a college with lower tuition cost. However, living in NY, there really are no public universities that stand out as opposed to say Umich in Michigan.</p>
<p>My parents make ~100k-120k, but I don't want them paying full sticker price for colleges :/</p>
<p>Currently, I'm debating on whether to ED Cornell or not because I wouldn't have any other choices and the FA package is set. I like the colleges below because they're good overall. I also consider sports/spirit important, but its second to academics/cost</p>
<p>So at which colleges would tuition be lowest:
UC Berkeley OOS
Cornell
CMU
UMich OOS
UIllinois -UC OOS
Northwestern</p>
<p>tl;dr: what's cheapest college in list above...</p>
<p>What really matters is the total out-of-pocket cost after aid.
Find and use an online EFC calculator to estimate your Expected Family Contribution.
See if it is significantly more than the total OOS COA at the cheapest public. If so, then that probably would be your cheapest school on your list. If not, then the cheapest school for you is likely to be the one with the most generous need-based aid for middle-income families (maybe Cornell?). But in the latter case, it may not be a good idea to lock yourself in with an ED application.</p>
<p>Now lets look at some other top schools you may want to consider
Cooper Union $16K
Minnesota $24K
Texas A&M $31K
Wisconsin $32K
Washington $33K
Georgia Tech $35K
Purdue $36K</p>
<p>Cornell will likely give you an aid package that will reduce the costs well below sticker. If it is really your first choice, then I think that you can apply ED and if the package is does not enable you to go, then you don’t have to attend. </p>
<p>If you apply to the midwest publics by their priority deadline, you will hear from them around the same time so you will have admissions in hand and costs to compare. I don’t know your stats and Illinois may not be a safety. Michigan is never a safety. You may want to apply to a safety with rolling admissions so that you have at least one other rolling admissions in hand. For people competitive for Cornell, Purdue is usually a safety. Wisconsin might also be one and you might find it a more attractive location. For Purdue and Wisconsin, you might even have the admission in hand before Nov 1.</p>
<p>One other thing, when I recruited at the Illinois engineering job fair, the job fair for Purdue was the next day 100 miles away so many companies just do both on the same trip. No question in my mind that Illinois is better, but if you need the safety, Purdue is a great option.</p>
<p>Cooper Union is free tuition; room & board still costs.
If you can be competitive for Harvard or Princeton, you’d likely get substantial aid with a 100-120K family income.</p>
<p>Cooper Union is tuition-free, but room and board is not included. The OP notes that he’s from NY, so if he’s from NYC there’s still the option to live with his parents and commute. There’s actually a very large contingent of native new yorkers who do just that. It may not be the college experience that everyone is looking for, but you do get to graduate from a top engineering/art/architecture school with both you and your parents absolutely debt-free.</p>