UMBC is great, especially for Scholars programs.
Not planning to play volleyball in college other than club or intramural.
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Would your daughter consider a cognitive science program that has a lot of neuroscience instead of a straight neuroscience degree?
I ask because McGill University in Montreal is an internationally-recognized college, loves high stats students, is an easy app (no essays, no Letters of Recommendation) and has a very strong Cognitive Science program that can be tailored to a variety of interests.
Financially, whht is interesting is that McGill has different tuitions based on BA, BS, a combined Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (also known as âInterFacultyâ (ie, interdisciplinary), etc. Cog Sci is one of their combined Bachelor of Arts and Sciences programs and the tuition is much less than a BS.
Interfaculty Program Cognitive Science | Cognitive Science Program - McGill University
Here is their tuition page. Cog Sci is under âBachelor of Arts and Sciencesâ â make sure you choose that option to see the relevant costs. Also make sure to convert from Canadian dollars to US Dollars. Itâs a lot cheaper that way. McGill will also grant a lot of AP credit, so you can save up to a year of tuition. And after the first year, Iâve heard itâs a lot less money to live off campus than on-campus, adding to additional savings.
| Student Accounts - McGill University
Room and board are an additional 17k -18k Canadian (about 14k USD)
Undergraduate Fees 2023-2024 | Student Housing - McGill University
I think a Cog Sci degree from McGill will come within your budget, even without merit.
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Forgot to add that US students can still qualify for Federal loans if they attend McGill. And McGIll offers some merit scholarships as well.
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That sounds like a great program, but if the student is interested in biophysics, Iâd guess sheâs leaning more toward the cell/molecular side of neuroscience rather than the cog/psych side.
She could be well-served by a major in biology or biochemistry (with plenty of neuro electives or a minor/concentration) rather than neuroscience proper. That opens up a lot of other school options as programs for those majors are super common. Most biophysicists I know just majored in biology or (bio)chemistry.
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I hesitated a bit too because of the biophysics interest, but it does look like McGill will let a student include about 10 neuroscience classes (including some physiology classes) as part of the major, so I was thinking that feature, plus the likely affordability without loans or merit, might make it a possible contender.
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Based on what I am reading, Rutgers is actually ranked fairly high in terms of safety. Like all campuses, you need to be aware of your surroundings, etc. The nearby residential areas in Piscataway are filled with grad students, hospital
employees etc. (doesnât mean robberies wonât happen, but the residents reported feeling safe). My colleagues at work (kids are at Rutgers) have never mentioned safety concerns.
If you check crime data you will notice higher rates at some schools on your list.
The college my daughter attended also had some crime, unfortunately (suburban campus).
I do think that this student could have many acceptances. The issue will be affordability. If you are happy with the safeties itâs a good list.
I would look at SUNY Geneseo (you said she doesnât like Bing). Geneseo will come in at your cost due to the match.
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For sure Chicago is a bit of a worry (but colleagues tell me Loyola is in a relatively nice area, all relative). St. Louis as well and some others could be sketchy.
As for Rutgers, itâs a great school and many of her classmates attend there because of the 24 DE credits they are taking will definitely translate over.
Having said that, my daughterâs SAT scores wonât qualify her for Honors College scholarships which start at 1530 I believe, so if Iâm going to pay tuition equal to or other schools on her list and sheâs not thrilled with Rutgers, Iâm not going to push her in that direction. Iâm familiar with the grad school area which seems safer by the RAC, but there have been issues with crime in NB around Rutgers for some time (rapes, robberies, now homeless people hanging out on campus). Best of luck to your daughter!
I agree. I know many families whose kids attend or recently graduated from Rutgers. They do not think the campus area is unsafe. In fact, there are many restaurants, cafes, ice cream shops, etc that kids hang out at late at night.
There are parts of NB that are sketchy, but students donât need to go there.
@Charmagfan, just sharing what I know. But I understand everyone has a different comfort level with each school.
Size wise - Boston U is big too, as mentioned up thread.
If UMBC is on the list, why not College Park? (Great neuro program there).
Not sure Northeastern is worth the high cost when you have so many other choices. Theyâre unlikely to provide enough merit to get you within budget.
Same with Tulane, I think.
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My daughterâs college town had a lot of homeless people. That didnât bother her- she actually bought lunch for them sometimes. The police were aware of them and there was a homeless shelter nearby.
As for safety, if you look at the data you will find some schools on your list (even suburban schools) with higher crime rates than Rutgers (sorry to repeat myself).
Crime will be everywhere. People need to be smart- donât walk alone at night etc.
As noted above, no need to hang out in the sketchy parts of any town.
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Northeastern has the opportunity for paid Co-ops which will help with the expense.
But, Iâm hearing housing shortages and potentially getting sent to EU first year which Iâm not sure she likes.
As for college park, my impression was that OOS, it would be way out of budget. Her cousin is an alum and suggested it, but seemed out of budget. Will check
UMBC is there because I think sheâd be a good fit for Meyerhoff. Her cousin just graduated as a CWIT scholar and they got her exactly where she wanted to be.
She will be fine. Neither of my kids were so attached to any school that they couldnât go elsewhere. We try very hard to NOT endorse the âI have to go to THIS school or elseâ mentality though if she had one, it would likely be Georgia Tech.
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Yes it does, but in the past many students had to do a 5th year to finish all their classes. I think now they try to make it work in 4 but I believe that requires summer classes. When you take into account either option, the savings might not be there. Worth checking the details.
And youâre right - a lot of kids will be sent to Oakland or Europe for the first semester. Last fall a lot of kids were admitted to Oakland for all 4 years even though they only selected the Boston campus. Iâm personally not a fan, but I know itâs become a very popular school.
As for co-ops: Stevens has good co-op programs too, as does Drexel.
Youâre right - sorry I mistakenly thought your budget was $60k.
UMBC sounds like a good fit.
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Which makes me think that U. of Cincinnati should get a good look, as they too have a strong co-op culture. Its costs would be less than Northeastern or Drexel, and tuition wonât go up for 4 years either.
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She jusf removed Seton Hall and added Colorado Boulder for BioPhysics and Physics in general.
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Colorado has close to 37,000 students. Will that feel too big for her, or is she ok with the size? It also has a higher crime rate than Rutgers (only bringing it up because the topic was mentioned earlier as the reason why Rutgers was not on the list). Given she thinks Rutgers is too big and has too much crime, imo it doesnât make sense to include schools that are just as big and have more crime.
You mentioned that she would not make honors at Rutgers- that would be my reason for preferring other schools where she could possibly make honors. I also know itâs very common for HS students to say they donât want to attend their state school.
I actually think itâs a good idea to apply to a mix of sizes because they may change their mind (one of mine did). She has TCNJ, which is a great school.
Colorado is $60,000 a year OOS. They do have merit scholarships but it doesnât look like they are enough to get down to your price point (I might be wrong). I know several people who enjoyed their time there.
Has she looked at the University of Delaware?
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I know that OP has ruled out Binghamton but just to clarify they are not participating in the SUNY tuition match, Geneseo is.
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Geneseo is a great school that I would add as a âparent pick.â This student would likely get some merit to Binghamton (they are OOS) and I think the cost before merit is within range of what they could pay. Binghamton is a great school as well.
Pitt is about $55,000 a year, $10,000 over desired cost. If this student takes out the $5500 student loan and works a few hours a week, the school might be within range (Pitt is one of my favorites). Itâs possible she could get some merit if she applies very early.
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CU Boulder is great for Physics but at $45k - highly highly unlikely to make budget.
U of Arizona is equally as strong and depending on how they see your gpa on a 4 point unweighted scale - will be $25k - 38k ish.
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Not that it matters at this point for your daughter, but just in case itâs helpful: Biophysics and physics are pretty distinct fields, even though they both have âphysicsâ in the name (confusing, I know).
There are different flavors of biophysics, but itâs much heavier on bio and chem than it is on physics proper, especially for neuroscience. Biophysics in neuro is dominated by membrane studies. Membrane biophysics is a subfield that is a combination of cell/molecular biology and biochemistry, with a lot less actual âphysicsâ than one might guess. She may not end up taking any classes in a physics department beyond general physics.
So doing a program where she gets lots of classes in molecular biology and chemistry will prepare her best for a career that involves neuroscience biophysics, or even neuroscience in general. Unless she decides to go the computational route, in which case she can major in whatever as long as she studies enough CS to code.
Most universities in the US offer plenty of molecular biology and chemistry classes, so thatâs good. If my kid had the same interests as yours, Iâd tell them to do a major in general biology (and take cell/molecular and neuro electives), or cell/molecular biology (and take neuro electives). A minor in chemistry or biochemistry fits very well with that. If interested in computational stuff, picking up some CS classes is good too. If she likes coding, knowing how to do it is good for the job market, especially if she isnât planning on med school.
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