Need Help/Advice - UDel, UIUC, OSU or Case Western for Comp Sc or Electrical/Computer Engineering

Parents Forum
1

Hello everyone

My son has four very good options to choose from and we were looking for some perspectives/advice from people on this forum. He is interested in either Comp Sc. or Electrical/Computer Engineering starting Fall 2015.

  1. UDel - Honors Program College of Engineering, Expected to get one of the Distinguished Scholars awards (could get full tuition or full ride - should know in the next few days)
  2. Univ of Illlinois (Urbana Champaign) - Admitted to Comp Sc. in College of Engineering (In state, total annual cost ~ $ 35K)
  3. Ohio State - Honors program College of Engineering, Got a couple of good scholarships (total annual cost ~ $ 23 K)
  4. Case Western - Admitted to College of Engineering, Got a nice scholarship (total annual cost ~ $ 38 K)

The big question and decision might come down to UDel vs. UIUC.

With UDel he may pay nothing (if full ride) or about $ 15 K a year (if full tuition) vs. $ 35 K a year at UIUC (In State). At UDel he will be in the Honors program and a distinguished scholar vs. nothing special at UIUC. But UIUC of course is ranked in the Top 5 and has a stellar reputation for engineering, but is it worth the extra cost? And is UDel’s Comp Sc./EECE program a good alternative?

Thanks all for your input/advice!

2

Where did he get the highest Merit award? Case is well known for great Merit awards to top students.

3

My D went through the honors program at UD and it was just a magnificent experience. If you have any specific questions, please send me a PM and I will either answer or check with my D who is now at grad school there. If there is any way you could visit and arrange a meeting with the department and with the honors program, I think you will be glad you did. Both will be incredibly welcoming and provide you with very personalized information. We went to the honors graduation ceremony a year ago at UD, and they announce where the students are going or by whom they are employed at graduation, and I can tell you that the CompSci and Electrical Engineering kids all had spectacular jobs or grad school admissions. Actually, the only group that did better in terms of outcome in that specific population, were the accountants!! Anyway, those are great choices and you can’t go wrong. My D had the experience of a lifetime at UD and on the parent end, we never had a single second of unhappiness, annoyance or inconvenience in dealing with the university in any way. But I wish you the best of luck asyour very special son makes such an important decision, whether he becomes a Fightin’ Blue Hen or not!

4

My D graduated last year from Ohio State as an OOS and had an incredible experience. He wasn’t engineering but his roommates/best friends were and they had tons of job offers. They are working all over the country in great paying jobs.

My D was in honors at Ohio State and it was a great program. It gave him a lot of benefits.

One factor I recommend you add in your consideration is the gpa needed for keeping those merit scholarships. Engineering is a tough major; I know since my youngest is a first year at Georgia Tech and she studies a ton more than her brother. I have seen smart students get grades they never thought they would get and lose their merit money. Ask the colleges what is the average gpa for engineering and then factor that information into your decision making process. For example the avg gpa for admission at Tech is 3.95 but the average gpa in college is 3.1. Even my own S who was very smart decided to have a frolic and detour and major in fraternity his freshman year. Thank goodness for Ohio State’s freshman forgiveness rule or he would have lost his full merit ride.

Good luck, it is nice to have so many great choices.

5

Congrats to your family for some great options!

If the difference in price is a great deal of money to you then I would certainly choose UDel. It’s a great school.
I personally do not think UICU is $80,000 better than UDel.

My kid went to Penn State instead of much better schools. He has a great job and is finishing up his masters at Georgia Tech in compsci engineering that his company is paying for.

He has no regrets of not attending other higher ranking schools including Cornell.

Not a brag but his reality: He loves his job and is on a great career path. Owns his own place at 26 and has a fat 401k for his age and no debt besides a mortgage he can pay off in 5 years.

$80,000 after tax is a great deal of money in my house.

6

What can you afford?

I agree that the choice is down to UIUC vs. Delaware.

@sax, it really depends on how much a family has/makes. Assuming 6-fivure income, 20-25% of after tax salary is a big chunk of money. 10% is a chunk of money. 5% should be affordable.

I would say the difference in CS between UIUC and Delaware is about the same as between Cornell and PSU.

7

Titan. Yes. as I stated if this is a great deal of money to the OP he should choose UDel.

Our price was full ride +++ at PSU or worst case $180,000 Cornell. He also turned down Case, Swarthmore(1/2 tuition), Duke (1/2 tuition), and a few others.

PSU was his safety.

So get the final numbers and depending on how much money out of your bucket that is that it make your decision.

8

As an educational consultant the best advise I can give you is if money is not an option is for your son to go where he fits the best. He will get the best education where he feels the most comfortable and is the happiest. We worry to much about name brand schools and don’t consider about where our children are going to feel most at home.
There is no proof that where students go to school makes them more successful out of college. There is no one review out there that makes a true ranking for our colleges so we have no idea what makes one schools program better for your son than the rest. That being said, I would go where he gets the most money, as long as he sees himself fitting into everyone of these schools. If he doesn’t see himself fitting in, than that is a discussion you should have with him first. My advice to students and parents is always pick schools first that you see yourself fitting into and want to go to and can afford, that way you know no matter what the situation is when acceptance comes around, you will be happy. Good luck!

9

Thank you all for these very helpful perspectives - we are very grateful.

There is an update: UDel came through with a full tuition (not full ride) scholarship of $ 30 K, so that net total annual cost is $ 15 K vs. UIUC $ 35 K. Still a big difference of about $ 80 K (more like $ 70 K once the higher tuition increases at UDel vs. locked down instate tuition at UIUC is factored in).

Its more or less the number that “sax” above was referencing in their post! Thanks Sax, and great to hear about your son’s successes at and since PSU.

we now have three great options. On a four year total cost basis:

UDel $ 70K
OSU $ 100K (a stronger option now that it seemed before)
UIUC $ 140K

(Ruling Case Western out at this stage - $ 155 K - though we visited and its a top notch program, its difficult to see it displacing UIUC at a higher cost)

@miamiDAP - to answer your question, the highest merit award was UDel ($ 30K), followed by Case ($ 22 K), then OSU ($ 18 K). All three very generous.

@ zooserman - thanks for the very illuminating and encouraging info on UDel! Will send you a PM to learn more. Your D must have really loved her experience there to also go to grad school there…terrific. I have myself visited the campus and it is really lovely - kind of like Miami of Ohio where my older son attends.

@ itsv - so glad your D had a great experience at OSU. It is a terrific school and my older son had a tough time choosing between OSU and MiamiU (OSU was his first choice but we prevalied upon him to go to Miami because he got a direct admit into business) - but he is happy now! The only thing about OSU for this son that concerns us is the competition for engineering major spots that depends on the GPA, otherwise there is no doubt it is a great engineering program there, especially with Honors.

@PurpleTitan and @ relmore - We can certainly afford UIUC’s $ 140K but the thing we have been suggesting to my son is that if he chooses to go to UDel or OSU instead of UIUC, we will give him the difference invested to grow so that he gets a payment down on a small condo or something after he graduates. And it certainly seems that all three programs are great quality and they all have their relative advantages. So when it comes to fit, I know from my son’s nature and personality, he will fit well into all three, but at this point, his preference seems to be UIUC (mainly I, suspect because of the ranking and that fact a good number of his friends will also go there). I don’t know though whether he will be “happier” there once he does get there - given UIUC’s larger classes and somewhat impersonal atmosphere - especially compared to the more midsized atmosphere/Honors program at UDel and the Honors program/somewhat cozier feel at OSU (for a large university). We know he likes to interact with his teachers and ask questions etc. in his high school.

Its going to be an interesting week ahead as we try to make a decision! Will keep you posted, please keep sharing any additional insights - thanks!