Need help making decision for undergraduate engineering!

College Search & Selection
1

<hr>

<p>So I am a senior in high school and I applied to quite a few schools to keep my options open. Currently, I live in California and I plan on majoring in engineering (possibly Aersopace) or computer science in college. </p>

<p>I got rejected from 3 (all UC's--CA budget cuts) and waitlisted for 3, and got into all the rest. As my family is a middle-income family, we can't afford for me to go out of state unless I get good scholarships or finaid (my FAFSA EFC is $22,000). (I have lived in Indiana for 8 years so I am used to the cold).</p>

<p>I applied and got into: University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Univeristy of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Purdue University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Rose-Hulman IT, Cal Poly SLO, University of Washington Seattle, UC Santa Barbara. I got waitlisted for: UC Davis (which I expected to get into..), Carnegie Mellon, and Johns Hopkins. </p>

<p>Basically, based on financial matters more than anything else, I have narrowed it down to Cal Poly SLO (total costs per year are roughly $21,000) and Rose-Hulman IT (total costs per year are roughly $28,000--they gave me good scholarships). Ranking wise, according to the latest US News report for "Best Undergraduate Engineering Schools where doctorate is not offered", Rose-Hulman IT is 1st (tied with Harvey Mudd) and Cal Poly is 6th. I know ranking isn't everything but I am very confused between the two. Rose-Hulman IT is amazing, I've always wanted to go out of state, plus it's a small private school which is always good. However Cal Poly is cheap, good, and I will stay close to my family, even though California schools are going through rough budget crises. I kind of still really want to go to Purdue or Urbana or even Michigan, but they're so expensive and they didn't give me a good FinAid package. </p>

<p>Obviously, I will wait for my three waitlists because if I get into alteast one of them, chances are good I will go there. But I need to SIR soon....and my parents and I are unable to make a decision yet. Any advice or suggestions??</p>

2

<p>Does the male/female ratio at RH bother you? </p>

<p>Would you miss the more full campus experience that SLO can provide?</p>

<p>It’s too bad that you weren’t advised well. Since you wanted to go out of state, you should have been told not to bother with publics like Purdue, Mich, and Urbana if aid is needed (or perhaps apply to 1 or 2 to see what happens, but not to expect much). You should have been told to apply to the publics that give big merit for your stats. </p>

<p>Don’t hold out too much hope for your private school waitlists. Some schools are “need aware” for their waitlists (even if they are need blind for RD), so they’ll choose students who don’t need aid because much of their aid has already been doled out. Embrace a choice from your accepted schools. If by chance you come off the waitlist and their FA package is do-able, then you can change your mind.</p>