I got accepted into Computer Engineering in some reputable Engineering schools and am having a hard time deciding. I’ve already declined admission to several other schools, so now the question is should I go where the merit aid is most generous or go where I think I will be the happiest and take out loans to help pay? I prefer being admitted directly into my desired program and prefer a co-op program but the cost is also a factor. Unfortunately, I do not qualify for any financial aid. The schools below are listed in the order of least to most expensive out-of-pocket for me. My top 3 choices right now are the last 3 on this list which also happen to be the most expensive for my parents.
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology – admitted to Computer Engineering, best merit, concerned about the small size, but will visit in a few weeks to see first-hand.
• Virginia Tech – no merit, in-state, admitted to General Engineering, did not get Honors College
• Purdue University – small merit, admitted to First Year Engineering, did not get Honors College
• Case Western Reserve University – admitted to Computer Engineering, generous merit, like the campus
• Rochester Institute of Technology – admitted to Computer Engineering, have some merit, will do work-study, like the campus, the co-op program to help repay some money, but that will not be until in my 3rd year.
• Northeastern University – admitted to Computer Engineering, have small merit, Honors College, like the co-op program
• Northwestern University – admitted to College of Engineering, no financial aid (they offered $55k in loans), love the campus, already off my parent’s list because of the cost, but remains in my top 3.
I need some help choosing from these great options! Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. Pros vs. Cons? Thanks.
Can anyone provide any thoughts on choosing Rose-Hulman? They gave me the best merit and would help keep me out of debt. From what I gather, there is more familiarity amongst employers in the mid-west than the east coast.
CWRU with generous merit sounds like a strong contender! How much more would it cost than Purdue, given bigger merit but higher sticker price? If you prefer an urban setting, Case could be a great experience for you. They also have a voluntary co-op program, and there’s great flexibility to move among majors there (should you want the option to move toward straight CS, for example, which would be harder to do at, say, Purdue).
However, you should not count on co-op income (regardless of which school you choose) to offset any costs beyond your living expenses during co-op. If your co-op semesters do better than break-even, wonderful, but that’s not something you can bank on as part of your decision. As for loans, taking the basic subsidized loans is fine (of course, debt-free is nice, but I wouldn’t rule out a school you love over a total debt in the $25K-ish range). It’s the big Parent Plus loans that are truly not a good idea.
Personally, I feel like your list hits the point of diminishing returns as you go beyond Case in cost. I’m sure may here would say that there’s no point in looking past VT and Purdue; but if you’re someone who would be happier at a mid-sized urban university than at a large rural one (or in the case of RHIT a tiny rural one), then CWRU deserves to stay on the list. But I’m not sure what the value-added would be of paying any significant amount more for RIT over Case; and “small merit” at Northeastern sounds really pricey and again not tangibly better in engineering reputation than Purdue, Case, VT, etc. (Even Northwestern really isn’t any more of an engineering powerhouse than those three.)
See how you feel about RHIT. It’s a very good school but a small school with not much else around is a big commitment in terms of being happy in that community for 4 years. If it feels like a fit, it sounds like a terrific deal that you should strongly consider. If you can’t really picture yourself there, then it would look like a VT/Purdue/CWRU three-way assessment to me. Congrats on having great options!
If all were equal, I would go to Perdue only for the extra bonus on Big 10 football. I would go to every game for all four years! Oh yeah, and earn a top engineering degree too!
Joking aside. I love them all and would be proud to attend or pay for any of the schools on your list.
You’ve obviously worked very hard. That will serve you well at any of these world class schools. Congratulations!
@pieferdays - The truth is that only one school on this list is worth you taking out loans and that is Northwestern. It a top 10 university that allows you the flexibility to seamlessly switch your major and school and still be competitive for IBD and consulting opportunities and grad school. Many students start out in the engineering school at a lot schools and then switch into CAS when they decide that engineering is not what they wanted. Let’s put this another way - 99.9% of the students at your options (NE, RIT, RHIT, CWRU) either were not admitted to Northwestern or did not even apply because it was out of their league. Just look at the admissions stats and compare these universities. Northwestern’s RD acceptance rate is under 6% and has an SAT average close to a 1500 with more than 90% of students ranking in the top 10% of their class. Compare that to your other options…
I do not know who is advising you but you are getting very unsound advice if you are being encouraged to take out loans for a school like NE, RIT, CWRU or RHIT. Northwestern is an entirely different tier and will open opportunities (in addition to a lifetime pedigree) that the other schools do not offer. If you look at any top investment bank or consulting firm (McKinsey, Bain or BCG), Northwestern is a target school for front-office positions. The other schools on your list are not on the radar what-so-ever (except for back office roles). For general engineering opportunities, Northwestern will still provide you with the best opportunities. If you want to work at Apple, Google, Facebook, etc, you are way better off at Northwestern than the others. I will concede that you will have some fine options at the other schools but you will be very limited to strictly engineering roles at industrial firms like Boeing and Caterpillar. You can get that at Northwestern and much more. And lastly, what about the quality of life. You will be surrounded by extremely talented students at Northwestern that will challenge you and motivate you. Also, Big 10 athletics and close proximity to Chicago are a huge plus. Northwestern, Duke and Stanford provide the best balance between prestigious academics and a great college experience. You have a wonderful opportunity in front of you.
Before some of the people disagree and mention how amazing Perdue, U of Illinois, etc. are at engineering, I ask you to ponder the following – Do you honestly think that Harvard, Penn, Duke, Northwestern, Columbia, Dartmouth, JHU, etc. engineering students have less opportunities than Univ of Illinois / Perdue / CWRU engineering grads? Don’t fall for misleading graduate school engineering rankings that have no meaning on your opportunities. I would 100% pick Northwestern over these schools, even if it means taking out loans. Congratulations on being accepted to all of your schools. I am sure you will be successful wherever you decide to enroll. My pick would be Northwestern.
OP never once mentioned loans. I would agree in principle with your overall comments. Northwestern is an amazing school. But ABET accredited degrees from schools like Perdue have a real world outcomes just as robust as NU.
If we were talking about humanities or business school, I would support your position.
“Don’t be fooled” as you stated, by conflating an overall college reputation against some degree specific fields. NASA and companies like TI and the like love grads from these schools. Thousands of companies big and small need great engineering support. And they pay well and offer opportunity to be seized at the invidiual level.
It’s more like music. It’s not where you learned to play the guitar but how well you can play.
Spending other people’s money is much easier than the reality of it all. Lol.
Yes NU is the more selective school overall.
But it’s just not factual that their engineering grads have more opportunities or lifetime achievement in engineering. If that data exists I would be 100 percent willing to reverse positions. And concede the point.
From the information OP has provided, it sounds like Northwestern would cost 120K+ more than CWRU, much less Purdue, VT and Rose. OP has made clear that NW would be their first choice if it were possible. OP’s parents have made clear that they do not have an extra six figures to throw at this preference.
It is not the job of people with no skin in the game to criticize a family’s unwillingness to take on six figures of debt for the difference between their child’s choice of truly EXCELLENT schools that they can afford, and an excellent school that they cannot afford. Unless you’re here looking for opportunities to be a benefactor (in which case I’d be happy to steer you toward a few kids who can’t afford any of the colleges that accepted them), it is neither productive nor kind to rub a kid’s nose in the fact that a “dream school” is not a realistic option. Nor is it defensible to basically imply that OP’s life will be forever impoverished by going to one of the top engineering schools in the country that doesn’t happen to be a full-pay super-elite… or to imply that their parents somehow should jeopardize their own financial security based on your endorsement of the dream.
There are plenty of heartbroken kids who would give their eyeteeth right now for an offer they could afford from CWRU, Purdue, or VT. There are scores of talented and accomplished engineering alumni from all of these schools who loved the experiences they had there and who have been wildly successful based on the educations they obtained. This kind of toxic elitism is why so many people hate College Confidential.
It’s unfortunate that OP and family didn’t figure out before applying, that Northwestern would be unaffordable; but with college costs skyrocketing faster than people can wrap their heads around, these things happen. OP’s schools that are affordable are well worth being excited about; let’s not undermine the joy and anticipation that OP deserves for earning those opportunities.
Based on undergraduate reputational rankings for computer engineering in U.S. News, RHIT and Purdue land the highest in their respective categories among the OP’s choices.
The majority of co-ops, at least at Purdue, cover housing costs on top of salaries. Many students helped finance their education that way.
OP - Purdue has a ton of information about co-oping on their professional practice page: https://opp.purdue.edu. Go to the programs tab and look through the co-op options. They have average salaries listed by major and co-op length as well.
I had to log in just to applaud @aquapt 's #14 above. As long as it’s ABET-accredited, engineering is what you do with it. Five years out of school it’s going to matter more what you’ve done since graduating then where you went to school.
And… not everybody wants to be a Bain consultant. Some people want to actually build things with their engineering degree.
OP: Take the merit money and run and choose the school you love most from the ones that have shown you the most love. When you want to buy a new car or house in 5-10 years, you’ll be thankful you don’t have a boat anchor of debt hanging around your neck.
@aquapt@privatebanker@StanfordGSB00@merc81@momofsenior1@momocarly Thanks for all the comments and thought-provoking statements on this. Everyone has given me a lot to think about. For now, I will re-evaluate my choices after my visit to RHIT next week. I at least have to do that since I am covered for tuition there and would only have to worry about Room & Board.