If your parents want bragging rights…and nothing wrong with that; they’re proud of you…tell them it sounds pretty great to be able to say that their kid got a free ride scholarship at ‘Bama. Graduating debt-free with an ABET-accredited engineering degree…now, that’s smart!
Look at Iowa State University and Michigan State. Look at their rank. They will both get you internships that the best programs in the country will. As good or better then Case Western.
A lot of you asked about how much can be afforded. My parents are very generous with 30k a year, and they said I could get the rest from my uncle who won’t charge me interest. They are so against me going to Alabama and think I’m simpleminded for just thinking about graduating debt free. They keep saying I will get jobs easier and earn more if I go to case western and pay 40k a year.
Have you and your parents looked at the career/job placement data and salaries on each of the schools’ websites?
How do they feel about OSU? That seems to be well within your parent’s budget.
Or if you and your parents prefer Case Western and you can graduate as an engineer with $40.000 of no interest debt that is not ideal but it can be manageable. Just remember: 1) the costs will go up every year and 2) you need to be sure your uncle is 100% on board for all four years even with the current economic downturn.
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So you would owe $40K at the end?
That debt is manageable, though you won’t love it for the years it takes you to pay it back.
But, just to be clear: they are factually wrong in this opinion.
You need to get that OK for debt interest free till you pay it back in writing. This is a legal contract. What if he can’t afford it…? What if something goes wrong? What if YOU don’t love engineering or can’t make it? Many kids drop out and go in a different direction. What if you become an artist and don’t make more then $25,000/year. Are they still willing to front the money.
Is he willing to put the money in a separate back account so you know its there and you can directly draw from it to pay tuition? How will he pay tuition with it?
Lots of unknowns. I know you love your parents but they don’t have a clue. How much more do they think you will make one school vs the other? It will be minimal and not worth the $40,000…
If you don’t have the other option then great. I have heard of kids starting school then their relative can’t afford to pay and they have to take a gap year to work to pay for school.
Too many unknowns with this economy. If he loses his job your schooling won’t be the first thing he will want to pay for.
we’ve been talking to an Engineering College staff member at Bama. We were given this link from the American society for engineering education. It’s interesting!
https://ira.asee.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2018-Engineering-by-Numbers-Engineering-Statistics-UPDATED-15-July-2019.pdf
if the link doesn’t come through here, google " Engineering by the numbers 2018" and you’ll see a PDF talking about All Engineering schools in the US and their stats. It’s not rank/perception based, but rather numbers based.
In this PDF search the different schools you are interested in. (control F). I loved doing that.
My whole point to this: there are many ABET engineering schools doing many different things and doing well at it. If you see the name of that school over and over, you’ll know they are doing something right.