austinmshauri
Objectively speaking, the SUNY system simply doesn’t compare favorably to the university systems in other states. That is not really my opinion but it is based on things like average ratings on various rating scales. NY is efficient and cheap but the quality of the 4 universities don’t come close to the flagships of states like California or Texas. I don’t think you would find anyone in academics who would argue that those two are not just about the best systems in the country and that SUNY is on the other end of the continuum. That isn’t to say that SUNYs don’t offer a decent education or that students don’t like them. But, in terms of qualities that are usually considered when evaluating a university, it would be hard to do better than California or Austin. I’m not talking about the SAT. ACT or grades of incoming freshman. I am talking about the quality of the academic experience offered by the schools to the students (rather than the scores/grades of students who have those scores before they enter the school). In terms of quality, a slew of California schools and Texas at Austin are top shelf.
Austinmashauri, if you feel otherwise, you certainly can express that.
UCs are definitely the best public school system in the world. In STEM, they can also easily rival lots of private schools. I think that @ConcertoinD is correct in that Austin has the music and the tech thing going for it, which both really really appeal to me. The tech aspect is also very intriguing because as a STEM/Engineering major, that opens up opportunity for startups and various internships.
Sorry, I was focusing on the Engineering rankings where UT is ranked 5th in the world. USNews rankings are really quite bad. The higher cost of living in California artificially inflates the ranking in all California schools because spending in general and professor salaries are both factors. Texas schools fall in the rankings automatically because by state law they must admit the top 10% of graduates of Texas HS. That affects the ‘selectivity’ even though they still have a large number of extremely bright kids. Again, the faulty logic in the USNews ranking system dilutes the usefulness of the whole thing. Look at the Shanghai World Rankings. Much more useful in terms of degree specific reputation. They are more focused on the academics and employment than the manipulations of admission rates, spending, yield and such.
@Torveaux But is Texas better by so much as to justify OOS tuition? I love Texas but I am not sure.
Inglebert, if you want to go with ChemE (which is a great choice by the way), UT is one of the top 3 in the country. Energy companies and pharma companies recruit heavily. I would advise that unless you get into Berkeley, which is also a top 3 Chem E program, I’d go with UT.
@texansfan1 Yeah, I’ve been doing some research on job placement for biomedE and it looks like a BS in a more broad engineering field and then an MS in bioE is better. Therefore, if I was to go to UT, I would probably try to switch into chemE. Berkeley would be a dream but getting in is just so tough, even for an in-state student.
I am a big fan of find the most affordable quality degree you can. That means doing a bunch of cost-benefit analyses on factors that are important to you. In S1’s case, the essentially free education he could get at OU was better than getting a higher ranked UT degree at full-fare. Always bothered me that our home state flagship is less interested in its own scholars than the flagship due north of us. He would have been auto-admit to UT, but even in-state the cost is higher than most Texas schools and they offer a lot less money in scholarships for merit even than TAMU (which is also very highly ranked for Engineering in general and ChemE specifically).
I agree with Torveaux about getting the best value. I do not think that UT is worth taking out loans for if you have instate access to the UC system. We are in state Texas and my DD dream school is UCSD but it is off the table because of the cost. She is majoring in CS and she got accepted to UT, but she may not go there either. UTD gave her a full ride with university honors and CS honors. UT is ranked 6th but I think her education will be as good or better (because of honors) at UTD.
The one consideration is where she wants to go after graduation. If she wants to stay in Texas, UTD works. If she wants to leave Texas, UT may be the better choice. Either way, she is not taking out any loans. You have great schools in California, take advantage of them.
UTD is excellent for CS @GTAustin!
Its funny, Biomedical Engineering used to be just a focus are under the Electrical Engineering degree umbrella
You do not have to lie to get residency. You just have to meet the requirements that the residency office and state require you to meet. I was able to do it in one year doing a combination of things. I was 100% truthful and did not tell a single lie. I did work and buy real estate. So not impossible to do it legally but it requires commitment.
If your parents (or the OP’s parents) provide more than half of your support, and they are not Texas residents, then you lied.
The application asks if it’s the student’s PARENTS who are providing more than half the support. In my son’s case, it was his grandparents (Texas residents) who provided more than half his support, so we could answer the question truthfully. That was in 2011, so the question may be phrased differently now.
@gettingschooled, thank you for your comment about UTD! There is some anxiety in our house about turning down UT for UTD, but I do think it is the right decision for my DD.
Torveaux, couldn’t disagree more with most of what you’ve written. Cheap schools may be ok for some students but the school’s climate can be the difference between remaining mediocre or being fueled to excel and ending up with an advanced degree. And yes that can happen at Efficiency University but it is a whole lot less likely-believe me, I know! Certain systems were known to be outstanding way before there were any ratings at all. Your idea about how and why these two systems are so highly rated is irrelevant. They were known to be outstanding when SUNY was just an idea being floated around and being rejected.
Buying a house + ‘hiring temp agency’ = This assumes parents with top 2% earnings at the very least. So, very doable if your parents make a lot of money, but for over 95% people, totally not.
“conceal carry” really worries me. Any college student - in any state of lucidity - could get confused or angry, and instead of trashing their dorm’s lounge, start shooting.
As for “protection”: Honestly, if I were a professor there, I’d require a weekly proof from a firing range that targets have been hit 90% of the time, so that the would-be rescuer wouldn’t shoot down classmates (although even with a 90% record, 10% shots would hit classmates rather than whoever the attacker might be). Multiply this by 10*, in a lecture hall to measure the risk.
- conservative number of students who might carry in a 200-seat lecture hall.
“Many kids don’t even work. Parents hire a temp agency and have their kids employed thru agency for 20 hours a week. They pay them 20 hours at 10 dollars an hour. The agency charges about 30 dollars a week to process the payroll. Since there is no state income, it yields most of your money back…Then you use that money from payroll agency to lay instate tuition. The kid shows he is supporting 50% of his costs, and you get instate…”
In NY we call this fraud. Just saying.
And someone interjecting the absurdity of concealed weapons. Oh please, some people also have to interject the words 'Obama-care" into a discussion about the cost of butter. Please. How absurd can these threads get?
In Texas, we call it fraud as well.
@lostaccount Not absurd at all when Texas public universities including UT will permit concealed weapons on campus, in classrooms and just about everywhere else as of July 1. I can’t think of another state that will allow this. It’s part of the many factors that parents and student should consider about a campus — and thankfully, there are thousands of other options that don’t welcome guns on campus. I also think colleges should have an affirmative requirement to disclose their weapons policy as part of the glossy brochures, direct-to-student emails and in campus info sessions and the rest.