I am currently a senior in high school looking for assistance in choosing the right college for biomedical engineering. I was accepted to NJIT with a $7k per year scholarship, Rutgers, and Penn State. I’m waiting on a decision from the University of Maryland. Scholarship info for the other schools will not be given until a later time. I live in New Jersey.
NJIT and Rutgers would cost about $27,000
Penn State and Maryland would be about $45,000
I like Penn State the best, but I’m being told that I should consider Rutgers. I’m not a fan of Rutgers because its in state and so many people in NJ go there. I feel like I wouldn’t enjoy my time there, but it is a lot cheaper. Penn State has a great alum association which would help me find a job very shortly after I graduate, plus there is a lot of school spirit which I like. I just have an issue with the money. Any opinions or advice with choosing a school would be very appreciated. Thank you!
No amount of football and school spirit is worth $45k - $50k PER YEAR. That’s a crushing amount of debt/bills.
If the school is ABET-accredited then it has the same quality of engineering education as anywhere else. And you won’t get paid more as an engineer from PSU than as an engineer from Rutgers.
But the former choice is really “Go to a school that you love for four years and then be miserable for the next twenty while you pay off your loans and can’t afford anything else,” so…
It doesn’t have to be crushing debt for 20 years or a university you feel meh about: MANY universities still have deadlines - Rowan is good for engineering, Lafayette too (they have D1 sports in case that matters to you). But hurry: it ends… Jan 15.
As for your choice, it’s simple. Unless you get a scholarship (and you should know soon) and/or your parents can afford this amount out of pocket (income+savings) without breaking a sweat, you’re not going to Penn State or Maryland. Both are too expensive and you should NOT get your parents into debt for them.
(Keep in mind YOU can only take the federal loan, which is limited to what a typical undergraduate can pay back in 10 years, ie., $5,500 for freshman year, then additional money each year, up to $27,000 for your 4 years total.)
If your parents can easily afford all of your choices with no debt or hardship, then pick the school you prefer. But if money is an issue that has to be an important consideration. Although they are fine schools, I would not go into heavy debt for Penn State or UMD. As things stand, I’d revisit your two in-state options and pick one. If you want to throw in anther application or two, I’d pick schools which reasonable OOS rates such as UDelaware, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Buffalo or something like that.
As much as I want to go to Penn State and get the hell away from NJ, I’m most likely going to suck it up and go to Rutgers. I just won’t tell anyone there that I like Penn State though…they’ll all hate me.
But see, your choice isn’t Penn State OR Rutgers. You have LOTS of choices beside those two!
What’s your family’s budget?
Depending on what it is, you could apply to UMN-Twin Cities, USC -Columbia, Mizzou, Iowa State, UMass Amherst… plus, as mentioned before, Lafayette, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Buffalo, Rowan, UDel…
MYOS1634, of those you list, I agree with your first list (UMN, USC, Mizzou, Iowa) but not so much the second. I’m confused about your inclusion of Lafayette tho where tuition is in the 60’s.
I’d be paying for college myself. Also I do not want to go too far from home and I would ideally like to go to a school that has a lot of good sports so I can have some fun, which is why I was looking at schools in the Big 10. I just haven’t found that many schools relatively close to NJ that I’ve been drawn to other than Penn State and UMD.
@lostaccount: Lafayette has excellent financial aid, so if this student is lower-income it’s actually a great place to apply to. If OP is expecting merit money we’d need his/her stats.
@lexscala:
You CAN’T pay for college yourself. You’re allowed to borrow $5,500 for freshman year. You can add savings from your part time job as well as what you earn during your summer job. That’s it. It’s not even enough to commute to a NJ public university, let alone pay for an OOS public university.
Are your parents lower-income or are they unwilling to pay? If unwilling to pay, is it because of your school performance/behavior, another reason, or because they don’t understand you can’t pay for college yourself?
(Keeping in mind that back when they went to college, “paying your way” was possible, but it isn’t anymore since the 2008 crisis and the deep funding cuts made to higher education budgets in most states.)
@MYOS1634 They are unwilling to pay. They paid for my high school and bought me a car good enough to last me until I can buy a car myself. My brother is in the same situation as me. His college has a joint program with Vaughn College in NYC and he did 2 years at a community college and is now starting his classes at Vaughn. By the time I start college, I will have about $13,000 saved. I have a 3.9 GPA, 1840 SAT score, many extracurriculars/community service, in 3 Honors Societies so I’m hoping I can somehow pull off some more scholarships.
Scholarships mainly come from the university itself.
Therefore, your hunt isn’t for the perfect college, but for the college you can attend.
You need to apply widely and not be so restrictive - you really can’t afford to, unless you’re okay with going the same way as your brother. But it’s harder for engineering.
Your best bet is likely NJIT.
Do you qualify for Stars?
Do you have an idea of your parents’ income - is it below 60-75K?
Will your parents at least repay you the $4,000 education credit/tax break they’ll get for your attending college (since they’re nominally responsible for your education until you’re 24 or in grad school, as far as FAFSA goes).
Will they at least fill out FAFSA?
Your budget, currently, is $8,500. I don’t think you can even commute to NJIT with that.
Note: I am always puzzled about parents who’ll pay for a private high school but not for college. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to use the free, public high school, and saving that money for college? Just asking because it doesn’t make sense to me and I’m interested in trying to understand the reasoning.
@MYOS1634 My parents’ income is around $113k. They filled out FAFSA and submitted it already. I do not know what Stars is; I’ll research it. I have no idea if they will repay me that or not. My town’s public high school is terrible. My private high school is very good and I’m getting an amazing education there.
I really hope that there’s some way that you can leave the state. Just don’t go to any of the SUNYs if you do, though. Maybe Buffalo, Stony Brook, or Geneseo.
