<p>My son is a senior and has decided in the past few months to go to school for PetE ... since we live in MS and there are no schools that offer that major he would qualify for common marketplace to go to an out of state school for in state tuition. He was all set to go to LSU. I am waiting on his acceptance letter to send with his application to qualify for the instate tuition. Today I called with some questions and was told that MS State will very likely be offering PetE in the fall of 2015. Which means no OOS tuition waiver to LSU. </p>
<p>This is a big disappointment to my son. He was really hoping to go to school there after researching so much about the program. They offer a great summer camp where he could earn 8 science hours towards his degree and LSU has a great success rate in placing kids with intern positions in the summer. With MS State just starting this program, everything is an unknown, really. They had the program in the past but did away with it in the 90's due to a drop off of interest according to the person I talked to this morning in the engineering dept at MS State. </p>
<p>Another option would be University of Louisiana - Lafayette. With their scholarship info listed - it looks like my son would qualify for in state tuition with his GPA and ACT. (act 27 - gpa 3.56) Their requirements are lower than LSU for this scholarship. </p>
<p>So we are at a critical point ... </p>
<p>LSU - leaving my son in debt up to his eyeballs by graduation but a very respected program for sure</p>
<p>Mississippi State - new program and uncertain how his degree would look in the end - owe almost nothing after scholarships and very low loans </p>
<p>ULL - a good program from what I read at a mediocre school in a location that is better for contacts in the oil industry than say Starkville, MS. Owing almost nothing at graduation. </p>
<p>So, does anyone have any input on what they believe would be the best decision for my son's future? Which school would be best for him in the end? </p>
<p>Thanks so much in advance to anyone who reads and replies. I am really worried about which direction is in his best interest in the long run. </p>
<p>What is the cost difference between ULL and LSU (total cost difference)? Right now, I’d say I’m leaning towards ULL because I feel like most PetE programs are relatively the same (especially for undergraduate). I would be a bit hesitant to go to MSU because of recruiting. Are companies going to add MSU to their schedule immediately, or wait until the see the result of starting up the program again?</p>
<p>If your son goes to ULL and works hard, gets involved and makes good grades, he will get a job (assuming he is a average to above average personality). I would call ULL career services and find out what oil and gas companies are going to be at their fall career day. That should give you an idea of the type of internships he might get.</p>
<p>ULL from what I have read doesnt have a great reputation for academics - and I dont know how true that is but I was reading former and current students “grades” on the school. MSU is a very respected school for engineering … the guy I talked to on the phone did say that they have a couple big oil companies come to MSU to recruit civil engineers and he would expect the same for petroleum. But, really, what else would he say lol … not that it will or wont be true, but he certainly wouldnt say otherwise. </p>
<p>I recommend looking into scholarships and schools in Oklahoma (forget the name), Colorado school of mines, Texas A&M, and UT Austin. More recruiting and more respected schools. A few years ago for schools in Texas, you could be eligible for in-state tuition if you received a scholarship that is at least $1000. I don’t know if it is the same now but you can definitely look into it. </p>
<p>Also, if you’re worried about recruiting then I suggest looking into a schools career fair attendance sheet if its available online. That is a much better indicator of who hires where then folks at a career service center.</p>
<p>I will look more into the TX schools for sure. I am not sure he really wants to go too far from home quite yet. CO and OK might be pushing it. Especially when we do have good schools closer to home (he is a senior but still 16 for a little while longer … a young senior) Thank you for your response. </p>
<p>Well, I checked into CO School of Mines and this would be a reach school for sure … but I will talk to him about it. </p>
<p>copied from their webiste: </p>
<p>You should rank in the upper quartile of your high school class and have strong ACT or SAT scores. We do not require a writing test for admission, but we will accept the SAT with writing or the ACT with or without the optional writing test. We do not have a preference on the SAT or ACT exam. We will use your highest composite score from either test.<br>
Below are the averages of Admitted Students:</p>
<p>Average (unweighted) GPA 3.8/4.0
Average SAT (Critical Reading and Math) 1355
Average ACT Composite 31</p>
<p>I appreciate your thought and time in answering</p>
<p>I dont think he would get a better deal going to TX schools. They seem to be even more competitive than LSU for scholarship money. If he had a 32 or higher on his ACT I think his options would open up a lot!! But I dont see him hitting that mark in the next 3 tests lol … he has higher math and science scores and his reading and english have gone up considerably, but I dont see him going up 3-5 more points by Christmas. </p>
<p>I have done a lot more reading on ULL and I dont think I have given them nearly enough credit for what they have to offer. Their engineering and geology departments sound outstanding. They are in a great location and there is a lot of national spotlight on them in these two industries. I really believe they are on the rise. We are definitely going to schedule a visit soon! Thanks for the responses. </p>
<p>If anyone has any insight into the ULL life, Honors College, Engineering dept etc … please feel free to share! </p>
<p>Why not consider community college until he decides ultimately what it is he wants to do. I did 2 years at a CCC and transfered into UT-Austin for Petroleum</p>
<p>I would suggest ULL. its program has been established and MS school is just getting started again. is the MS program accredited? I think no matter what school he goes to the programs will be pretty similar, and it is ultimately up to him in finding a job and internships rather than the school finding it for him. </p>
<p>Our school said they would help us PetE’s find internships and they really just held interviews at the school. They also only had 1 job posting on their website, so it left us students to find jobs ourselves for which some people never found jobs. </p>
<p>I would also suggest ULL because it is close to home. I am a 30yr old going back to school for PetE and I have met so many first and second years who have a harder time adjusting to being away. Therefore being closer means that they can drive home more often. </p>
<p>I would also advise not to transfer between schools unless the schools have a specific engineering transfer agreement. like take your first year here and apply to second year at such and such school, and that its is very common for people to do that. I transferred schools, and althrough they said it was my best transfer option. I only got 5 classes transferred, and the other 1.5 years of schooling was pretty much a waste. I was so upset, and would like you to avoid my mistake. </p>
<p>Honestly, it would not be better for him to go to CC first and give up all those freshman scholarship opportunities. It seems like transfer students dont get as good of deals. Thanks for the input … we are going to preview day at ULL in October. He is also shadowing 3 engineers set up by his high school and one is a petroleum engineer. I think that would be a great experience!! </p>
<p>@tlcmommi4
I agree: If money is a concern, he can goto community college and get all his basics and a couple calc classes knocked out in LA, get his residency established, then transfer to LSU. I went for the lowest cost program I could find in Texas (Texas tech) and having a great job and almost no debt was worth living out in the desert!</p>
<p>LSU has probably one of the best job placement just from what I’ve seen in industry & around the office. And it’s a fun school!</p>
<p>Corrales - I dont know what CCC is either… I assumed it is a specific Community College - which we arent going to do. My daughter and her boyfriend both went community college routes and when transferring to a 4 yr there has been nothing but problems with classes transferring and being applied to their majors. It seems there is a break down in communication between the colleges and what they should take and what is applied towards their major. When looking at requirements for Pet Eng classes I am 99.9% sure my son would not have many of the classes available to him at a CC. He has no desire to go to a CC - so that is not happening. </p>
<p>Anyway, things have been changing daily here … LSU is looking #1 now. I was given wrong information from ULL on scholarship awards and it was less than we had originally thought. My son is eligible for Academic Common market and applied yesterday. That will waive his OOS tuition to LSU. He also took the ACT in Oct and brought his score to a 29. He is taking it one last time in Dec and if he can get it up to a 30 LSU will be the most affordable option after guaranteed scholarship offers!! woo hoo!! fingers crossed for that 30!! We are really focusing on his English score since that is the easiest to study and raise, but we will be practicing and testing all month long. Wish him luck! </p>
<p>ha!! Well I underestimsted my son. He got a 32 on his Dec ACT!!! He also was approved for common market so no OOS tuition!!! He is going to LSU with NO STUDENT LOANS!! Yay!!!</p>
He will love LSU and they are excellent for his major! We live in Baton Rouge, so of course my son wants to go out of state for college. If you could get him to take the ACT again and get a 33, there would be some additional scholarship money available. But he may have had enough of testing.
You posts are relevant to what we are going through and considering. By the way, congratulations on your son’s 32 ACT score! I have a high school senior (in Alabama) that will graduate this May who is interested in attending LSU and taking advantage of the Academic Common Market. He has a 31 ACT score and qualifies for a non-resident scholarship and the ACM offset as I understand it.
A few questions for you:
How were you able to get ACM approval this early? It is my understanding from the LSU website that you can’t get final ACM approval until you have been fully admitted to LSU and that can’t happen until the student graduates from High School in May. So its kind of risky accepting a scholarship in April but not know if you have in-state ACM tutition until later in this summer.
I take it even though Mississippi State is starting a PE program, you were/will be grandfathered in LSU’s PE under the ACM as long as you don’t change majors? I welcome hearing an update on what happened with this.
Have you learned anything else relevant to the ACM and the LSU scholarship process that may be useful for me to know? Thanks!
</p>