I have recently been admitted to these schools as a civil engineering major and I am instate for New York:
Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech
UT Austin
SUNY University at Buffalo
Manhattan College
I am having trouble because all these schools have pros and cons and I want some outside opinions.
Georgia Tech: $42,688
I did a overnight stay here and I really enjoyed it! It is a top ranked school and has high school spirit with great facilities. I liked the option of studying abroad in France that had an instate tuition cost. However, I didn’t like Atlanta and I am worried about the difficulty of the school.
Virginia Tech: $35,972
I haven’t visited yet but everyone seems to be happy there. The school has a lot of school spirit and it seems like an enjoyable place. However, it is cold considering I would be paying out of state tuition for the school.
UT Austin: $52,754
I visited and I loved it! The campus was amazing and the weather was so nice. Everyone seemed friendly and I liked the atmosphere and the surrounding city. The only negative is the price.
SUNY University at Buffalo: $16,271
I haven’t visited yet but I know it’s cold. I don’t want to have cabin fever for all 4 years of my college career. I don’t like how there is little spirit and it’s not in a city. However, the school isn’t that badly ranked and it’s cheap. Also, if I want to change my major I have the freedom to do it here.
Manhattan College: $30,000
This is the only private college still on my list and the only one thats a car ride from my home. If i attended here I would be able to swim for them. Although its not nationally ranked, the school is well known in Manhattan and there is easy access to the city.
I don’t have any hands on knowledge of any of them.
But Manhattan has a great rep for engineering. It’s at the lower price point of the ones on your list. And you would be able to swim.
Look at what you’ve written for each school. For several schools, the points seem to be fairly negative, with a mention of one or two perks against the fact that you don’t seem to actually like the school.
If you have ever thought about working in VA/DC Metro, Virginia Tech is a great choice. Its size ugrad size is 25k (between UT’s 40k and Georgia Tech’s 14k), everyone I know that goes there absolutely loves it.
How are you planning to pay for the schools? If you have merit aid and/or your parents can pay for any of them then you have the luxury of choosing the best fit for you. What are your parents saying they’ll pay?
paying wise, my family gets no financial aid and my mom can contribute about $100,000 before I have to take out loans.
My mom says I should go wherever I will enjoy and then I will figure out the debt later but I keep on hearing horror stories about college debt and how it wasn’t worth it.
my concern about Manhattan college is the reputation and the size. Honestly, I loved Texas but its expensive and its definitly a scarier experience than going to Manhattan and I’m worried I won’t be able to adjust.
$100,000 total works out to $25,000 each year for four years. You can only borrow the federal loans on your own ($5,500 freshman year, $6,500 sophomore year, $7,500 junior year, and $7,500 senior year). To borrow more than that you will need a co-signer, or your parents will need to take out a PLUS or other private loan.
It looks to me like Manhattan would be barely affordable (remember costs go up every year), and only SUNY-Buffalo is clearly affordable.
Sit down with your parents and find out just exactly how much debt THEY want to take on so that you can go to whatever place you “will enjoy”.
Buffalo is very highly regarded for engineering. My son decided to go there when he saw the amazing lab (and he was accepted to 15 or 15 schools he applied to.) (Accepted to VaTech but told 5 year program because the kids can’t get intro to engineering required class. Son now in GaTech for masters degree program online distance learning while working. We have since met many grads. UB is much more popular than we ever knew.
The last 2 winters were cold/snowy (like downstate LI!!) but the 4 before that, while my son was in school there, the winters were pretty mild.
Son was able to get a paid research engineering job after unpaid on campus.
Fall job fair is apparently great. Son got 2 summer internships that way. Also, had 3 job offers by the end of first semester senior year for graduation.
Big engineering school. so you will find many other students with the same major and all the extra curriculars and clubs you need and will help resume building (at least in Mechanical/Aerospace).
Surprisingly, Amherst is a great town. Very suburban, but they have everything (stores/restaurants, etc.) that we have on LI.
8 hrs by car but easy flights from JFK, LGA or Islip.
Best value for the money and no reason to feel less than proud for attending.
If you post on the SUNY Buffalo college thread I will more easily find your posts/questions.
Noooooo, this is a bad idea. This is how students get deep in debt without having an exit strategy.
If your mom can pay $100K, that’s about $25K per year. You can borrow $5.5K your first year, $6.5K the second and $7.5K in years three and four. So without any aid, you need to go somewhere the total yearly cost of attendance is around $30K.
UB and Manhattan are clearly within that range. You seen to prefer Manhattan, but UB is also a great school and a good engineering school. I agree it’s bitter cold, but…it’s only 4 winters! (I agree with @crazed - I wasn’t that far north but I was in the Northeast for the last 6 years, and the last two winters have been bitterly cold and harsh. But the ones before that were kind of mild/not so bad.) Virginia Tech is the next cheapest option, but you would need to find a way to come up with an additional $6K a year. Virginia Tech would be the best combinaton of value and academic rigor/reputation and if you could come up with the additional money, that would be the best choice.
I received $5000 from Buffalo and $17,000 from Manhattan and will probably get more money from Manhattan for swimming. I already included it in the costs in my original post.
Right now I am leaning towards Georgia Tech because of the opportunities for their graduates.
How do you plan to pay for GT? Will your mom take out parent plus loans (~$50k over 4 years) to cover what grants and the federal student loans won’t? Your mom could pay for Buffalo with money left over so you could travel or spend your summer doing internships instead of working. I’d seriously consider that option.
My mom is allowing me to go anywhere i choose and she will co-sign my loan.
She really liked Georgia Tech but is worried that if I end up not wanting to be engineer, there wont be too many options for me.
Also, I just received the Sunshine Scholarship from University of Florida which now makes the cost $28,000.
How does University of Florida’s engineering program compare to University at Buffalo’s?