Son was offered admission to both Princeton and UT Austin with Engineering honors and Plan II honors.
He is interested in all sorts of STEM subjects, and applied to both as ChemE. He also loves history, business and economics, and would like some liberal arts sprinkled into his college experience.
Princeton has a very reputable engineering program as well as wonderful LAC classes, so he’ll have the best of both worlds.
UT Austin has great engineering and dual majoring with Plan II honors allows him a great LAC experience.
He lucked into a $40k merit scholarship at UT and Princeton’s FA has been kind. Long story short, Princeton would be about $20k a year vs. $10k a year for UT.
Given he loves both engineering and LAC studies he is conflicted. He isn’t 100% sure what he wants to do, complicating matters.
Princeton’s small student to faculty ratio, name and alumni network seem superior, UT has better engineering and is more affordable.
Should an undergrad seek to minimize debt at all costs? Is Princeton’s engineering reputation strong enough? Etc.
@colorado_mom we live near Austin, TX. He doesn’t know what he wants to do, and doesn’t really know where he wants to end up, which is totally logical at his age and immensely frustrating for helping to guide him.
I didn’t think he get admitted to Princeton, so I had been pushing UT and TAMU as great schools that are affordable. Plan II is a huge draw for him, but ever since he was admitted to Princeton, he has been so excited about that as a possibility.
His mom would love him to stay near Austin, but I think going away would be healthy and help him mature in ways staying near home would not.
Money isn’t a huge issue, but having less debt provides more options for graduate school, unless that is outweighed by Princeton’s intangibles (alumni connections, smaller class size, residential college system).
@psywar - I wish our FA offer from P had been that good!
Don’t worry about grad school costs if your DS is really going to be in a STEM field - those programs will almost certainly be school-funded, or company-funded.
I would say for a delta of $40K over four years, it’s probably worth it to go to Princeton, particularly if your DS is excited about it. However, I do have friends who are doing great after Engineering at UTAustin, too.
My son also says: “I love that avatar from StarCrafts!”
As a engineer, he is not going to gain any significant income boost by attending Princeton over UT. It may have some more clout in the northeast for jobs when he graduates, but experience and talent will override that after a few years in the workforce. Obviously the undergraduate experience is vastly different at each school due to size, climate, campus culture, etc. After he visits, he will have a better idea of where he would like to spend his next four years. I would say to let him make the call. The cost difference is not significant for an engineering major and if he does decide to go on to grad school, it will be funded. He will have no problem getting into a top program if he does well in UT Honors & Plan II or at Princeton. You really cannot go wrong either way!
I’m a freshman mechanical engineering student at UT and I love my school, but this is why your son should go to Princeton: you live near Austin. College is all about finding new perspectives and experiencing new environments. I grew up near Austin, and I went to UT. I don’t regret it or anything, but the opportunity to go out of state could be incredibly rewarding. In fact, based on this criterion only, your son should attend Princeton. As a parent, this may be tough to accept, but being more independent can be one of the most liberating experiences in a young-adult’s life. If I had the same opportunity that your son had, I would’ve gone to Princeton and never looked back.
@Nogarap - that’s a very interesting perspective! I hope that doesn’t mean my own S has to exclude any Boston schools from his list, though. (Since we live nearby!)
The Princeton engineering school is small and will offer him smaller classes and a more personal experience. You can do some web research, but I doubt he would face the 250+ lecture hall freshman year classes that UT would have (assuming he does not place out of most of them with AP and that Plan II does not include smaller versions of these classes).
If you can afford a trip to Princeton, or if you have already visited, that would be great. Similarly a trip to really see the Plan II program and maybe a discussion with someone on how he can weave the engineering and Plan II together into a great experience would be helpful.
Enjoy exploring both options and likely the choice will be clear, I’d probably let my child pick here since the finances are not far apart and both choices are just so good.
Congratulations, your son must be quite accomplished to get these two opportunities.
I would pick Princeton if you can afford it. UT Austin has a great engineering school and Plan II offers small LAC classes, but Princton offers greater flexibility. Changing majors and direction are hard to do at UT. It sounds like your son has broad interests and his choice of major could change and evolve. Princeton can accommodate change better than UT in my opinion.
Princeton classes are not necessarily small, even though they may be smaller than 250 (but the practical difference between 100 and 250 is likely minimal compared to the practical difference between 25 and 100 – if it matters to the student).
193/199 CHM 202 General Chemistry II
18-42/80 MAT 104 Calculus II
18-49/100 MAT 201 Multivariable Calculus
44-132/150 MAT 202 Linear Algebra with Applications
109-190/200 PHY 104 General Physics II
If there if is an older sibling in college, be aware that the Princeton EFC will go up for year(s) with only one student
At UT, check if there is a GPA requirement to keep the scholarship. Obviously this is a high caliber student, but typically engineering students have lower freshman GPA than they had in high school.
Unless he’s planning to work as an engineer in O&G, Princeton will connect him to a higher caliber of employers in just about every other industry and career path. If he chooses he wants to do something related to consulting or management or the like, Princeton will serve him much better.
Well that’s not even remotely true, @Pancaked. Sure it would be true in businesses that are on Wall Street, for example, but in engineering companies they are going to be pretty even.
