<p>I'm a junior that's going to be graduating next June. I plan on majoring in software engineering, but I'm torn between possible schools.</p>
<p>I live in Erie County Pennsylvania, and right now the closest schools to me that offer Software Engineering are RIT, Penn State Behrend, and Robert Morris University.</p>
<p>My favorite out of the three is RIT, but the problem is that I'm not sure how/if I'd be able to pay for it. The combined salary of my parents is around $70,000/year, and when I start college my brother will likely be finishing his last year at the University of Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>I took the SATs in March and got a 1670 without studying, and I plan on retaking them in the fall after studying during the summer (shooting for a 1800-1950). </p>
<p>So I filled out RIT's financial aid calculator and after grants/aid it said I would likely be left a net price of $14-17k.</p>
<p>With that being said, does anyone think RIT appears to be affordable in my case? I've yet to talk to the credit union where I would take out loans, so I'm not sure how much leeway they would give me with that much money.</p>
<p>Your credit union isn’t likely going to give you loans unless your parents co-sign. If you don’t have substantial income/assets, your CU is going to require co-signers. </p>
<p>Your loan pkg already will contain loans, so if you need to borrow another $14k-17k each year, that’s way too much debt. </p>
<p>Another point is that I assume you ran the NPC only for the year that your brother will be in college concurrent with you. If he graduates at the end of your freshman year, your net price is likely to be significantly higher than $14-17k for your sophmore year.</p>
<p>Try running the NPC without your brother in the calculations to estimate what the impact might be.</p>
<p>I think it’s great that you are looking at a number of choices. There is no reason why you should not include RIT as a school on your list. See what pans out. But also make sure you have included schools that you know you can afford without contingencies and that you know will take you. Also as, Rmidad, notes, make sure you understand that if you do get a fin aid package from a school, that first year award will reflect 2 in college and will jack up in costs to you once he is out of school. Merit aid would not take that into consideration, but fin aid would.</p>
<p>If your are more flexible in your choice of major, similar subject matter but not so specific, there would be other schools for you to consider such as Edinburgh College and other local schools. Robert Morris is private and does not tend to meet need, and PS Behrend does not guarantee to meet need either. Unless you can commute to them, the costs can be high. If you are looking at schools where you will need room and board, getting full need can be tough. </p>
<p>How much are your parents going to be able to pay for your education? Be aware that other than $5500 your first year that you pretty much certainly can take out yourself in Direct loans, there are no other guarantees as to what aid you will get. You are not going to be able to borrow without a parent or other credit worthy adult involved. No problem that you give it a try and apply to schools in hopes that you get some money, but there is no guarantee that you will. Most schools do not meet full need most of the time. None of the three you have listed do. So make sure you have some failsafe choices in place.</p>
<p>You don’t need to major in software engineering to become a software engineer. Computer science is a very good choice as well, and if you visit the Engineering Majors subforum you can also find posts related to applying a math degree in the software field.</p>
<p>Go ahead and apply to RIT, but make sure you apply elsewhere as well and don’t get too set on anything.</p>
<p>You don’t need to major in software engineering to become a software engineer. Computer science is a very good choice as well, and if you visit the Engineering Majors subforum you can also find posts related to applying a math degree in the software field.</p>
<p>Exactly. CS is a good alternative and offered at many more schools. Not sure if Computer eng’g would also work? </p>
<p>I agree with the idea of running the NPCs without the brother. I think this student is going to find a big ole gap in funding once his brother graduates.</p>
<p>Manion, to be safe, you need to apply to some schools that will give you large merit scholarships. Those won’t disappear once your brother graduates. Small/moderate merit awards aren’t going to work because they’re just going to get applied to "need’ and not reduce the family contribution. </p>
<p>You need a more affordable choice. no one is going to lend you that extra money. Besides, you’re already going to have full fed loans in your pkg. If you borrow MORE, then you’ll have too much debt.</p>
<p>Many times, a student can take a “close enough” major and supplement with summer courses, etc. for a much cheaper all-in cost than the exact major he wanted which was only available at a few, more expensive, schools.</p>
<p>^^
Right. And many times, summer courses aren’t even necessary. IF a student has some AP credits, then often those create space in the schedule to include other courses.</p>
<p>Mom2 – I was trying to say that even if the cheaper school doesn’t offer exactly the major the kid wants, the kid can take a related major, and pick up a few speciality courses elswhere.</p>