<p>I'm a Californian student with a 4.04 and a 1940 SAT, interested in Computer/Electrical Engineering.
My parent's combined income is around 115,000, but they really don't have much at all to spare and most of it goes to my sister's tuition (and they work their butts off for that).
So they really can't afford to support me that much wherever I go.</p>
<p>But they can afford to help me pay for tuition at Cal Poly SLO. But I'm interested in the UCs and I'm applying to Stanford as well. However, if I got accepted to a UC/Stanford, I'd need a lot of scholarships to afford it. </p>
<p>They want me to apply Early Decision to Cal Poly SLO. My question is this: Is the relative financial security offered by SLO worth the potentially lesser education it provides?
Because from what I've heard, SLO doesn't compare to the UCs (or Stanford) as far as the quality of education is concerned. </p>
<p>I don't want to go to a lesser school if I could potentially get accepted to better schools, but we don't know if we can afford the better schools, my parents won't cosign and there's no guarantee I'll get the scholarships I'm applying for. </p>
<p>That’s what I was thinking; their argument is that they cannot afford to support any
UC and they believe that applying ED will improve my chances of getting in.</p>
<p>Is the engineering at SLO comparable with the UCs?</p>
<p>Or rather, is the difference between the quality of the EE/Computer Engineering courses offered at Cal Poly big enough to justify simultaneously throwing away a chance to apply to SLO twice and of course the fact that the “other schools” (sans Stanford) cost about seven thousand more then SLO?</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO compares favorably to many UCs. It’s just a notch below CalTech.
However, since financial aid is a concern, you should not apply ED. You need to be able to compare financial aid package.
If you have the stats for Cal Poly SLO, you’ll get in RD. However, applying RD will also provide you with decisions from the California perenials (CalTech, Stanford, USC, HarveyMudd). This way you’ll be able to pick the cheapest school, making your parents happy. In fact, you could actually tell them this: you’ll apply RD and on May 1 you will automatically choose whichever school that admitted you is the cheapest for them.
Also, keep in mind that since you have a sibling in college, that will be used to decrease the expected family contribution for you - their EFC won’t be twice what is currently is for your sister :).
Finally, schools like Stanford have a lot of money and a family who makes $115,000 would definitely be mid-range middle class for them so you might qualify for a lot of financial aid.</p>
<p>Have you run net price calculators on each of the schools in question? Berkeley’s net price calculator gives an EFC of $9,000 to $10,000 and an ESC of $8,500 (student loan and work) for a net price of $17,500 to $18,500 based on $115,000 income and 2 college students. The CSU net price calculator indicates no financial aid for the same situation, for a net price equal to list price of $24,285 at SLO. In other words, it looks like your assumptions about affordability may be incorrect.</p>
<p>SLO is good, but if you are not sure that it is your first choice, or are unsure of affordability, it would not be a good idea to apply ED.</p>
<p>@intparent I know where I stand and have no illusions about getting into Stanford, it’s just an optimism “Why not” thing.</p>
<p>“In fact, you could actually tell them this: you’ll apply RD and on May 1 you will automatically choose whichever school that admitted you is the cheapest for them.” see
this was what I was thinking: Berkeley/the UCs are just 7 grand more then the CSUs (once I factor out health insurance, which I think my parents cover for the first three years), so why not try for both. </p>
<p>I understand what ucbalumnus was saying about ED not improving chance of acceptance, their reasoning is that it allows you to try to apply twice to SLO instead of once.</p>
<p>All of you are saying RD and I totally agree with you and I guess my problem is less logistics and more just convincing my parents.
Is there a justifiable advantage to applying ED?
Is the chance of my receiving (substantial) financial aid greater then my not getting into SLO? (worst case scenario is I don’t get enough financial aid AND I don’t get into SLO) </p>
<p>Also, thank you all for replying, I’ve been struggling with this for a while and I think I just need to talk it out…</p>
<p>Did your read #6? UCs might actually be cheaper than CSUs, after applying financial aid grants. You need to check the net price calculators, rather than making assumptions.</p>
<p>Given the financial aid issues, it would be unwise to apply ED, especially if you apply blindly without checking the net price calculators.</p>
<p>I am confused about what you mean about applying twice to SLO. Maybe this is something I don’t understand because we don’t live in California, and I know the system is “unusual” there. But generally you either apply ED or RD to a school. If you are rejected ED, you don’t get to apply again. At some schools you might be deferred to the RD pool rather that rejected, but you don’t apply twice.</p>
<p>Yeah Net Price (and I plugged very liberal numbers into it, assuming my parents recieved more and were taxed less) given from the CSU mentor site gives me around three; Berkeley gave me around eight grand, which is quite a difference. @intparent ED at Cal Poly means even if I get rejected I automatically go into the RD pool. So it’s a two-chance type thing.</p>
<p>It is not two chances. Assuming typical process, SLO will only admit in the early round the applicants who are clear admits. Others go to the regular round (apparently, they don’t do early rejections).</p>
<p>Given cost issues, it would be better for you to apply RD (or non-binding EA or early rolling) everywhere, so that you can compare net prices in April.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus so you’re saying that, even though the CSU is cheaper and the ED would likely get me in (I’m in their acceptance range, I know it…) , I should wait and apply broadly and compare financial offers?
Also, is there an objective comparison of SLO and the UCs? Because all SLO is compared to on USNews is undergraduate-only schools…</p>
<p>Is the CSU cheaper (based on net price after accounting for financial aid grants, not loans, according to the net price calculator)? I put your stated information into the net price calculators and got results indicating that the CSU was not cheaper.</p>
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<p>Since “level of applicant’s interest” is not considered by SLO, would ED necessarily make a difference?</p>
<p>See, I plugged the numbers into the Berkeley and the CSU Financial Aid calculator gave me that Berkeley/the UCs would still be about $2000 more, but that really isn’t that big of a difference.</p>
<p>The only reason we’re considering that ED would make a difference is it gives me two chances to apply, in essence, and thus I’m considered by the college twice. </p>
<p>Honestly, the more I think about it, SLO isn’t a bad school, I just don’t want to shut down all my options; SLO isn’t as recognized as Berkeley but it’s education (undergrad) is still pretty strong, right?</p>
<p>Wait, I did that wrong. If I subtract the Campus Health Care from the UC costs (because now students up to age 21 get healthcare from their parents, jah?), they’re essentially the same…</p>
<p>My sister attends a CSU, so it’s not huge; it’s less of a “they’re not willing” and “neither they nor I want to add that kind of stress to their lives, plus they’re already a bit resentful of my sister for making them pay” sort of thing. They’re willing to help pay CSU tuition but they just can’t handle anything else. They work ridiculously hard already.</p>
<p>It looks like CPSLO’s admissions is basically by the numbers (although some aspects are subjectively evaluated to add to the formula). It is likely that ED applicants are only admitted if their admission scores are so high that they do not expect the admission threshold to be any higher than that. So it is probably not really “two chances”. Other schools’ ED and EA probably work similarly, even with holistic admissions – only those who are expected to be clearly above whatever threshold for admission they use are admitted early.</p>
<p>Also, your sister should run the net price calculator to see how her financial aid and net price will change when you enter college.</p>
<p>CPSLO is a fine school, but given that it is just on the edge of affordability, it may be a better idea to apply RD there and several other schools in order to compare financial aid and scholarship offers.</p>
But generally you either apply ED or RD to a school. If you are rejected ED, you don’t get to apply again. At some schools you might be deferred to the RD pool rather that rejected, but you don’t apply twice.</p>