Having been through this before I will tell you that you just don’t know until you know. Some of the schools that we thought would be least affordable ended up being the most affordable, and vice-versa.
Case in point, our older son attends Notre Dame for essentially money-equal to what our state flagship school would have cost. YMMV. 
Our son would also prefer civil, but applied to RIT for mechanical. His dad is a civil engineer and said mechanical would be good!
Oh that’s interesting! Civil is one of the rare engineering majors that I thought didn’t have much overlap with anything else. Our kid isn’t sure what he wants to do but civil is one of his main possibilities. I would love to hear more about the mechanical major → civil job pipeline!
I think you’re right, but I’m not sure. If they give needs based aid, that changes the picture… My husband and I are professors and our schools are part of a “Tuition Exchange” program that includes RIT. It is very competitive to get the scholarship, but if you do get it, the scholarships can really be quite massive - more than double what my understanding of the Presidential is. My son was over the moon at his “big” merit scholarship offer at WPI - I tried celebrating with him but I kept thinking, “It’s still more than $50k a year!!! Nooooooooooooo!!!”
Us too on TE! I also get the impression that TE is way more than RIT’s normal merit scholarships. My son hasn’t gotten any TE offers yet, but has gotten aid that gets darn near close to TE at a couple of schools. For most of those, the huge chunk is merit, with a little need-based aid thrown in to bring it up to our EFC.
I assume RIT gives at least some need-based aid, but I don’t know if they meet full need.
Even with TE, I think RIT will be more expensive than some of his other options. I don’t think they stack aid on top of TE. Our small budget will likely drive him to the more affordable schools.
I hope you guys get TE and then some at some great places!
My son graduated from RIT last spring in 3 years with a Game Design and Development major. One thing to also consider in cost is that RIT is a coop school, so they will take time off to earn some money, and also that they are very generous with AP credits. So even though we did not get more then typical merit (which I think is now maxed out at 22K?), we still ended up not paying as much as one would think. Also sophomore year up they can live off campus , or even on campus, with kitchens, and dont require a food plan. Rent in a house off campus to nice apartments can range from 500 to 1000 a month. My other kid went to school in DC where rents and on campus housing was so expensive.
They do give need based aide. We did not “qualify” outside of the normal loans.
As far as the performing arts scholarship , RIT is doing a big push for the arts, and building a new theatre and investing in the arts. They are also updating their sports facilities for intermural /etc.
If it was not for most of my S’s time there being during Covid, it would have been a much better experience, but in the end he is now working and living on his own.
Off topic, but how was the Game Design and Dev major? That is what my daughter applied for, but is considering switching to Cybersecurity. Was he able to find coops and post grad employment easily?
Thank you! That’s wild that you are also doing TE - good luck with it to you, too! It’s remarkable how expensive some places are even WITH the TE scholarship (if he were to get one). We would be able to afford it with the scholarship, but without it I just can’t see spending that amount when he got great offers from other schools without TE. On top of TE I was told my son could stack NMF, which would be another #2k so not a ton, but hey… I’ll take it (it adds up over time, right?). This whole college thing is dragging on too long for my taste!
My son is hoping to be a computer science major at RIT, but his passion is game development so he would at least minor in GD. My son is pretty introverted so it concerns me to have his graduation depend on securing a coop. Do you have a sense of how challenging they are to secure?
You have to be open to doing other things using the skills you learn. There are only so many jobs /coops at the gaming companies. Currently my son is using what he learned to work for a government contractor and on the side he is creating games, that one day he wants to “launch”. His coop was for a manufacturing company. GDD is a bit different than pure CS and he really liked his electives. Now Cybersecurity is where its at these days, so if she is interested, its probably a better major to be in.
Thanks! Game dev was her dream for like the past 6 years, but she did a cybersecurity class last year and loved it so she’s a bit wishy-washy. It will probably depend on where she ends up going. I think at RIT, she would 100% switch to cybersecurity. We were blown away by the tour of the labs.
I wish my son were more interested in cybersecurity than game development! So many more jobs, I imagine.
My D23 got in just now with the Presidential Merit Scholarship! Unexpected on a Friday!
Accepted with presidential scholarship!
That is wonderful!!! This was for Regular Decision?!
YAY!!! Congratulations!!!
What college/major? Congrats! 
When will financial aid be released?
How many semesters of co-op are allowed? And are there a lot in Rochester?
Yes, it was RD.
OOS, Liberal Arts
3.97uw/4.98w, 1420 SAT, 7 APs (4 this year)
Honors societies, Leadership in Club, Good essay, 4 yrs ASL