<p>Hi! I'd appreciate any help or insight on a few issues.</p>
<p>My daughter has been accepted to NU Class of 2017. She's thrilled, and we're excited for her. However, we (my daughter, my wife and I) have some concerns/questions.</p>
<p>She's planning on chemical engineering, and hoping to do the Co-op program - primarily for financial reasons, but the job experience is attractive, too. She's been offered $5,000 in federal loans, and $2,500 of work-study. Our EFC is $16,600. FYI: she won't have a sibling in college until her fourth year. We will have about $20,000 in savings when she starts this fall, and (IF she enrolls at NU) will contribute monthly toward her costs while she's in school (hopefully another $10,000-$15,000).</p>
<p>1) I know internships and co-ops can vary significantly in wages (I've been told $17/hr is average), and I know cost of living while doing co-op can vary, too (depending upon where the job is, housing costs, etc.). Given that, I'd feel a lot better about the possibility of her attending NU if I had some data or anecdotes re: how much a student doing co-op could contribute/save toward cost-of-attendance. (I have spoken with the Co-op office, by the way, and while they were helpful, it wasn't very specific).</p>
<p>If she were to live off-campus during co-op (if co-op is in Chicago), could she save quite a bit more than if she were to live on-campus? My wife and I lived in Chicago during grad school and know it can be very expensive. How easy is it to find housing that would allow her significant savings over living on campus?</p>
<p>2) Grad school - given the academic rigor at NU, if she is an average student at NU, how will that affect her grad school options/chances? Is it better to get a 3.5+ GPA at a state school or a 3.0 at NU?</p>
<p>FYI: Oh, also, she's more interested in the research side of chemE, as well as the consumer products and healthcare side of things. She'd probably have more options for that at NU than at OSU or Tulsa (more oil & gas focus, though they do offer many other options).</p>
<p>FYI #2: She has full-ride offers at the University of Tulsa and Oklahoma State University and could come out with $30,000-$40,000 in the bank. If she goes to NU, she could come out with $30,000-$50,000 in loans. To me, NU is high-risk, high reward (if she does well academically AND stays with engineering it COULD pay off. If she doesn't like engineering or can't cut it then she'd probably have to change schools because the co-op $ wouldn't be there and would increase her loan amount). OSU and Tulsa are a much safer scenario financially and if she changes majors, no problem. There'd be no financial pressure to stick with engineering. Her mother and I think she'd be better off at the Oklahoma schools, but she's having a hard time deciding and there are so many unknowns. </p>
<p>Sorry for the long post. I've spoken with many people in engineering (both industry and academics), teachers, etc., and thought I'd see what CCers have to say. I've been a lurker, but have learned much over the past couple years.</p>
<p>Oh, one final note: We have a friend who would loan up to $50,000 to us/her interest-free.</p>
<p>Thanks! I appreciate any feedback or comments.</p>