@PurpleTitan It just seems to me that there are plenty of state flagship schools in other states where if you are in-state you can spend anywhere from $45-$80K for the total. Sometimes even less than the $45K.
Sigh. I remember my friend wrapping up UIUC at $10k total. At the time, that was a very good deal among state flagships.
But then at that time, getting into the Honors College at Pitt and the Chancellors Scholarship was automatic at levels that now barely get you considered for these things.
To me not that long ago since that was when my oldest was looking at colleges.
Big difference between then and when the youngest was looking. And even more changes just in the 4 years since then.
@gpo613: âIt just seems to me that there are plenty of state flagship schools in other states where if you are in-state you can spend anywhere from $45-$80K for the total. Sometimes even less than the $45K.â
With scholarships, you mean?
Are these schools at the level of UIUC?
UIUC isnât just an average flagship.
How many of these schools are as strong in pretty much all STEM subjects as UIUC is?
@cptofthehouse: âI remember my friend wrapping up UIUC at $10k total.â
$10K total for 4 years of tuition + R&B?
That wasnât the case even a quarter century ago.
I would just add that not all kids want to rush through college in 3 years (even if it means saving some $$). You get one chance at an undergraduate education, make the most of itâŠ
No. @PurpleTitan For the year. It was a tumultuous college app season even back then. It was the first time I had worked on college apps since my own.
@socaldad2002, 3 year undergrad is the norm in England, Australia, NZ and continental Europe and those folks donât seem underdeveloped or worse off in any way because of it.
4 year undergrad in the US is purely because of a historical accident. Namely, when Harvard was started, 4 years was the typical undergraduate experience at Oxbridge (who of course Harvard would see as examples), but soon afterwards, Oxbridge switched to 3 years for almost everything (the Greats are still 4 years). And every other college after Harvard in the States emulated Harvard.
If Harvard had been started a few decades after it actually did, 3 year undergrad would be the norm in the US.
BTW, if you want to graduate 4 years after entering, thatâs still possible at UIUC while paying for only (a little over) 3 years. UIUC has quite a few study-abroad programs where you pay almost zero tuition, so youâre only responsible for room and board when studying abroad for a year.
I know a lot of kids who graduated in 3 or 3 1/2 years. Even more who took longer than 4 years.
Tradition does play a strong role in these things. I know a lot of parents who say, â4 years and out!â for an undergraduate degree. A lot of kids do take a year abroad too.
At a lot of the large schools, it can be very difficult to get out in 4 years, especially if you change a major. Or if you arenât right on top of registering for your classes. My friendâs DD who did graduate from UIUC in 4 years spent hours in front of a computer screen to make sure she got the classes she wanted and needed each term. She said it was essential for her to do so to stay on track to get out with her major and degree in those years. She was the sort of person who kept track of those things, excellent student all the way through.
DD is graduatng in 3 and a half years with a BS in Meteorology, minors in math and comp sci and honors, she can use that last semester of her scholarship for grad school classes so it makes sense, DS plans to graduate in 8 semesters with both a BS and a MS fully covered by scholarship. They both have gotten/plan to get everything they want out of college in that time. DD did a paid summer internship in Germany and then went back for a summer and semester as an exchange student. DS did a pre freshman research program at his college and will be studying in Korea this summer. Both have had time to take âfunâ classes, DD has contiinued harp as a non major and DS has continued with Chinese and will graduate with a minor in Asian Studies. DD is starting her dream internship on Monday and has a great part time job relating to her major that she loves (and can continue with through grad school). Niether think they ar missing out on anything by completing their undergrad studies in less than four years.
@sunnryz Purdue is stingy with OOS merit, ESPECIALLY for engineering, comp sci and other high-demand majors. Purdue has more than enough applicants and enrollees for those fields, so no need to offer merit.
My UG College was the best 7 years of my life.
@sunnryz @Isoinfo Friend of ours (OOS) got enough merit from Purdue that the cost was comparable to our state flagship (Rutgers). He is in the engineering undecided program.
There is no âengineering undecidedâ program at Purdue. Itâs exploratory studies (for all disciplines) and there is no guarantee of getting into the major of choice, especially if itâs a high demand major like CS, Aero, BME, etcâŠ
@momofsenior1 Sorry, I mis-spoke. He is in the First Year Engineering program. First-year students take math, chemistry, physics, English, and communications courses plus an engineering sequence. They transition to a specific major after theyâve completed these basic requirements. As you said, there is no guarantee of getting into the major of their choice; however, according to Purdueâs website, if their GPA is decent most students get their first choice.
Anyone have any thoughts about merit aid and ED? We wonât get income based financial aid. DD is looking at Smith, Mt Holyoke, and Conn. College. 1450 SAT so far, taking again. Unweighted GPA 4.1. Great ECâs. Better to wait for RD and take her chances maybe not getting in to compare merit aid,correct? Do they give merit aid ED, or figure youâre a done deal so why bother?
@pelomon â Unfort., Iâve not seen hard data on this from colleges so itâs a bit of a $60k question. Some colleges say they give merit aid during ED and Iâve heard it reported on CC, but I think the general calculus is that they use merit aid to attract students during RD. My D was chasing merit and applied RD. She was offered 1/2 tuition scholarships at Mt. Holyoke, Scripps, and Grinnell. (General stats: 4.0, 33 ACT, part of statewide HS for high achieving STEM students, many ECs w/ leadership, a couple regional awards but nothing at state or national level.). Showing a lot interest by visiting, requesting interview, etc. will help w/ merit offers.
Good luck!
@pelomom You can only apply ED to one school so you canât compare merit aid. Smith for example doesnât post details about merit aid requirements. Do people get STRIDE scholarships ED at Smith? Yes, but can you count on it? No. Best to apply RD if you want to compare opportunities.
@pelomom I donât know much about the schools you referenced in your post. In my opinion if you are hunting for merit aid you should not do ED. Definitely not a school that has a holistic approach to merit aid. My D19 went after merit aid. She applied to a lot of schools. We had schools come up with money after the initial offer. Some were just for 1 year, but every dollar counts. I even wrote a letter asking one state school to increase their offer and I enclosed another offer in the letter. The offer was increased by $5K per year. Still not enough. There was also a small LAC that told us in April they could give her more money. D19 didnât want to go there so we never found out how much. You canât do any of that with ED.
I think you should only do ED if you are worried about getting into a certain college and the money isnât too important.
Be on the safe side and donât do ED if youâre looking for merit. However in the case of Grinnell apply early in RD cycle for best merit results. Show interest everywhere.