@MYOS1634 thank you for your advice. How do you know so much? Do you have children in college? I will call Bradford. I was also wondering if the other branch campuses are cheaper and have easier scholarship requirements.
As far as transferring to Ship, there is no guarantee all of the courses will transfer so there might not be a savings.
Sorry for sounding negative but I have to think of all scenarios
OP- you bring up an excellent point.
A kid who is planning to transfer (whether from the gitgo or down the line) HAS to take their adviser’s advice very literally in order to stay on track. (Frankly, I think that all college kids should do this but my view is not very popular, judging from the number of people I meet in real life who sign up for what “works for me” without regard to how many semesters it might put them behind.
What does this mean in practical terms? Tell the adviser that transferring is a possibility during the very first meeting, and that graduating in 8 semesters is imperative due to financial constraints. Your son should not apologize for this- reality bites but it is reality. Then- follow the course sequence exactly as laid out. This also bites, because the temptation to put off the chemistry class if the lab is at 8 am on a Friday morning is going to be very high. Which is how many kids get derailed- they find out they don’t have the right prereqs to move on in the sequence so they are both behind AND the credits don’t transfer. A general chemistry class may not transfer for an engineering sequence- lots of students take chemistry- people intending to get a nursing degree for example- but at most colleges, it is NOT the same chem sequence that engineers are required to take.
So follow the advisers advice- which class when, and in what order. Some won’t be convenient (students hate Friday classes because then they don’t get a perpetual three day weekend). Some will be with a professor rated a B on a website (probably because she gives tests which actually reflect the material, and not “fun and games” time). And some will involve a really heavy workload at crunch time (midterms and finals). But that saves your son from having credits which won’t transfer, or needing an extra semester or two to play catch up.
There are no guarantees that everything transfers but there are also no mysteries.
Again…use all available information and make your own decisions…some folks may have their own agenda…some may even be working for some universities and are paid to promote them?? Whatever works for your situation is best.
According to college rankings by “The Economist”
Shippenesburg is #108(Awesome ranking)
Pitt is #850
Penn State #1047
https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/value-university
Bester- your comment is pretty offensive. What possible agenda do people have here, other than giving the OP the benefit of our experiences??? I don’t tell other people how to spend their money. But it would be ludicrous for the OP (or anyone else) to be making a college decision without considering finances. If Shipp comes in at or under budget- hallelujah. If it doesn’t, the posters here are trying to suggest a more cost effective way to make their son’s education a reality without forcing the parents into debt for the next umpteen years while they are presumably also trying to save for their own retirement.
Are YOU going to send them an extra $5K for Ship? Didn’t think so.
Ship isn’t a “value university” if the parents can’t afford the COA without taking out big loans. (Same with Pitt main and Penn State main).
blossom …good point. I apologize. I did not intend to offend. Just do what is best for your situation.
That Economist ranking is bizarre. Stanford is #200+? It’s ranked solely on earnings plus some regression analysis? That does not take into consideration grads who go into low paying but important jobs etc.
I believe it also does not take into account the number of students who are in grad school when their earnings are “measured.” Elite schools tend to have very high percentages of students getting med, law, or PhD degrees, so they are “poor” at the beginning of their careers.
I can’t access the Economist ranking, but I think ROI rankings seem to sometimes include social mobility factors.
I’ve noticed that one of our state unis ranks high on lists like that but really isn’t considered outstanding otherwise. I think compared to other state unis, it’s in an area with less economic development and family incomes are relatively lower. Meanwhile, there’s a growing emphasis on career preparation in education and healthcare, and the graduates are getting jobs which puts them in a better financial position than the family they started out in.
I appreciate everyone’s post. Right now it’s between Pitt ( branch campus to Main) or Shippensburg. I think either college will be fine. The main thing is that my son does his best while attending. I came across a book called Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania and it helps relieve some of this stress
Great read…I read it when my kid was a senior and then she read it. Helps put the lunch table madness into perspective for sure!
I thought we established that attending Pitt Bradford would leave about $2,500 yet to cover ($23,000-$7,500=$16,000. Son contributes $8,500 with loan and summer job, parent $5,000 from savings).
And Ship was going to require possibly $7,500 in loans. ($23,000-$2,000=$21,000. With same student and parent contributions of $13,500).
You are going to be hard pressed to find other ABET accredited computer engineering schools in PA close to OP, for less.
Elizabethtown is too much.
York is $19,000 net price according to OP but I asked about the aid offered there, if it is merit or need based, because need based can change with income changes.
I just thought I’d mention PSU Behrend. It is further away but has computer and other engineering. Tuition and fees is about $15,000. There might be scholarships.
You won’t know unless you apply.
There might be affordable off campus housing there.
It’s a great book.
On the other hand, it’s designed for Ivy League-obsessed parents who worry their kids will amount to nothing if they attend their state flagship or a lesser-known university known for a specific subject. So, it’s a bit disingenuous.
As for OP’s son…
Basically, he should deactivate/reactivate his application, see what sort of scholarship he gets, visit, perhaps participate in an overnight at both, perhaps add York, and make his decision based on best value and best fit.
What matters is having affordable choices - adding a few more affordable choices is important right now because not applying closes doors. Keeping them open doesn’t oblige.
Nevermind. Erie is probably 5 hours or more away.
Here is some more information about Ship’s CE program.
One of the girls mentions internships, I would ask more about those.
I would definitely to more research on each option.
If college is ahead, so are hard choices…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/get-there/wp/2018/01/04/if-college-is-ahead-so-are-hard-choices/?utm_term=.f0deb28c4167
“The nature of a student’s college experience — the work that he or she puts into it, the skills that he or she picks up, the self-examination that’s undertaken, the resourcefulness that’s honed — matters more than the name of the institution attended. … Education is indeed everything, but it happens across a spectrum of settings and in infinite ways.”
“Walk through the numbers and the debt that your daughter will have to take on to go to her top choice. If she still presses you, stay strong. Don’t spend more than what you can afford.”
@Collegefrazzled You got this. Have the conversation with your son about the money. Have him rank the remaining schools. Know your price. And then go negotiate. Some schools will do it; others will not. Schools care about their yields so if you are willing to say “Pitt your are my son’s number one school but his number two school is a $X and I need to get close to that so he can. If you can do that, he is ready to commit today.” (I used Pitt as the example…not suggesting that should be or is his number one!)
You got this. Know what you want…take a deep breath…and give it a shot. Your son is lucky to have you supporting him!
@SwimmingDad Thank you so much. I will try that. I don’t know if anyone has any idea how much I am stressing about this.
@bester1 Thank you - good article
@bester1 You did not accuse anyone in particular. I do believe that there are employees of certain colleges, professors, alumni, and parents with kids who go to particular schools that have bias towards one college or another. And they post on CC. That is not offensive.