@mommdc and @toomanyteens Thank you! Then need to figure out how to pay the next 3 years. Hoping he gets paid co-ops to help
@MYOS1634 you seem to offer good advice. Would Pitt guarantee the co-op program if her son chose to go that route? or does it just offer co-op opportunities?
It’s worth a reminder that a co-op is a fancy word for a job.
Co-op employers are just that- employers. Companies get to interview and hire whomever they want, and they pay their co-op employees what they want. Yes- a CS or Engineering student is likely to make more (sometimes much more) than a kid majoring in a less lucrative field BUT a kid needs to pay for food, housing, transportation, etc. during the co-op (just like at a regular job- your paycheck has to cover your living expenses) which means you can’t assume that the kids entire earnings are going to get saved to pay tuition next semester.
I know kids at Drexel and Northeastern who have done very, very well with their co-ops (good jobs and money left over) and kids who head back to college with a thousand dollars saved (not nothing, but barely makes a dent in tuition). Their co-ops were in places where public transportation didn’t exist- or was very expensive- or in places where rent was high.
Co-op is a job- and kids will need to be aggressive about getting one for each semester they aren’t enrolled in college. Then they’ll need to find housing (some companies help with this, others don’t) and since they aren’t on a meal plan, need to shop for groceries and cook (or eat out every night- a sure fire budget buster).
So don’t romanticize the Co-op experience. They are phenomenal resume builders but don’t always help that much financially UNLESS the parents live somewhere where the kid can live at home, take the bus, and be smack dab in the middle of a robust area with tons and tons of relevant and high paying jobs. Otherwise, those earnings need to cover living expenses which can be quite high.
I agree with @blossom – one of ours was trying to convince us she just had to have this ‘internship’ near her college which is far away from home and of course would have required a car (so she said). It was basically a during the semester part time job which certainly wasn’t paying enough more to have the expense of a CAR!
Like you said can be great experience, may be a resume builder but a money saver it is not
@laralei: Pitt has a great career center and network, so it offers many opportunities, but the student has to be proactive and go work on his resume, enter the database, set up interviews, etc. it’s not spoon-fed (or the image I get is not “baby bird opening mouth, worm falls in”, more like: baby bird taken to area full of worms, but left to starve if it won’t bother catching any).
If the family lives near Philadelphia there may be commutable co-ops. barring that, a co-op in the Midwest 'tech triangle" (pretty much MN/IA/Nebraska?) would likely yield a low cost of living situation along with great experience.
OK, thanks all. I know a co-op is often suggested as a way to help offset costs, but unless they were guaranteed, they really shouldn’t be counted as much as implied. Not just talking about here, I’ve heard/read this elsewhere as well.
Colleges can’t guarantee Co op’s, because all they control is preparation (resume writing, interviewing practice) and access - no college ‘gives’ co-ops because a company has to want the student and the student has to want it.
When I spoke with Pitt it sounds like co-ops are part of their engineering program and the college will help the students find co-ops. I believe they have a department specifically set up for this. Shippensburg, on the other hand do not offer co-ops or have a department specifically set up for finding co-ops. However, Shippensburg does have an Internship option. With both universities, my son might be able to find a co-op or internship in our hometown. I know the co-ops might not help much financially, but they probably will help him get a job when he graduates. I am trying my best to remain positive with our college choices. I have to honestly say some of these comments are quite discouraging.
A department that helps with Co-op’s/internships is good. In college it’ll be up to your son to take advantage of this.
My D’s roommate (at Pitt main) is doing a co-op this semester and planning one for next year’s spring semester. From what I have gathered, Pitt has an established co-op program for engineering and CS, and that those are usually well paid. They have a list of employers that they work with.
The co-ops are not mandatory like at other schools but they are there to take advantage of.
I would expect that to be the case at UPJ too.
You can raise some of these concerns when you visit.
@Collegefrazzled please don’t get discouraged. You have a good plan as to how to cover your son’s college costs.
You are doing the best you can.
With UPJ he has the most affordable computer engineering option at the moment.
He can work in the summer and most likely do co-ops later. He can borrow his student loans.
You have done savings to contribute and will borrow the rest.
Thanks to his good stats he can get a scholarship at UPJ to help with costs.
You may get the AOTC, and you have a bit of money in the 529.
@mommdc thank you for this information and for your encouraging words. I keep telling myself things will work out
@Collegefrazzled : hello, how is it going? Have you been able to visit Pitt Johnstown? How is your son doing? And yourself?
@MYOS1634 thank you for asking. His application at Pitt was transferred to Johnstown. We plan on visiting in March. They currently have an Admitted Students Day scheduled but I am waiting to hear back if they will have an Engineering Day. Do you think one is better than the other? I also wanted to go to Shippensburg’s Admitted Students Day, but my son does not want to go. He feels because we were there for an Open House he doesn’t need to go again. I tried my hardest to convince him to go but was unsuccessful. In your opinion, do you think Pitt Johnstown is the better option? They are not accredited but the Engineering Chair said he doesn’t forsee this to be a problem. In the end it will have to be my son’s decision as I do not want to force him to attend a college he doesn’t want to go to. I will do my best to guide him down the best path. I do appreciate all of your help. I never would have known about the Pitt branch if it wasn’t for this forum.
Thanks for the update. I feel that with Pitt Johnstown he might have more options for other majors other than computer engineering, should he change his mind.
Let us know how the visit goes!
@MYOS1634 is there anywhere on this site that I could find information about Pitt Johnstown and their engineering program and campus life? I will try to do a search. I am also interested in the town
Has he given up any opportunity to attend Pitt’s main campus or would that still be an option if he doesn’t like Johnstown when he visits?
Google college review site for reviews of the campus. I don’t think I’m allowed to post the site name here. Johnstown is an interesting small city but doesn’t seem to really be a college town… Not sure how it would be for a residential student there. Your visit should help answer those kinds of questions.
There is history there, with the Johnstown flood museum, historic site. Hope you enjoy your March visit!
@sevmom, He cannot attend the main campus as we cannot afford it. We would end up with over $130K in student loans at the main campus. If he doesn’t like Johnstown, he will attend Ship.
I did check a few sites about the town. Thank you
Pitt Johnstown doesn’t have a page on this forum and I don’t think Pennsylvania has a ‘state’ forum although they should since there are literally more than a hundred colleges in the state.
He can do an overnight, perhaps? apply to Honors too (honors= perks and extra scholarships. And if he doesn’t like it he can stop after a year so it’s win-win).
Email both Ship and Pitt Johnstown about doing an overnight - even if he doesn’t want to do a special engineering day, he might be interested in spending a day on campus, going to a college class or two (I recommend picking Freshman English and Freshman Engineering, to compare two classes he’ll have to take), going to the gym, seeing what it’s like at night. The best overnight is Friday to Saturday because it combines a working day and a weekend.
If Pitt Johnstown is not accredited for computer engineering but Shippensburg is, Shippensburg could be the better option. ABET accreditation is important in engineering. The risk here is that many kids switch out of engineering altogether or want to transfer to another type of engineering once they start college and are taking classes. Hopefully, there are other options at both schools that could be appealing to your son, if computer engineering does not work out. Good luck!
@sevmom: it’s not accredited yet, the program switched from engineering technology to real engineering recently. But the engineering technology program was ABET accredited and by the time op’s son graduates it will be too.
However op’s son really needs to do an overnight to decide which university is best.
Also, getting into the honors college at one or both (for the perks and the scholarship) should help with some downsides at either.