My son got into Princeton, Stanford, MIT, and USC for engineering. He was offered a full scholarship at USC and we are getting little aid at Princeton/Stanford/MIT . My son would not have to take out a lot in loans to go to Princeton/Stanford/MIT however, is it worth turning down a full scholarship? He has talked to some of his friends at Stanford/MIT and they have just had wonderful experiences with so many opportunities.
Had he wanted to go to med school it would make more sense to go to USC, but he wants to study engineering and masters programs are only usually 1-2 years or less with co-term. Should he take the full scholarship at USC or go to Princeton/Stanford/MIT? Any perspectives on the academic and campus life at these schools would also be much appreciated. We will be visiting the schools as well.
I have never attended Princeton, and in fact have never even visited. I do have degrees from MIT (bachelor’s) and Stanford (master’s).
MIT and Stanford (and I expect probably Princeton also) are academically very challenging. A student who attends should expect to spend a lot of time doing homework. This includes some Saturdays and Sundays. I still fondly remember spending 6 hours one Saturday mid morning through the afternoon at Stanford working on one problem (out of 5) on one problem set. I should have done something similar more often at MIT.
The big issue is: Does he want to do it?
USC is a very good university. A student does not have to attend MIT, Stanford, or Princeton just because they can. If a student wants to do it, then IMHO it is probably work a moderate amount of loans to attend MIT, Stanford, or Princeton, but you need to want to work that hard.
For me personally, I did not consistently want to do this when I was an undergraduate student. I did want to do it as a graduate student and loved it. It depends what the student wants to do.
I might add that just how painful the cost will be for you is another question for you to think about, but I could not guess. You should however keep in mind that your son can do well in life with a degree from USC.
Did your son receive the Trustee (full-tuition) scholarship at USC?
I can’t guide you on what school to attend. I just want to point out that USC Viterbi offers a progressive degree program. Many Viterbi Trustee scholars are able to complete their bachelors and masters degrees within the 8 semesters that the scholarship covers.
For engineering, take the $$. Is there a discipline he’s leaning toward?
I’ll admit - passing up Stanford or MIT for engineering is crazy - but given most outcomes in engineering are relatively similar, I don’t see how you can pass it up.
The reward for hard work is saving nearly $400K.
USC is very respected and will still have fantastic outcomes.
There are some folks that will go to Stanford, invent a product and start a business - but I"m conservative - and it’s just an awesome achievement for your son (and you).
What is he saying? any strong preference(s) what visit days has he been to?
In general I am in the financially conservative camp.
In general I believe that there is such a thing as an engineering temperament, and that all of the places on the table with have that within the engineering school.
BUT… I also believe that MIT is a distinctly different place, with a particularly unique culture, and that they are usually pretty good at identifying their own.
So, IF he went to the revisit day and IF he has a strong preference for MIT after that and IF you can swing it with just the usual loans (approx $27K total) then I would encourage that path. Sometimes it makes sense to go for the brand name.
When reading this, I had an immediate reaction but thought I’d check to see if I could find the expected earnings for engineers from the 4 schools.
According to a 2022 report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the lifetime earnings of engineering graduates of MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and USC are as follows:
MIT: $6.2 million Stanford: $6.0 million Princeton: $5.9 million USC: $5.7 million
These estimates are based on the assumption that graduates will work full-time for 40 years after graduating from college. They also take into account the fact that graduates of these schools are more likely to have high-paying jobs than graduates of other schools.
So from a financial perspective…if you invest the money you save at USC, in 40 years it would be the best financial option (all theoretical of course)…
That said, my gut and bias is that Stanford and MIT are just so different, that passing up both might lead to a lifetime of “what if…”
If med school is in play, then protecting GPA becomes important. Engineering anywhere can be tough on the GPA. Not sure if one of these schools is better(or worse) than the others.
None of us knows anything about OP’s son other than his acceptances. Based on his acceptances alone, I’d guess that he is likely unhooked and an exceptional student. Stanford isn’t a school known for tough grading. Grades may be less inflated at the other two schools, but getting top grades isn’t as difficult as they used to be. My son chose one of the most challenging schools a few years ago when he had a similar decision to make. My spouse had some concern, but I knew my son and the school well enough that I agreed with his decision. It turned out that he never had a single A- (which he had a few when he was in high school) and graduated at the top of his class. Only OP know their son well enough to determine if a more challenging environment is appropriate for their son.
I don’t understand your response. Of course no one knows OP’s son. No one knows OP. Isn’t that what College Confidential is about? In these help-me-decide threads, strangers provide answers to questions based on the information that OPs provide.
In this case, OP asked for, “perspectives on the academic and campus life at these schools” and “is it worth turning down a full scholarship.” The replies I’m reading appear to be from individuals trying to answer those questions. I don’t understand why hooked or unhooked matters. I don’t see where OP asked about how easy or difficult grading is at the schools.
My post was in response to a couple of other posts that talked about how grading may be tougher at some of the schools OP’s son is considering. My point is that it may not matter for OP’s son, because he is likely an exceptional student (admitted not because of a hook).
If you want to be in engineering, USC is fine. If you think you may want to pivot into either finance or go the startup route, you should consider the other schools seriously. As many people say, kids change their mind many times, and you want them to be exposed to things where they consider new information and potentially change their mind. This will probably happen less at USC. You don’t know what you don’t know in terms of what opportunities are out there unless you go to these places.
I don’t know about MIT or Princeton, but I can share about USC. Again, not trying to sway OPs decision, just providing information.
OP has not mentioned their son’s particular interest in engineering. At USC, once a student is accepted into Viterbi, they are accepted into all of the majors. There are no barriers to changing from MASC to CS or any other Viterbi major. My only concern would be, if the student decided on the change in their 2nd or 3rd year, the degree completion might take more than the 8 semesters that the scholarship covers. Trustee scholarship recipients can apply for exceptional funding to cover extra units/semester, summer abroad, Maymester, etc.
USC Viterbi Engineering Plus encourages students to combine engineering with other majors and passions. There are several joint programs between Viterbi and other schools. For example, Game Design is a joint program between Viterbi and the School of Cinematic Arts. Viterbi and Marshall School of Business offer a CS and Business Administration (BS/BA) joint degree. Starting this fall, Viterbi and Marshall will offer a joint AI for Business undergrad degree.
Will you be able to attend any of the admit days? We toured all four schools and attended two of their admit days. Despite all being great engineering schools, to me, their cultures are quite distinct. Yes, MIT is unique but so are the others. I think, if you’re able to go to all of the admit days, your son will likely be able to figure out quite quickly where he will best thrive. I will PM you.
Man, what a great choice to have. What I would do and what my advice are, are two different things. My advice would depend on how meaningful $300K is to you. Does paying for that alter life in any significant way? Ie, much delayed retirement, stress/uncertainty/etc? If so, take the full ride… USC has a very good engineering program, and there are a lot of motivated students there, so there should be great networking opportunities.
If $300k just means maybe taking less nice vacations for a few years, or delaying a fancy car purchase, I’d seriously consider MIT or Stanford, depending on fit. Both can be special places if the student really matches up in terms of fit.
For me, $300K would delay retirement some and probably add stress to my life… I’d take the full ride and give my kid the $150K that I was planning on spending on his education as a gift instead.
That 300k is a LOT of money. Not sure what I would do if it was my kid but someone would have to do a hell a lot of convincing before I choose the $300k option. Congrats to the OP for having some amazing choices.