<p>I'm a student from Oklahoma that was just accepted to UIUC engineering. Paying OOS tuition would mean $35k per year..</p>
<p>I recently received a free-ride offer from my state school (Oklahoma State University)</p>
<p>Is prestige really worth it?</p>
<p>I'm strongly considering grad school, but I don't know if I'll still want to in 4 years</p>
<p>I have the same question as him. Is prestige really worth it?</p>
<p>PSU engineering (30k/yr OOS) vs. SUNY-Buffalo (5k/yr IS)</p>
<p>PSU just seems perfect for me.</p>
<p>OU easily. Do well and go to grad school at UIUC.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have the same question as him. Is prestige really worth it?</p>
<p>PSU engineering (30k/yr OOS) vs. SUNY-Buffalo (5k/yr IS)</p>
<p>PSU just seems perfect for me.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Do UB for undergrad. Save the extra $25000/yr for grad school. Don't worry about prestige. The engineering curricula here is quite challenging. If you're worried about job opportunities, many companies recruit UB engineering students, as evidenced by the number of engineering listserv e-mails I receive advertising the fact some company or another is conducting on campus interviews.</p>
<p>That ones a no-brainer to me: go to Oklahoma State. They are both big state schools, and you will get a fine education at either. I have a difficult dilemna - Rice U (at maybe $22,000 a year w/financial aid) vs. Texas Tech (free-ride). His sibling is at Rice, but it cost us less for her due to her financial aid package. She turned down a free-ride at a big state school, also, but it didn't fit her very well. With DS, well he really likes big sports and such, and he got accepted to the honors college, so some perks there.<br>
Anyhow... hope your decision resolves itself. I vote for Oklahoma state. :)</p>
<p>UIUC is leagues above OSU, but 35k a year is outrageous for four years. Perhaps you should attend OSU and then transfer into UIUC Eng. so that you can receive your degree from there for a fraction of the price. </p>
<p>All of this is very dependent on whether you want to go to grad school, in my opinion. Anxiousmom, in your son's case, I don't think Tech is worth it if he is smart enough to attend Rice. Has he visited Tech yet? I know some people there and the environment is entirely different from Rice. Maybe he too should attend Tech and then consider a transfer if he doesn't like it, but it is not easy to transfer into Rice.</p>
<p>constantIllusion: I'm not sure if I wan't to go to grad school yet, but I'm thinking about it. Does UB have an organized co-op program/schedule like PSU? I want to do one for the experience.</p>
<p>Im also a UB engineering student and I got accepted to RPI and penn state University park along with others. In the end I chose UB, due to funds, I go here for free, for tuition and all I need pay is my room and board. So this worked out for me.</p>
<p>I am a EE student and I love UB engineering, its really really good. It is also alot more intense of a curriculum than friends of mine who chose to do the penn state route.</p>
<p>We have alot of programs here, <a href="http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/Outreach/new_work01.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/Outreach/new_work01.html</a></p>
<p>check out the Engineering career institute <a href="http://www.eng-intern.buffalo.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.eng-intern.buffalo.edu/</a></p>
<p>a friend of mine just finished a internship at Lockheed for aerospace.</p>
<p>If the choices available were, say, MIT and Stanford, the answer would be yes.</p>
<p>But Penn State or U of I? Come on! They are both good schools, but neither is that much better than OU or SUNY-Buffalo. </p>
<p>Save your money....trust me, you'll need it later if you want to go to business or law school.</p>
<p>Engineering is Engineering at the undergraduate level so don't be to concerned with prestige.</p>
<p>Saving 35k a year will be worth it when it comes time for graduate school.</p>
<p>I'm stingy and I'd vote save the money.</p>
<p>You would be crazy to go to UIUC (unless you have tons of money). I always recommend taking the best deal you can get for undergrad. Then go to the big name school for graduate work!</p>
<p>I beg to differ. Our daughter chose to go to UIUC instead of our state school (where she was also offered a full ride) and we supported her decision. UIUC is one of the top 5 engineering schools and recruiters know this. She has had two incredible internships with global corporations that do not do campus visits at our state school but actively recruit UIUC students. If money is not a huge issue, you may not want to dismiss Illinois too soon. Illinois engineers also have an very good alumni network.</p>
<p>OSU is a quality institution. You will have many wonderful internship opportunities there as well. And UIUC is of even greater reputation. But the cost difference is huge. I am from Illinois and I have a great respect for the school, but unless you've got a lot of money sitting around - this makes no sense to me.</p>
<p>alfan44: Okay how about MIT for 50K per year ,UIUC for 20K after scholarships, Olin (no tuiton),Michigan all tuition ,room and board paid plus about 18k per year stipend? Do you still choose MIT?
What do you think now?</p>
<p>Id say Michigan becuz of the stipend.....but then again the atmospheres are also different so you should first figure out which schools youd actually be comfortable living at.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech acceptance letter came today</p>
<p>probably doesn't change much. OSU is starting to sound good</p>
<p>how much importance is placed on the undergrad school for grad? would OSU close opportunities at the top universities? (Stanford, MIT, etc)</p>
<p>oldolddad, How in the world did you get an 18k stipend at Michigan??? Anyway, I'd choose either Michigan or Olin if I was you - Michigan is a great school (especially with that stipend) and Olin's academics are probably on-par with MIT's.</p>
<p>if your smart enough to get into these big name schools then you'll probably do fine wherever you go. I say go to the cheaper state school for engineering that's what I did and I am certainly not lacking great opportunities or a great education. Get good grades at the state school and you'll certainly have plenty of great opportunities and of course no loans to pay back after you graduate</p>
<p>Getting into graduate school is all about research and recs. There is no doubt that a school like UIUC will have both the big name researchers and undergrad research opportunities that will let you go to the top 10 for grad school, but that doesn't mean a lesser state school will not have them. You will just have to work really hard to find the opportunities and prove yourself. </p>
<p>For example, 3 of the grad students in my lab at Berkeley came from the University of Colorado, and also got admitted to places like Stanford and MIT.</p>