<p>My son's guidance counselor was nervous about his chances at the engineering schools he applied to, so as a safety school, he applied to Temple University and received a full scholarship. He had minimal interest in Temple until he visited, and loved it for a lot of reasons. Meanwhile, he was admitted to Purdue, VTech, Clemson, and GTech. We're OOS for all of the colleges. </p>
<p>How much would attending a school like Temple really diminish his post-graduation opportunities?</p>
<p>Oh boy. If it were anything other than engineering I’d say go there. But at Temple engineering is not a focus at all. They have less than 200 students. On the one hand there would probably be more individual attention, but on the other there are probably very few research opportunities, very few alumni connections, very few career fair type things…</p>
<p>I think Temple would substantially reduce his post grad opportunities, mostly because they’d limit his opportunities while he’s there. </p>
<p>Now, if he really likes Temple, and he has a full scholarship there, it may be worth overlooking the relatively weak department. Especially if he isn’t totally in love with engineering anyway. </p>
<p>What will the loan burden be if he goes somewhere else?</p>
<p>Loans for VT would come to about 12K per year (range from 9K-15K per year for other schools). I don’t think it’s too bad, considering the practicality of the degree.</p>
<p>He really loves the vibe and the urban campus at Temple (despite its dicey location) but yes, he is into Engineering–all things science and math, really. That’s his strength. Looks like we should stick with the tech schools.</p>
<p>That is a fabulous engineering school and is urban as well. My daughter did not want to apply there, but she got into Clemson’s Engineering school, and Virginia Tech as undeclared.</p>
<p>I’m in almost exactly the same position. I applied to Temple for engineering and got all the same results: full tuition, honors program, etc. I visited once and was not super impressed but I could definitely get used to it if I had to. I was also accepted to Pitt, Clemson, VT, Penn State, UMDCP and Alabama. The problem is that my parents are unable/unwilling to help pay for college and all these choices would result in 20-30k of debt for me per year. With an SAT score of 2240, I was hoping for merit aid and, while I did get some, it won’t be enough. Temple will still cost around 8-10k for living expenses. I suspect my next best options would be Maryland, which I could get down to around 20k with some budgeting, Clemson and PSU, which would be 25-30k, and VT, which would be full-price for OOS. Chuy, is Temple’s engineering so poor that some of these schools would be worth 2 or 3 times more?</p>
<p>Thanks, everybody, for your input.</p>
<p>Yes, rockstarmama, GATech is in the mix. It is an urban campus, but again, it’s the money. Azk5370, that’s my question exactly. </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, a family friend in the tech industry (at a high level, does a lot of hiring) says that schools never impress him unless they’re MIT, Berkeley, or Stanford. (He even shrugs at CMU and CalTech!) He does suggest doing internships, because work experience is a huge advantage: “After your first job, it doesn’t matter where you went to school.”</p>
<p>Temple might be a limitation for grad school, though.</p>
<p>Also azk5370, I’ve read that VT offers a lot of second-year merit aid, so take that into consideration. If you perform well your first year, the subsequent years might cost less.</p>
<p>Often I’m the one who’s pushing the idea that it’s not a matter of where you go but what you do when you get there. I even kind of like the idea of being a big fish in a small sea at Temple as opposed to the reverse at more prestigious schools. But if my chances for research and connections and resources in general are significantly hurt by going to Temple, I’m definitely going to do what I can to get to the more well-known schools. </p>
<p>Does anyone know of any successful merit bargaining at any of the schools I mentioned. I got about 12k/year in scholarships at both Clemson and UMD and full tuition at Temple. Do you think, if presented to some of the other schools, these would give me any chance for some extra money? I suppose it’s at least worth a try, right?</p>
<p>Private schools might give you more leeway with trying to match offers. However, you’d have to be a highly sought after student, and the other offers need to be from comparable schools. And even with that, some might not be able or willing.</p>
<p>“For what it’s worth, a family friend in the tech industry (at a high level, does a lot of hiring) says that schools never impress him unless they’re MIT, Berkeley, or Stanford. (He even shrugs at CMU and CalTech!) He does suggest doing internships, because work experience is a huge advantage: “After your first job, it doesn’t matter where you went to school.””</p>
<p>Yeah, I’d hesitate to take college prestige advice from someone who shrugs at CalTech. Unless he’s an MIT grad in which case it’s his school pride talking, not sense.</p>
<p>He’s right about internships though. You’d be better off at nearly any school where you did internships and/or research ( internships are more important if you want to go straight to work, research if you want to go to grad school) than if you went to a better school and didn’t. The ‘better’ school usually has more opportunity though.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. We’ll see how it plays out. Meanwhile we’re going to VT for the Accepted Students weekend (Hokie Days or some such). Azk5379, let us know what you wind up doing!</p>