Thoughts? All three are affordable with in state tuition at U Texas, matching cost with scholarships at RIT, and Cal Poly costing $11 k more per year. This is not counting travel costs for RIT and Cal Poly. While all options are affordable, I must admit that saving a minimum of $44k over four years would be nice.
U Texas - Arts & Entertainment Technology in the College of Fine Arts
Cal Poly - Graphic Communication
RIT - Communication
(Regular decision still on the table include Boston U, Middlebury, U Miami, Smith, and Mount Holyoke. Expectation is that these would all be more expensive than the 3 options above. If she is admitted, we’ll consider visiting if the price points aren’t outrageous. Because we hardly visited any schools, she applied to a raft of schools and has a bunch of other acceptances that have been eliminated in favor of these three.)
D22 is interested in arts/technology/film. She did not apply to film programs because she didn’t have the time an bandwidth to pull together a portfolio. She had rough time with online school so we gave her the summer off from everything including college applications. This meant she wrote all of her essays, pulled together a resumes, and did a brag sheet for her counselor/teacher for recs during the fall semester.
As you can tell from where she applied, she isn’t set on a big or small school or a particular area of the country. The admission to UT was unexpected. She has no interest in big time sports. I’m personally a fan of SLACs after having attended one myself. She attends a rigorous high school and we expect she is well prepared for college.
Yes, that is correct. SXSW interactive and film are going on right now.
Downside for D22 is that she’s lived in Austin her whole life. She would be happy to go to UT. It is also huge although the College of Fine Arts has 1800 students.
For her interests, UT seems like the best fit program with the best adjacent opportunities. (Strong film school, cultural opportunities in the city, etc.) Her UT major is much more tailored to her interests, whereas her SLO and RIT majors are much more generic. As you say, the College of Fine Arts offers a smaller academic home within the larger university.
Cal Poly and RIT are great schools but not clearly better by any metric; I can’t see why you’d pay more to choose either one over UT. Going to college near home is practically never as much of an issue as people think it will be; just have clear boundaries between home and school, and it will feel like something new in spite of the familiarity of the city.
Does she have any sense of where she wants to live and work after college? If she wants to come back to Texas, then going to school there will allow her to make connections more easily. I can see how she might aspire to end up in CA or NY, but neither SLO nor RIT is very close to the big-draw metro areas for the entertainment industry.
UT is definitely the offer to beat. Maybe one of her pending schools will tempt her, but it won’t be easy for them to match the combination of affordability and opportunity. Congrats!
Just a quick anecdote about attending college close to home…
After touring colleges up and down the East Coast my S ended up at a college that was 20 minutes from our home. It was the best for his major, he got the most merit aid, he loved the campus etc. However, before he finalized his choice we sat down and had a talk. We (parents) agreed to never “pop by” campus, to not expect him home other than school holidays, and to treat him as if he were hours rather than minutes away. He (son) agreed not to use being close to home as a crutch – no coming home for laundry, dinners etc. We all kept to our bargain and things worked out great – he had a full and happy on campus life and he explored the city in new and exciting ways (we live in the suburbs/the college was in the city). And yes…once in a while it was helpful (ex. when his laptop died I was able to drop off an old laptop for him to use while his was being fixed, he was able to get home for a school break even though it was snowing etc.). So anyway…this is a long-winded way of saying that going to college close to home can work out well for everyone IF the close to home option does turn out to be the best option.
I went to UT, 20 minutes away from my parents’ house at the edge of Westlake Hills (the city line was our back property line, and we were in the Eanes District). Also, my dad was one of my engineering professors! But it worked out great. I actually enjoyed being able to pop home for dinners - I could always catch a ride with Dad, ha.
I think my six years at UT (BS and MS) were some of the best of my life. It was a wonderful school and an awesome town.
Oh, and the size of the university never bothered me. I tell people it’s like living in a big city - you don’t see everyone at once, except maybe on football game days, which are great. My “neighborhood” was the civil engineering building, and I had a small, cohesive group of friends. But there was always something fun to do nearby.
My favorite class at UT was American History with George Forgie. 350 kids. He was an incredible teacher and story teller. I still remember our final exam question. If I had skipped the class because of its size, I would have missed out on so much. The professor was always available during office hours, and I enjoyed talking with him. He tried to get me to switch majors, ha.
I agree that UT is a great option, but this is a decision families make all the time, often for intangible reasons.
We are in Oregon and Oregon State is a very good engineering school. My son chose Cal Poly though, among many other reasons, because it was sunny. We didn’t care that it was more, just that it was under budget and a place where he thought he’d enjoy.
I’m not advocating for Cal Poly, but rather for accepting that intangibles are important in the process.
Funny my son was the same. At Bama over Purdue for engineering bcuz he got his own dorm room. An intangible. Turns out they have kids who turned down Ivies, Purdue, Vandy, WUSTL and more for engineering for whatever their specific reason. .
RIT has a pretty unique vibe. We recently visited there and I’d be happy to tell you more about it. My son wants to do engineering, but we saw the visual arts/communication stuff on our tour and it does seem like a strength there. If the fit is right, I think it seems like an awesome school. I have a friend who went there for digital communications/design who loved it.
Very true; my statement that you quoted was in context of my other remarks about UT also seeming like a better fit for this student’s interests and goals. Of course, people pay more for a better fit all the time, my own kids included. I’m just not seeing what the draw is in this particular case, other than the close-to-home flagship lacking the novelty of going someplace different.
SLO would be perfect! Other than beach v-ball, and ultimate frisbee, they’re pretty much awful at sports.
My D21 will be a sophomore at SLO this Fall. She loves it. Great fit for her. She’s doesn’t care about big time sports either, but does occasionally attend sporting events. As opposed to my D18 who went to Michigan, which is ALL about sports.
Anyway, SLO is small, with the overwhelming majority of the 22,000-ish student population being undergraduates, and it’s pretty “chill” beach town (less than 15 minutes away). SLO is mostly known for its Ag, Architecture and CoE. For an in-state applicant, the value is very hard to be beat, IMO, cheaper than our top UC’s and a great reputation in terms of employment at least here in SIlicon Valley and CA in general.
Having said that, UT is your D’s great value and has a national reputation, though we’ve had at least one thread here about crime increasing in and around the Austin campus, but you would know better about that issue, if one at all.
UT is an amazing school and has everything most people can ask for unless they just dont want a big school.
If you’re from Austin and have never visited Rochester NY, think twice. If you visit in the winter, be prepared for bone chilling temperatures and potential winter squalls. It’s a nice little city but pales in comparison to Austin.
Regarding MoHo, one data point, my D21’s best friend from HS will be a sophomore this Fall. I’ve not been there and I don’t know much about MoHo, but my D’s best friend complains about there being virutally no town. The nearest cafe is about a 20-minute walk away and it’s a 45-minute bus ride to Amherst. And the school is really, really small. Smaller than their HS.
Anyway, D21’s best friend will be planning to transfer to another school for her junior year. As always, YMMV.
I never regretted going to UT, although I had the stats to get into almost any engineering school (I know it would be a different story today). I got an excellent education and had a blast.
