Still waiting on the last batch of admissions decisions (primarily from the California schools), but my son has received admittance to 5 so far.
He is strongly leaning towards UC Boulder. We visited last summer and he really liked the town/campus. He also likes the proximity to outdoor activities. He has an interest in Engineering but didn’t get admitted to the school. Instead he was placed in Arts and Sciences as a Biochemistry major. I’ve found out since that their Biochem department is highly regarded so that might be a good choice. He’s also in the advisory program to continue to explore majors/careers during his first year which seems to be a great idea. Major downside of course is the out-of-state tuition costs are much higher than some of his other options.
His second choice at the moment is Arizona State where he was directly admitted to his first choice major (Aerospace Engineering). The other positive is the merit aid he received which nets down the cost to near/below in-state California levels. Downside is the size of the school, reputation as a major party school and seems as though the better overall academic reputation between the 2 is with UC Boulder.
Thoughts on these two? While my son is interested in Engineering, there’s always a good chance that he may find it is not for him so I like the idea of a strong university with a number of good options including other sciences and Business (which he has also expressed an interest in exploring).
The out-of-state costs, the high cost of living in Boulder plus not being admitted into engineering would be major strikes against Boulder, for me.Yes, it’s a lovely town & campus. But it’s also a big school, with a history of a big party-school reputation, and with big-public-school drawbacks such as not-infrequent difficulty getting the classes you want/need.
If your son does end up at Boulder, however, he will get a good education in a beautiful setting, so much depends on your comfort level with the costs, especially vis-a-vis the much-less expensive ASU. Have you looked into ASU’s respected Barrett Honors College? Graduating from there may even out the academic reputation part of the equation.
There is no way Colorado is worth the Out of State premium over ASU. The engineering program at ASU is highly ranked and the overall school has been moving up in the rankings. Neither school is very selective when it comes to admissions. However, I can reassure you that being an Aerospace engineering major will not be a cake walk, Lots of kids get “weed” out after their first year forcing them to change majors due to the highly challenging courses.
Also keep in mind that the term “party” is very broad. You will always be able to find a great party at schools such as Harvard and Michigan. It is all a matter of discipline and choices.
No doubt - all are good points. We’re planning to check out ASU next month so we’ll see how we feel then. Did look into the Barrett Honors college but he hasn’t put in his application yet. Do you know if it is too late if we missed the “early” deadlines or whether they accept “rolling” applications and there still a reasonable chance?
I think you also need to look at the size of the school. Arizona State has over 70,000 students, while CU Boulder has about 25,000. That is a huge difference. My friend’s son went to ASU for a while, but they ended up offering too many online classes to him because it was so hard to get into any actual classrooms. That’s just one example, but something to think about. The honors suggestion above is a good idea, as they usually have first choice of classes.
My D goes to CU Boulder and loves it. One reason we picked that school was the variety of majors they offered. After three tries, she found one she absolutely loves. She had only one class her freshman year that was about 100 students - everything else has been less than 40. If you are lucky enough to be in a position that you actually can afford OOS costs, then definitely look more closely at CU Boulder. It was my D’s safety school, and she chose this over her match schools because the fit was - and IS - perfect for her.
He’s not in engineering at cu Boulder. If he’s willing to give up on that major, reconsider, but paying a higher price for a major he is not very interested in doesn’t sound like a good idea when he could have much better options with, say, Cal poly SLO.
It is very difficult to get into engineering as a direct admit at CU. If the score and gpa are mismatched, the student is often put in pre-engineering in the A&S school. Even instate students are often offered that option. The OP is correct that the bio and chem programs in A&S are very strong programs.
If OP’s child is interested in Bio/Chem/biochemistry then indeed that would be a good choice at CU Boulder, but not if they hope to get into Engineering. @romark: what can you afford from savings and income (no loans)?
All the OP points are valid and for STEM majors its always a safe bet to go with universities that are members of the American Association of Research Universities. Having said that, paying OOS rates for a public university is a tough pill to swallow. Unless money isn’t a factor then paying in state tuition is the way to go.
@3mamagirls, size of school is a big concern. Granted CU and most state schools including the UC/CSUs are all big but ASU is that much bigger. @Sybylla, his ACT and extracurriculars are very solid but his GPA was on the low side which is why the UCs will also be a challenge. He loved SLO (probably his top choice) and applied but highly doubtful he’ll get in, particularly to Engineering. Seems there is more likelihood than he may be able to transfer to Engineering at CU assuming his grades are there given they have a Pre-Engineering path. Does anyone know whether this is a fair assessment or are we kidding ourselves? That’s not a real option at SLO and difficult at the UCs. At the end of the day there’s no guarantee he’ll stick with Engineering once he’s in it (a lot of kids don’t) so seems best to have a lot of good available major options, a good overall academic experience and the right “fit”.
Cost is a big factor and for sure a tough pill to swallow when we can pay nearly 30-45% less. We could probably swing it but obviously be much more comfortable with a lower tuition option especially since he has a sister starting college 2 years later. Guess we’ll visit ASU next month to see how he feels about the school and then see what happens with the in-state schools in March. Probably go back to see CU in April as a final check.
Excited for him but really looking forward to this part to be over.
Basically, he needs to pass (C or higher) two math and two science courses at CU that are engineering prerequisites before attempting 60 credits at CU and have a 3.000 overall and 2.700 technical college GPA. (60 credits is four semesters’ worth of course work.)
@RoMark I completely understand - we are from CA also and it’s really frustrating all the way around. Not everyone is a 4.0 student - although on CC it sure seems that way!
SLO isn’t the best school to try different majors. They make it very, very difficult to change, so something to think about. My D’s friend is having to jump through tons of hoops to change, and it may not even happen.
@3mamagirls, I agree about SLO. Really liked the school but concerned it wouldn’t be the right place for my son given their reluctance to allow major changes. How realistic (and appropriate) is it for any 17 year old kid to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives - blows my mind! Just wish CU was more affordable but get that they don’t need to be…great to hear that your daughter has had such a great experience there.
Is it still time for him to apply through WUE if engineering is allowed? Montana State, Wyoming, Oregon State all have engineering even if I’m not sure they’re accessible through wue and still take applications. It’d combine the need for a relatively lower cost and the need for flexibility in change of major.
ASU change of major after frosh admission to an engineering major is not restricted, but students who enter ASU outside of engineering must meet the listed transfer requirements at https://engineering.asu.edu/admission-requirements/ (change of major at the bottom of this page).
As an aside, he may want to consider whether he wants to do a more specialized major like aerospace versus a more general major like mechanical (with aerospace electives). Aerospace leads to a more limited set of employers and jobs (many of which require security clearances), although the competition for those jobs will include other types of engineers. Non-aerospace jobs may prefer those with a more general major like mechanical.
Within California, did he apply to UCs and CSUs where the engineering majors are not impacted or less impacted (e.g. UCR, UCM, CSUSac, CSULA)?
@ucbalumnus He did apply to UCR for Mechanical. Interestingly the other day he also mentioned possibly switching from Aerospace to a more general track if he goes to ASU.
He’s also received admissions into Engineering from Drexel (not cheaper than CU) and Bradley (very reasonable given merit package). He applied to Utah and CSULB as back-ups but not really interested.