<p>Hey guys,
I am going into my senior year of high school and I am trying to weigh different college options. I know this post is early considering I have not received acceptances and financial information yet, but I would still like some advice. My mother works at URI and so I would get free tuition at URI and in-state tuition at UConn (through reciprocity program). I am 3/130 in my class at one of the best public schools in the state and have around a 2150 SAT. I would be able to get into the UConn honors program which cuts tuition in half so I would only have to pay 5k, which I could pay for through my college fund and scholarships. However, I really want to try and get into UVa, Chapel Hill, or Duke. Say I got into one of those schools and did not receive much financial aid, would their prestige be worth going into debt? I would like to pursue a field in engineering most likely, although I also consider business or biology. Let me know what you guys think of UConn and URI (I really don't want to go to URI). </p>
<p>I would definitely throw some other schools into the mix with your stats. Syracuse for one and Conn College , with the later meeting full need. . One of my daughter’s is going to URI in the fall. (We are out of state.) She got a really nice package which would have been on par with UMASS. For her URI was the new and different theme. She did not want to go where everybody else in her school would be. I say don’t limit yourself and throw other schools into the mix…besides I understand why you would not want to go to school where your mother works. </p>
<p>No one can tell you whether to go into debt or not. I probably wouldn’t go into debt for UNC or UVa. </p>
<p>That depends on how much debt you’re talking about (e.g., $20,000 would be reasonable; $100,000 would be insane), which in turn depends on what kind of financial aid you’d get. Run the NPC’s on each school’s website and calculate what aid you’d get, if any. Then come back with numbers for a better response. (BTW, UConn, particularly its Honors program, is a better choice than URI academically, but its isolated location can be a drawback.)</p>
UConn has a great Engineering School. We know many kids in it, and most are Honors Program. My D is a freshman in Education there, the campus has really come along, the downtown area is really nice. Everyone there seems to love it!
My S is a sophomore in Mech Eng at UCONN. It was his top choice. Imo, UCONN is much better than uri academically. The campus is beautiful, lots of spirit, the little town (Storrs Center) being built is really cute.
However I think you should apply to other schools and not make a decision till you have all information including financial aid information.
UConn is much better than URI, especially if you can get Honors College. Since you’re reasonably certain you’ll get both, consider this your safety.
You might want to ask your mother to check what colleges have reciprocity with URI, beside UConn. Typically, universities are part of a “peer” network, so there should be more.
Then, you can apply to matches and reaches. No harm in that.
Are you a legacy at UNC-CH? If not, it’s basically impossible to get in.
Check out Emory, Emory’s Oxford, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Tulane, UMiami, Elon. Add Northeastern, Boston College, NYU-Poly, Fordham, RPI, RIT, Syracuse. Fill out the “request info” questionnaire for each of them (that will “demonstrate interest”.) Then, run the NPC on the schools you’re interested in.
It’s okay to get into debt upt to the federal limit ($5,500 freshman year). More than that is risky.
Just want to point out that BC does not have engineering ^^
Yeah, BC does not have engineering. Swap in Northeastern University for BC.
@DylanJ37 Gosh I think I know you. Anyway. Would you consider the international engineering program at URI? Everything will be new for engineering at URI so I think that will change things. Are you planning on grad school?
@DylanJ37 I am going to give you a more in depth answer which will be going against the grain. I know many URI engineering grads and am one myself. Many people who are working along side grads from MIT, RPI, WPI etc… All receiving nice salaries in high level technical positions. If URI supports engineering like it does pharmacy, which is the plan, then I think it will really deserve a reevaluation. 125 million dollars is going towards new state of the art engineering facilities. Additionally the international engineering has been successful for over twenty years and has grown considerably to include five languages and with work in ten countries (it was just Germany when I was there). I got my UG there and a grad degree at a fancy school and I have to say that it didn’t really feel that different at the fancy college. I thought it was going to be very different. URI is just a state school, right? But it was far more similar than different and to some extent, with ABET accreditation, engineering will be like that. I had no problem finding a job with just a UG. I had two internships a great company during my time at URI and studied with respected professors, Boothroyd and Dewhurst, who were making breakthroughs in design for manufacture and assembly. It is very common for New England students to want to leave their state for college. You’d be surprised how many come back for year 2 or 3. So look at your family finances. I would not take on more debt than 28k even as an engineer. And if you choose a more financially comfortable decision, you can have flexibility for things like studying abroad and nice grad school programs. And see where you fit, size of school, location etc…