@gearmom I don’t plan on spending much on college, and under no circumstances take on debt. If I apply somewhere and cannot get enough aid, then that school is off my list. Boulder has everything I could ask for, except the price tag, and I will not end up there unless I got some incredible scholarship that pays for almost everything. I only have these complaints about Florida because I want more than I could possibly ever get. I’m aware that I’m in a amazing situation that most high school students would dream of, but it just doesn’t seem enough for me. I feel like I have worked so much harder than my peers that to end up at the same school with the same opportunities as them seems unfair.
<<<
OP is in Gainesville if I read that correctly. Already in northern Florida.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
Sorry I missed that. Still, the weather in AL (meaning UA or UAH) is better than FL…even better than gainesville
[QUOTE=""]
Its more the want to be alone in a new place with a fresh start. I want to make more connections and not be tethered down by my previous friends and family that I live around
[/QUOTE]
Well, there’s always FSU or some of the other FL schools that would get the OP out of Gainesville.
These schools are huge, so you’re not going to be drowning in former classmates.
Or…he could use his stats, his prepaid, and some merit to find a low-net-cost option OOS.
[QUOTE=""]
specifically aerospace engineering, but all the top schools for that are public and out of state. What can I expect as far as academic scholarships? The schools I am applying to are Colorado Boulder, Purdue, Georgia Tech,
[/QUOTE]
First off…AeroE is not that marketable. You’d be better off with MechE…because you can do Aero E and mechE jobs.
Absolutely no need to go to a top school for this…there are literally 100s of very good programs
<<<>>
Free tuition is NOT a full ride. A full ride includes tuition, housing, meal plan, books
Life is not fair.
If I’m interpreting correctly…the OP has Bright Futures…plus a Florida prepaid plan. Perhaps that is why UF would be a no coat option.
You can take on the federal loans - the 5.5K for freshman year, total 27K over 4 years, that a typical college graduate can pay back over 10 years. Obviously the lower the amount the better but if you find a university in another region where the “price is right”, it’d be too bad to give it up.
Have you run the NPC on the colleges listed here so far?
Tufts, RPI, UVermont, UMaryland, Pitt, and UMinnesota would sure provide you with a different climate and culture 
<<<<
I feel like I have worked so much harder than my peers that to end up at the same school with the same opportunities as them seems unfair.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
I don’t think UF is your only option, but it may be your highest ranked affordable option. That said, ranking means little in the eng’g world…so if you can find something else affordable you’ll be fine.
That said…do not under any circumstances think that your hard work will be for naught. Do not think that the once who didn’t work as hard (not many of those would be at UF anyway), would have the same opportunities as you at UF. Do you really think that opps at UF are evenly spread around??? Lol. Do you think that the B student will be offered the same research positions (if they’re offered ANYTHING) as the A student? Big schools do not have unlimited opps, so those opps are handed out to the cream of the crop. You’d be a star, if you work hard.
Both of my kids had very high stats, but both went to our state’s flagship…getting large merit and going for nearly free. My older son (Val of his class, very high scores) felt that he, too, worked too hard to end up at the same school as some of his classmates. He soon realized that his classmates in his major (math) had also been top students at their schools. My younger son (Chemical Engineering), also found the same thing in his major. Sure, maybe a few weak students tried math or chemE as frosh, but quickly moved on. My kids excelled, got noticed, and received the best opportunities and awards.
@MYOS1634 I just refuse to take on any debt if I could go to a top 10 public university for free.
Ok, that limits things.
Have you run the NPC on the universities listed on your thread so far?
<<>>
@thumper1
<<<these schools="" are="" huge,="" so="" you’re="" not="" going="" to="" be="" drowning="" in="" former="" classmates.="">>>
@mom2collegekids
That’s not really what I saying. If I’m in the same city as my parents, they’re going to be way more involved than they would if I was away. This is not what I want. I would also feel pressure from younger friends that I want to separate from; let me start clean. I honestly think it would be cool seeing old classmates, and that doesn’t bother me at all.
You will be able to start as clean with new friends in college as YOU want to do. You don’t have to go home on weekends. You can become involved in college activities on weekends. You will be busy…your parents will be too.
I think you need to get over the idea that by staying at UF, your parents will always be bothering you…and you won’t be able to get away from HS folks. That is just poppycock…unless YOU let that happen.
@thumper1 I think I just fear that because I have seen it happen to so many kids that stay in town and become a “13th grader”
That’s their issue…not yours.
@MYOS1634 I have run a couple of NPCs. Pitt came up more than any other name, as well as UAH. The prices were lower than most, however still out of my budget by 6-10k
If you don’t take federal loans at all, you can add about $2,000 from work (part time starting around January, full time over the summer).
R&B is
Go carefully through the thread, write down all the colleges’ names (some people won’t repeat a name that’s already been listed but it doesn’t mean it’s a bad choice… and some names are listed several times not only because they’re great fits but also because the posters may not have had time to read through the whole thread… in a nutshell: write down all names not just the names coming up more than once).
And then systematically run the NPCs.
@gatorwithdreams You’re mentally tough. You don’t become an academic superstar without that. You won’t have time for your younger friends because things change when you go to college. Just say that. Think of it as a 36 month job. An investment for your future self. The nice car with the hot dates will be after graduation.
Heck if you wanted to, you could save a good portion of that 32k for an elite graduate school experience. I would get a mechanical engineering degree, minor in something if you want. Then aerospace for graduate school. Once you start specializing your jobs become limited. Your straight mechanical degree is something to fail back on. You’re 20 steps ahead of your lazy peers. You will end up with a nicer and more successful college experience than them. I don’t think you get a debt free 8k a year engineering possibility at any place close to UF in rank. We’ve looked for that for kids who can’t afford college.
Plenty of successful tech people had high school experiences that sucked. Do you think Bill Gates was top dog in high school? Success change the way people look at you and also everyone matures.
My nephew attends CU. He really does have hundreds of friends with him from high school, youth sports, years growing up about 30 miles from school. He loves it.
My friend’s son went to UW Madison after living in Madison his entire life. When he was a senior they looked at many different schools but finally concluded that the best school for him was in their own backyard (he was also a top student and majored in chemE). He lived in the dorm, came home when he wanted to, included his parents when he wanted to. Both parents are alums so they attend hockey and football games, but I think he figured out a way to avoid them (if he wanted to) among the 80k+ fans.
I never understand the need to go to a college out of state when you have a good option and affordable option in state. If you want a new set of friends, take up a sport, join a fraternity, join a travel club. My daughter just showed up for a surprise weekend home. Took her 5 hours to drive home (her car needs ‘rests’ along the way). She’d love it if her school was closer.
Embry-Riddle. You’d get a large merit scholarship which combined with Bright Futures and the resident grant would probably be full tuition. If you choose to go into a less impacted major you’d get the Diamond Eagle scholarship, which would push you to basically a full ride.
Wait – if bright futures is giving you free tuition at Florida schools then Jesus Christ you should 100% go to Embry-Riddle. We’re top 20 for aerospace engineering and you’d pocket money. Trust me, I did this (not for AE but actually something we’re unranked for) and it’s been amazing. I’ll graduate with six figures saved from taxable portions of scholarships that were allocated for misc personal expenses but never used + working on campus + internship money.
"First off…AeroE is not that marketable. You’d be better off with MechE…because you can do Aero E and mechE jobs.
Absolutely no need to go to a top school for this…there are literally 100s of very good programs"
Also, this comment is 100% accurate. AE majors here graduate and go into software engineering because they can’t find AE jobs; the few that do typically go into aerospace from a mechanical program, actually. At Riddle you’re eligible for larger scholarships if you’re BSME because it’s not an impacted major like BSAE.
Btw, Riddle just raised the standards significantly for AE majors because of the number of kids trying to declare it. You now need Bs in all core physics classes: that is VERY hard to do here (more people fail the finals than not at the intro levels).