<p>So, I have I been struggling with the question of where should I go to college! So far, I have been accepted to MIT, Cal Tech, and UT Austin. I want to major in Chemical Engineering. The biggest problem I am having is money, and whether Cal Tech and MIT are worth the sticker price. </p>
<p>I have a 4000 scholarship to UT and another 5000 outside scholarship that I can use at any school. However, MIT will use the scholarship and the scholarship will NOT reduce my Expected Family Income. In other words, the scholarship will take the place of my MIT finacial scholarship. I have not received Cal Tech finacial package. </p>
<p>Anyways, I can go to UT for basically free because I have this other fund that is just for UT. So, where should I go? </p>
<p>I love Math and Science, but I am kinda worried about whether or not I am smart enough to go to MIT or Cal Tech. </p>
<p>Also, I don't want to regret not going to MIT or Cal Tech. I am really confused on where to go! HELP!</p>
<p>I also want to know about the personalities of the schools to see if they are a good fit for me!</p>
<p>You got into MIT. You are smart enough. You might have to work your butt off - and you might not want to do that! - but you’re definitely smart enough. Don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>First and foremost, I’d question what you want out of college aside from the degree you’ll get at the end. How important is the difference in prestige? Do you want to be pushed to extremes, or remain confident in your abilities? What are you looking for in a culture and living group?</p>
<p>I strongly encourage you to attend Campus Preview Weekend if you can – as well as the visiting weekends at the other two schools if they have any.</p>
<p>IsaacM is right - the $5000 scholarship should go to your self-work aid.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, you can’t put a price on quality education. I’m not saying that UT is a bad school, but it’s ChemE program is nothing compared to MIT’s (we’re #1 in the country). You might have to pay a bit more, but that’s only for four years. Your “MIT brand” will stick with you for the rest of your life. After you graduate, you’ll be able to easily make the money back from your MIT education. But being able to say that you graduated from the best engineering school in the world is something money can’t buy. So I would definitely come to CPW with an open mind and see if we’re a good place for you.</p>
<p>OP should wait and see the complete financial package from all schools before deciding. Caltech, MIT, Ivy league schools as well as top private colleges have a good need base finaid program that often makes the cost of education less than some state schools. My S2 is a frosh at caltech. He really enjoys the house system there, very supportive housemates, many social events, etc. Kids there are very nice, he says, but the amount of work he has to do, he just has to work his butt off to do the psets etc. it will be the same wherever you go, be it MIT, Princeton, or anywhere else. You should visit the prefrosh weekends at caltech and mit and other places to see where you really want to be before deciding. When I went to the freshman parents day, the undergrad dean of caltech said he was worried about increasing yield beyond current level due to the housing demand … they want to stay comfortably below one thousand students for the entire UG population… part of the reason why caltech doesn’t seem to try too hard to raise their yield. You have some great choices and a very good place to be. My son didn’t even apply to mit (which he thought he should have) but got in uchicago last year. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>Isaac M you are right! So I can really only get up to six thousand in scholarships. I am going to Cal Tech and MIT prefrosh weekends, so hopefully I can see which one is a better fit! Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>Yeah, MIT counts your scholarship towards your personal contribution, I don’t know where you got this info about it reducing your MIT scholarship. It’s possible that it’s replacing the work study / Stafford loan part - did you read carefully?</p>
<p>I talked to my financial aid officer and any outside scholarship will count towards my self help and if I get more than 6000 ( which is unlikely) it will take away from my MIT scholarship because the efc will not change due to outside scholarship</p>