Which engineering program to choose?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I plan on doing biomedical engineering or chemical engineering.
I have made a thread like this before but I always like new insight.
Cost is a big factor for me. I do not want too much debt that I cannot handle after I graduate.</p>

<p>I got accepted into the engineering programs at the following schools:
Drexel University ($32563 Out-of-Pocket Costs/year)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ($23036 Out-of-Pocket Costs/year)
SUNY Binghamton </p>

<p>I haven't received my award package from all my schools yet.
I reviewed my college list and the next "best ranked" school for engineering is Cornell and I have been told I will most likely not be accepted. I am looking forward to getting a acceptance from SUNY Stony Brook although I rather be a little further from home. On my last thread, many people favored RPI as a great choice and I want to see if it still prevails even with the out-of-pocket costs.</p>

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<p>Could anyone please reply?</p>

3

<p>In terms of getting a career, I think that they will all be fine. Maybe RPI and WPI are a bit stronger than the others. I would recommend focusing on money and where you’d like to spend 4 years.</p>

4

<p>Thank you for the advice! I am not sure about what my award package from WPI but they gave me a $25000 merit scholarship. RPI gave me $24800 in awards and grants so that’s a good sign as well. I am leaning towards RPI for some reason.</p>

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<p>Any other thoughts CC? :D</p>

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<p>very surprising that RPI gave you more money than Drexel, but if they did, I would definitely go either there or WPI.</p>

7

<p>How much can you afford?</p>

<p>My younger S is looking at a package from RPI leaving a balance of $20 grand a year, and it just is not doable. </p>

<p>So can you afford the packages you have been offered?</p>

8

<p>Drexel’s financial aid package wasn’t good at all. Its hard to afford almost any of my options because my EFC is 23K, and my parents do not have that. I am hoping I win a couple of good scholarships. That’s why I have a couple of good public universities on my list just in case. In the end, if a college is worth my investment I will try to go there regardless.</p>

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<p>Vloria, just speaking of the academics, all of the schools you got accepted to are good but RPI is clearly the strongest. It’s more of a peer school to the likes of Georgia Tech and Carnegie Mellon. That’s both good and bad as you get a great education but it can be INTENSE at times. </p>

<p>As other posters indicated you should still be OK if one of the other schools offers enough aid to justify passing up R.P.I…</p>

10

<p>Thank you so much for your advice and your thoughts, it helps a great deal.
I don’t know if it makes a big difference but I was accepted to Northeastern and Elon University’s engineering programs.</p>

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<p>Hey Vloria, congratulations! I remember you asking questions about WPI vs Binghamton or sth like that earlier in CC. As I told in your earlier thread, I would say you should attend either WPI or RPI, whichever you find easier to afford.
And about Northeastern and Elon, I would say Northeastern for five year B.E degree. Northeastern is really great and if they give you a lot more money than RPI and WPI then you should certainly go for Northeastern! :)</p>

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<p>Thank you! So far RPI ($24800) and WPI ($25000) gave me the most scholarship/grant money. I was expecting more from Northeastern.</p>

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<p>What about Northeastern? How much did they give to you? And what about Binghamton?</p>

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<p>Northeastern gave me $16000 and there is no word from Bing.</p>

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<p>Elon engineering is a 3+2 program. You’re aware of that, right?</p>

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<p>Yeah that was before I decided I wanted a technical school or a school with a engineering major.</p>

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<p>**Much of the advice above doesn’t seem to take into acct that your parents won’t be paying their EFC, which leaves you with a lot of uncovered costs. **</p>

<p>the answer to your question cannot be answered NOW, because at this point, it’s unknown which ones are affordable. Unaffordable choices are obviously not options.</p>

<p>* I do not want too much debt that I cannot handle after I graduate.</p>

<p>my EFC is 23K, and my parents do not have that. </p>

<p>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ($23036 Out-of-Pocket Costs/year)</p>

<p>So far RPI ($24800) scholarship/grant money.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>It looks like RPI covered a lot of your need, but with a $55k COA that suggests that the rest of the FA package included a loan. </p>

<p>Your concern for loans and your parents’ unaffordable EFC are your biggest obstacles.</p>

<p>Are you aware that YOU can only borrow the following amounts for federal student loans?</p>

<p>frosh 5500
soph 6500
jr 7500
sr 7500</p>

<p>Those limits are there because that’s about the most a newish graduate can afford to pay back. </p>

<p>An issue will be that there will already be loans in your FA packages, so you won’t be able to borrow more to cover part of your parents’ unaffordable EFC.</p>

<p>So, your choices need to consider those loan limits. To borrow more would require your parents to take out loans or (which isn’t good) for them to co-sign loans for you) Most parents won’t co-sign loans.</p>

<p>**How much CAN your parents contribute? ** Do you know? If not, ask them.</p>

<p>Do you think you’ll get any merit money from SUNY bing? Did you apply to UB?</p>

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<p>This is the financial aid award I recieved from RPI.
Rensselaer Leadership Awrd - $12600
Rensselaer Grant - $12200
Federal Perkins Loan - $1900
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan - $3500
Federal Direct Unsub. Loan - $2000
Federal College Work-Study - $2000</p>

<p>I know I cannot take out anymore federal loans because it has reached its maximum.
COA - Financial Aid Award = $23036</p>

<p>I do not know if RPI is worth $23036 a year of private loans.</p>

<p>Binghamton hasn’t given me any indication that I recieved a merit scholarship from them and they did not send me an award letter yet. I applied to Buffalo and got accepted but I got rejected from their engineering program. o.O</p>

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<p>All my parents said that they would contribute is $1500 a year or maybe semester I am not sure. I don’t want to not go to school just because my parents aren’t capable of paying my EFC. :/</p>

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<p>Drexel did meet my need at all. So far, I am not recieving favorable results regarding financial aid. The schools that I can “afford more” aren’t as great in engineering. The schools that are good in engineering (RPI) meet my need but I cannot pay the rest without a private loan.</p>