<p>i'm really confused i just got rejected from penn state main campus ( accepted altoona ) it was my top choice school :/</p>
<p>So i don't know should i attend Altoona for 2+2 program ? i'm applying for aerospace engineering</p>
<p>i got accepted in Iowa State university got 8k$ Scholarship
OR Western Michigan university 11k$ Scholarships
OR University of Kansas no scholarships
OR Embry Riddle Daytona no scholarships also</p>
<p>i also applied to Purdue but i don't think ill get accepted after i got rejected from penn state main campus college of engineering & applied to North Carolina state university but decision will be end of march.</p>
<p>Don’t stress too much about Altoona - while starting at a Commonwealth campus means a few missed opportunities, you still attend for the last and most important two years, and the diploma is the same regardless.</p>
<p>As for the rest, Iowa State and Embry Riddle are good also, but I would probably let costs drive the decision. I am presuming you are a PA resident and that PSU would be the cheapest option, if not try to figure out which schools will have the lowest costs.</p>
<p>@cosmicfish : no iam not a PA Resident … my state of residency is New York. so Penn state university won’t be so far from home. The cheapest would be Western michigan but i don’t like it.</p>
<p>Iowa State university would be cheap also… ill pay much more in Penn State Altoona than in Iowa State but is it worth the money?</p>
That depends on your money and career aspirations. </p>
<p>I would try hard to avoid debt greater than $20k, and avoid all debt if possible. There is not so much of a difference between most of these schools to justify a pile of debt in most cases.</p>
<p>If you plan to go into industry you can contact the schools and see where their graduates are working to see if it is a worthwhile school - most of these schools should have decent recruiting (not sure about Western Michigan). If you plan to go into academia then you might want to consider one of the “better” schools like PSU or Embry-Riddle simply because they will offer more of the kinds of opportunities “top” grad programs look for, and since academic hiring is dominated by PhD’s from “top” grad programs you need to start angling that direction early. Regardless, you can get ANYWHERE from ANY of those schools… it will just be a question of where it is easiest.</p>
<p>When you compare costs don’y forget to include travel expenses. Iowa could easily add a couple thousand to the cost each year.</p>
<p>How sure are you about aero? At PSU it will be easy to change programs (you would typically not begin taking courses in your major until junior year). You would also have the opportunity to learn about other fields that might interest you. At Embry-Riddle if you change your might you might have to change schools. </p>
<p>Iowa State and Embry-Riddle are both good schools, and both have excellent Aero Engineering programs.</p>
<p>I actually graduated from Embry-Riddle Prescott, so if you have questions regarding the school, I would be more than happy to answer them. Overall, I was impressed with the school, and loved the campus vibe, location, and overall experience. Very happy.</p>
<p>However, doing it all without any scholarships, grants, or family members helping to offset the cost is going to be quite painful. And honestly, without any of these things to help you out, I would probably stay in-state and go to a public university.</p>
<p>The 2+2 route is a good path but my issue with the Penn State system is that the satellite schools are not much cheaper than Penn State at State College. With the first two years of a program, the question must be asked if one should pay a lot money for the following schedule in the first 2 years:</p>
<p>Calculus I
Calculus II
Calculus III
Linear Algebra
Differential Equations
Chemistry I
Chemistry I Lab
Physics I (mechanics)
Physics II (electricity/magnetism)
Computer Programming I
English Composition
Social Science General ED Requirement I
Social Science General ED Requirement II
Social Science General ED Requirement III
Arts & Humanities General ED Requirement I
Arts & Humanities General ED Requirement II
Arts & Humanities General ED Requirement III</p>
<p>That is your schedule the first two years. I don’t need to look at PSU’s catalog because this is standard.</p>
<p>Do you want to pay a out-of-state fees for the above courses?</p>
<p>“Social Science General ED Requirement I
Social Science General ED Requirement II
Social Science General ED Requirement III
Arts & Humanities General ED Requirement I
Arts & Humanities General ED Requirement II
Arts & Humanities General ED Requirement III”</p>
<p>Requiring these courses for engineers is silly.</p>
<p>I can agree on that but at almost every school, there is no way around it. That is why General Education courses are labeled as “university” requirements.</p>
<p>Note that ABET accreditation requires that the engineering bachelor’s degree curriculum includes some humanities and social studies courses. Even Brown, a school with no breadth requirements at all for most students, requires humanities and social studies courses for its ABET accredited engineering majors. (However, universities’ humanities and social studies requirements do vary from one school to another.)</p>
<p>In any case, regarding cost, the OP should be comparing cost based on net price after applying any grant aid and scholarships, not by listing the scholarship amounts. Also, as a resident of NY, are any SUNY schools in the application or acceptance list?</p>
I am sure the arts and humanities majors say the same of the math requirements, but as GLOBAL noted, there are similar such requirements at ALL universities.</p>
<p>I look at English as a humanities course and may be 3 additional classes should suffice. English +6 more is a bit too much. That is more than a semester and a half of classes.</p>