High School Class 2013: Picking Colleges..Check in Here!

[corpcomp]

Our situation is similar to many others. Final four came to Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Syracuse. Clemson is the in state option. GT is a top 5-6 engineering school and if going out of state it would be preferred over Syracuse and Virginia Tech.

The real question: Do you select the out of state (excellent) option over the in state (very good) option? GT is $42-43k per year. With a merit award we would pay around $35k. Clemson is $22 per year. With the SC Lottery scholarships and a Clemson merit award we would pay around $10k. Is GT worth the extra $100k?

We put deposits on both. He needs to decide very soon. With his current attitude I may injure him prior to that decision.

Did you visit the campuses?

DS got into 7 colleges with 3 Honors programs and 4 scholarships. 3.7 GPA and 740 Math SAT. Turned down all the scholarship schools and was down to GT and Villanova. After visiting both, Villanova won based on style of campus and feeling of community but lost on breath of technical courses, research opportunities, better and cheaper Abroad program (you only have to pay the in state rate of $9K while abroad) and of course World class reputation of GT. Got no money from either but did get into the GT Honors program which only 3% get into. Villanova was $80K MORE than GT even as an out of stater so paying $160K for GT is a bargain to us. Cheapest school was UCONN for about $80K total with scholarship but frankly, you go for the reputation to get hired. There is a reason kids compete for the top schools. And now all the foreign nationals (800,000 this year) are entering the U.S. big time making it much more competitive to get into the top schools.

One last plus for GT. Four of the girls there are all competing for the Miss Georgia Contest. Their picture is on the website. All are Engineering or Computer Science.

PS: Syracuse is cold!!!!!!!!

 

[marcyinPA]

Oh, I wish I had seen this thread back in Sept.

It has been a very frustrating year w/ oldest DD18. Her grades and attitude started tanking back in 11th grade. She wanted to be an "actress" because it was fun. Sadly, she isn't very good, and only recently realized that. She saw no need for college in any form. So her GPA is only 3.2 with just basic classes, no AP's and only one honors. She was lucky in that she did fairly well on her SAT's, and has won a number of awards for Speech & Debate, as well as various clubs and activities.


I actually made her fill out applications and did the FAFSA "in case" she changed her mind. Then she decided she would like to attend a state school, but dorm there. The costs were still around $18K, and there was no way we could afford this, and I was not going into deep debt to fund the "experience" of dorming.

So, as it stands, she has been accepted to Penn State, local campus. She will be able to keep her part time job, live at home, and w/ financial aid, grants and scholarships, some $$ from us, will only need to borrow $3500 in subsidized loans. Probably won't need the full amount, but don't want to be caught short.

She is really very disappointed she will be living at home. ( The horror of it! ) But I told her she needs to look at the big picture.

It is hard to be 17 and know what you want to do for the rest of your life, but in today's world, unless you are going into a trade, you really do need that degree. Time will tell, at least she shouldn't have too much debt upon graduation, if we continue to make smart $$ decisions.

Now only 2 more to go!

I understand where you are coming from. We tried convincing DS to attend community college- NCC since you are in northeast PA (assuming you are close to me). The savings would have been significant. But he insisted on going away, and quite frankly, his grades and work ethic have been worth these past two years so we are going to give him a shot. He will actually be paying for the first year at Kutztown with his own money- savings bonds. We have talked about how this is HIS money, and how he doesn't want to waste HIS money.

College is so expensive. SO expensive. Even state schools. Crazy.

 

[krcit]

I understand where you are coming from. We tried convincing DS to attend community college- NCC since you are in northeast PA (assuming you are close to me). The savings would have been significant. But he insisted on going away, and quite frankly, his grades and work ethic have been worth these past two years so we are going to give him a shot. He will actually be paying for the first year at Kutztown with his own money- savings bonds. We have talked about how this is HIS money, and how he doesn't want to waste HIS money.

College is so expensive. SO expensive. Even state schools. Crazy.

It really is insane! The state schools are becoming pretty competitive around here because they are a bargain at around 21k!! My daughter was between Binghamton, which is a state with a great reputation and a much smaller private school. She got a scholarship of 23k at the private which would've made it almost the same as the state but the tuition will go up every year and the scholarship stays the same. We let her make the final decsion but were so happy when she chose Bing!

 

[marcyinPA]

It really is insane! The state schools are becoming pretty competitive around here because they are a bargain at around 21k!! My daughter was between Binghamton, which is a state with a great reputation and a much smaller private school. She got a scholarship of 23k at the private which would've made it almost the same as the state but the tuition will go up every year and the scholarship stays the same. We let her make the final decsion but were so happy when she chose Bing!

Those scholarships for private schools sound so good until you do the math! LOL (well, in our case, anyway!) DS was offered $26K mostly in grants to attend a small private Christian college here in PA. But- it is $40K to go there. We would have had to cough up the difference- and quite honestly, the amount we had to come up with for the state school was less. Only $5K less per year, but when you add that up over four years, it's a good sized hunk of change.

I hate that it comes down to money for us- but unfortunately, we aren't rolling in it, and we've got another kid to help through college too!

 

[marcyinPA]

And this is just a side note- but we started putting big hunks of cash into savings and have really cut back on what we are spending (now that we know what kind of costs for college we are dealing with). Well- doesn't it figure that our oil company delivered our heating oil yesterday?! $750. Bam. There goes that money I saved! Ah, life.

 

[Sanchez]

Did you visit the campuses?

DS got into 7 colleges with 3 Honors programs and 4 scholarships. 3.7 GPA and 740 Math SAT. Turned down all the scholarship schools and was down to GT and Villanova. After visiting both, Villanova won based on style of campus and feeling of community but lost on breath of technical courses, research opportunities, better and cheaper Abroad program (you only have to pay the in state rate of $9K while abroad) and of course World class reputation of GT. Got no money from either but did get into the GT Honors program which only 3% get into. Villanova was $80K MORE than GT even as an out of stater so paying $160K for GT is a bargain to us. Cheapest school was UCONN for about $80K total with scholarship but frankly, you go for the reputation to get hired. There is a reason kids compete for the top schools. And now all the foreign nationals (800,000 this year) are entering the U.S. big time making it much more competitive to get into the top schools.

One last plus for GT. Four of the girls there are all competing for the Miss Georgia Contest. Their picture is on the website. All are Engineering or Computer Science.

PS: Syracuse is cold!!!!!!!!

Visited GTx2 and Clemsonx2.

Not sure that girls are a major consideration but note that GT is approximately 67/33 male/female. I would imagine this is why the web site features Miss Georgia aspirants: the lack of women is certainly a deficiency GT needs to overcome.

GT's urban campus is a plus. The facilities are excellent - some built for the 1996 Olympics - and Tech Square is nice. Clemson has a great college atmosphere though the campus is secluded. We will see.

 

[spima3]

College is so expensive. SO expensive. Even state schools. Crazy.

Yes, they are and I have to say I was really surprised at how much aid can differ even w/ the state schools.

I would have assumed if we qualified for need based aid at one state school, it would have been the same for the others, but that wasn't the case. Is it the colleges that determine the aid amounts?

 

[corpcomp]

Yes, they are and I have to say I was really surprised at how much aid can differ even w/ the state schools.

I would have assumed if we qualified for need based aid at one state school, it would have been the same for the others, but that wasn't the case. Is it the colleges that determine the aid amounts?

Yes and it depends. Its a function of what they have already given out and how much they have left to spread around. If the kid has great grades / SATs the colleges will offer more aid. The early action / early decision kids have more available to them in some schools. Its all about raising the average GPA and SAT that they report going forward. And there are different admissions officers at different state schools so its all a matter of what they have available at each school and who they want to attract. My son turned down all 4 scholarship schools and is going to a school with no aid.

 

[corpcomp]

Visited GTx2 and Clemsonx2.

Not sure that girls are a major consideration but note that GT is approximately 67/33 male/female. I would imagine this is why the web site features Miss Georgia aspirants: the lack of women is certainly a deficiency GT needs to overcome.

GT's urban campus is a plus. The facilities are excellent - some built for the 1996 Olympics - and Tech Square is nice. Clemson has a great college atmosphere though the campus is secluded. We will see.

GT will never overcome that until girls start choosing engineering and computer science in larger numbers. A number of school give huge scholarships to girls just to get them in their engineering departments. But until the high schools start stressing math much more than they do now, it will be a challenge.

 

[Robinrs]

GT will never overcome that until girls start choosing engineering and computer science in larger numbers. A number of school give huge scholarships to girls just to get them in their engineering departments. But until the high schools start stressing math much more than they do now, it will be a challenge.

Several of my co workers are GT grads, the school is actually not far from my job.

The women that DO attend are aware of the imbalance and work hard to stand out. Funny you mention about the Miss Georgia competitors because the school is somewhat known in town for having lesser attractive females, glad to see it's a myth!

 

[disykat]

Yes, they are and I have to say I was really surprised at how much aid can differ even w/ the state schools.

I would have assumed if we qualified for need based aid at one state school, it would have been the same for the others, but that wasn't the case. Is it the colleges that determine the aid amounts?

Your EFC through the FAFSA is the same, but colleges decide if they want to meet the need. Our straight A student at the state flagship has always gotten nothing, but our 3.5 student at a less selective state school got some money to bring it to his EFC. He had also applied to the other big state school and got nothing from them.

 

[mom2rtk]

Several of my co workers are GT grads, the school is actually not far from my job.

The women that DO attend are aware of the imbalance and work hard to stand out. Funny you mention about the Miss Georgia competitors because the school is somewhat known in town for having lesser attractive females, glad to see it's a myth!

My son is going to our state's engineering school. Its enrollment is about 75% male. I laugh at how hard they try. I see girls' photos all over their brochures and literature. And our 2 campus tours were guided by girls. I guess I have to give them points for trying.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I think I posted already, but my son is going to University of Tampa. Far, far away from DH and I. You can see from our ticker we are doing a week at Disney then dropping him off to set up his dorm room. He is very excited. I am a bit upset with the amount of loans he is taking since he could have gone to two great schools for almost nothing. But he is happy and that is what it is all about.

Hoping all is going well with everyone else. My Ticker also states how long I have with my son until he leaves.

 

[corpcomp]

Several of my co workers are GT grads, the school is actually not far from my job.

The women that DO attend are aware of the imbalance and work hard to stand out. Funny you mention about the Miss Georgia competitors because the school is somewhat known in town for having lesser attractive females, glad to see it's a myth!

I can only say that the female mechanical engineering senior that gave us a presentation had my son in a trance. If DS was really after girls, he would have pick Villanova where the ratio is 50/50 and most are preps.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think I posted already, but my son is going to University of Tampa. Far, far away from DH and I. You can see from our ticker we are doing a week at Disney then dropping him off to set up his dorm room. He is very excited. I am a bit upset with the amount of loans he is taking since he could have gone to two great schools for almost nothing. But he is happy and that is what it is all about.

Hoping all is going well with everyone else. My Ticker also states how long I have with my son until he leaves.

LOL, not sure I want a ticker counting down the days until my son leaves.

 

[Robinrs]

I can only say that the female mechanical engineering senior that gave us a presentation had my son in a trance. If DS was really after girls, he would have pick Villanova where the ratio is 50/50 and most are preps.

Smart move of the school, no doubt. The presenters are sales people, the ones my son had put HIM in a trance, too... and he never saw them again once he enrolled!

 

[marcyinPA]

Yes, they are and I have to say I was really surprised at how much aid can differ even w/ the state schools.

I would have assumed if we qualified for need based aid at one state school, it would have been the same for the others, but that wasn't the case. Is it the colleges that determine the aid amounts?

Our Federal and State aid differed between schools too. I actually asked the financial aid office at KU about it, and she said it is based on cost of attendance. Cheaper school= less PHEAA and PELL.

Can you believe we still have not received a financial aid package in writing from KU?! We were chosen for verification and all that jazz- I understand it took more time. I finally called and got a verbal, so we could decide if we could actually afford the tuition. We put our deposit in on April 30. But still- no package in writing. I pray to God that the lady in the financial aid office gave me the correct information. This is ridiculous!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Our Federal and State aid differed between schools too. I actually asked the financial aid office at KU about it, and she said it is based on cost of attendance. Cheaper school= less PHEAA and PELL.

Can you believe we still have not received a financial aid package in writing from KU?! We were chosen for verification and all that jazz- I understand it took more time. I finally called and got a verbal, so we could decide if we could actually afford the tuition. We put our deposit in on April 30. But still- no package in writing. I pray to God that the lady in the financial aid office gave me the correct information. This is ridiculous!!

We had a terrible time this year too since we were thrown into verification on both of our college students. What a mess.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

LOL, not sure I want a ticker counting down the days until my son leaves.

It's our last family vacation and while it does remind me of when he will be leaving, it also makes me smile that both kids will be there. It has been a while since DD has been able to make a trip due to her college schedule.

I think DH and I may have to go down again end of Sept. I am sure I will need to see him by then.

 

[Robinrs]

My nephew had a choice between West Point and the Naval Academy and chose the Naval Academy. On Monday night at the Senior Award's Banquet, a representative from the U.S. Naval Academy presented him with the official appointment by the U.S President Barack Obama and Congress, the scholarship which is valued between $400-450K and a blue and gold medallion engraved with his name and the Class of 2017!

We are SOOO proud of him!!!