Which College to Attend?

[runwad]

Hello I decided to post to get some opinions and help our family make a decision. My DD18 has been accepted to 2 D1 colleges. One is 20 min away, good school, great program; she can get out debt free for her undergrad. The other school is a small private lower tier D1 school 2 hours away in another state. She runs track and has been offered a track scholarship at the lower tier D1 school. The school in our back yard wants her to run track as a walk on and possibly run her way into some scholarship money.

Our dilemma is the school in another state will require taking out student loans, I’m calculating between 12k-15k for all 4 years. It’s hard to know for sure with tuition increases and if she can possibly increase her athletic scholarship by improving her times. But let’s even figure high and say 20k for all 4 years. She is going to be studying engineering so her earning potential should be high enough that these loans should not hurt too much.

The school 20 min away she would not obtain any student loan debt, we can afford to pay cash. Both engineering programs are top notch so it is hard to give one school the edge over the other academically. However, athletically, she will be more successful at the school she will have to acquire loans for just because it is a lower tier school and her times are more competitive there. She really wants to go to this out of state school and run. I’m trying to crunch the numbers and figure out things to cut to make it work, but I’m also aware of the fact that I have 2 more kids that will be ready for college in 2 and 5 years, so I can’t take away any funds that they could possibly need. We just keep going back and forth on what to do. Take track out of the equation and she’s going to the school 20 min down the road.

I do feel she would benefit by going away to school, but is it worth the loans. I don’t know. I lived at home and commuted and my DH went away so we both have different points of view. One thing about the out of state school that I like is they have a 4+1 program to get her masters. Whereas our home school, she’d need to complete 2 years to acquire her masters. In addition, her academic scholarship money at the out of state school will carry over to the masters +1 program. I’m told that’s a great benefit. Still this is a very hard decision to make. She’s a typical 18 year old, clueless about loans, even though we’ve done our best to educate her, but since she’s not experienced it, it’s hard to grasp. So what do you people think, any opinions, anything else I should consider? Thanks for reading!

 

[akcire]

Hello I decided to post to get some opinions and help our family make a decision. My DD18 has been accepted to 2 D1 colleges. One is 20 min away, good school, great program; she can get out debt free for her undergrad. The other school is a small private lower tier D1 school 2 hours away in another state. She runs track and has been offered a track scholarship at the lower tier D1 school. The school in our back yard wants her to run track as a walk on and possibly run her way into some scholarship money.

Our dilemma is the school in another state will require taking out student loans, I’m calculating between 12k-15k for all 4 years. It’s hard to know for sure with tuition increases and if she can possibly increase her athletic scholarship by improving her times. But let’s even figure high and say 20k for all 4 years. She is going to be studying engineering so her earning potential should be high enough that these loans should not hurt too much.

The school 20 min away she would not obtain any student loan debt, we can afford to pay cash. Both engineering programs are top notch so it is hard to give one school the edge over the other academically. However, athletically, she will be more successful at the school she will have to acquire loans for just because it is a lower tier school and her times are more competitive there. She really wants to go to this out of state school and run. I’m trying to crunch the numbers and figure out things to cut to make it work, but I’m also aware of the fact that I have 2 more kids that will be ready for college in 2 and 5 years, so I can’t take away any funds that they could possibly need. We just keep going back and forth on what to do. Take track out of the equation and she’s going to the school 20 min down the road.

I do feel she would benefit by going away to school, but is it worth the loans. I don’t know. I lived at home and commuted and my DH went away so we both have different points of view. One thing about the out of state school that I like is they have a 4+1 program to get her masters. Whereas our home school, she’d need to complete 2 years to acquire her masters. In addition, her academic scholarship money at the out of state school will carry over to the masters +1 program. I’m told that’s a great benefit. Still this is a very hard decision to make. She’s a typical 18 year old, clueless about loans, even though we’ve done our best to educate her, but since she’s not experienced it, it’s hard to grasp. So what do you people think, any opinions, anything else I should consider? Thanks for reading!

Talk to the smaller school. Tell them your quandary. Talk to the coach, if they really want her they will up their offer.

Personally, I prefer a bigger school. If she goes to school 20 minutes away can she live on campus and come out debt free. If not your not comparing apples to apples.

 

[danygirl]

If she goes to the closer school can she live on campus?

I have an athlete too. Best advice I got came from a friend who coaches d3. He said pick a school you still want to attend if you can no longer play. We knew we found the right one when DD said she would be happy there even if she could not swim

D1 sports are crazy intense, and you should consider what happens if she finds she can't handle both the rigorous engineering program and the d1 sports? Would you say she couldn't stay out of state if she quit running?

I wouldn't worry so much about grad school for an engineer. Many engineers go fir an MBA or a project mgt degree instead of a masters of engineering and employers pay for those degrees.

My youngest was really turned off by the size of our nearby school. She needs to be in a smaller place. Not so her older sister. Is that part of what is going on here?

Have her do the admitted student overnights at both and see if that helps you decide

 

[Slapster]

Just wrestled with this for my daughter. She's extremely accomplished academically and could go to school tuition/boarding free in state. She could even go full ride to a couple of out of state uni's due to her ACT score and GPA. But we visited UT in Austin and she fell in love, not to mention they have a top 10 engineering program. While she is getting some assistance from scholarships and we are paying for a lot of it, loans will be a factor. It's almost $40k/year for out of state!

After much deliberation she's going to UT. Is it worth the loans? Who knows. That really depends on employment after school. You mentioned engineering. I don't know any unemployed engineers. So you may want to factor that in. Loans can be payed back with extended timelines, and can be delayed if there are hardships. Sounds like she's earned some say in it. Let her choose.

Good luck!

 

[powellrj]

One thing we did was talk to her advisor about her classes and playing sports. He told us that it would be really hard to play a sport and keep up with classes in her major. When he found out she was a golfer, he said it would be easier than many other sports, but it will still be hard.

There wasn't any money being offered to play at this point because she never expressed an interest in playing college golf, so we didn't need to take that into consideration. The 2 schools she was interested in were both small private schools with one being within walking distance to our house. She chose the one that was an hour away.

 

[runwad]

More info. No she would commute to the home school to be able to come out debt free. Also home school's track program would be difficult with her classes. I think she'd have a hard time doing both at the home school. They are a very competitive program that wins their division more times than not. She would be a small fish in a big pond and I'm not even sure how much she'd get to compete there?

At the private smaller school the coach is more laid back in his workouts, I feel it would be easier for her to be able to be successful. I could tell the difference in the coaches and their expectations. Of course at the smaller school she would be one of their fastest runners so not sure if that would come into play with her workout times? He just seemed a lot more laid back. You have to do 75 min, if you only feel like riding the bike for 75 min that's fine...just seems like it will be easier. Of course their program isn't as good, they don't win a lot as a team. But she would be happy at this school without running. But could not afford to go without the athletic scholarship. She wants to go to a small school, she doesn't like the big school at all.

Also she is doing post secondary in hs and will enter our state school being a few classes away from being a sophomore. Not all of her high school college credits will transfer to the out of state school, so she'll be a freshman. That is helping making the home school cheaper as she will require less classes.

 

[clh2]

More info. No she would commute to the home school to be able to come out debt free. Also home school's track program would be difficult with her classes. I think she'd have a hard time doing both at the home school. They are a very competitive program that wins their division more times than not. She would be a small fish in a big pond and I'm not even sure how much she'd get to compete there?

At the private smaller school the coach is more laid back in his workouts, I feel it would be easier for her to be able to be successful. I could tell the difference in the coaches and their expectations. Of course at the smaller school she would be one of their fastest runners so not sure if that would come into play with her workout times? He just seemed a lot more laid back. You have to do 75 min, if you only feel like riding the bike for 75 min that's fine...just seems like it will be easier. Of course their program isn't as good, they don't win a lot as a team. But she would be happy at this school without running. But could not afford to go without the athletic scholarship. She wants to go to a small school, she doesn't like the big school at all.

Also she is doing post secondary in hs and will enter our state school being a few classes away from being a sophomore. Not all of her high school college credits will transfer to the out of state school, so she'll be a freshman. That is helping making the home school cheaper as she will require less classes.[/QUOTE]

Just a few comments - you said she doesn't like the big school at all. THIS IS A HUGE FLAG. If she goes to a school she doesn't like at all - are you prepared to help her find a school to transfer too? Some advice we were given was - make sure your child goes to a school they want to be at. It is far more costly to switch in the middle of college. AND most likely - any scholarships they were offered will not still be on the table as a transfer student.

Another concern about the bigger school - you say she can get out faster due to her college credits. ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS? I have heard over and over again - that many students end up being on a 5-year plan simply because they are not able to get into classes as needed. And - while she may have "XX" credits - do they all "transfer to a requirement"? I.e. if credit was recieved for the AP Art History class - does that fulfill a requirement for her to graduate? The school (small-private) that my DD goes to really works with their students to make a 4- year degree possible. There are statistics available (on collegeboards website possibly) where they schools indicate what percent of students graduate in 4-years, what % leave after the first year, what percent graduate in 5 years, and in 6 years). My guess is the private school will have better statistics.

Living at home would be a deal-breaker for me, regardless of where my DD would have gone. I do not think I could have lived with my DD being on "college-time" 24-7.

Personally - I do not think the 12-15K in loans is excessive. (My DD will probably end up with ~25K in loans - which she would have had regardless of whether she was at a state or private school.) But she is also in a field where her student loans will not be a problem with a job in her major.

On the other hand - what happens if your DD decides to drop the sport if she goes to the smaller school? There needs to be a plan if that happens too!


Big decisions for you and your DD - good luck!

 

[3boymthr]

My .02. Will she continue to run after college? Will the running advance her career after college? Will she benefit from the running outside of college? If not, then nope, I would not go to the out of state college unless she also prefers the atmosphere of the out of state school to the in state school. I don't care how small the loans are being debt free right out of college is huge!

We are in the midst of similar discussions with oldest DS right now. If he goes to the local state uni he will graduate with only $20k in loans (to cover cost of R&B - grandma & grandpa prepaid his tuition & fees at this school) or he can even graduate debt free (live at home). He wants to go to a uni that's two states away that offers a program that's more in line with what he wants to do but where he'll graduate with about $75K in debt. We keep telling him the debt is the difference between taking the (probably low paying) job in your field or taking the first job that comes down the pike (in his field or not) just to pay the bills.

If OTH your DD feels that she will do much better academically at the smaller school and will thrive there then the smaller school is probably the way to go. No sense going to a school where you will be unhappy.

ETA - one more thought - what happens to her debt load at the smaller school if she loses her scholarship due to injury or being unable to keep up her grades or if she gets dropped from the team for whatever reason?

 

[Marionnette]

More info. No she would commute to the home school to be able to come out debt free. Also home school's track program would be difficult with her classes. I think she'd have a hard time doing both at the home school. They are a very competitive program that wins their division more times than not. She would be a small fish in a big pond and I'm not even sure how much she'd get to compete there?

At the private smaller school the coach is more laid back in his workouts, I feel it would be easier for her to be able to be successful. I could tell the difference in the coaches and their expectations. Of course at the smaller school she would be one of their fastest runners so not sure if that would come into play with her workout times? He just seemed a lot more laid back. You have to do 75 min, if you only feel like riding the bike for 75 min that's fine...just seems like it will be easier. Of course their program isn't as good, they don't win a lot as a team. But she would be happy at this school without running. But could not afford to go without the athletic scholarship. She wants to go to a small school, she doesn't like the big school at all.

Also she is doing post secondary in hs and will enter our state school being a few classes away from being a sophomore. Not all of her high school college credits will transfer to the out of state school, so she'll be a freshman. That is helping making the home school cheaper as she will require less classes.

Congratulations to your daughter on her accomplishments and the offers that her hard work has gotten for her!

As the mother of 3 college students (2 of them athletes), I want to offer this advice:

• Think about how commuting and practice session will affect your daughter's free time. College athletics at the D1 level are very demanding and she may not be able to balance commuting and competing with her academic demands.
• How much will she lose in scholarships if she quits or gets injured? How big of an impact will this have on her ability to keep up with tuition costs? Weigh the "price" for each school.
• Look into the internship programs and co-ops that each school offers. Keep in mind that the purpose of a college education is to be employable when you graduate. Internships and co-ops are great vehicles to jobs when you graduate. If nothing else, the work experience on her resume will open doors for her.
• Consider the "on time" graduation rate for both schools. Look at the records for both athletes and non-athletic students, as well as for the specific engineering program that she will be enrolled in. My daughter attended a private school that prided themselves in an over 90% on-time graduation rate. One son will graduate on time from our state's flagship school with a lower on-time rate. He had to bust his hump to make sure that he got his required classes in on time. It's not unusual to see certain classes being offered only in the spring or fall semesters when you reach the upper-level courses. Keep in mind that if your child does not graduate on time, you will be spending thousands more in tuition, books (and possibly room & board) for the extra semesters. And athletic scholarships are only good for a set number of semesters.

Good luck helping your daughter make her decision. It can be very difficult to see the forest when all of the trees are in the way.

 

[zurgswife]

You are not comparing apples to apples.

Commuting to the home school, trying to run track (while not living on campus) and maybe getting extra credit hours and ending up debit free is NOT the same thing as living on campus, running track and ending up with $20,000 in loans. You are not comparing the same scenarios for the debt free part. Add room and board to the home school then maybe it might be similar. I know room alone at my sons state school in PA is $3000 per semester plus meal contract of about $1000 so total extra per year is $4000 times 4 is $16000. My guess your costs would be similar so the unless your offered scholarships for those expenses the home school isn't that much cheaper.

Besides the fact you said she really doesn't like the home school....red flags here.

 

[Egdisney]

This may not be a popular opinion on the Dis, but in the grand scheme of life, and with an engineering degree, 20,000 is not that much to spend to make your dreams a reality. My only regret in life is that I didn't make away to the school I always wanted to attend and have a real college experience, or at least one I would have enjoyed the most. I stayed in town, but I did move out, I think it is important to get out on your own. Before committing to the smaller school I would consider costs if track was no longer an option, most schools do not honor scholarships if you become injured, some only award scholarships on a year by year basis and cut if someone else comes along. Another thing to consider is that if track does end for some reason, it would be easier to pick up part time work to make up the difference for the lost scholarship. If she doesn't like the big school, I would see if you could help her find another 2nd choice. Are there any smaller in state schools? Any D2 schools giving her a look?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

If both schools are D1, she'll face the same level of competition at either school. The only difference is where she fits among her teammates. Also, don't be shocked if she needs to drop track completely at either school. Engineering is a challenging major that requires a lot more time & effort than many other majors.

 

[PlutoPony]

If both schools are D1, she'll face the same level of competition at either school. The only difference is where she fits among her teammates. Also, don't be shocked if she needs to drop track completely at either school. Engineering is a challenging major that requires a lot more time & effort than many other majors.

The engineering course load at my son's school is pretty lab intensive, which means scheduling classes can be a real challenge even if you're not trying to leave time for practice and meets. Labs take big blocks of time and are mostly in the afternoon and evening at a lot of schools - not typically "free" time for an athlete. Can she talk to a student athlete at either school who is balancing engineering and sports? It might give her some insight in which school is the better fit or even if this is a combination that she's likely to be successful with.

Don't mean this to dash her dreams at all, more to give her a realistic idea of what her life would be like combining the two. My son ran 3 seasons in high school and is in engineering at a competitive U..... now that he's getting into the meat of the program, he can't imagine balancing running + engineering. YMMV obviously though.

Good luck!

 

[tloveswdw]

As a former collegiate athlete, with 4 sings and a Bil who were all collegiate athletes, the coaches and the schools commitment and support of the program make all the difference. She should really try and spend a day and night with the team... Hear how they get their classes, are there mandatory study halls, what is the weekend time commitments (travel at d3-d1 takes time)

Both sound like great opportunities. I'd say the 4+1 sounds great for the masters

 

[jrmasm]

More info. No she would commute to the home school to be able to come out debt free. Also home school's track program would be difficult with her classes. I think she'd have a hard time doing both at the home school. They are a very competitive program that wins their division more times than not. She would be a small fish in a big pond and I'm not even sure how much she'd get to compete there?

At the private smaller school the coach is more laid back in his workouts, I feel it would be easier for her to be able to be successful. I could tell the difference in the coaches and their expectations. Of course at the smaller school she would be one of their fastest runners so not sure if that would come into play with her workout times? He just seemed a lot more laid back. You have to do 75 min, if you only feel like riding the bike for 75 min that's fine...just seems like it will be easier. Of course their program isn't as good, they don't win a lot as a team. But she would be happy at this school without running. But could not afford to go without the athletic scholarship. She wants to go to a small school, she doesn't like the big school at all.

Also she is doing post secondary in hs and will enter our state school being a few classes away from being a sophomore. Not all of her high school college credits will transfer to the out of state school, so she'll be a freshman. That is helping making the home school cheaper as she will require less classes.

The bolded is a huge issue IMO. My DD is a freshman now and I spoke with several of her friends over Xmas break that a feeling stuck because their schools and/or teams are not a great fit for them and they need the ahtletic money to pay for school. The washout rate for athletes seems to be really high as it's such a huge commitment among other reasons.

Another thing I've learned since my dd started is that with certain majors, it just isn't possible to play 4 years and graduate in 4 years. So again, if you're relying on sports money, that can be a problem.

eta: just saw the part about the 4 +1, my dd considered similar programs 3+2 in her case. She told 100% of the time that athletes cannot complete these programs and play all 4 years. There just isn't time between the accelerated course load and sports schedules. I'm not saying its the exact situation you described, just be sure that athletes can complete the program and continue with their sport.

Ideally she wants a school that is a good fit for her academically and one that she can afford without sports money.

 

[jeffbear]

2 cents ...

Both of my kids opted to go to smaller schools ... one private and one public ... and both had serious extra curricular activities (one sports, one a theater program). Both had at least scholarship money to help with costs. My oldest opted for the private route, built up a minor amount of student loan debt and was absolutely thrilled with her college experience. My son opted for the smaller public route and ended up transfering to another school in our state system because he just never got comfortable with the campus environment. He's going to be fine and will probably graduate debt free.

Here's the thing ... in my opinion it WAY more important that the kid be comfortable on the campus and in the environment than anything else. That will go a long way towards defining their college experience ... and it's all but impossible to know for sure ahead of actually immersing them in the campus life.

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd17 can go to a local state school for free, go to a better state school for $25,000 a year (including room and board), or go to a better out of state school for $25,000 a year (she got $10,000 in merit scholarship).

The local one was never even considered. Not only does she want to go to a better school, she does not want to stay home, and we don't want her to stay home (both DH and I went away to college).

Now, does she go 45 minutes away, or 4 hours away - that is our current dilema.

 

[JessM]

I graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering in 2011, so here's some advice for what it's worth.

I came out of school debt free, even with my engineering salary (I've been employed for 2.5 years) I wouldn't be saving much at all if I had school loans to pay off too. By the time I pay my rent, car payment, insurance, utilities and cell phone bill, living expenses and food. There's not a whole lot left over. I do make a bit more than my friends starting out in business and teaching but it's still tough, I will note though, I do not have roomates so my rent is pretty expensive.

All the student athletes in my engineering program with me were miserable during their respective seasons. It's a lot for any college student but especially the engineering program. I'm not sure how much I personally would base a decision off her being able to keep running, she might find it's too much with her course load. I also wouldn't want her to feel pressured to keep running just to keep a scholarship if she's not happy.

If she decides engineering isn't for her is there another major at the smaller school she would like? Or would she have to transfer schools? A lot of kids do not understand the demands of engineering or find out they don't really like it and switch majors after their first year. I chose a large school so if I didn't like engineering there would be lots of other stuff to choose from without transferring.

I would also put some consideration into going to a school where she can get her masters. At least half of my graduating class went on to get their masters and I think more and more engineering students are now. The job market is still very competitive and I considered going back for my masters to give me the competitive edge. Whenever companies came in to talk to us about life after school they all hammered in that master's degrees are the wave of the future even in engineering. Can you get a job with just a BS, absolutely, but you'll be looking a lot longer for it and you better have a great resume, skill set and transcript.

That turned into a bit of a book but I hope it helped!

 

[Eureka]

Personally, I think living on campus is important to have a full college experience. She'll get a lot of that from running, but like someone else said, commuting is going to be tougher than rolling out of bed to get to practices etc.

I went to a small, private college and loved it. I got into a large state university 20 minutes away and would have lived on campus if I went there, but it would have been too large for me. I had loans but it was worth it to me.

I think part of it has to be her decision, what is she looking for besides the academics? How important is it to her to run in college? And if it's OK with you that she has loans when she graduates (because YOU won't have to pay them back; it'll be on her) and she's OK with it, I think the decision should be hers.

 

[ceecee]

Really this should be her decision. No matter the opinions of others, if it is not a good fit for her it won't work. She may end up giving up track, I know several kids who couldn't do a hard major and a sport, maybe the first few years she would be able to handle it. It sounds like it will be HER debt that she will need to pay off so it needs to be HER decision. My DD decided on a local school which is very good, at first she wanted to live on campus and now she wants to live at home and commute. Living away isn't easy for a lot of kids and can be very stressful. My friend's daughter cried for 5 months to come home!