need help with college selection

[Anonymous]

D accepted to computer science/engineering: UMich, Georgia tech, UMD, UIUC, Ohio state, Purdue, Penn state, Rutgers.
in state accepted to UVA (in state tuition seems relatively quite expensive )

so far only scholarship is from Ohio state university (~16k/year)

Purdue, UIUC and Georgia tech have not offered any scholarships.

UMich seems extremely expensive compared to other colleges.

Do not qualify for need based aid.

D wants to attend out of state college.

Can you all please advice how to navigate college selection process.

Also if possible please share any information about each of these colleges course rigor, internships opportunities, dorms, food etc.

[Anonymous]

Ann Arbor is a MUCH nicer town than College Park. It is a fun, safe, Big Ten college town & campus.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have a lot of other data points but UIUC is a computer science powerhouse. It’s a top 5 program (Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and then UIUC).

[Anonymous]

I would say in this order:

UVA
GT
Purdue
Michigan
UICI
UMD
Ohio
Penn
Rutgers

You have to look at all costs, including travel. Purdue is a decent bet and they haven’t said Ed tuition in 8 years. UICI will definitely raise each year. Michigan is outrageous full price. GT even out of state is cost effective. If he goes overseas for any semester, he only pays in state tuition. My friend’s son went oversees sophomore and junior year Spring semester. Saved a lot.

But UVA instate seems like a no brainer.

Ohio, penn, and Rutgers are low end options.

[Anonymous]

UICI is beyond overpriced, never give merit, and they raised tuition yearly.

[Anonymous]

How much or which one can you afford without loans? What does she want? They are all good schools but I would focus on money so I can pay for college and graduate school without loans, if possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say in this order:

UVA
GT
Purdue
Michigan
UICI
UMD
Ohio
Penn
Rutgers

You have to look at all costs, including travel. Purdue is a decent bet and they haven’t said Ed tuition in 8 years. UICI will definitely raise each year. Michigan is outrageous full price. GT even out of state is cost effective. If he goes overseas for any semester, he only pays in state tuition. My friend’s son went oversees sophomore and junior year Spring semester. Saved a lot.



But UVA instate seems like a no brainer.

Ohio, penn, and Rutgers are low end options.

PP is this ranking you posted a ranking of school quality for that major? OP what are the top 5 ranked schools in CS in the list of schools that accepted your child? How important is food really? Probably not that important. Have you visited? Which schools did your child like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UICI is beyond overpriced, never give merit, and they raised tuition yearly.

UICI?

[Anonymous]

Read the recent thread on loss of merit aid. It drifts into the differences in engineering schools and questions to ask.

I would ask more questions about probability of getting into the major sophomore year (I.e.the direct admit might really just be to a freshman class., and find out what happens to people who aren’t stellar — are there gpa requirements for majors and how rigid?

I know it is easy to think your kid is sure to do well because she has in the past,, but so have all the engineering students.

Id only pay full freight for a few of the listed schools, and even then only after learning more about the weed out policies.

[Anonymous]

Don’t give up UVA in state for any out of state. He can go OOS for graduate.

[Anonymous]

Is she going to be coming in with substantial AP credit? Yes, Illinois is likely to raise tuition again in the near future but CS there is insulated from the budgetary problems facing other majors. I found U of I to be generous with AP credit hence sophomore status.
Urbana-Champaign is a heckuva lot nicer and pedestrian-friendly than it used to be. It is COLD in winter though with ice storms that the university isn’t always well-prepared for— think untreated sidewalks and overcrowded bus routes, oops sorry you’re going to be very late for lab today!
Advising is good as long as you’re proactive, like any Big 10 student who’s not enrolled in Honors.
They have an interesting CS + foreign language thing going on now too which is positive.
It is a good program but no, Champaign-Urbana is not Ann Arbor but U of M is far too costly for undergraduate study.

[Anonymous]

UVA will turn her into a math teacher

[Anonymous]

Oh and I was in an all-female renovated dorm in Urbana that was really nice and close, comfortable walking distance to the Institute, CAS and Center.
The food was ok, lots of starch in lettuce for salad that made me sleepy lol. I'm sorry to say this but the vast majority of decent restaurants are off-campus so you will need a car or hitch a ride with someone. I hated not being able to get to a Wal-Mart or the shopping mall without it being a big production. You can get what you need but there's planning involved!
Greek life is still big but Illinois' social scene has evolved somewhat since greatly increasing the numbers of international students. You can find your people but it might take a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA will turn her into a math teacher

+1

It is a perfectly fine engineering school, but when you think of academic research etc, UVA isn’t whaat comes to mind. I’m sure the kids are smart, but I bet Purdue is launching more kids on research careers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA will turn her into a math teacher

Lol!

Signed,
UVA Alum

OP: what is the cost of attendance for each school? You also must calculate travel costs for OOS schools. This located in major cities tend to have cheaper flights/easier travel to/from.

These are great results. Have you seen the career outcome reports for each school? What does your DC want to do after college?