College Question

[Kreon]

Does it really matter, in the real world, which one I get an engineering degree from?

Cheap state school costs ~12,000 a year
University of Rochester ~48000 (though others in a similar situation to me have had financial aid covering all but 16000)

is there any difference?

 

[BigJ]

EDIT: It's not NYS.

 

[Special K]

It might depend on the rankings, not necessarily the cost. As an example, I wanted to work in the semiconductor industry. My undergrad school was ranked in the 40s for engineering, and none of the major semi companies attended our career fair. I had a good GPA (3.7ish), but never got any bites by submitting my resume online.

I then attended a top 10 grad school in EE, and had no trouble getting interviews from all of the major semiconductor companies, who all attended my school's career fair.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Yes it matters. Just like schools like Berkeley, StanFUrd and other top engineering schools feed MIT for grad students, and these same schools want top notch grad students, companies want to be fed the top notch grads too. That's why they recruit at the top schools.

However once you get that first job it's not going to matter as much.

 

[Ronstang]

Let the snobs go to the ivy league private high dollar universities for their liberal arts degrees, all the millionaires I know came from state schools.

 

[vi edit]

Depends on the school. University of IL is highly ranked in it's engineering programs. But even state schools are hardly a bargain any more. My cousin was accepted into the materials engineering program and his bill was over $25,000 a year for tuition & housing.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Let the snobs go to the ivy league private high dollar universities for their liberal arts degrees, all the millionaires I know came from state schools.

While true, all the billionaires I know went to ivy. OK, I only know one and he went to U Penn.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Depends on the school. University of IL is highly ranked in it's engineering programs. But even state schools are hardly a bargain any more. My cousin was accepted into the materials engineering program and his bill was over $25,000 a year for tuition & housing.

That's why you should go to a state that has good state schools... eg California, Texas, etc... =)

I believe state schools = bargain still. I pay $8k in tuition roughly? Maybe a little less. Throw in housing and other expenses, and yeah it's around 20k. Tuition for the school across the bay is over almost 30k and once you throw in expenses, you're up around 43 - 44k.

Now when paying half means I get a tied rank #2 engineering education, I'll take the cheaper one.

 

[Acanthus]

I just had a thread related to this a week or so ago, the consensus was if youre planning on grad school, hit the state school for the BA/BS and go to the high ranked $$$ school for the MA/PhD/ScD

 

[Ns1]

having been presented those 2 options 2 years ago, and looking back on things now...

choose the state school unless you are going to get a grip of financial aid.

 

[Kreon]

interesting
It would be a NH State school, and not UNH
None of the cheaper schools would be ranked anywhere

What if I'm considering going into the military (as an officer) after college
Does that make a difference?

 

[Exterous]

Something else to consider if you are worried about name - transferring. I went to a university with a less than stellar academic record (and for good reason - i did less work than in High School and got better grades). After 2 years I transferred to a highly ranked school in my area of choice. Mow, my diploma says the high ranked school and I saved about 25k in tuition. Additionally - the higher grades from the first school helped me get more grants to finance the latter school

The downside is credit transfer. Most universities have a list of credits that will transfer from other universities. Check this out and plan accordingly! Only 6 of my credits didn't transfer (and I knew they would ahead of time)

 

[ponyo]

Go to state school. Undergrad private is not worth it.

I would do first two years at a local community college and the last two years at a state school.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Depends on the school. University of IL is highly ranked in it's engineering programs. But even state schools are hardly a bargain any more. My cousin was accepted into the materials engineering program and his bill was over $25,000 a year for tuition & housing.

That's why you should go to a state that has good state schools... eg California, Texas, etc... =)

I believe state schools = bargain still. I pay $8k in tuition roughly? Maybe a little less. Throw in housing and other expenses, and yeah it's around 20k. Tuition for the school across the bay is over almost 30k and once you throw in expenses, you're up around 43 - 44k.

Now when paying half means I get a tied rank #2 engineering education, I'll take the cheaper one.

IL state income tax rate: 3%. CA state income tax rate: 9%(up to).

IL is 5th ranked best state school. Cal-Berkley is 3rd, CIT is 4th.
http://www.graduateshotline.com/ranks/

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Depends on the school. University of IL is highly ranked in it's engineering programs. But even state schools are hardly a bargain any more. My cousin was accepted into the materials engineering program and his bill was over $25,000 a year for tuition & housing.

That's why you should go to a state that has good state schools... eg California, Texas, etc... =)

I believe state schools = bargain still. I pay $8k in tuition roughly? Maybe a little less. Throw in housing and other expenses, and yeah it's around 20k. Tuition for the school across the bay is over almost 30k and once you throw in expenses, you're up around 43 - 44k.

Now when paying half means I get a tied rank #2 engineering education, I'll take the cheaper one.

IL state income tax rate: 3%. CA state income tax rate: 9%(up to).

IL is 5th ranked best state school. Cal-Berkley is 3rd, CIT is 4th.
http://www.graduateshotline.com/ranks/

UIUC kicks ass no doubt. Definitely a good school to go to. But I thought all state schools were cheaper than CA.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Depends on the school. University of IL is highly ranked in it's engineering programs. But even state schools are hardly a bargain any more. My cousin was accepted into the materials engineering program and his bill was over $25,000 a year for tuition & housing.

That's why you should go to a state that has good state schools... eg California, Texas, etc... =)

I believe state schools = bargain still. I pay $8k in tuition roughly? Maybe a little less. Throw in housing and other expenses, and yeah it's around 20k. Tuition for the school across the bay is over almost 30k and once you throw in expenses, you're up around 43 - 44k.

Now when paying half means I get a tied rank #2 engineering education, I'll take the cheaper one.

IL state income tax rate: 3%. CA state income tax rate: 9%(up to).

IL is 5th ranked best state school. Cal-Berkley is 3rd, CIT is 4th.
http://www.graduateshotline.com/ranks/

Or do what people in the surrounding states do. Move to Georgia for the 11th and 12th grade. Qualify for HOPE scholarship by having B average in high school and receive full tuition at a state school like GA Tech. Of course keeping the B average for the scholarship at Tech is pretty hard.

 

[skim milk]

I would go to Univ. of Rochester and major in Economics

 

[Kreon]

Originally posted by: Exterous
Something else to consider if you are worried about name - transferring. I went to a university with a less than stellar academic record (and for good reason - i did less work than in High School and got better grades). After 2 years I transferred to a highly ranked school in my area of choice. Mow, my diploma says the high ranked school and I saved about 25k in tuition. Additionally - the higher grades from the first school helped me get more grants to finance the latter school

The downside is credit transfer. Most universities have a list of credits that will transfer from other universities. Check this out and plan accordingly! Only 6 of my credits didn't transfer (and I knew they would ahead of time)

That's what I'm considering...
Rochester has already said that they like that idea

I assume it's because the bean-counters know that a transfer will help replace drop-outs, right?

 

[wkabel23]

~48k for Rochester? No thanks

 

[nitsuj3580]

I faced the same decision as you 9 years ago. I really wanted to go to U of Rochester but at like $33k back then, I chose to go to SUNY Binghamton instead.

It's definitely paid off for me. I can't imagine I would be in a better situation right now if I went to U of R.

 

[PowerEngineer]

IMHO it only makes sense to pay the big money if it's to a school that is so prestigious that your degree will open more doors for you. I'd suggest that this is only true for only the top engineering schools such as MIT, CalTech, and maybe a few others. I wouldn't put the University of Rochester (or my alma mater Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) on that list. You might certainly receive a better engineering education at U of R (or RPI), but you'll find yourself working beside (and earning pretty much the same as) those state school grads.

I don't know in which state you reside, but if it's New York then you might look at Cornell as I believe they have pretty low tuition for residents of New York.

Good luck.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: PowerEngineer


I don't know in which state you reside, but if it's New York then you might look at Cornell as I believe they have pretty low tuition for residents of New York.

Good luck.

Stateside is pretty decent tuition wise at Cornell. Engineering is part of the College of Engineering, which is part of the private side of Cornell. Lotta $$$.

I suggest you transfer after two years. Stay in contact with UoR to see what courses you can take so you can definitely transfer.

 

[jagec]

High ranked state school FTW in most cases.

 

[DrPizza]

How about: New York State School of Ceramics at Alfred University?
You pay SUNY tuition, but attend classes at Alfred University (Not Alfred State across the street.) At one point, they were considered #1 in the world; not sure how highly they rank now, but it's still way up there.

 

[MasterOfKtulu109]

i would save my money for grad school when it really matters. do you really wanna spend $40k to take general education courses your first year?


if you have a good GPA from a state school, you can still get into a good grad school. if i got into a top 10 school, i would go there, regardless of cost, but to pay private tuition for a middle of the road school is not worth it at all.