College choices-Academic

[isucyfan]

Appreciate the responses so far! I will add that he seems to want to challenge himself by going somewhere academically rigorous. I think he figures, why not shoot for the moon? So, he is looking at University of Chicago and even MIT, but those accept about 6% of applicants, and I don't think he has enough besides academics to be considered.

I have always thought that, as many of you have said, that what is important is getting the piece of paper that shows you have a degree, and the school on the paper doesn't matter so much.

 

[Angie]

Hey buddy! Congrats to both you and your son! That's incredible.

I have to concur with everyone else here. I just think starting out life without +$100k in debt is going to give him a lot more freedom and a lot better quality of life without that debt cloud.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Hey buddy! Congrats to both you and your son! That's incredible.

I have to concur with everyone else here. I just think starting out life without +$100k in debt is going to give him a lot more freedom and a lot better quality of life without that debt cloud.

As somebody who started without college debt and then married into $200,000+ worth...

I've seen both sides of it. You don't want any of it if you can help it whatsoever.

If it ain't for medical school or for a "Tier 1" law school, then it just isn't worth it.

This times a million when it sounds like the young man has free rides at some great schools waiting for him.

 

[jmbessm]

Our youngest son was a National Merit Scholar and graduated from ISU debt free, even though he really wanted to go out of state (Iowa resident) to U of Chicago or an Ivy League school. He interned at UNC as an undergrad one summer and worked as a lab tech in a research lab at Duke after graduating and before earning his doctorate at UPenn. He just finished doing his post-doc at Cornell's Weill Medical Center in NYC and has accepted a research faculty position at Rutgers.

Our oldest earned his mechanical engineering degree at ISU, then got his masters in reliability engineering from U of Maryland while working for Emerson/Fisher in Marshalltown. He now works for PACCAR in Mt. Vernon, WA.

My long-winded point is that it isn't as important where you go to school as it is that you apply yourself and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. I was the first college graduate (ISU Class of '79) in my family. My dad was a factory worker building tractors for John Deere. In my work life (I'm retired now) we found value in the Morningside, Central and Luther grads right alongside the ISU, UNI and UofI grads.

Only you, or he, can decide if the school name on the diploma is really worth the extra dollars to you.

 

[carvers4math]

My oldest was also a National Merit Finalist. He turned down the full ride at Iowa State when he got into the high tech prestige school and felt he could not turn it down. His decision really came down to those two even though he was admitted to several others.

He did get one of the $2500 scholarships from National Merit Scholarship Corp.

Compared to his brothers who went to ISU he came out with way less debt although for him, he would have none at ISU. It seems that financial aid packages and loans somewhat depend on the financial status of your peers. At his school, he came from a poorer family and got subsidized Stafford loans at lower interest and Perkins loans. Meanwhile, even when we had three in school at the same time, our ISU sons never get the better loan packages at ISU apparently because our financial situation compares more favorably there compared to their peers.

 

[motorcy90]

a lot of places really don't care where a degree is from at all for hiring or salary. They just see if you have one or not. Save the money and use the full ride if he can. Hell any government job that lists a bachelors as a requirement barely even looks at what it even is in or if it is even related to the field sometimes.

 

[cowgirl836]

If the "less-prestigious schools" are schools like Texas Tech, Florida State, Florida, etc., take the free ride and run wild.

yeah unless those schools are dog **** for their intended major (which seems doubtful as it's a fairly generic set of majors) or you're going into a highly specialized field where this matters (law or even some ag come to mind - certain schools don't offer the program), this seems like a slam dunk to take the free ride. Especially if they aren't 100% on a major.

 

[spierceisu]

I say go where you can get your school paid for. No debt is huge coming out of college. The school (as long as the person enjoys it) is not super critical. College is what YOU make of it, not the school. If the person likes what he/she is studying, they are more willing to learn and get more out of it. The internships that I had during school were way more important in the job market than the school. Regardless of what the teachers in the academic world tell you, but job experience is way more critical to getting a good job than classes and GPA.

 

[kirk89gt]

This is one of those situations where it may be best to start with the end in mind. Perhaps starting to "rough in" some possible majors, potential future employment opportunities, and perhaps even locations of the country where he would like to live would make sense here as a first step. I know @isucyfan mentioned that his son didn't know what he wanted to major in and was leaning math / science. I would advise narrowing this down further as that by itself will eliminate potential schools from the list. To me this is a much bigger decision than where to pursue employment post college. These are the decisions that put you on that path (which is huge) in the grand scheme of things.

From what I have seen, academic institution prestige is overblown, but it does matter to some (typically alumni of said "prestigious institutions"). Some of the more prestigious schools work with said alumni and arrange internships and jobs post college for students (kind of a "good ole boys club"). This can be easier to do when the student bodies are smaller, as the network is tighter. Those resources do exist to a certain extent at the bigger universities, but you are definitely more on your own.

As to academic rigor, that I think can vary as well and depend (again on where you are going, and what you are looking to do - see above). In the end, your son will be in competition with no one but himself and how he feels he is stacking up to his own expectations. I get that some academic arenas can help in stimulating this, but I would assume based on your initial post, he is a high flyer already.

Personally, I would go for the full ride at the best school for my major. Being debt free and out of college is huge, knowing what I know now. Now if what he was looking at was a niche, I would weigh that in as well (start with the end in mind). Being in the hiring game (HR), I have never made a hiring decision based on where an applicant went to school. The closest I have ever come to this is, "Did the candidate get a degree?" At that point, it is a piece of paper and not much more.

 

[CascadeClone]

ISU used to offer full tuition for Merit Finalists, is that not the case anymore?

I only got $2k per year in the early 90s! Wonder if I can get the difference back with interest?

 

[CycloneErik]

yeah unless those schools are dog **** for their intended major (which seems doubtful as it's a fairly generic set of majors) or you're going into a highly specialized field where this matters (law or even some ag come to mind - certain schools don't offer the program), this seems like a slam dunk to take the free ride. Especially if they aren't 100% on a major.

Right. Even some highly technical biochem programs or something, I might see it as a difference maker.
For most majors, there really won't be that significant a difference.

If we were only talking about really small schools with really limited faculty #s for the free ride, I'd think hard about whether he would be getting what he's paying for. In this case, though, the scholarship is worth it.

 

[isucyfan]

Ha, OK now I am kicking his tires on interest in going to the University of Central Florida. The package they give NM Finalists is pretty eye-popping. Full cost of attendance, new laptop, housing and registration priorities, and entry into scholar programs on campus. According to what I have read from those that went there, they actually got MORE than what they needed and pocketed around $2000-3000 per semester.

 

[SCNCY]

Ha, OK now I am kicking his tires on interest in going to the University of Central Florida. The package they give NM Finalists is pretty eye-popping. Full cost of attendance, new laptop, housing and registration priorities, and entry into scholar programs on campus. According to what I have read from those that went there, they actually got MORE than what they needed and pocketed around $2000-3000 per semester.

I’d be cautious of CFU. My aunt who lives in Orlando told me that some students have to wait an additional year to graduate due to waiting for a specific class needed to graduate. The university has grown so fast that facilities has not kept up.

Not sure if this is still the case.

 

[isucyfan]

I’d be cautious of CFU. My aunt who lives in Orlando told me that some students have to wait an additional year to graduate due to waiting for a specific class needed to graduate. The university has grown so fast that facilities has not kept up.

Not sure if this is still the case.

I read that, too, but that's the beauty of being in the Honors program there...priority registration avoids all of that.

 

[SCNCY]

I read that, too, but that's the beauty of being in the Honors program there...priority registration avoids all of that.

Depends how priority is structured. If I remember, honors students at ISU got to register before their class, but not before the class ahead of them. So a freshmen honors student got to register before all freshmen, but not before a normal sophomore. Someone would have to check me on this.

 

[isucyfan]

Depends how priority is structured. If I remember, honors students at ISU got to register before their class, but not before the class ahead of them. So a freshmen honors student got to register before all freshmen, but not before a normal sophomore. Someone would have to check me on this.

Ah, good point. I will have to check on that.

 

[Rabbuk]

Depends how priority is structured. If I remember, honors students at ISU got to register before their class, but not before the class ahead of them. So a freshmen honors student got to register before all freshmen, but not before a normal sophomore. Someone would have to check me on this.

I think this is correct because I started as a junior in credits at isu and I got to register before my friends who were in freshman honors.

 

[cyfan92]

Get the free schooling or near free undergrad. Spread your winds in grad school at the more prestigious places. I've heard that outside of software development. Location doesn't really matter. People will find your talent. But if he wants to get into software... Silicon Valley and Austin, TX are great places

 

[cyfan92]

2 smartest people I know studied this

Materials - College of Engineering

Iowa State University

www.engineering.iastate.edu

1 at Los Alamos National Laboratory (Think Manhattan project, atom bomb)
The other makes works for Raytheon and is not allowed to talk about what she does for a living (kinda/pretty sure it's helping develop nuclear missiles).

 

[OPCyclone]

If it is engineering or a math type degree, especially math, unless he wants to go into education, then take the money for the undergrad. The grad school is going to define what his future will hold, not the undergrad. Check the NM scholarship offers if it is for four years or five years. The five year option will allow him to spend more time "figuring out" what he wants to do or to get a double major with one possibly being non-technical related. Or to pick up a minor or two while he is at it. Good luck!