College Search & Announcements

[cyclone13]

Last Fall, I started a thread about college search and campus visits. I do appreciate comments from my fellow CFers espcially one mentioning tat the goal is to go to good schools as my son might change his major - the poster was correct: he decided to change his career goal, instead of going to med school, he wants to major either in Biomedical Engineering or Applied Maths & Statistics.

One year later, here we are: still writing essays, waiting and getting announcements. So far he got accepted by U of Minnesota Twin Cities. Still waiting for couple of more announcements in January, including Wisconsin-Madison on the 31st). He got deferred by couple of colleges (we know those 2 would be a reach) but got accepted last week by Notre Dame. Now he's leaning towards ND now, although that means paying much more than U of M. But at the end of the day we'll see how things go and sit down to see what makes sense.

Would love to hear experiences with fellow CFers (either parents or students themselves). I always think it's fun the exchange stories like this.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

Complete opposite for my son.

Official ISU campus visit in August
Applied and auto qualified in September
Will attend as undecided in August

Didnt visit (we encouraged him to) or apply anywhere else.

 

[cyclone13]

There were times when my son didn't even want to visit schools at all (even we had to drag him to visit Madison as I told him that his exposure was limited to U of M only and he had a blast when visiting Madison). He actually preferred Madison to Minnesota last year but this August he mentioned that he preferred U of M to Madison now....

There were couple of schools that he applied that we didn't have time for campus visit - we thought, let's apply, and if he gets in, we can visit later.

 

[Isualum13]

Complete opposite for my son.

Official ISU campus visit in August
Applied and auto qualified in September
Will attend as undecided in August

Didnt visit (we encouraged him to) or apply anywhere else.

With a username like your's, can you blame him?

 

[Gonzo]

Last Fall, I started a thread about college search and campus visits. I do appreciate comments from my fellow CFers espcially one mentioning tat the goal is to go to good schools as my son might change his major - the poster was correct: he decided to change his career goal, instead of going to med school, he wants to major either in Biomedical Engineering or Applied Maths & Statistics.

One year later, here we are: still writing essays, waiting and getting announcements. So far he got accepted by U of Minnesota Twin Cities. Still waiting for couple of more announcements in January, including Wisconsin-Madison on the 31st). He got deferred by couple of colleges (we know those 2 would be a reach) but got accepted last week by Notre Dame. Now he's leaning towards ND now, although that means paying much more than U of M. But at the end of the day we'll see how things go and sit down to see what makes sense.

Would love to hear experiences with fellow CFers (either parents or students themselves). I always think it's fun the exchange stories like this.

Sounds like you have a smart kid and have done a nice job of planning things out. Our older daughter is heading into her last semester at ISU, and our younger daughter will start at ISU next fall. Both visited Iowa and a few privates, both decided ISU was the place for them. So that'll be 8 straight years of sending $$$ to Beardshear Hall for this hok.

 

[Isualum13]

Sounds like you have a smart kid and have done a nice job of planning things out. Our older daughter is heading into her last semester at ISU, and our younger daughter will start at ISU next fall. Both visited Iowa and a few privates, both decided ISU was the place for them. So that'll be 8 straight years of sending $$$ to Beardshear Hall for this hok.

 

[Gonzo]

Lol. Wife and I both were hoping they'd choose ISU, closer to home just 45-50 minutes up 35.

 

[Pope]

When choosing which institution to attend, I would encourage you to think a lot about your ROI. For example, if you live in Iowa and your desired major is Biomedical Engineering, you have two excellent options right in your own back yard in Iowa State and Iowa. Very good programs at a great price, relatively speaking.

When you go out of state, you must pay nonresident tuition which is obscene these days. Just because you're talented enough to get in the highly selective schools, you might want to think twice unless you're okay with graduating with a $100,000+ debt.

Our three kids all graduated from ISU and UNI and they're doing just fine. My wife and I worked hard to make sure they'd graduate with zero debt because we thought that would be one of the greatest gifts we could ever give them.

Just my opinion, though.

 

[cyclone13]

Couple of interesting things I learned during this process:
1. How much money colleges make from the application fees
2. How interesting the "college search and prep" industry. It is really profitable (we didn't use it but I know a friend in the Twin Cities who engaged in the college search and prep services (it started with $2,500 for student interview re: preferences and grades, etc with the firm providing 12 schools that would be possible good fits to $4,500 for 6 sessions basically to keep students on schedule with personal statements, essays, etc)
3. Applying to "top tier" colleges is probably harder than applying for a job these days

 

[cyclone13]

When choosing which institution to attend, I would encourage you to think a lot about your ROI. For example, if you live in Iowa and your desired major is Biomedical Engineering, you have two excellent options right in your own back yard in Iowa State and Iowa. Very good programs at a great price, relatively speaking.

When you go out of state, you must pay nonresident tuition which is obscene these days. Just because you're talented enough to get in the highly selective schools, you might want to think twice unless you're okay with graduating with a $100,000+ debt.

Our three kids all graduated from ISU and UNI and they're doing just fine. My wife and I worked hard to make sure they'd graduate with zero debt because we thought that would be one of the greatest gifts we could ever give them.

Just my opinion, though.

That's one of the reasons why we didn't do Early Decision (he did Early Actions and Regular Decisions). We don't want to commit to certain school and then figure out that we'll have to pay obscene amount of money.

Some of his friends did - one got accepted at U of Chicago (last year one got in at Northwestern on ED). One friend even admitted that she wasn't sure on how to pay if she got accepted by Brown (she ended up not accepted but she would go to St. Andrews University in Sctoland)

 

[Dopey]

I did not have overbearing parents at all, but my mom very much took the lead on my college search. Besides Iowa State, we visited 2 other public schools that had in-state tuition deals with iowa.

I didn’t necessarily love Iowa State, honestly. I just also didn’t love the others.

I’d say your son is doing it right. Why not see what’s out there? At the end of the day though, i very much agree with the “ROI” comment.

 

[Gonzo]

When choosing which institution to attend, I would encourage you to think a lot about your ROI. For example, if you live in Iowa and your desired major is Biomedical Engineering, you have two excellent options right in your own back yard in Iowa State and Iowa. Very good programs at a great price, relatively speaking.

When you go out of state, you must pay nonresident tuition which is obscene these days. Just because you're talented enough to get in the highly selective schools, you might want to think twice unless you're okay with graduating with a $100,000+ debt.

Our three kids all graduated from ISU and UNI and they're doing just fine. My wife and I worked hard to make sure they'd graduate with zero debt because we thought that would be one of the greatest gifts we could ever give them.

Just my opinion, though.

This has always baffled me. Both our daughters have friends who have gone to or will be going to schools like NW Missouri St., Kansas St., Colorado St., etc. If they were going for some unique specialized degree only available at those schools, I'd understand. But they're not, just your basic ag sciences, biology, etc. KSU is >$20,000 more per year cost of attendance than ISU. NWMSU is >$10,000 more per year. I do know that some schools offer in-state rates for residents coming in from contiguous states, so maybe they're getting that in-state rate, but I don't think they are. So to study ag at KSU you're going to pay an extra $80,000 over 4 years than you'd pay at ISU. And these aren't overly monied families. Baffling.

 

[BCClone]

Last Fall, I started a thread about college search and campus visits. I do appreciate comments from my fellow CFers espcially one mentioning tat the goal is to go to good schools as my son might change his major - the poster was correct: he decided to change his career goal, instead of going to med school, he wants to major either in Biomedical Engineering or Applied Maths & Statistics.

One year later, here we are: still writing essays, waiting and getting announcements. So far he got accepted by U of Minnesota Twin Cities. Still waiting for couple of more announcements in January, including Wisconsin-Madison on the 31st). He got deferred by couple of colleges (we know those 2 would be a reach) but got accepted last week by Notre Dame. Now he's leaning towards ND now, although that means paying much more than U of M. But at the end of the day we'll see how things go and sit down to see what makes sense.

Would love to hear experiences with fellow CFers (either parents or students themselves). I always think it's fun the exchange stories like this.

Can I ask why no ISU?

 

[cyclone13]

This has always baffled me. Both our daughters have friends who have gone to or will be going to schools like NW Missouri St., Kansas St., Colorado St., etc. If they were going for some unique specialized degree only available at those schools, I'd understand. But they're not, just your basic ag sciences, biology, etc. KSU is >$20,000 more per year cost of attendance than ISU. NWMSU is >$10,000 more per year. I do know that some schools offer in-state rates for residents coming in from contiguous states, so maybe they're getting that in-state rate, but I don't think they are. So to study ag at KSU you're going to pay an extra $80,000 over 4 years than you'd pay at ISU. And these aren't overly monied families. Baffling.

Yup, I can't understand that either. I mentor couple of high school kids in a project last year and some of them applied Miami Ohio, University of Tampa, Arizona State etc. Unless, there is no major that you're looking for, my principle that you should only look at private schools or out of state schools if they are significantly better than your in-state public school.

I know the allure of going to certain schools or out of state but I agree with the others related to ROI. That's one of the reasons we didn't look at Iowa and Iowa State just because we'd have to pay OOS tuition, while Wisconsin Madison capped the tuition at 150% of WI residents tuition for MN students and they are more generous in terms of scholarships than Minnesota.

 

[BCClone]

That's one of the reasons why we didn't do Early Decision (he did Early Actions and Regular Decisions). We don't want to commit to certain school and then figure out that we'll have to pay obscene amount of money.

Some of his friends did - one got accepted at U of Chicago (last year one got in at Northwestern on ED). One friend even admitted that she wasn't sure on how to pay if she got accepted by Brown (she ended up not accepted but she would go to St. Andrews University in Sctoland)

Things I stress to my kids, First check out the placement offices. Talk to the heads of them and find out how internships are handled and how they assist. Internships will lead them to better jobs most of the time and easier employment out of school.

Find out when scholarship deadlines are, can cost you several thousand dollars if you don't send a FAFSA to those schools by those deadlines.

 

[cyclone13]

Can I ask why no ISU?

Just because we thought he'd had an excellent chance to go to the U - he's been in their Talented Youth Math Program since he was 7th grade, has been taking dual enrollment at the U since his junior year so we think the U already got familiar with him. So we don't think it makes sense to apply to ISU since he'll have to pay out of state tuition.

U remains an attractive option: he can graduate in 3 years if he wants to with his dual enrollment credits, plus paying in-state tuition. Hard to beat.

The other schools that he applied and/or will apply are in the top 25 (so definitely on the next level than the U), so it's worth to see if he can get admitted and if so, we'll get there

 

[BCClone]

Yup, I can't understand that either. I mentor couple of high school kids in a project last year and some of them applied Miami Ohio, University of Tampa, Arizona State etc. Unless, there is no major that you're looking for, my principle that you should only look at private schools or out of state schools if they are significantly better than your in-state public school.

I know the allure of going to certain schools or out of state but I agree with the others related to ROI. That's one of the reasons we didn't look at Iowa and Iowa State just because we'd have to pay OOS tuition, while Wisconsin Madison capped the tuition at 150% of WI residents tuition for MN students and they are more generous in terms of scholarships than Minnesota.

If you graduated from ISU, your kids get a nice scholarship to attend ISU. May even be in grandparents went, I can't remember. It's only for out of state students so mine didn't qualify. There are also scholarships geared to out of state students I've seen.

 

[BCClone]

Just because we thought he'd had an excellent chance to go to the U - he's been in their Talented Youth Math Program since he was 7th grade, has been taking dual enrollment at the U since his junior year so we don't think it makes sense to apply to ISU since he'll have to pay out of state tuition.

U remains an attractive option: he can graduate in 3 years if he wants to with his dual enrollment credits, plus paying in-state tuition. Hard to beat.

The other schools that he applied and/or will apply are in the top 25 (so definitely on the next level than the U), so it's worth to see if he can get admitted and if so, we'll get there

My sister lives in Austin, MN. I know my nephew, who graduated from the U in May came to Ames a lot due to having many of his friends at ISU for engineering. I asked a couple of these kids why ISU and not the U, they told me it was cheaper at ISU than going to U of M. I didn't dig into it, but they told me it was.

 

[cyclone13]

If you graduated from ISU, your kids get a nice scholarship to attend ISU. May even be in grandparents went, I can't remember. It's only for out of state students so mine didn't qualify. There are also scholarships geared to out of state students I've seen.

Oh I didn't realize that. We actually planned to visit EIU and ISU last spring break and we ended up not doing so.

 

[BryceC]

Honestly with stories I’ve heard of college debt I’m going to encourage my kids to fo 2 years at DMACC then do Iowa State or Iowa. I have a very hard time believing the value of education is significantly different for a general degree at most schools.