EPTNo real problem with that, the rule of thumb is usually apply early to the schools you truly want to attend
The College Process - Page 4
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catplanetcatplanet
3836 Posts
No real problem with that, the rule of thumb is usually apply early to the schools you truly want to attend | ||
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ZeaL.
United States5955 Posts
Along that line of thought, Stevens and Caltech are also worth looking into as well. And don't want to spark that debate about college name brand vs price, but I have gotten jobs from the connections I made in college and the "brand" of the college has boosted my job apps a few times, and I work in science/academia. I know in the comp sci department, google, microsoft, adobe, +others would visit every year to recruit. Not sure if this happens at middle/lower tier schools. Edit: Was just gonna add Cal poly SLO and cal poly pomona. Lower tier but still respectable if you want to go to Cali. Also not sure why you have UCLA and not Berkeley, Berkeley's CS/engineering is top tier. | ||
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krndandaman
Mozambique16569 Posts
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IgnE
United States7681 Posts
On October 08 2013 03:26 Vegetarian Wolf wrote: So who are you and what are your qualifications that lets you make these claims? "Gee, my friends, teachers, and parents must all be lying to me and really just want to see me fail and go into crippling debt because that would satisfy their perverse desire to see me suffer, good thing that guy on TL set me straight!" You sound really bitter did you pay 50k/yr to go to a school and not get a job or something? My qualifications are living in reality. I went to a state school for undergrad and an ivy for graduate school. I have a job. I am just telling you how it is for everyone in a post-2008 world. Your mocking quote is ridiculous. Parents and teachers and friends don't know any better and neither do you apparently. That doesn't make them malicious. I get the feeling that most people in this thread haven't actually graduated yet. I think some other people need to get some perspective here. The OP clearly isn't going to MIT or Princeton where they actually give financial aid instead of student debt. What's the point in telling him that if he gets into MIT or Princeton or Harvard he won't have to pay off massive loans? But if he goes to Stevens he is going to be paying massive tuition and New York living expenses. All for an average education, some minor name recognition, and a massive load of debt. | ||
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IgnE
United States7681 Posts
On October 08 2013 07:04 CecilSunkure wrote: Dude just apply to places. Apply everywhere you're even slightly interested in. There's no reason to not apply to a school unless you actually don't qualify (e.g. did not take SAT 2 test), or actually know you will not attend no matter what (you hate the school, school is a money pit). Don't be lazy or scared! Just do it. Top schools do not always mean lots of debt. I'm in a very expensive private school and will have like 200k+ in debt. It doesn't matter because I'll be making good money when I graduate, as my program has a good hiring rate. The point is: you don't know much at all, so by rejecting schools you're only shutting down opportunities of which you know nothing about. Don't be naive! Yes, don't be naive. Don't take on $200k in debt for a merely "good" hiring rate. You are basically taking on a mortgage without having even worked yet. To make matters worse, not everyone gets hired. What happens if you find out that you are $50k in debt, going into your sophomore year and you hate what you are doing? Now you want to transfer out with the $50k into a field with lower-paying prospects? Nothing against Cecil, I am sure he will be fine. But no college undergrad is going to be making more than ~75k out of college. $200k in debt is more than $2,000 a month for the next 10 years in payments. Even if you are making 75k, and bringing in $4k a month, you are paying out $2k in loans, and at least $1k in rent because you have to be in a city to be making that money. Sure maybe if you work 70 hour work weeks you can be making twice as much money in 4-5 years out of college, but you are still being worked like a wage slave, probably in a financial institution, doing work that you don't really care about. And that's best case. Worst case we hit another financial crisis before you graduate, Goldman Sachs isn't hiring anymore and you default on your debt that you can't even get out from under through bankruptcy. You spend the next 20 years of your life with your wages being garnished. Does it work for some people? Yes. Is it worth it for most people? Definitely not. Are you the top 10% of the aspirational 15% going to over-priced schools? Or are you unsure of what you want to do and how you want to do it? Best option is going to the best school you can go to for essentially free. The only major benefit to going to substantially better schools is being around generally smarter people. But most schools are so big you can find smart people if you look. (BTW, almost every single school out there is outright lying about their hiring rate. Usually they are based on self-reporting, 9 months out, and tweaked in other ways to make it look as high as possible. Do not be fooled.) | ||
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packrat386
United States5077 Posts
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IgnE
United States7681 Posts
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babylon
8765 Posts
On October 08 2013 10:49 IgnE wrote: This isn't about whether college is effective or not. This is about how to decide where to go to college. Yeah, but they can decide after they get their acceptance letters, lol. Some people are fortunate enough to get merit/financial aid, and some people also have very generous parents who are willing to pay for their undergrad degrees (not uncommon for Asian parents*). *If your parents are this generous, please remember to be nice to them, and also please refrain from drinking all of your undergrad away. | ||
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catplanetcatplanet
3836 Posts
edit: @igne and others, sorry babbylon! | ||
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IgnE
United States7681 Posts
@above yes i am. My advice is very clear and very practical. | ||
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IgnE
United States7681 Posts
On October 08 2013 11:02 babylon wrote: Yeah, but they can decide after they get their acceptance letters, lol. Some people are fortunate enough to get merit/financial aid, and some people also have very generous parents who are willing to pay for their undergrad degrees (not uncommon for Asian parents*). *If your parents are this generous, please remember to be nice to them, and also please refrain from drinking all of your undergrad away. OP said he comes from modest means and doesn't have the money to pay full sticker price. But I guess you didn't read the OP. Look, college is a great time in your life, especially for non-academic reasons. And you can really get that anywhere. Justifying paying $50k a year because you are going to have a great time socially, etc. is absurd because you really can do that anywhere. Every campus in America has great people and great mentors on it. Moreover, your education is mostly self-driven. College is easy. Everywhere. It's a fact. Your motivation has to come from within. Paying $50k a year to go to a mid tier private school won't help you with that. | ||
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catplanetcatplanet
3836 Posts
On October 08 2013 11:04 IgnE wrote: Which is why I said go to the best school you get into that is essentially free. @above yes i am. My advice is very clear and very practical. alright fair enough, it just devolved into an off topic argument then Also Harvey Mudd seems like a school for people who are wholly set on their major already. How strong is their CS compared to their engineering? | ||
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babylon
8765 Posts
On October 08 2013 11:07 IgnE wrote: OP said he comes from modest means and doesn't have the money to pay full sticker price. But I guess you didn't read the OP. I was responding to your very general post, to qualify your very general post with slightly less general exceptions. Most of my posts in this thread have been very general, but I guess you just want to start an argument. And "middle-class" can mean anything up to six figures these days depending on who you talk to. Anyways, there's nothing terrible about applying to 1-2 top privates. You could get lucky with admissions and with aid/scholarships. It's been known to happen. | ||
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IgnE
United States7681 Posts
On October 08 2013 11:12 babylon wrote: I was responding to your very general post, to qualify your very general post with slightly less general exceptions. Most of my posts in this thread have been very general, but I guess you just want to start an argument. And "middle-class" can mean anything up to six figures these days depending on who you talk to. Anyways, there's nothing terrible about applying to 1-2 top privates. You could get lucky with admissions and with aid/scholarships. It's been known to happen. I'm all for applying places to see if you get merit-based or debt-free assistance. | ||
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babylon
8765 Posts
On October 08 2013 11:20 IgnE wrote: I'm all for applying places to see if you get merit-based or debt-free assistance. Excellent! We all agree that debt = bad, and substantial debt (e.g. Cecil-level) = Very Bad and Highly Questionable. Especially for undergraduate. And for grad school too, depending. | ||
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ZeaL.
United States5955 Posts
However, if you don't mind being around a bunch of very intelligent, nerdy tech folks and aren't worried about the class size of like 250 (if you get tired of them you can hang out with the girls at Pomona/Scripps) it's going to give you probably one of the best educations you can get at a college. The CS program there is among the best, along with engineering. If you plan on staying on the west coast harvey mudd is a pretty big name as well. It's pretty much the best liberal arts college out there for science/engineering but that also makes it one of the most selective. If you get an acceptance here, take a look for sure. I did and ended up choosing an Ivy mostly because HM felt too close to home, but it was a very tough decision. Btw, Day9 is an alumn ^^ And IgnE, stop being a downer. These kids are applying right now with no idea what their futures hold. Even though the OP's stats aren't the best there's always a chance he can make it into a great school that gives great financial aid, that's just the dice roll of apps. I know it's important to ensure that you get your money's worth in college but they haven't even sent their apps in yet, much less get their acceptances/rejections. | ||
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