Help me decide where to go for college

WonkoTheSane said:

The_Lily said:

Another pretty big deal for me is autocross. If you know my dad or I, you know that I am really into autocross. I know the St. Louis region is insane for autocross, but I'm guessing Springfield, MA is pretty good too because of all the racetracks.

Around here, there are two groups that run consistent Autocross I know of with CART CT, and NE-SVT although LimeRock hosts some themselves.   Cart is a great group of people, but their lots often aren't the best.  I know they have a new one down at the Casino, but I haven't gotten down there myself.   I haven't made it up to the Devins site with NE-SVT, but I hear good things.

It's actually the opposite, I think.  There's so many good tracks around and cheap track time thanks to groups like MassTuning Trackfest that a lot of people (like myself) don't bother with autocross so much.  I know I'm guilty of it, I used to be an avid autocrosser, but since I moved to CT in 2012, I think I've only been to 3.  I can get to three tracks with equal or less travel time than an autocross for most of those events.

Devins Autocross scene and venue is top-notch, with a very good base and some very very talented drivers.  We also have SCCNH, a little further north in NH, which is another excellent club that offers autocross, trackcross, HPDE, and hillclimb opportunities throughout NH and VT. 

I talked to my physics teacher about this decision, and he said I have to decide whether or not I am willing to go to school there. An offer like that is going to be pretty impossible to get anywhere else. I'll have to look into the concentration of GRMrs and rotary drivers in MA. Lol.

New England Region SCCA has a strong autocross program, mostly held at the former Ft. Devens site, as do the marque clubs (BMW CCA, PCA, etc.). 

Not sure how many rotary drivers autocross, but in road racing, NER has a very active IT7 crowd, and a number of very good RX-8 drivers in T4.

Good luck with your decision - my 18 year-old son is just submitting his first round of college applications - non-engineering - so he'll have decisions to make very soon (we hope). He's looking to go warm and maybe west - I would say take the opportunity to try out some place new if you can. Definitely visit the campus to get the feel of the place if you can - we just got back from a visit to a school that looked great on paper, but the vibe was just wrong for my son... Some schools offer weekend programs for accepted students to stay on campus to see if it's a good fit, so look into that if it's an option..

Thanks everyone for the insight into the schools and such. I wish I was better equipped to help guide her in making this decision but, I am waaaay out of my wheelhouse on this one. 


So far, the complete list of schools that are being considered is (in no particular order):


Western Illinois University

Grand Canyon University

Aurora University

Carthage College

Beloit College

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Illinois College

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Western New England University

Washington and Jefferson College

Vermont State University

Some of those are basically non-starters based solely on cost, such as Beloit. Tuition there is $72,000 per year. Even with her $50,000 per year academic scholarship and an estimated FAFSA benefit, it would still be $15,000 per year just for tuition. Sadly, that's beyond my means and I never was able to establish any sort of college savings account, I keep having to start over financially.

But, basically that's the list of institutions she has applied to and been accepted with a promise of an academic scholarship. We're trying to find the perfect compromise between cost, quality, and ...prestige? I'm not sure that's the right word but, basically we're trying to avoid her getting a "useless" degree based on the quality fo the school where she earned it.

In reply to The_Jed :

There's something to be said for the "brand value" of certain schools when it comes to employment; a degree from a school recognized in the field ticks off a box for a reasonable expectation of competence, at least. Conversely, there is little correlation between the prestige of the school and the quality of education the degree confers. I've seen students who slid by for four (or five, or six) years graduate from Ivy League schools, and students who had mastered their field (to the degree that one can as an undergraduate) graduate from small schools no one has even heard of. The name of the school is only worth so much, and only really during the initial portion of the hiring process.

Quality of program is a different matter entirely. Some excellent schools are excellent in some well-known programs, but only marginal in others. Research will help you narrow down which is which.

I know nothing of engineering programs, so I'll leave the ranking of the available options to others.

In reply to The_Jed :

Looking at the list, my first thought is,  "you're never gonna win a College Football National Championship at any of those schools." 

There are a lot of different areas of Mechanical Engineering, so I would recommend checking into that first.  I work with a lot mechanical engineers who didn't plan on engineering HVAC and hydronic piping systems, but that's where they ended up.   Conversely, there's my ex- who actually did go to school for that (academically, it's called "Architectural Engineering") but I don't know if she's all that happy with that career choice.  But it pays her bills and lets her buy a lot of cars. 

I tend to agree with the "gap year" idea but it really depends on the individual.  I went straight from high school to college and wasn't ready for it at all. As a result my first couple of years at college were terrible.   I was commuting at the time since I couldn't afford to live on campus.  I think that was a mistake.  But I was also a terrible student in high school and I needed some time away from academics to get some maturity slapped into me.  I had numerous friends who did go straight from HS to college and excelled, so again - individual specific.

Beyond that, be open to change.  I started out as Mechanical Engineering major, then started to learn what engineers usually do and wanted no part of that life (Ha!)... but at the same time I discovered I enjoyed writing a lot more than math and moved to journalism at a different school... only to end up working as an electrical engineer some years after that.  I dunno... definitely not my first choice, but I'm reasonably good at it and it pays the bills. 

Best laid plans of mice and men... or something like that. 

In reply to John Welsh :

I'm not exactly the sports ball type. Lol.

I'm only familiar with WNEU and WPI on that list. For what it's worth, I think WPI is more connected with industry (at least in the aerospace and defense sector that's pretty big in New England) than WNEU. If finances were comparable, I'd choose WPI > WNEU.

Congrats on having so many options available to you, and snagging some good scholarship money along the way.

Mo. S&T in Rolla is said to be an excellent engineering school.  Maybe a bit of a hidden gem. 

In reply to The_Jed :

Missouri S&T and WPI are the only schools I recognize as being "engineering schools".  I raced sae mini Baja against S&T and I knew many people at Hamilton Sunstrand(now Collins aerospace) in windsor CT and Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford Ct who went to WPI.  WPI is also close to Raytheon's hq in the Boston area  

Ultimately I'd say "reputation" comes third for me.   The first is, does the kid feel like the belong at the school.  If the kid is in an environment where they can thrive. They will. this includes distance from home. My wife moved to a school closer to home because she couldn't deal with being 4 states away. 
 

cost is number two  

last is reputation,  while important  it only matters for the handful of years right after school   After that  the kiddo is on their own  

lastly  I want to say you're doing a great job as a dad  keep it up    

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

I agree! He's the best dad ever!

I've decided that I'm going to SIUE. The distance for WNEU is just too much. Also, I shook a Magic 8 ball, and it said that I should go to SIUE. Thank you everyone for your input! Feel free to talk more about experiences with SIUE.

congrats!  Enjoy  the ride!!! 

In reply to The_Lily :

Congratulations on coming to a decision - that's no easy task.

Make sure to give yourself some mental space at school to explore new things and take advantage of the resources and opportunities available to you.

Good luck on the upcoming term!