Jump to content

Menu

Public/private universites in California - reviews/opinions please


mirabillis
 Share

Recommended Posts

My daughter said no to mid west or southern universities. She agreed to south west states. Arizona and New México are good ones to get merit. In the end she wanted to stay in state. She is an hour and a half from home, which was a very good thing indeed when she had an unexpected and serious health crisis last year.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's health crisis. There are definite advantages to being closer to home.  :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for posting this!  I checked it out and indeed there are some hefty scholarships (22k for a 4.0/1470, 29k for 4.0/1480+), though the COA starting point is 73k.

 

This is the part of the sticker shock I have not gotten used yet. Generous scholarships are relative when the cost of attendance is astronomical to begin with. This sort of reminds me of the retail stores that jack up their prices prior to their big sale then offer a fantastic discount. I now know these costs have become the new normal for some private schools. It still places it out of the realm of possibility for us, especially when the out of pocket costs are 30-40k+ per year per child.

Edited by dereksurfs
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The price games are kind of driving me nuts.  It's hard enough as it is to get a sense of value of various aspects of degree/reputation and well beyond those to fit factors.

Not sure if a real "price game" - some rich foreigners pay full price at many colleges

 

https://www.niche.com/colleges/chapman-university/cost/

 

always have to look at YOUR bottom line

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are full pay.  At least some schools, like the Chapman example, provide scholarship info up front, so that we can determine whether the cost might be worth the value (as we perceive the value to be), or not.

Any merit aid?

 

Here in AZ some merit aid is available for top students - both public and private.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are full pay.  At least some schools, like the Chapman example, provide scholarship info up front, so that we can determine whether the cost might be worth the value (as we perceive the value to be), or not.

 

I'm still pretty new to this price game which seems to really vary student to student as much as it does school to school depending on who they are trying to 'attract' any particular year. Do you think private, expensive schools like Chapman will only show you general merit scholarship info like this upfront. Those estimation calculators only go so far. Then only when you actually apply will you really know the cost of attendance? I'm not talking about additional needs based assistance or sports scholarships, neither of which we would qualify for.

Edited by dereksurfs
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are full pay. At least some schools, like the Chapman example, provide scholarship info up front, so that we can determine whether the cost might be worth the value (as we perceive the value to be), or not.

It’s not guaranteed scholarships though

 

“Please note, Chapman's academic scholarships are highly sought-after awards given at the discretion of the admission committee and not guaranteed for any students.â€

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any merit aid?

 

This is what I'm exploring now.  Of course that depends entirely on the school - probably not if the reported 75th percentile is higher than the scores in question.  Of course we will poke around at WUE and the other lower cost options at the very least to know what's out there, what the menu of possibilities is.  We are in a position to pay if we think the value is there (how's that for a vague cost/benefit balance!), though the comparison is always going to be the state flagship, which is a bargain with or without merit for some majors but probably not awesome for others.

 

Do you think private, expensive schools like Chapman will only show you general merit scholarship info like this upfront. Those estimation calculators only go so far. Then only when you actually apply will you really know the cost of attendance? I'm not talking about additional needs based assistance or sports scholarships, neither of which we would qualify for.

 

From the few more selective privates that give merit that I've poked around at, there are typically a variety of scholarships for which you wouldn't know unless you apply.

 

Are you finding the net price calculator by income level to be accurate?

 

I'm not sure what you mean by accurate - we are a year away from even applying but are full pay without question.  However, I am starting to notice that some NPCs also serve to calculate possible merit via scores and possibly gpa.  How accurate the NPCs might be for merit, I have NO idea so if there are experiences/opinions on that, feel free to share.

Edited by wapiti
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does it seem like the majority of quality private universities in CA are all very expensive when compared to other states (bang for the buck)?

 

For those in-state, it really makes one consider outside options especially if looking for affordability. We are in the 'donut hole' as are many others. Consequently private is out of reach for most unless receiving close to full ride scholarships at these high cost schools. Even the lessor known, unranked schools are expensive.

 

I can't speak to the majority, but my daughter applied to Harvey Mudd. The housing cost was notably higher than that of schools to which she had applied in other states, to the point that it wasn't very affordable even had she received a full tuition scholarship.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't speak to the majority, but my daughter applied to Harvey Mudd. The housing cost was notably higher than that of schools to which she had applied in other states, to the point that it wasn't very affordable even had she received a full tuition scholarship.

 

Seriously, even with full tuition? That's seems pretty crazy. Ok, I had to see it to believe it. And well, yes. Its almost 20k for room, board, books and fees. For some of us, that's still a lot of money especially if you have multiple kids going to college.

 

To be fair though, I've been seeing ~ 15k to be norm with some a little more and some a little less. I wonder if part of it has to do with the higher cost of housing in some parts of CA. Stanford, for example, is ~ 17k where housing costs are even higher.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right now, my main spreadsheet only has three columns for COA (tuition, R&B, and miscellaneous - I am too lazy to separate out further) and noticed that there is some variability in "fees."  For example, some COAs included books, student health insurance, and travel, some do not, etc.  I was surprised that the misc column was not insignificant for some schools.

 

ETA, ouch, Mudd is more expensive than any school on my spreadsheet ($74.4k).  Board, in particular, seems outrageous at 8k, though tuition is also the steepest I've seen at 54.3k.

Edited by wapiti
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

ETA, ouch, Mudd is more expensive than any school on my spreadsheet ($74.4k). Board, in particular, seems outrageous at 8k, though tuition is also the steepest I've seen at 54.3k.

Harvey Mudd boarding cost is similar to relatively nearby Caltech which list estimate of boarding cost at $8,391. UCLA is much more costly at $15,143

 

My kids did think Harvey Mudd College campus is very small even though the entire Claremont campus is not small. We park at the visitor parking between building 9 and 11. Visitor parking is very limited. Building 11 is where the dining commons is and was operational on a Sunday.

 

HMC campus and parking map https://www.hmc.edu/map/downloads/harvey-mudd-college-parking-map.pdf

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Harvey Mudd boarding cost is similar to relatively nearby Caltech which list estimate of boarding cost at $8,391. UCLA is much more costly at $15,143

 

My kids did think Harvey Mudd College campus is very small even though the entire Claremont campus is not small. We park at the visitor parking between building 9 and 11. Visitor parking is very limited. Building 11 is where the dining commons is and was operational on a Sunday.

 

HMC campus and parking map https://www.hmc.edu/map/downloads/harvey-mudd-college-parking-map.pdf

 

UCLA's 15k includes room, though I don't see them broken out.  15k for room and board together is very normal and would be my rule of thumb.  Room at Mudd is 9.5k, for a total of 17.6k for room and board together.  (Board is just food.)

 

ETA, now I'm curious.  The following are all very typical costs:

 

LMU Room and board = 14k

USC room and board = 15k

Chapman board is <5k per year

Stanford room and board = 15.1k

Santa Clara room and board = 14.5

 

Pomona has two different costs for 16-meal plans (the same # of meals as the Mudd 8k) and they're both <7k.  Pitzer is $6,886 for the 16-meal plan.  Claremont gets pricier at $7,490 for the 16-meal plan.  Scrips also pricey at $7422.  But none approach Mudd's 8k - weird.

Edited by wapiti
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right now, my main spreadsheet only has three columns for COA (tuition, R&B, and miscellaneous - I am too lazy to separate out further) and noticed that there is some variability in "fees."  For example, some COAs included books, student health insurance, and travel, some do not, etc.  I was surprised that the misc column was not insignificant for some schools.

 

ETA, ouch, Mudd is more expensive than any school on my spreadsheet ($74.4k).  Board, in particular, seems outrageous at 8k, though tuition is also the steepest I've seen at 54.3k.

I did a spreadsheet as well

Harvey Mudd was the most costly one on ours

so we crossed it off

 

https://www.niche.com/colleges/harvey-mudd-college/cost/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we visited the Claremont Colleges two weeks ago, the students we saw all said that Mudd had the best food.

The food was not tempting even for my less picky eater :lol: We reached there around lunch time. Both my boys usually cook their own meals to cater to their own tastebuds when at home. When they are at colleges, they buy sushi ($13) or Panda Express orange chicken and chow mien ($8.99) from the colleges’ food courts.

 

Out of curiosity,

 

“2017–2018 Dining Hall Rates

Student Board Plus

Breakfast: $4.00

Lunch: $5.00

Dinner: $6.25

 

Faculty and Staff

Breakfast: $6.50

Lunch: $8.25

Dinner: $10.00

 

Door / Guest

Breakfast: $11.00

Lunch: $14.00

Dinner: $17.00†https://www.hmc.edu/bao/dining-services/hoch-shanahan-dining-commons/

 

Their menu https://hmc.sodexomyway.com/smgmenu/display/harvey%20mudd%20college%20-%20resident%20dining

 

UCLA’s dining services menu http://menu.dining.ucla.edu/Menus

 

Caltech’s dining services menu http://www.dining.caltech.edu/documents/59-boardmenu.pdf

 

ETA:

My kids want to commute because they want to sleep on their own bed, not have roommates, and can cook their own meals. My oldest was not impressed with dorms so he isn’t keen on residential summer camps as well (oh well).

Edited by Arcadia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

From what I got out of reading CC threads, there are some merit scholarships available at SCU but they are very hard to predict (opaque) and the amount is variable over a broad range.  Naturally, the stats to get into the engineering school are higher than for the school overall, though reading through the threads over on CC, some of the rejections of higher-stat engineering students were surprising to me (is that Tufts syndrome?  I got the sense that it wasn't but who knows).  SCU has not posted a profile for Class of 2021 beyond a news snippet or two (overall average SAT composite 1371) - the website still has Class of 2020 and no CDS is up yet unless I missed it.

 

The NPC gives some sort of automatic merit award based on SAT scores but I have to believe that is old info ($9k if you plug in a score around the current average).

 

Recently we were seated at a dinner with a bright, successful guy from Silicon Valley and I asked about SCU's reputation.  On the one hand, he confirmed that yes, indeed, students from SCU get internships and employment in the valley.  On the other hand, he comes from an east-coast perspective and wasn't especially impressed with the school's ranking (as he assumed it to be).

 

It is a popular option for students from my kids' Jesuit high school.

 

It runs on a quarter system.

SCU has an amazing full-ride scholarship through the Johnson Scholars Program. It is pretty competitive, but the award is amazing: https://www.scu.edu/johnsonscholars/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Revisiting this thread. My DD asked me (again?) about Stanford this morning. What can one say about a university that is excellent in so many different unrelated schools and colleges. It's a great university.

A close family friend got denied at Stanford with 5s on over 10 AP exams, four different foreign languages, sports, and ton of math awards.

 

It’s a lottery school. Play and don’t be disappointed if you don’t win.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A close family friend got denied at Stanford with 5s on over 10 AP exams, four different foreign languages, sports, and ton of math awards.

 

It’s a lottery school. Play and don’t be disappointed if you don’t win.

 

Obviously it is EXTREMELY competitive.  For those who get in, an excellent school.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously it is EXTREMELY competitive. For those who get in, an excellent school.

Your daughter does have the benefit of not being from the SF Bay Area where they get plenty of applicants.

 

Run the net price calculator for Stanford. It is close enough estimate for those we know whose children got in and the parents are staying in San Jose “outskirts†(as in not downtown where Google wants to build).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A close family friend got denied at Stanford with 5s on over 10 AP exams, four different foreign languages, sports, and ton of math awards.

 

It’s a lottery school. Play and don’t be disappointed if you don’t win.

You can't win if you don't play. ;)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...