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St Peter's College in Jersey City has small class sizes, and maybe better for your son..... though not inclined towards engineering it is an overall good liberal arts college
Hi- thought I would jump on this thread and give my 2 cents. Husband is grad of Engineering from Lehigh- he loves the school & education he got there. I am a RU grad & have extreme respect for the engineering school. My nephew just started engineering at Villanova, which is set up as a small college inside the larger university. It may be pricey, but it is a very good fit for a kid that may do better in a smaller structured environment. Check it out!
I will disagree with some posters here regarding the AS degree. Yes you will save money and yes the transition may be easier for him. IMO however if your son is doing AP level work in math & science at a competitive high school, he will not be challenged at a community college. There are fewer kids at that level in those classes. They tend to go slower and he may be just repeating work he covered in high school.
Good luck & Congrats at your son's achievements!
Earlier you said you hoped his grades would improve as they were "not perfect" and mentioned his ADD which means you clearly believe that is an issue regarding his learning. Now you're saying he is advanced in Math... Could it be Asperger's, perhaps? I'm just finding it difficult to understand what your question is since you wanted to make clear his grades are not great and he has ADD. I figure if it were as simple as he is a very good student you'd have just said that much. Since you mentioned other issues I figure that these are areas of concern. You also said he needs "nurturing" lest he "shut down"...this does not to me sound like someone who should at this point be thinking ahead to PhD when the immediate concern is for nurturing to prevent shutting down (and in most undergrad but definitely in ANY graduate level, even Master's, there is no "nurturing" - it is expected for people to be self-sufficient and do all the work themselves).
Anyway, I'm not sure I understand why an AA is not in the picture - I never said it was the goal, I said it was something he could and would attain on the way to a 4-year degree, and from the 4-year degree he can clearly go on to a Master's and PhD. There are many who started in community college and went on to excellent schools for higher degrees. I had a friend at Columbia who started at Bergen Community, went on to Rutgers, and after that Columbia and from there he went to Stanford for a PhD.
Anyway, if your son is so above community college and you want prestige then I highly recommend Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Penn, and Yale - hopefully those are more in line with what you wanted to hear. But really I think you should consider where you are where you want to go and that the route may not be the "traditional" one of a "prestigious" 4-year college and on to graduate level. I hope your son has all the success in the world, I really do; I just also hope that you set him up for success given the concerns that you yourself are aware of and think are important enough to mention as you ask us total strangers for advice. I see no reason why he can't go from an AA to a good school like Rutgers and then on to any number of great schools for graduate study.
I totally agree with this poster's sentiments. I was also confused by the OP's statements regarding your child. He has ADD, grades are not perfect, but is stellar at math and wants to get his Ph.D in a nurturing environment. I know it's possible, but this whole time I am asking myself one question. What is his GPA and SAT score? I know that there is more to a student than those two numbers, but the reality is that this is the easiest (not the best) way to tell if your child can get into Rutgers, Princeton, or Lehigh (which are all great schools and difficult to get into) or NJIT or Stevens (which are also great schools, but not as selective as the other schools I just mentioned).
I don't expect the OP to tell me this info, but it would help because if he has a GPA around 2.0 with an 800/1600 SAT score then there is a good chance he won't get into Princeton, Rutgers, or Lehigh. But we don't know what kind of student he is.
I also agree with everyone else who's been saying to go get an AA degree at a community college. I personally did not take that route, but I totally see the benefits of it.
It's clear, at least to me, that you really care about your son. I do wish him the best, but I hope that his goals are realistic and sensible as he tries to overachieve.
Rutgers is selective? Well, they did a mighty fine job in selecting Ravi what's his name and Molly Wei - two upstanding students who caused a young man to jump off the GWB. Yes, great selection process.
Rutgers is selective? Well, they did a mighty fine job in selecting Ravi what's his name and Molly Wei - two upstanding students who caused a young man to jump off the GWB. Yes, great selection process.
It's a state school so of course it'll be easier to get into then say Princeton, but you can't get in unless you have a pretty good gpa and sat score.
By the way, real sad about what happened to that young student and the two who were involved. My condolences goes out to the family of that young man.
Don't get caught up in Rankings etc. Unless you're going to MIT, Cal Tech, Irvine, Berkley, engineering is engineering (for Tier 1/2). I'm an engineering grad (private Big East School) who came out with about 80k in debt. I work with guys who went to Poly in Brooklyn, CCNY in manhattan, manhattan college, cooper union etc. My advise, go where it is cheaper. Dont WASTE the money.
For example, I wouldnt waste 55k a year to go to Stevens when you could spend 24k at RU for the same Degree.
The only company that cares where you went to school is your first job out of college.
My son just started 10th grade and is talking about going into engineering, and thinking about an engineering college. He is part of the Robotics Club at his high school and loves it. However, he also loves Civics, History, Law, and I am not sure if he will really end up as an engineer... He likes the idea of teaching as well. He is very bright, yet sensitive and a bit shy. He is also ADD. I am sharing all this with you because I am trying to determine which college we should look into... Ideally, it should be easy enough for him to come home over the weekend if he chooses to. Also, I want a nurturing environment, not strict and cold, as he will shut down. He does best with smart, good people. He is attending one of the best public high schools in central NJ, and his grades are not perfect, but pretty good, showing good progress in moving up levels. He plans to go to graduate school as well. Cost is not an issue for us, however, lower cost is preferable (of course).
Thank you in advance for any tips you can give me.
i'd put my votes to Drexel U for their strong Co-Op program (my bro-in-law went there for civil and architectural and now works for Bovis), or Lehigh for their incredibly strong engineering programs. Chemical Engineers had an awesome average starting salary back when I graduated from Lehigh. The school has gotten even better since I left. Cost is an issue though, but if your student qualifies for scholarships, that can alleviate it.
I don't know much about the NJ schools so i can't really compare...
I had two very good friends at Lehigh with ADD and the program there was really good. They provide a mentor to any students with learning disabilities such as this, and the mentor is another student with the same disability (if they still do it). Also, greek life there is a blast. if he changes his mind on engineering, you have a solid business school, and arts & sciences school.
The trouble is, it's tough to justify paying private tuition for a liberal arts degree in my mind. but if he's mostly decided with a slight possibility of change, i'd pick based on a strong engineering program, but a school that has enough other majors as fallback options.
Don't get caught up in Rankings etc. Unless you're going to MIT, Cal Tech, Irvine, Berkley, engineering is engineering (for Tier 1/2). I'm an engineering grad (private Big East School) who came out with about 80k in debt. I work with guys who went to Poly in Brooklyn, CCNY in manhattan, manhattan college, cooper union etc. My advise, go where it is cheaper. Dont WASTE the money.
For example, I wouldnt waste 55k a year to go to Stevens when you could spend 24k at RU for the same Degree.
The only company that cares where you went to school is your first job out of college.
i've struggled with these thoughts too, but a school like Lehigh does offer some things above and beyond the others. so it really depends on the type of student. Lehigh's Career Services departments is almost a guarantee you'll at least get a few interviews. The compeitition amongst students helps drive others, if they fit in to that mentality. the social aspect gets you ready for real world interaction. my personal view is that the "other" schools that aren't as prestigious, one can be just as successful but it's more up to them individually with less help from the school. of course, there are exceptions to that, but the alumni network alone at some schools is worth a bit of consideration.
Don't get caught up in Rankings etc. Unless you're going to MIT, Cal Tech, Irvine, Berkley, engineering is engineering (for Tier 1/2). I'm an engineering grad (private Big East School) who came out with about 80k in debt. I work with guys who went to Poly in Brooklyn, CCNY in manhattan, manhattan college, cooper union etc. My advise, go where it is cheaper. Dont WASTE the money.
For example, I wouldnt waste 55k a year to go to Stevens when you could spend 24k at RU for the same Degree.
The only company that cares where you went to school is your first job out of college.
Depending upon the financial situation of the family, however, they might be offered more financial aid at a Stevens than at a Rutgers, evening out the cost.
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