ACT: 35
UWGPA: 3.83
WGPA: 3.28
Residency: Oregon
Major: Chemical Engineering (not dead set on this)
ECs: Not good enough to get scholarships that are not solely/primarily based on academic performance.
I know I can go to somewhere like Oregon State or U Alabama for no tuition – however, I’m looking to expand my list to more selective schools (potentially near more urban areas), which would also give me good merit aid (hoping for total CoA of 30k or less).
I’ve got CO School of Mines and Cal Poly SLO on my list, as well as URochester, RPI, Case Western and NEU, although the last four would likely be significantly above 30k per year after scholarships. If possible, I’d be looking for more schools like CO Mines and SLO, where the CoA is manageable (parents willing to contribute ~20k per year, rest is on me). Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Are you eligible for any need-based aid? Because your stats are good enough to at least have a shot at some highly selective schools that meet full need (like Rice, Cornell, Vandy).
I’ve heard that Purdue and Ohio State have good scholarships but I don’t know how much.
I missed the deadline for Purdue and Ohio Scholarships, unfortunately (hadn’t looked into them at all before now).
I might be eligible for some need-based aid, since my FAFSA EFC is around 50k, but not much. I’m not sure if Rice/Cornell/Vanderbilt are worth going into ~120k of debt (after my parents’ contribution).
@Proudpatriot I’ve definitely been looking into Case Western. Their net price calculator says I would get about 26.5k per year. Would you say that that’s worthwhile for an engineering degree, when compared to CO School of Mines or Cal Poly SLO (if you’re familiar with those schools)?
No, they wouldn’t be worth going into that much debt for. Yeah with an EFC of 50K, getting need based aid will be tough. I do think you have a good shot at substantial merit from RPI but you have that on your list already. Did you try TAMU?
@insanedreamer I was looking at Texas A&M, and specifically their OOS tuition waiver. There used to be an OOS tuition waiver for those who got a scholarship above $1000 – however, unfortunately for me, this is being raised to $4000 starting Fall 2017. If I were able to get an OOS tuition waiver, it would be worthwhile to go there, but I don’t know to what extent that’s feasible for me.
@turkle321 Pitt does give good sized merit to stats like yours but gets more competitive yr over yr. I have 3 kids who have gone/go to Pitt with similar stats and merit ranging from 10k/yr-full tuition
@amandakayak that’s good to know, thanks! I don’t think 10k a year would be enough for me, though, especially since they ask for top 3% of High School class for their scholarships. Since I go to the wealthiest public school in my state, my class rank is not commensurate with my other stats (top decile for weighted, top quartile for unweighted).
I think it’s worth trying to apply to TAMU and see if you get the OOS fee waiver.
Also, Arizona State’s Polytechnic campus - which also houses part of ASU’s school of engineering - is a member of WUE so you get reduced tuition as an Oregon resident.
@insanedreamer Thanks for the suggestions! My perception of ASU (which could be totally wrong), however, is that it’s not super strong academically, and that it’s mainly a party school. I will, however, definitely apply to UT Austin – I hadn’t realized it offered the same tuition waiver as TAMU.
Yeah, I’m not saying I’d recommend ASU over your other options, but in terms of engineering it actually has a pretty good reputation (US News ranks it considerably higher than OSU or Bama for undergrad engineering, on par with Case Western - though take all rankings with a grain of salt). Granted that ranking is for its Tempe campus which isn’t in WUE. But apparently some of its engineering school has been moved to the Polytechnic campus - check their website for details.
Also, check NCSU - not sure what they offer in terms of OOS waivers, but you could research it. Good engineering. Other good ones are Maryland-CP, UF and V-Tech.