<p>I'm looking for some help finding colleges to apply to this year. Money is a pretty large factor; I wouldn't like to pay more than 10-15k a year if possible while still finding a respectable school. I just got my November SATs back: CR-680 Math-800 Writing-760. Would these scores give me a good chance for scholarships and if so, where? I'm looking to major in Civil Engineering and I live in PA with about a 3.9 UW GPA. </p>
<p>To make things a little more interesting, I am currently taking a gap year. I applied to about 11 schools last year as a senior and didn't end up where I wanted to be. I'm going to Germany in January to do an internship for 6 months. I got denied to 6 schools last year with SAT scores about 200 points lower and no outstanding ECs. So far this year I've applied to Temple, Clemson, Alabama, and Maryland. Anybody know of some places that may be able to offer me some money? Any and all opinions are appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response, that is also why I applied to Alabama by december 1st. Most of the other schools on that list don’t really interest me. If I had to pick some states where I’d be willing to go I’d say PA/NY/NJ/MD/VA/NC/SC (Alabama is an exception purely because of their full tuition scholarship). Are there any other schools that don’t necessarily give full rides but are known for good merit aid? My family income is in the 100-120k range but we have 4 kids to send through college. Is it true that a school like duke or an ivy will make sure it’s financially possible for you to go there if you get accepted? </p>
<p>Again:
Civil Engineering
M:800 CR:680 W:760 C: 2240
3.9 UW
Small, private school
SE PA</p>
<p>You can run the Net Price Calculators at schools that interest you to see how affordable they might be. Try the Harvard calculator - it’s very simple compared to most, and they are one if the most generous schools for need-based aid. If it doesn’t predict aid close to what you are looking for, then need-based aid is probably not going to be the answer for you.</p>
<p>Penn State is an obvious choice - it’s a good engineering school and in-state public costs are hard to beat.</p>
<p>You might look at NC State, Clemson, or Auburn, all strong engineering schools where you might be offered large merit aid.</p>
<p>Yes, however they will give you a package based on what **they think **it is financially possible for your family to pay. There may be a big difference between what the school believes that your family can pay based on their income and assets and what your family thinks that they can pay.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the responses. These were precisely my problems last year. I forgot to mention that I did get accepted to Penn State last year and I even put my deposit down there before I ended up taking the year off. I found that (even in-state) Penn State’s price is not as hard to beat as you may think. They gave me no money whatsoever so I would have ended up paying over 25k a year. I wouldn’t mind going there but they’re not very generous to incoming freshman from my experience. Maybe I will look more into NC State and Auburn, though. And as I said before I did apply to Clemson and their honors college already.</p>
<p>Having 4 kids to put through college doesn’t help except for the years that more than one child is actually enrolled simultaneously. In those years, you might see some benefit.</p>
<p>Julia88, this thread is 10 months old and OP’s issues were resolved a long time ago. I’m guessing you got here by searching “Germany”, but it’s important to check the dates on a thread before posting so the forum isn’t cluttered with obsolete material. Making things worse, you offered advice on acceptance to schools in Germany when that wasn’t even the question the OP posed.</p>