Aerospace Engineering schools for a rising senior

<p>Hello, this is my first post on here after lurking for a long time. I was looking for some recommendations for schools with Aerospace Engineering.
So far I am planning to apply to Purdue, University of Minnesota, Mississippi State University, and University of Kansas (Legacy).</p>

<p>Home State: Arkansas
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: Does not rank
Rank: 20/194
AP: High school has no AP classes
SAT: N/A
ACT: 29
EC's: Yearbook and School Broadcast Journalism
Job: Cashier working 25 hours on average through the school year.</p>

<p>School size: Medium to large
Affordability: Parents can pay 18K a year</p>

<p>Are there any other schools that I can add to my list?</p>

<p>Why state do you live in? U of I has an excellent engineering program.</p>

<p>Look at the sticky threads in [Financial</a> Aid & Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/]Financial”>Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums) about automatic and competitive full tuition and full ride scholarships.</p>

<p>Check your in-state public universities as well. Run net price calculators on them and other schools to get need-based financial aid estimates.</p>

<p>kns1444, I live in Arkansas but I am not really interested in any of the schools in state. Mississippi state or KU would be the same price or cheaper.</p>

<p>If you get your scores up you may get merit scholarships to some of those schools, but right now, a 29 won’t get you merit scholarships to get costs down to $18k…except maybe at Miss St. Purdue and likely UMinn would expect you to pay full freight.</p>

<p>Since you don’t have an in-state aerospace engineering program, you may qualify for reduced tuition out-of-state through the Academic Common Market. Contact them to find out:
<a href=“http://www.sreb.org/page/1304/academic_common_market.html[/url]”>Academic Common Market - Southern Regional Education Board;

<p>I think Oklahoma State is especially noteworthy.</p>

<p>Be aware that the above option does not give you much flexibility in terms of major, so you need to be sure about aerospace.</p>

<p>You are unlikely to get Purdue, Minnesota, or Kansas down to <$18k/yr.</p>

<p>UArk is a solid school, and you should probably apply there as a safety. Mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering are all very relevant to the aerospace industry.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies. I do realize that Purdue and University of Minnesota are most likely far out of my league financially. I think that Mississippi State is one of the best opportunities for me because I qualify for in state tuition.</p>

<p>Get your ACT up to 30 and you will qualify for full tuition plus $2500 from Alabama. Total cost would be under 15k. They have aerospace engineering, a massive new engineering complex, and the best football team in the country.</p>

<p>How do you qualify for MS State residency? Their policy seems to indicate otherwise: <a href=“HTTP Error 404”>HTTP Error 404;

<p>^^^
Maybe he means that he qualifies by stats.</p>

<p>^ Or via the ACM program.</p>

<p>Interesting - that’s why I asked. Probably the ACM since Aero Eng is a qualified major from AR</p>

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Well, then he’d get instate tuition at Bama as well since he’s from Ark and he’d get the ACM. </p>

<p>Altho I like Miss State, it tends to be more provincial while Bama draws more from outside of the region.</p>

<p>I would recommend that he retest, though. If he gets a 30 or a 1330 M+CR SAT, then Bama and eng’g would give him totally free tuition plus 2500 per year.</p>

<p>Here is a three year old ranking of undergraduate programs in engineering from USNWR. Things really haven’t changed very much since then:</p>

<p>Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (Where highest degree is a doctorate)
Ranked in 2010
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 4.8
2 Stanford University Stanford, CA 4.7
3 University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA 4.6
4 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 4.5
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 4.5
6 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL 4.4
7 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 4.3
8 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 4.2
Cornell University Ithaca, NY 4.2
Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN 4.2
11 Princeton University Princeton, NJ 4.1
University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX 4.1
13 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 3.9
Northwestern University Evanston, IL 3.9
University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 3.9
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 3.9
17 Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA 3.8
Texas A&M University–College Station College Station, TX 3.8
19 Rice University Houston, TX 3.7
University of California–Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 3.7
University of Maryland–College Park College Park, MD 3.7
22 Duke University Durham, NC 3.6
University of California–San Diego La Jolla, CA 3.6
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN 3.6
University of Washington Seattle, WA 3.6
26 Columbia University New York, NY 3.5
Harvard University Cambridge, MA 3.5
North Carolina State University–Raleigh Raleigh, NC 3.5
Ohio State University–Columbus Columbus, OH 3.5
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 3.5
University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 3.5
32 University of California–Davis Davis, CA 3.4
University of Colorado–Boulder Boulder, CO 3.4
University of Florida Gainesville, FL 3.4
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 3.4
36 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA 3.3
University of California–Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 3.3
University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 3.3
Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 3.3
40 Brown University Providence, RI 3.2
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 3.2
Iowa State University Ames, IA 3.2
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 3.2
Yale University New Haven, CT 3.2
45 Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 3.1
Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 3.1
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ 3.1
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 3.1
University of California–Irvine Irvine, CA 3.1
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 3.1
Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO 3.1
52 Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO 3.0
Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 3.0
University of Delaware Newark, DE 3.0
University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA 3.0
56 Auburn University Auburn University, AL 2.9
Boston University Boston, MA 2.9
Clemson University Clemson, SC 2.9
Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 2.9
Northeastern University Boston, MA 2.9
Tufts University Medford, MA 2.9
University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 2.9
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 2.9
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA 2.9
65 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL 2.8
Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY 2.8
SUNY–Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 2.8
Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 2.8
University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY 2.8
University of Illinois–Chicago Chicago, IL 2.8
University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 2.8
University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 2.8
Washington State University Pullman, WA 2.8
74 Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 2.7
Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI 2.7
Missouri University of Science & Technology Rolla, MO 2.7
University of Rochester Rochester, NY 2.7
78 Brigham Young University–Provo Provo, UT 2.6
Clarkson University Potsdam, NY 2.6
New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ 2.6
Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK 2.6
Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 2.6
Polytechnic Institute of New York University Brooklyn, NY 2.6
Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ 2.6
Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX 2.6
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 2.6
University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 2.6
University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 2.6
University of Missouri Columbia, MO 2.6
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, NE 2.6
University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 2.6
University of North Carolina–Charlotte Charlotte, NC 2.6
University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 2.6
94 George Washington University Washington, DC 2.5
Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge Baton Rouge, LA 2.5
University of California–Riverside Riverside, CA 2.5
University of Central Florida Orlando, FL 2.5
98 Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 2.4
San Diego State University San Diego, CA 2.4
Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 2.4
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL 2.4 </p>

<p>You are definitely an above average student. Don’t settle for mediocre.</p>

<p>

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<p>The minimum standard imposed by ABET accreditation means that the quality range for engineering bachelor’s degree programs is much narrower than for many other subjects. Given that the OP has a significant cost constraint, s/he may have relatively few choices compared to someone who does not have cost constraints – but those with ABET-accredited engineering degree programs will be at least decent for the purpose of learning engineering.</p>

<p>rjkofnovi, I just want to point out that ranking is of schools with Doctorate programs attached. It does NOT incorporate schools which only have undergrads (like the Academies and Embry Riddle)</p>

<p>And of course, choosing a quality accredited school offering a big scholarship or low tuition is not “settling for mediocre”.</p>