<p>GT is my son's 1st choice. Just in case he is not a fit, what are some good alternate schools with good engineering programs? Looking for schools with slightly lower admission requirements. Preferably in the SE, but willing to look farther away if it's the right school. It would be a plus if it also had a good Econ program.</p>
<p>Auburn and Clemson are the obvious choices because of proximity; farther afield you have N.C. State and Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>slightly lower admission requirements.</p>
<p>Purdue may be too Midwest for you, but it might work.</p>
<p>Is money a concern? These OOS publics can be bad with need-based aid. Some have some merit to give for high stats.</p>
<p>I’ve read that Auburn has decent merit aid to help with OOS tuition. I haven’t seen the same for Clemson. I like the smaller size of Auburn or Clemson (although neither is exactly small).</p>
<p>Clemson has an amazing engineering program! It’s the most popular major here. I’m a junior majoring in civil engineering so let me know if you have any questions!</p>
<p>Clemson is a large school but it honestly doesn’t feel that way. I usually have 20-40 people in my classes with the occasional rare 100 person freshman introductory class (no 300 person lectures like you hear at other schools). There are also many opportunities to make Clemson smaller like participating in Creative Inquiry (a chance to get undergraduates involved in research). For larger classes, there are smaller sessions where a student who has previously gotten an A in the class (who sits in your class) will review material covered in classes. Professors are helpful and try to make themselves available through office hours. So while there are 15,000 undergraduates, it won’t really feel much different than going to a school with 7,000-10,000 people.</p>
<p>As for financial aid, you probably aren’t going to get significant financial aid if you don’t have an SAT Critical Reading + Math score or at least 1370 or ACT of 31 and if you don’t rank in the top 10% of your high school class. That’s probably the worst thing about Clemson, but it’s hard for them to give out money as states are slashing funding.</p>
<p>If you are in Georgia and want to keep Hope, you might look at Southern Polytechnic State University. You might also look at schools that guarantee transfer into GT with a certain GPA. Also I saw your thread about whether to stick with French and I would recommend sticking with French if GT is his first choice. A 4 or 5 on French will give him 6 credits and he won’t have to take anymore language if he doesn’t want to. Georgia Tech majors have a lot of requirements so any flexibility is a plus. Georgia Tech doesn’t give credit for AP Stats so I would drop it (although I think it is a good AP class).</p>
<p>*I’ve read that Auburn has decent merit aid to help with OOS tuition. *</p>
<p>They do have merit aid, altho they’ve greatly reduced it for this year’s application season.</p>
<p>What are your son’s stats?</p>
<p>pierre0913 - Good to hear about Clemson’s program. On the aid side, if he had those stats, he would probably be a GT fit. He is also has the potential to play baseball, but only if the school fits first. Not something I want him to depend on to carry him through all 4 yrs with a demanding academic schedule.</p>
<p>Moreover - I think we’re sticking with French, at least for the first week or so of school. We’ll see if he’s overwhelmed. He really wants AP Stat, he did well with the teacher in a previous class and has a potential interest in Econ. I think he should keep some doors open in case the engineering thing doesn’t pan out. Sometimes I think they need 5 yrs of HS to take all the classes they’d like.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids - He’ll be a junior and hasn’t taken the SAT or ACT yet. I think the schedule is to take the PSAT in Oct, and the SAT in Dec. He took the SAT-Chem in June - 720. That’s all he’s taken so far.</p>
<p>Baseball at Clemson is Division 1 so it would definitely be a huge time commitment. It is not impossible though to succeed in the classroom. One of our best pitchers is a mechanical engineering major and ends up on the ACC Academic Honor Roll every year. The average GPA of the baseball team was a 2.93 this past year and one of the players even had a perfect 4.0 GPA. [Clemson</a> Student-Athlete Academic Report for 2011 Spring Semester Released - CLEMSON UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE](<a href=“http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/acad-support/spec-rel/060311aaa.html]Clemson”>http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/acad-support/spec-rel/060311aaa.html)</p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Engineering Programs | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate)</p>
<p>U of Alabama at Huntsville might fit the bill. Strong engineering focus, SE location, not as tough to get into as GT.</p>
<p>Pennsylvania State University-University Park
Purdue University-West Lafayette
Texas A&M University-College Station
University of Maryland-College Park
Virginia Tech</p>