DS would like to double major in Math and Chemical Engineering (although if it proves too much, math would be the first choice)
no class rank or 1 out of 1, take your pick he’s homeschooled.
GPA 3.92
ACT composite 33
AP Calc BC 5, AP Stats 5, AP Computer Science 4, AP Chem 5
Senior year classes of interest AP Physics Mech and E&M, AP Economics Macro and Micro, Complex Analysis (with a private teacher who also taught him multivariable calc and differential equations last year) and some other normal classes (english and electives)
Not likely to make National Merit as he went into the PSAT cold turkey and that was not a wise move on his part.
Our EFC is about 3000, we are not likely to be able to contribute much beyond that as he has 5 younger siblings at home and we are single income. We actually qualify for one of the federal means test (sorry can’t remember what they are called but is was the SNAP, WIC, reduced lunch etc groupings)
So we are looking at schools that would hopefully provide substantial financial/merit aid.
He has rejecting University of Alabama and Iowa University (or was it University of Iowa). Too big, he would like smaller schools. Also looking to stay in the Midwest if possible
Here’s his list
MIT
Rose Hulman
Washington University
Northwestern
Case Western
Carnegie Mellon
Kettering University
UW Madison (I know this school is huge and he would prefer not to go there but it is his safety school since it’s 10 minutes from us and he could live at home to save some of the cost)
Looked at but less interested in but haven’t ruled out
MO University of Science and Tech
SD School of Mines
He’s taken the ACT many times (we use it as our yearly testing since as homeschoolers it’s hard to access most standardized testing), both 10th and 11th grade composite was 33 (although the subscores varied more). He has zero interest in the military. I haven’t looked at Rice yet so will have to check that one out. Thanks.
Don’t you want to consider West Coast colleges like Harvey Mudd, Caltec, Stanford? Harvey Mudd is very small school but offer very strong STEM education.
Not really. Distance would be make it cost prohibitive to get home much, if at all. He’s pretty involved with his younger siblings and some of their activities, that’s why he’s focusing on the Midwest.
I know MIT is the outlier but right now I’m not sure how much he actually wants to go to that school or if it’s just that he likes the idea of the prestige of the school. I also told him if got accepted there we would attend an event on the east coast that he was interested it. So MIT may only be on the list because of the other thing he wants to do. I’m not sure where his true thoughts lie but right now trying to help him compose a reasonable list of schools that cover the reach, reasonable and safety levels.
Hopefully, he will get into a selective college that meets 100% of demonstrated need. But, the best laid plans can go awry, so a quick application to Louisiana Tech University would make sure he has one college that will AUTOMATICALLY give him a “full ride.” They have a BS in Mathematics and ABET accredited Chemical Engineering.
He may need to take SAT Subject tests for some of these schools. Your EFC may be $3000 but each college will approach your son and financial aid / merit a
palm715, I looked at LA tech but I haven’t found where it says it gives him a full ride. I see 14,700 on the page you linked and then another $7,000 plus for the Bulldog something for out-of state applicants but that doesn’t bring it anywhere close to the $40,000 cost that one of the screens was showing me (can’t remember right now if it was the Net price calculator or the cost of attendance calculator). Am I missing something?
WJE9164be, we’ve already been talking about Subject tests. He’s tired of tests because he always finishes quickly and spends at least half of the time looking around waiting for the time to be over and it drives him crazy to sit there doing nothing. He also is a little annoyed that he has to take Subject tests is areas where he already has a 5 on the corresponding AP exams (namely Calc BC verses math II, and then chemistry). He wants me to see if schools would take his AP scores “instead” of the subject tests but I’m still trying to get through to him that if that was acceptable than the colleges would put it on their site and hoop jumping is the price he will have to pay for better scholarship money.
CSdad our income is a little over that but we have a large family (8) which always skews things when looking at absolute numbers verses ones adjusted for family size. I had heard of U of Chicago before but just assumed it was huge based on the name. Now that I’ve looked closer I realized it’s not a huge state university like I first thought so I will pass it on to DS and see what he thinks. Thanks.
gandalf78 I’ve sent them both on to DS to see what he thinks. Thanks for the suggestions.
Look at the merit scholarships at UT Dallas. UT Dallas is a strong STEM school in a suburb of Dallas.
It looks like your son could be considered for a scholarship (distinction) that offers free tution and fees. In-state tution is part of the scholarship too, so the room and board is less than $10,000 per year. This might be doable if your son take out the loans allowed for undergrads.
Run the Net Price Calculator at U Rochester (NY) since he likes Case Western. Many students like both places, but U Rochester is usually better with aid based upon students I’ve seen IRL. There are always exceptions, so trying both is not a problem.
ETA: My middle son was homeschooled from 7th - 12th and loves UR… he’s a senior there this year.
My freshman daughter (not a STEM major) ended up choosing Rice over WashU and Cornell. The fairly unique residential college system at Rice might help ease the transition from home schooling to university. (But I really liked Cornell, too–more than my daughter did. It’s very strong across the board.)