<p>We actually looked at Case with elder son, and while he wasn't thrilled with it, this son, #2, liked it a lot. </p>
<p>My understanding is that their scholarships carry a very high GPA requirement, and in engineering, that sort of scares me. It just seems a little risky. At one time my son was going to apply there, but I don't know if it's still on his radar. It's becoming clear to me that he will not be interested in doing any more than, say, 5 or 6 applications...</p>
<p>I looked at Case. I believe the scholarship requirement is B or better, which is tougher to keep than it sounds. </p>
<p>UMass Amherst, while not my favorite school (I'm from the area) does in fact have an excellent engineering program, and even out of state, is very affordable. UMass Lowell and UMass Dartmouth's programs are not the same quality. The engineering facilities at UMass Amherst are far better.</p>
<p>My daughter is a Junior at Case in engineering and really likes it. I believe the scholarship requirement is reasonable considering the amount of money that they offer. I believe that Case offers freshman forgiveness that allows a freshman to drop a class right up to the end of the semester ( right before final exams)...that way if a first year student finds out after the usual drop period that they are doing poorly, they can still drop the class. My understanding is that it is not that difficult to keep your GPA above a 3.0, but Case is not for everybody...the students that do the best there are those that enjoy learning and plan to work hard...</p>
<p>Also, I believe that if your GPA does fall below a 3.0, you are given a semester to bring it back up...Many colleges are not that understanding...</p>
<p>Son just started at Case engineering on a merit scholarship. We were told to maintain scholarship would need to have at least a 2.0 first and second semester and afterward a GPA of 3.0. I think this is standard for most schools. Son did get merit scholarship to RPI however, and there was no minimum GPA to maintain that one.
Before accepting Case, we did look at attrition rates at other engineering schools including state ones. Also, investigated availability of academic support so could get a sense if son had a chance of suceeding in keeping scholarships. (Thank you cc parents, we would have had no clue to look at this without your guidance.) From all the kids and faculty he spoke with, Case appears to do well in this department. Now we just keep our fingers crossed.
Weenie, I suspect your son has a very good chance of merit money here, and would be happy at Case.</p>
<p>kosha-just saw your reply, my anxiety level is dropping! This does confirm our sense of Case being a nuturing environment for engineering students. Son found faculty and students went out of way to answer questions, encourage him to come etc. Even advisor during orientation was so helpful for registration.</p>
<p>3.0 is not bad at all. I thought it was higher than that. He'll probably want to apply there. I did schedule an interview for him with a Case rep here in our hometown in November because I think it's unlikely we'll get back there. This son toured with previous son in 2004. Hope they don't hold that against him!</p>
<p>Weenie-have son apply EA. From reading comments last year on cc, got the
sense it was first come first served with merit aid. They seem to run out for RD or perhaps became more selective. Also, scholarship notification comes out very shortly after acceptance decision so will know early on if the school is doable.</p>
<p>Weenie,
Another option to consider is that your S should receive e-mails for no essay, no application fees, quick decision, applications. These type of apps seem very popular with engineering techie schools. </p>
<p>I encouraged my S to apply to a couple of schools with these apps. Since he was essay phobic, he managed to apply to 8 schools with only 2 or 3 requiring essays. The apps also tout that if accepted they will be given consideration for scholarships. Every school that he applied to this way did offer him money with the exception of Colorado School of Mines.</p>
<p>I would also watch to make sure the engineering program is ABET accredited...Although not everyone agrees, this accreditation assures that the program offers certain minimum classes and that a certain percentage of students pass the first professional engineering exam. Students that go to programs that are not ABET accredited have greater difficulty getting into grad schools... <a href="http://www.abet.org/accrediteac.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.abet.org/accrediteac.asp</a></p>
<p>Depending on credentials, a couple that occur to me are:</p>
<ol>
<li>USC - automatic scholarship (1/2 tuition) for NMF.</li>
<li>Olin - automatic full-tuition scholarship and an amazing school.</li>
<li>Penn State - also has Honors College and can give significant aid to OOS kids under some circumstances...doesn't waste their time on kids who really are CalTech material so there may be a "match."</li>
</ol>
<p>some more to look at:
south dakota school of mines and technology
univ. of missouri - rolla</p>
<p>not a public........southwestern univ. in texas has a 3 + 2 program. have you considered 3 + 2 programs yet? there's also a merit aid calculator at the southwestern site if I remember right. another private to look at: trinity univ. in san antonio. perhaps merit aid help would make the privates just as feasible as out of state publics. look at lots of options:)</p>
<p>Anecdotally, my Dentist's daughter just left for Vanderbilt, having gotten $25K per year merit scholarship (interested in bio engineering), so they may be a merit$ possibility. I also know a sharp Vandy EE alum. I have put this on my list of suggestions for my S's consideration. Respected school (18 USNews), rated 41 engineering (not a Techie shool), 6000 students, Southwest has cheap flights to Nashville.</p>
<p>Also, since there are knowlegeable Case folks here, could you shed some light on this school? It seems solid, yet shunned. They seem to have to accept a ton of kids and discount their price to land 20 percent of them. Why is this? Nobody likes Cleveland weather? Is it everybody's safety to Carnegie Mellon?</p>
<p>Northeastern is good for merit aid and has a very good co-op program. As far as smallish publics with engineering, I've heard that Delaware is quite good - especially for chemical engineering (which I recall is not in the mix for your son - but I assume that EE would also be decent.)</p>
<p>I wouldn't be that concerned about large class size. My son is an ECE major at Cornell and the classes are generally quite large - but I am very impressed with the quality of his enginering education. It is far better than what I received back when engineers were first working on the wheel. We were concerned about class size as well since his high school had very small classes with a graduating class of only 60. He thrived in HS with the small classes and he is doing very well at Cornell with large classes.</p>
<p>Since my daughter is a Junior at Case, maybe I can help answer your questions...First of all, Cleveland as a city has a bad reputation. It has improved tremendously over the years, but people's first impression of Cleveland is the 70's photographs of slums and pollution. It is hard to get people to open their eyes to the improvements that have been made. It's still not perfect, but I really like the city...The campus is along the edge of some low-income housing, but many urban campuses are. It is also in an area of several museums and parks!! I have been very impressed with their security, and my daughter is very comfortable there. She does not need a car because the rapid transportation system takes her anywhere she wants to go (including the airport!!). She has learned a lot about living in a city environment, and this opportunity will allow her to live anywhere after graduation comfortably. Living on the edge of a big city was an adjustment for her, but she loves it now!!</p>
<p>Students do not tend to apply to Case unless they have great quallifications. Therefore, they also are well qualified for the other top colleges. If they are top students, and need financial aid, Case will often offer a better package than the other top colleges. But some students still are interested in the name brand, and therefore do not choose Case unless they "have to". We visited several great colleges, but even though Case was at the bottom of my daughter's list before we visited (because of the city of Cleveland illusion) it quickly rose to the top of the list after her visit. It is not a college for partiers, so those tend to go elsewhere. But it is a nurturing environment, and has great professors. My daughter read the complaints about Case (nerdy students, lack of parties etc.) and realized that she had found the right college for her!! Music was also very important to her and she has remained active with both piano and flute during her years there....</p>
<p>Cleveland weather can be a challenge, but the sidewalks are shoveled quickly, and the lake tends to keep temperatures from getting too frigid. The wind does blow, and be sure to bring an umbrella, because it can rain like a monsoon...</p>
<p>Let me know if you have other questions...</p>
<p>I'd like to point out that delaware is not a smallish public- that school is huge.</p>
<p>You might look at Rowan, a smaller public in NJ. Several of the FIRST robotics graduates from our HS have been happy with the engineering programs there. Be aware, though, that like TCNJ and Rutgers, Rowan's scholarship programs may be victims of state budget cuts</p>
<p>Undergraduate enrollment from my spreadsheet:</p>
<p>Franklin W. Olin ~280 !!!
Worchester Poly ~2,900
Case Western ~3,500
MIT ~4,100
RPI ~4,900
JHU ~5,500
CMU ~5,500
Vanderbilt ~6,300
Northwestern ~8,000
Ga Tech ~11,500
Cornell ~13,600
UVa ~14,100
Delaware ~17,300
Virginia Tech ~21,300
NCState ~22,700
Maryland ~25,000
Penn State (State Pen?) ~34,800 !!</p>
<p>UVMLauren, I guess size is a subjective matter. Relative to many private schools Delaware is huge, but for a public school with a decent engineering program, at roughly 15,000 undergrads, it is much smaller than places like Michigan, Illinois, or Ohio State at 25K - 35K; or even Virginia Tech, which apparently is under consideration by the OP at 21,000.</p>
<p>I guess this was cross-posted with the above - which provides much more detail.</p>
<p>my advice would be to avoid the very techie schools unless the son has real-world experience in the field so he KNOWS this is what he wants, along with the dedication to see thru what can be a challenging academic load. According to a trade newspaper, "With a few notable exceptions, U.S. engineering schools typically have attrition rates hovering between one-half and two-thirds." See <a href="http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041%5B/url%5D">http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041</a> or <a href="http://www.eetimes.com/issue/fp/OEG20020712S0041%5B/url%5D">http://www.eetimes.com/issue/fp/OEG20020712S0041</a></p>
<p>Most HS kids are at the stage where they're exploring majors and careers, and a school with a wider range of offerings allows kids to change their minds without having to xfer to another U.</p>