Any Out of State Schools I should apply at?

College Search & Selection
1

Stats:

GPA: 3.99
ACT: 30
Rank: small rural school, does not rank,60 students per grade
Would be ranked 2 If ranked.

Demographics:
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Family Income: 60,000
Home State: MI
Intended major: ENG

ACT:

28C
28 english
25 math
32 reading
27 science
10 writing

30C-No writing by accident
26 english - really surprised I went down by two points.
27 Math-
35 reading- very surprising
32 Science- a good improvement
30- stem, however I do not know how that factors into the score
No writing

2 AP Classes: Lang, Environmental Science Both 5’s-

We can take a max of six if we do not attend a program. I did attend a program, so my max amount of ap classes would have been 4. I chose to take community college classes instead.

Classes of Note:
Honors English 9-10
Honors Chemistry 11th
CC Calc1,Calc2
CC Cultural Anthropology
Online University Class: Drafting and Design

Currently taking:
Honors Econ
Honors Psychics
Technical Writing
Engineering Technology
Calc 3:Multivariable Calculus CC
Eng Composition 100 level CC- Applying for honors contract at community college

Next Semester
Differential Equations
Intro to pysch

EC’s:

I year student council
3 years varsity soccer, not possible senior year due to schedule
NHS : 2 years
NTHS: 2 years
Envirothon: Three years, couple first place medals, hoping for state champs this year
Student Council: 10th grade year
Tutoring:Mathematics
National Robotics Competition: Rescue Robot
Mate ROV this year

Volunteer time: 50 hours or more
Special Olympics
Charity Events (brunches, dinners)
Good Will
Cleanup at local Sportsman Club

Awards:
Local Art Magazine: 3 years in a row
Freshman Male Scholar of the Year
Honor Roll (all)
Principal Honor Roll (academy)
Rotary club student of month (1100 students)

Also Did an Engineering Internship at a local company. Mostly involved soldering, checking inductance, torque readings, and electrical schematics. Also some cad design and prototypes.

Basically, are these stats competitive enough to warrant applying anywhere out of state if I want to receive any type of nice scholarships?Honesty is good, I am just thinking about other places to apply besides the engineering schools of Michigan.

2

You would be eligible for need based aid. Consider RPI. For a less tech focused school, but with solid engineering, consider the University of Rochester. For a merit based scholarship, other schools should be considered.

3

Do the calculators on some private schools and see how they compare to instate schools. OOS publics won’t work. Try the ones suggested above plus Lehigh and Lafayette and some privates you know in the Midwest.

I don’t think you can beat instate Michigan but it worth a look.

4

If you’re an eng’g major, then Alabama would give you free tuition and 2500 per year for your ACT 30 (it’s fine that it’s w/o essay).

how much can your family pay?

Have you run the NPCs?

5

I’m sorry, what does the acronym “NPC” stand for. Is that something with contribution. To be blunt, my family expects me to pay for my own college. They can’t pay for it, nor do I expect them to.

Also, I had somewhat figured that OOS public would not work. I just didn’t want to limit myself too much, adn wanted some ideas because I do not have the time/ability to run through all the private/public schools. Some schools such as Lawrence Tech in michigan have the same oos as in state cost.

Thanks!

6

Net Price Calculator. Locate through individual college websites. For a possible merit scholarship, consider Clarkson.

7

Toledo, UAH, Alabama, … A couple others maybe.

Western MI is what, 9800 in state tuition? MI schools are going to be hard to beat, I agree.

Some of the schools that give “a lot” of aid are 60k a year, so even a 30k award doesn’t make it competitive, price wise with UM or MTU, I think.

8

The tuition and board for Western Michigan university is around $20,340 with r/b, but only 11000 for tuition.

MTU is $27,677
U of M ann arbor $27,812
Michigan State $25,998
Lawrence Tech $39,770

9

What kind of engineering, what kind of campus environment, are you looking for?

Also, do you want to be in the automotive industry? It’s fun, generally but not for everyone.

10

Your going to need to raise your ACT - especially the math score - to be competitive at Michigan-Ann Arbor even in-state. and you also need to take the ACT with writing. You should be fine with your GPA for the other ones including MSU and Michigan Tech, though you are a bit below the ACT math average. Consider re-taking it, 32+ gets you more scholarship money and you would also be competitive at private schools, who typically offer better FA packages.

Tuition, fees and books for 4 years at Michigan (#6), MTU (#73) or MSU (#80) is close to $60K vs near zero at Alabama (#104). Run the NPC to find out your actual cost - if your family is low-moderate income costs may be close to zero. If it is still too expensive, you could probably swing living and travel expenses with loans and a summer job if you don’t have tuition costs at Alabama.

Also be aware that the Alabama offer is for 8 semesters only - you will have to be very focused and disciplined to complete your engineering degree in that time.

Even if you could afford all of them, it seems to me that only Michigan engineering rankings could justify the extra cost over Alabama.

11

type “Lawrence Tech” and “Net Price Calculator”. Then “University of Rochester” and “Net Price Calculator”. Then Case Western Reserve and NPC, Rose Hulman and NPC, RPI and NPC, Union and NPC, Trinity CT and NPC, Kettering and NPC, Tulane and NPC, etc. Enter your family’s income and assets (EVEN IF THEY CAN’T/WON’T PAY, you must do that), then look at the numbers for “net price” and post them here.

Lawrence Tech has no difference betwen instate and out of state because it’s private. If you apply to a private university that’s more than 400 miles from home, especially if you’re from a rural region (which is sought after since it’s under-represented), your odds increase for both admission and preferential packaging (ie., better financial aid). For instance, Vanderbilt would likely cost less than Lawrence Tech - can you check?
Then you have merit scholarships: those depends on your SAT/ACT scores. As mom2CK said, your ACT score qualifies you for an AUTOMATIC full tuition scholarship at UAlabama University, along with Honors College, Honors Dorm - the Honors College is among the 10 best in the country.

You should apply to UMich, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Grand Valley State. Check application deadlines because they should be coming up quickly.
But add universities where the NPCs indicate your costs would be the same or lower as the Michigan Universities’.

Are you eligible for NACAC fee waivers?
http://www.nacacnet.org/studentinfo/feewaiver/documents/applicationfeewaiver.pdf

12

I can’t really afford any of them to be honest, but I want to be an engineer and have a good education.

Also, I spent the last month being told that there was almost zero chance of me getting into U of M engineering, so being competitive there is pretty hard, I applied early so that I could choose another school if denied. I think I will retake the ACT though. I would like to score higher, but I think the problem is that final exams at my Community college are a day before or after the next ACT. I have to prioritize sleep, the act, and not failing calc 3 with our ridiculously hard professor. I spend at least 15-20 hours a week on that 4 credit class.

What would I need to take the ACT writing for, school wise. I am just curious, I got a 10 with one of my scores, which is apparently pretty high for the old system. Also, is there a good online resource for the math section of the ACT. I know enough to do well on reading and science, and have resources for english. I am pretty good at math, but I have never been fast at it.

Thanks again for everything.

13

Don’t you need a ACT of 32 or greater to get full tuition of UA for Out of State students?

quote

UA SCHOLAR

A first-time freshman student who meets the December 15 scholarship priority deadline, has a 30–31 ACT or 1330–1390 SAT score (critical reading and math scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a UA Scholar and will receive the value of two-thirds tuition or $69,200 over four years ($17,300 per year).

PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR

A first-time freshman student who meets the December 15 scholarship priority deadline, has a 32–36 ACT or 1400–1600 SAT score (critical reading and math scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive the value of tuition or $103,800 over four years ($25,950 per year) to be used towards undergraduate or graduate/law studies.**

14

My opinion only
Seriously Good Values in Engineering
My opinion only

If cost is a large concern, a 3.99 GPA & 30 ACT gets a scholarship of 5k for tuition and 3k for room and board from Lake Superior State (ABET engineering) http://www.lssu.edu/admissions/ The net remainder ought to be somewhere in the 12500 /year range.
Room and board is just north of 9k per year, and if I recall correctly from our college visit, they have internship opportunities available. About 2500 students.

The University Alabama in Huntsville might be worth a look as well.

Huntsville is about as far north in Alabama as you can get, and is dominated by defense and space (Redstone Arsenal, NASA Marshall) and has a substantial research park a mile or two from the UAH campus. Supposedly it’s about a 16 hour bus ride from Sault Ste Marie. Figure your time from the mitten accordingly. They have an airport in town as well as shuttle bus service to Nashville TN’s airport.

A 3.99/30ACT should qualify for a full tuition scholarship. I believe the remainder will be in the 11000-13000 range, depending on how the expenses actually work out. They do have other scholarships available but if your school would consider weighting your GPA, and you could spend some time studying for the ACT next Spring, a 34/4.0 yields another 5k or so toward room expense (but not board). About 7500 students.

Neither of these schools are going to hit every button for every kid and parent, but I liked both of them well enough to encourage our oldest to apply for CS. I’ve worked with engineers who’ve attended both institutions - both get positive reviews from those engineers.

Alabama, of course, is more like a typical state flagship. There is nothing wrong with that, but since large schools were off our oldest’s list, we did not consider it. Nor Purdue (an in-state option) - one visit was sufficient. If that’s what you’re looking for, then do look up their web site. I just don’t know that much about it.

15

Try University of Cincinnati if you want at least one out of state option. Co-op is required so that will help you pay for school.

16

You should not wait for UMich’s results, you should be applying to other colleges. I agree it’s a very long shot but your situation as coming from a very rural school should help you.
If you can’t afford application fees, ask your guidance counselor to fill out the NACAC fee waiver (I provided a link previously).
Did you run the NPCs on each of the universities, and what where the “net price” results? Please post them here.

17

UMich meets need for all in-state students. Make sure you run the PC for them.

18

Some excellent advice on this thread . . . Of the schools mentioned in post #10, Union, RHIT and Trinity (CT) should not be overlooked.

19

Case’s middle fifty ACT is something like 29-33, a 30 ACT might do well to get admitted let alone get much aid. Rose is pretty close to those same numbers.

CWRU’s total cost is in the $62000 per year range, so he’d need to prise fifty thousand US dollars per year from them - with annual increases of a thousand or so - to come close to in-state or AL options.

I get that they’re good schools, but it’s November 1st, and there isn’t any more ACT between now and deadlines.

20

Everyone telling you that you can’t get into Michigan is just wrong. Michigan considers GPA first, then test scores, essays and EC’s. There is an additional push for rural, in-state applicants because UM wants a) diversity b) to keep the legislators from rural districts happy and c) wants to encourage excellence in rural districts. I’ve seen in-state rural residents admitted with a 27 composite on the ACT to LSA, but not to engineering. Engineering will be very concerned that you will not be able to handle the math, and there is math or applied math in most of your terms.

Do not be all that concerned about your ACT writing score, because most engineering schools don’t care and haven’t decided how to use the new scoring system either. You need to take it because Michigan says that they require it:

http://www.engin.umich.edu/college/admissions/undergrad/prospective/requirements

You will need to review the math you took 2 or 3 years ago and practice for speed and accuracy. Use a few books to improve your score. Shoot for 35C, settle for 33, but get that math score in the 33-36 range. That will eliminate any questions any engineering school will have - anywhere.

The December ACT test should still make the Jan 1 cutoffs at most schools. You should let the schools you applied to know that an updated score is coming, and make sure to specify those schools when you take the ACT so the scores are sent without delay. Good luck!