Auburn or University of Tennessee?

Hi, I’m currently working on my college list and I’m betweent these two. I’m a latino and want to study Industrial Engineering. Auburn looks very pretty, with a lot of tradition and great facilities, but its definitely a very rural setting and financial aid (for out staters) is not that good. University of Tennessee (Knoxville) is not that pretty nor has a big community as Auburn (from my perspective) but Knoxville looks more fun, financial aid is better and students appear to be more open-minded. Academically, they both are good, with UT having a slightly better ranking at Engineering. These observations are what I infered from my research. I lean a little toward UT but would like to hear some opinions of people from this forum. Which one is, overall, better for me? Are my observations wrong?

Any comments would be very helpful! Thanks

AU > financial aid (for out staters) is not that good. <

This would be a problem if your parents won’t pay the OOS costs.

Do you qualify for HOPE at UTenn?

What are your stats?

How much will your family pay each year?

I would be out of stater for both schools.

I’m an international student, don’t really know what my GPA would be on a American 4.0 scale but my grade average is pretty high and I’m among the top 25% of my class. My school teaches us the same subjects to each student so I have studied Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Math for many years…

My SAT is 1660 right now (590 M, 520 CR, 550 W) and will take it again on November.

Those are my academic stats, I got very interesting and personal experiences like social services, trips, trilingual, etc…

We have to wait for financial aid to come in to determine how much my family would pay each year… I’m also planning to apply for scholarships in each university I apply to… Applying for scholarships is not hard right?

Both schools have solid engineering programs. If you’re looking for scholarship info, I would contact both schools financial aid departments and ask about aid for international students.

Also, search the Financial Aid & Scholarship forum.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/

Finally, if you’re from a Latin American/Caribbean country, you may want to look into the Florida "Latin American-Caribbean (LAC) scholarships, that are offered at Florida’s public universities. Many schools will offer a $500/semester scholarships to allow you to qualify for the LAC scholarships. If you qualify for the LAC scholarships, it allows you to pay in-state tuition rates (which are very low in Florida). UCF and USF both have solid Industrial Engineering programs (UCF’s program is very good, but USF has a more international mix of undergraduates).

From UF’s website, but this applies to any Florida public university.

@Mirl98, Doesn’t your dad live in MA? If you’re a US citizen, attending school overseas doesn’t change that. You still apply as a domestic student. Have you asked your parents how much they’ll pay per year? If it’s not much/any, see if there are any schools within commuting distance of your dad’s.