<p>So I am planning to study in Mechanical Engineering in the Undergraduate field and I'm looking for a college that places in academic strength and abundance in research opportunities at around Cornell's and Northwestern's levels. However, I feel that there is no middle ground between the top schools and lower schools... </p>
<p>My list right now:</p>
<p>Cal Tech
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell
Georgia Tech
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Northwestern
University of Pennsylvania
Princeton
Purdue
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rose Hulman</p>
<p>I have looked at Brown, Notre Dame, Case Western, Duke, Dartmouth, Bucknell, Olin, Harvey Mudd, Northeastern, Lehigh, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, and Vanderbilt and have decided that they were not the right schools for me. </p>
<p>Is there any other schools between the Extremely Good schools and the Decent, But Does Not Offer Enough schools?</p>
<p>Mechanical Engineering curricula are pretty similar everywhere, but they differentiate by subfields. If you’re interested in aerospace, there are schools for that; so, too, for, say, ceramics or maritime or automotive. </p>
<p>You don’t need to go to a prestigious school to get a very good education. I suggest you look at some of the public universities other than UMichigan like University of Illinois, Purdue, Texas, Penn State. The engineering schools at American public universities are excellent. Some of these will be very good in MechE subfields.</p>
<p>From your other threads you seem to have some safety-ish schools for admission. Can you afford them?</p>
<p>@jkeil911 Thanks. I am applying to Purdue, but haven’t looked at the others. I’ll be sure to look at them!</p>
<p>@Erin’s Dad Money is a large issue that I have taken into account. I did my research on these colleges and most of them have projected costs that I can afford. However, I am scared that the actual cost of any college that accepts me that I have to pay will not be realistic for me. I am looking for more colleges that I will be able to afford that still have great Mechanical Engineering programs. </p>
<p>@jkeil911 Erm, sorry, but I am a full-fledged United States’ citizen. Did I accidentally say that I was somewhere? I will need to fix this if I did. </p>
<p>I am an American high school senior that is looking for schools with great financial aid while still having strong Mechanical Engineering programs.</p>
<p>In another post, you say that you are a California resident. If so, why aren’t there any UCs or CSUs on your list? Many of them are good to excellent schools for ME.</p>
<p>The minimum quality required by ABET accreditation means that the range of quality between different ABET-accredited ME majors is narrower than the range of quality for many other majors. However, as noted above, strength of subarea specialties can vary, so if you are interested in a specific subarea, check the course catalogs and faculty rosters.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Ah shoot. I knew I forgot something. Yes, I am applying to most of the UC’s. However, I am not applying to any of the CSUs. Partly due to tuition, and party due to the fact that there’s a little part of me that wants to explore places other than California. </p>
<p>CSU tuition is lower than UC tuition, although the net price for non-local CSUs can be higher than UCs for some students who need financial aid (commuting to a local CSU is more likely to be cheaper).</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I receive more financial aid from the UC system than the CSU system under my circumstances (prefer not to disclose). </p>
<p>Alabama would give you full tuition plus. If you are NMF you could get something similar at Oklahoma.</p>