I am interested in applying for engineering, and I was wondering which schools are good for that? I know MIT, stanford, and carnegie mellon, but those are impossible to get into. What are some easier schools to get into that offer a great engineering school? Thanks
No one can help you without your stats: GPA, SAT/ACT scores, EC’s etc.
Also Home State? College Budget?
SAT: 1410/1600
Unofficial Class Rank: 35/530
Unweighted GPA: 3.63/4
Weighed GPA: 6.53/7
PSAT 11: 1430/1520
Active member in several clubs, including DECA, student council, science clubs, honors societies, etc.
17 honors classes taken in my 3 years of high school.
3 APs this year, scores have not yet been released.
Taking 3 SAT II subject tests.
Home state is NJ and college budget max $30,000 a year
No one can really help with OP’s stats, either. There are so many “good engineering schools” that this thread is probably going to amount to people just shouting out random schools that have engineering. It’s a highly personal decision, so things like geographic preference and school size and school culture and things like that are going to be important.
Since you’re in jersey apply to Rutgers
As @boneh3ad says, this is a very personal decision and you will need to do your own research to find the best program for you. Start by figuring out if you want a large or small school. The former will likely be your state flagship and the latter could very well be a moderate or small sized private university. Next decide if you want to be in an urban environment or more of a small town. Most importantly though, you will need to choose schools which are affordable for your family. This likely means a public university in your state or a private school which gives significant merit-based aid.
Once you have a list, go visit the schools and see what fits best.
Start by looking at schools listed on the ABET site as being accredited - if you have thoughts about what engineering specialty area you might want, you can look schools up by specific program.
http://www.abet.org/accreditation/
Then you can work on narrowing your list from there based on location, cost, possible merit aid, size of school, and other factors.
As others have suggested, choosing schools has only a little to do with stats and a lot to do with everything else, the sum of which only you can define. In addition to size and community type, what about region of the US? Weather preference? Hobbies like hiking, skiing, surfing? Extracurricular interests? Type of engineering? School teaching philosophy for undergrads? Big time athletics? These and many more are questions you could ask.
That said, Rowan is also an obvious candidate with your budget. Engineering admission is getting pretty competitive though. Good luck.
“Most importantly though, you will need to choose schools which are affordable for your family.” - Yes, indeed.
Your first three visits, in no particular order, should be Rutgers NB, Stevens, and Rowan. One of them (a small, a medium, and a large) should emerge as a Benchmark, a school to compare others to, if not your top choice. A lot depends on what area of engineering you are interested in (civil, environmental, electrical, computer, software, mechanical, biomed, etc.). Remember that your interests and proficiencies might change, so you want to pick a school that can handle your fallback plan. Also consider that in engineering, you’ll be working on group projects, so you want relatable classmates and professors. Your final pick will be based on Feel and where you can best visualize yourself succeeding and enjoying your time.
I’ll tell you right now that when it comes to facilities, growing reputation, merit aid, and the ability to graduate in four years, Rowan engineering will be tough to beat as a NJ student. But shop thoroughly because the cost of a mistake is high.
Stevens’ sticker price is above your budget, but it’s small private schools can often find aid money through endowments. For that reason, I’d look at Cornell as a reach. Ivies can be the most generous with need-based aid.
If you’d consider other out-of-states, look at SUNYs Stony Brook (at the eastern end of LI) and Binghampton (western NY just above PA border), Virginia Tech (a very good engineering school with a great alumni network), West Virginia. North Florida, Florida, Central Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas might also fit the bill. I’ve heard Tulane in New Orleans has a very good engineering program with very good aid for out-of-staters.
Would you consider one of the service academies - West Point, Annapolis, Air Force? Great education for an unbeatable price (nothing) with a commitment to your country.
And what @eyemgh says. Don’t know him, but I like his posts.
Good luck! Enjoy the pursuit of happiness.
You are going through the same process as my son and in the same budget range. We’ve spent a lot of time visiting schools and researching. In your price range I would suggest #1 Rowan as we were pleasantly surprised with it, followed by TCNJ, Rutgers, u Delaware, SUNY Polytechnic in Utica. My sons stats are slightly higher but yours are good but might not be good enough to get enough scholarship to get the price of Stevens down. Good luck. I just found this site the other day and have read a few other posts about Rowan which corroborate the great impression we got from our visit. Right now it could be my sons top choice along with TCNJ and Rensselaer (depending on net price )
Tulane? Tulane killed off most of their engineering departments after Katrina.
Still, I see a lot of people throwing around a lot.of random suggestions here and @harrypotter111 hasn’t even provided more info on their search criteria. Judging by their original post they even seem to be open to the West Coast. This is going to be a really wide net at this rate.
Engineering entry stats are going to be higher than maybe what the CDSs state for the whole uni, if you are relying on any merit, you need to make sure those stats are competitive for the engineering dept/school. Start looking in your home state, as OOS engineering schools may not offer any merit and 30K for the whole COA won’t be enough. As R&B is at least 10K you need tution to be 20K or less. Start local. You cannot rely on merit.
@boneh3ad, Tulane engineering is alive and well. Biomedical engineering never declined and has always been excellent. Recently, Tulane expanded its engineering offerings with new certificate programs in electrical, mechanical, materials, and computational engineering. Under the program, students majoring in engineering physics can choose one of the four concentrations, enabling them to graduate with both a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics and a certificate in their specialty area. Not a bad opportunity for the highly motivated student!
Tulane isn’t offering 30K merit to an SAT of 1410 and has a coa of 65K+. This is not helping LOL.
Tulane currently offers only 3 ABET-accredited engineering programs: biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, and engineering physics. I’m sure those programs are fine. Certificates are not the same thing.
Following Katrina, Tulane eliminated their departments of mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, environmental engineering, and computer science. I wouldn’t call engineering at Tulane alive and well for anyone wanting to study those fields.
Also, it’s not particularly easy to get into Tulane, which was one of OP’s concerns.
Tulane is bringing back its Computer Science department. I was speaking to a recent graduate who minored in CS who told me of the plan.