THat’s interesting. I’m a Minnesota grad and so we’re considering Minnesota, and he’ll be applying to Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue likely for combination of proximity, affordability and computer programs. Never considered Michigan State. What is your son’s chosen field of study? Curious what kind of academic credentials it takes to qualify…care to share your son’s stats that got that kind of package?
Unless you can get in state rate at UIUC, don’t expect any aids or merit scholarship from them. They don’t even offer anything to OOS NMF but only around 30 in state NMF. Wisconsin is in a similar situation although the CoA is slightly lower. Purdue is relatively generous and they offer around 1000 large scholarships to top students each year. Nevertheless, it will still be more expensive than your in state option even after a large scholarship. UMN-TC is great in merit aid for high stat students from both in state and OOS. Their OOS CoA is also among the lowest in the country. They were the first one offered very generous scholarships (several that added up to ~$70k for 4 years) to my D a couple years ago when she was a NMSF (October of senior year), but I think it requires NMF to really get the whole package (or at least the major one).
He is currently an Engineering major, but hasn’t chosen a specific concentration. He had a 35 ACT, somewhere around 1520 on the SAT, 2nd in his class, etc. We have a family connection to MSU and he’d been to campus for football games in the past, so it was always a consideration.
I think a 35 ACT and a GPA north of 3.0 would make your son a pretty desirable target for MSU. I got the impression that some of the criteria for being eligible for these scholarships is a bit flexible if the student shows serious interest. MSU is trying to raise the profile of certain programs and really pursues top students. There isn’t a threshold GPA to gain admission to Engineering or any other program, so it seems like they are willing to do what it takes to attract top students.
If you think MSU is an option after investigating some, I would try to establish contact with specific people in admissions or in the honors college.
^ MSU GPA mid 50 is 3.4-3.9. Just north of 3.0 is not enough.
@RedbirdDad When comparing merit awards, be sure to look at what’s required to keep it, and how/when that’s calculated… 3.5 needed? 3.0? calculated at end of semester or year? Any way to recover?
I was shocked to see how high TAMU’s GPA req’t is to keep its merit. I think Temple either has a high GPA req’t to qualify or to keep, don’t remember.
Depending on major, particularly Eng’g or CS, having to meet a high GPA req’t can be a death knell…
@mom2coIIegekids raises a great point…MSU scholarships require a 3.0 and allow for a semester on “probation” to raise the GPA. Kentucky’s threshold was 3.5 and falling below meant no more scholarship. Accepting AP credits and community college credits is also a big consideration. Highly selective schools like Northwestern and ND wanted to see them on his transcript but wouldn’t accept them for credit. Having 19 credits “in the bag” before starting school made the financial advantages of choosing MSU even more compelling.
That’s an excellent point. I recommended to DD to avoid places that had good merit but needed more than a 3.2 to keep … a 3.0 is better, but a 3.2 might work. A 3.6 in engineering is never a given, IMO.
<<<
Kentucky’s threshold was 3.5 and falling below meant no more scholarship.
<<<
Yikes…didn’t know that. Is that measured at the end of the semester or year? Is that true for NMFs, too?
@mom2collegekids , yes, that was for the NMF scholarship. I believe it was a cumulative GPA beginning at the end of 2 semesters. My son wasn’t fazed by it, but I certainly was…maintaining a 3.5 in Engineering isn’t easy. It was a huge motivator for me to push Michigan State for more scholarship money and to push him toward Northwestern or Amherst if MSU wasn’t financially viable. I would’ve rather he had to borrow a few thousand dollars each year than risk being forced out of school.
USC’s academic cutoff threshold is 3.0
@greeninohio Yes, many high school kids have rarely seen “B’s” on their report cards, particularly if they’re NMF types. So, it’s easy for them to assume that a 3.5 GPA is a piece of cake…but not for eng’g students.
I remember a NMF mom posting that her son got his first C as a MechE student…and then he got another one. It’s shocking and really sinks the GPA if it’s a 4 or 5 credit class. They were very glad that he only needed a 3.0 to keep his award.
[QUOTE=""]
I would've rather he had to borrow a few thousand dollars each year than risk being forced out of school.
[/QUOTE]
Right! And, really, many eng’g students can earn that over the summer during an internship.
From what I gathered on the website, Temple requires 3.8 GPA and ACT 32 for full tuition scholarship and to maintain a 3.0 to keep it.
^^^ for the Presidential scholarship, not just for NMF
Having a 3.4 GPA in college for engineering is considered a very good GPA by internship companies. Student had a 4.0/4.2 wted in HS. So do expect a lot of students having more difficulty keeping the GPA they had in HS if their HS GPA was very high and they are in a more complex/challenging degree plan.
You want the student to keep their scholarships.
To get an interview chance for engineering internship at a large firm during the jobfair at my D’s school, you need to have GPA 3.5 or above. Usually, schools offer large scholarship to the top ~2% of students and they may set the bar much higher than average GPA for renewable as they have expectation. Nevertheless, most of the top students would have a bunch of AP credits that skipped all the introductory classes and jump right in to the higher level more challenging classes. That may create trouble in renewing scholarship if the GPA requirement is hard.
@billcsho the key is for a student to make connections where-ever they can…a 3.4 student at your DD’s school may meet prospective employers other ways…these general ‘cuts’ doesn’t mean a good student at DD’s school can’t get an engineering internship.
Yes there are companies and schools that want a student to look a certain way on paper just because of supply/demand. That is also why employers will be at a college fair situation and see students face to face w/o some of the interview formalities first. Some will ‘create’ an interview slot for a student they like on face to face meeting at job fair.
My DD’s school posts the entire list of eng co-op employers, eng internship companies, etc. A student can get their resume in front of the right people and get an interview. DD got her interview w/o going through the school - employer in parents’ home area. They interviewed her before she returned to school, and will make a decision after interviewing all students they are interested in for their select summer 2016 positions.
Some companies will want specific high stat students and make arrangements with schools/students accordingly.
Students do need to think very carefully about the GPA required to keep college scholarships and agree with you on this/post 54.
@SOSConcern Of course, having any connection is a good thing. The problem with the jobfair at school is that there are thousands of sophomore to senior applying at the same time. There are only around a hundred spots for each company to interview. Of course, anyone can send in the resume and they are all listed on the job fair website. However, internship at large firms are very competitive as many students apply. The chance to be selected for interview is very low particularly if your GPA is below 3.5. Note that I am only talking about large firms in #54.
@billcsho I was a graduate student at TAMU, so I know about the UG limitations on interviewing. A lot of students do overlook participating at the booth time the job fairs have - if they have an interview, they can make an additional impression with talking to the recruiter at an additional opportunity. However just seeing who comes now, you can look up so much company information on-line and also talk to representatives as to where there job opportunities are. Sometimes the job fair is a ‘cattle call’ but sometimes you can hit a decent employer with a good fit opportunity. Also co-op opportunities. Some employers come because they need to keep themselves in with the University.
There was a lot of banking demand for MBA students just before my graduation, and those that took up the invitation went to a large group dinner, and they presented the job opportunities.
Heck, internship for some of these large companies is with the intention of hiring a high stat student or having a chance at hiring a high stat student. My CS nephew was courted with an insurance company summer internship, and the internship showed him that he did not want to work there! Dau jumped into an early internship opportunity, which may help her with the next one - they liked her experience - unique, as it was with a large one state company with in-house facilities and specialization. Hope it helps that she was on the front end of the interviewing and have people in the company at this particular facility that know our family. However her timing is probably very good on demand in her field and also in the university’s area for summer jobs in her field, and summer classes she can take.
Some kids have things work out easy, and some have to work harder at the opportunities despite having high enough stats. Sometimes it is the job sector fluctuations.
@SOSConcern It certainly depends on the field and the school. Considering the attendance of career fair at UMich, the booth time is really limited as there are long lines for most of those popular companies. There are certainly a lot of opportunities out there as hundreds of employers coming to campus for hiring a few times a year. I am just telling people the competitiveness that most students do not even have a chance for interview at those popular Fortune 500 companies if you are not a tip top student already. Note that the 3.5 GPA cutoff I mentioned is for the engineering school which is even harder to achieve that in LSA.
Important to get whatever experiences one can, as you say, using personal connections, etc.
The key internship is the one before senior year. Getting whatever experiences before then is grand - sometimes those will provide a company find one was not expecting.
Keeping open to what opportunities are available.
Heck just counting on companies coming to your student’s university may not be getting to a job opportunity. The earlier the search, the better.
The GPA may limit one for the first job opening after college, or for an internship, but not after that either for the most part. They want who can perform well in the job market.