I appreciate the wealth of info/advice here on CC and hope to respect your time by giving the most releveant info I can.
We have three children: DS1 graduated HS in 2015 and is entering UMinn on NROTC scholarship this fall, DS2 will graduate HS Fall ’17, DS3 entering 7th grade (HS class of ’21). We live in TN.
We are trying to narrow down the list for DS2 college visits over the next year or so. His goal is to attend a solid+ engineering/science school to serve as a base from which to apply directly to a top tier grad school in Environmental Engineering or something related to Environmental Science (lots still TBD). No geographical or setting preferences (other than prefer to avoid Rural). Military brat, so he’s lived everywhere from East Coast to HI.
Financial philosophy is to maximize merit aid so that we have money left over for grad school and DS3. Family income is ~$165K, overall family EFC is ~$50K. So, with DS1 in college for DS2’s Fresh/Soph year, initial EFC will be $25K, Jr/Sr year EFC $50K. Realistically, we can afford about $20K/year for DS2, but would like to minimize costs, etc. (Looking for that Win/Win!)
DS2’s info (as of end of sophomore year):
GPA 4.0 UW/? weighted
Taking all Honors/AP the school has to offer; will end up w/7 AP
Rank: Top 3 of ~400 (school does not formally rank until senior year)
ACT 34
Taken 1x, in Dec of Soph year as a practice; will take 2-3 more times w/detailed prep
PSAT 206
Taken during Soph year for practice. TN cutoff was 212; he plans to focus on PSAT prep this summer …hopeful for NMSF/NMF
ECs are very broad
Robotics, AFJROTC, Youth Worship Band, Poetry Contests, Brain Bowl, Varsity Cross Country & Track, part time job, 250+ volunteer hours
Duke TIP Grand (National) Recognition. No other major awards/recognition beyond county level stuff and state academic bowl competitions.
We are looking for the best fit and I can’t help but feel we’re missing some great schools with good aid packages that we should be considering. So, please review the list below and let us know what you think. (BTW, we haven’t formally designated “Reach/Match/Safety” yet)
Preliminary list (reasoning / visit status):
Rice (Top Tier academics / Completed)
Ga Tech (my alum, Top Tier Eng, poss some merit aid / Completed)
U of Ill, Urb-Champ (Top Tier Eng, poss Univ Achievement $12K / Visit Jul ’15)
Texas A&M (solid Eng, NMF Full Tuition+ / Visit Oct ’15)
Ohio State Univ (solid science, good chance at Nat’l Buckeye $12K / Visit Aug ’15)
UMinn Twin Cities (very strong Eng, low tuition, good chance at $10K NMF aid / Visit Jul ’15)
Univ of Iowa (good in Env studies, near family, up to $13K merit aid / Visit Jul ’15)
Univ of Maryland (strong academics, possibility of 150xKey scholarships? / Visit in 2016)
Purdue (very strong Eng, possibility of $12-16K merit aid / Visited with DS1 in fall ’14…DS2 wasn’t too impressed)
Other possibilities being considered (looking all the time!):
Arizona State Univ/Barrett Honors College (Sustainability institute, NMF full tuition +)
Auburn (decent Eng, NMF full tuition +)
Univ of Alabama (academics OK, NMF full tuition+)
Original choices that we preliminarily crossed off the list due to cost/not much merit aid:
Cornell
Johns Hopkins
Case Western Reserve
U Wash St Louis
Duke
What are we missing?
Thanks again. I’ve learned a TON by lurking here for hours on end over the past year or so.
you are missing the university of Southern Calif.
they offer 250 automatic 1/2 tuition merit scholarships for National Merit Scholars and 120 Full tuition scholarships. But he HAS to apply before Dec 1 for scholarship consideration.
Have him study for the PSAT by taking practice SAT tests. like crazy this summer. Here is a link for colleges that offer National Merit scholarships.
Our experience with USC as a National merit winner was that DS only received ½ tuition. Op’s family would still be on the hook for the additional $40k. The full tuition scholarships appeared to be based on income.
CWRU actually gives a lot of merit aid to top students. D was awarded $25K/year this spring. You have a very good list. He might enjoy Rose Hulman in Indiana, smaller engineering centric school with extremely good merit aid
I just got the advice here on CC to look at schools that are part of the Association of Independent Technological Universities: http://www.theaitu.org/. IIT and Rensselaer looked promising for merit aid according to CollegeData.
The CSS profile schools won’t split tuition 50/50. And they may consider other aspects of your finances. Have you run those with 1 student in college and 2 in college?
Nothing new to add other than agreeing about CWRU & U Rochester. I know a student who received full tuition to USC, and her stats were nowhere near as high as OP’s son’s stats. (Not Engineering.) Student had to fly out for interview. I didn’t realize that income was a criteria, but defer to @aunt bea who had a child go through the process.
The class of 2017 cannot study for the PSAT in the usual way since the exam format & content are changing to align with the new SAT. I know that Kahn Academy will have on-line prep for the new SAT so it may be worth checking if they also have info for new PSAT.
^^^ oops…I meant to write…CSS schools won’t split EFC 50/50 with 2 in college.
I’m not sure what schools do when one child is attending college for free or nearly-free on a ROTC scholarship. Some CSS schools may not give a discount for the second child. does anyone know?
Thanks for the input so far. We’ll definitely look at/reconsider those that have been recommended.
@mom2collegekids When I ran my most recent EFC estimate, I ran both Federal and CSS with the “two in school” scenario. They came out about $2K different (I think it was $22.5 CSS / $24.5 Fed). They didn’t seem to ask anything about expenses for DS1 already in school. It’s a great point, esp if there is a big difference. To date, I hadn’t been tracking which type each school uses, but I will make a point to do so and try to ask about that specific point when we do our visits.
“The full tuition scholarships appeared to be based on income”
No -they are strictly merit scholarships.
" I didn’t realize that income was a criteria"
Its not. DS won a full tuition scholarship and income was not and is not a factor.
https://dornsife.usc.edu/trustee-presidential-deans-scholarships
“Open to incoming freshmen. All Fall 2015 freshman applicants who submit a complete application for admission to USC by December 1, 2014 will automatically be considered. Selection criteria include academic excellence, leadership, and community service”
@Phupdu - My son just finished his freshman year at A&M in general engineering and was then admitted into his Aerospace Engineering major. He is OOS. So far, he loves A&M and will actually be an RA in the fall. A&M is a great engineering school and the Aggie network is outstanding for placement. He got the standard A&M package for NMFs of in-state tuition and $10k per year (basically full tuition).
We have been going down a similar path to yours. My Aggie son is our oldest: NMF, National AP Scholar, 3.93 unweighted GPA, 2320 SAT. He was also admitted to Purdue ($10k), Michigan ($10K), Georgia Tech, Rose Hulman, and ASU/Barrett.
Our second son will be starting in Mechanical Engineering at Miami University (Ohio) this fall. He is also a National AP Scholar. He got a 33 on his ACT (just missed NMF), with 36 on science and 35 on math. His unweighted GPA was 3.6 and was 4.46 weighted. Miami was not the top-rated engineering school that he was admitted to, but he really liked it. It’s number 2 in undergraduate education (behind Princeton) and also number 2 in study abroad opportunities, with a beautiful campus and a lovely little college town (Oxford, OH). Miami gave him a $20,000/year merit scholarship. He also got very good scholarship offers from Portland (Oregon), Trinity (San Antonio), ASU, and U of A.
Next, our third son will be a HS senior this year, so he is headed off to college in 2016. He is also interested in engineering. He’s very smart (33 first time on ACT), but not as driven as his brothers. I think he will likely stay here in Arizona, most likely ASU/Barrett. I am a big Barrett fan, so ask me any questions that you might have. ASU’s scholarship estimator is pretty accurate: https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator
There is a website about engineering programs that I use (understanding that all lists of colleges/departments have their flaws); and here is a link to the top environmental engineering programs that it identifies: http://best-engineering-colleges.com/environmental-engineering. One of these schools (TAMU) you have already visited; and one that jumps out for merit aid, if your son can raise his PSAT to NMF levels, is the University of Oklahoma, where they also give scholarships to NMFs that are effectively full tuition, plus: http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/recruitment/documents/ScholDescription_14.15_NonRes.pdf. Additionally, here is a link to schools that give full ride/full tuition to NMFs: http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/. There are a couple of schools on this list that are good in engineering and/or science, such as Mississippi State or Washington State, that might merit (no pun intended) consideration.
As you are a resident of Tennessee, you may want to consider UT-Knoxville, which has a very good College of Engineering, as well as very strong sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. UT now has the Volunteer Scholarship, which, based on your son’s ACT and GPA, would qualify him for significant automatic merit aid: http://onestop.utk.edu/volunteer-scholarship/.
Also, as a Tennessee resident your son would qualify for in-state tuition at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale: http://admissions.siu.edu/alternaterates/; and your son’s statistics may put him in the running for merit scholarships there as well: http://scholarships.siu.edu/types/freshmen/index.html. SIU has a good engineering program, from what I can tell from the “Best Engineering Colleges” website linked above.
The Missouri University of Science and Technology offer merit aid: http://sfa.mst.edu/scholarships/freshman/. Your son’s test scores and GPA would probably get him in the neighborhood of $13K, without NMF status.
Some schools where you enroll in the engineering programs may also give scholarships based on participation in FIRST Robotics; so look for that as you go through the various websites.
Finally, here is a website that I use to look for merit scholarships: https://www.meritaid.com/. You will need to go to the actual websites of the schools to update the information, however, as once in a while the scholarship information has been changed.
Northeastern has a 30k NMF award, and up to 25k in scholarship for school wide merit. his ACT will go far to help that. A few select students even get into a full tuition program that’s incredibly selective. All of this is automatic with the common application, no extra applications. You also get the co-op program.
The co-op program is not unique to Northeastern (or Drexel or Cincinnati), since many schools have optional co-op programs. The main difference between these schools is that their curricula are designed around co-ops with the general expectation that every student does them, as opposed to some students choosing to do them and others not.
U Portland and Santa Clara have very good co-op programs, but Santa Clara does not offer much merit aid (Stanford safety school.)
Portland tuition is pretty reasonable for a private, liberal arts school at $40,000, and they offered us $22,500 per year in merit aid. It is a Catholic school, administered by the Congregation of Holy Cross (same as Notre Dame). Students are required to take only three religion classes, which do not have to be Catholic (two for engineers).
Portland offers both Air Force and Army ROTC. The campus is lovely, sitting on a bluff over the Willamette River across from downtown Portland. The engineering facilities are brand new, and LEED Platinum certified. The co-op program is a state-wide program offered through Oregon State, Oregon Tech, Portland State, and U. Portland https://www.mecopinc.org/ There are over 130 participating companies, including Boeing. There is no Environmental Engineering major, but there is a nice Environmental Studies major. http://college.up.edu/envscience/default.aspx?cid=3450&pid=1215
Sorry for late reply…been off the grid this past week. Thanks everyone for the input. Now I have confidence that we are on the right track and haven’t overlooked anything major, but at the same time, we have several other options that we haven’t fully considered.