Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Asian Male, Son of Immigrants
Intended Major(s): Aerospace Engineering, Mech for Rose-Hulman
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.79 UW
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.32 W
Class Rank: School doesn’t rank
ACT/SAT Scores: 1540 (800M, 740RW)
Coursework
APUSH (4), IB Calc 1, AP Calc BC (5 expected), IB Physics SL (AP Phys 1&2)
Senior Year Courseload: Calc 3, IB Physics HL (AP Phys C: Mech & E&M), AP CSP
Awards
No real awards. Some Civil Air Patrol Awards and won ~$30,000 in flight scholarships Extracurriculars
Private Pilot’s License (Gliders and Airplanes, over 100 hours, flew for free thanks to winning scholarships)
Aviation/Service based volunteering (unique stuff, I fly as part of an organization that does free orientation flights for youth, as well as PilotsNPaws, where I fly shelter dogs/puppies to their new owners around the region)
Aerospace Club (Founder/President, did a lot Fresh/Soph, not much Jr/Sr)
Civil Air Patrol (Highly ranked, good leadership stuff, multiple summer activities)
NHS
Marching Band (3 years, not planning on a 4th)
Track (2 years, JV only)
Part-Time Job (18-20hrs/week during school year, full time during holidays)
Boys State Upcoming
USAFA Summer Seminar Upcoming
Cost Constraints / Budget
Family income is such that I likely will not qualify for aid, however they will NOT be paying for college. I am on my own. Scholarships/COA is very important to me. I plan on applying to ROTC scholarships which I believe I am competitive for, and will only attend the more competitive OOS publics in case I am awarded one.
Notes: I got a C first semester AP Calc BC. This was mainly due to some family issues over the summer. Basically I got a D or F on every test in the first half of the semester but got an A on every test in the second half. This averaged out to a C+. Let me know if this screws me as an Engineering major. I got a B second semester and am expecting a 5 on the AP test if it helps. Please recommend schools where it would be realistic for me to get full rides, thanks!
The grade issue with Calc BC isn’t a help, but if you do get a 5 on the exam as predicted, that will certainly validate your mastery of the material, and take some of the sting out of the grade admissions-wise.
In terms of affordable safeties, have you considered U of North Dakota? They have one of the top aviation programs in the country, and they have aero engineering as well. UND is a WUE school (so the WUE rate is the worst case scenario), but all ROTC cadets pay in-state tuition only, which is even better. Plus there’s automatic merit, and it’s a super-affordable school in the first place… so even without an ROTC scholarship, you’d be looking at a total cost of about 20K/year as a cadet, which is a lot less than most on your list.
Iowa State is another that is both relatively affordable and top-notch for aero. (Of course, if you can get the full ROTC scholarship, then you don’t have to be price-sensitive… but these are great aero schools regardless.)
Great that you were accepted for Summer Seminar at the Academy - stay on top of that whole process (nominations, etc.) and I hope it works out for you - sounds like it would be perfect for what you want, and you sound like a strong candidate!
I was going to dive in and predict a positive outcome with 3.79/1540 at Rose, especially given your kid’s apparent desire to go there – but @aquapt spotted a potential hurdle i had missed, so – he should do well on the AP exam to seal his envelope as neatly as possible.
Be sure to show the love to RH, because we cannot take anything for granted these days.
Be sure to develop a list of affordable alternatives – reach (if he desires), match, and at least one safety… better two, these days. One of our many blessings as Americans is the Bellagio buffet of great schools within our borders.
So – your state flagship may be one, affordable but not-too-selective other states’ flags may be others, and good private schools admitting at least 50% of their applicants may provide additional safety options. Click on the emails, sign up for interviews, do a tour of the schools if you can. IE, show the love.
Don’t apply anywhere that isn’t affordable (run the NPC for each school if cost is a concern), and don’t apply anywhere that wouldn’t result in a happy outcome, if that’s the only school to which he were accepted.
Every spring. we see stories from disappointed kids who only got into “safeties” (some of which were really matches… roughly a 50/50 chance of admittance) that they don’t really like, or were admitted to schools they’d love to attend but cannot afford. So choose admirable safeties, and do not apply anywhere that could end in a “Sorry son, but we can’t afford it” apology.
I would move Purdue and UIUC to the reach category. They are both very competitive for engineering and Purdue will look closely at math grades. They also are stingy with merit aid, especially for OOS applicants.
Have your counselor explain the family issues in their report leading to a drop in grades. You stay focused on the positives. Rose will most likely give you at least a 1/2 scholarship but it’s a pricey school to start with so some local to you schools might be better price wise. If they give you more make sure it’s for all 4 years. Many engineers working in Aero have mechanical engineering degrees.
What is your budget?
Do you absolutely need a full ride or are you able to pay some part of the COA?
Remember that, as a student, you won’t be able to borrow more than $5,500 your first year.
What is your budget? Can/will your parents contribute anything at all or is this 100% on you? Will the ROTC scholarship cover everything (if you get it) or will you have additional costs? As a student you can only borrow $27k total for your undergraduate education which means, depending on what you have saved, that you would need a co-signer for the rest. Have you considered the service academies? You have a good high school record and I think you are a strong candidate for admission at several of the schools you’ve mentioned - cost is the real issue.
You have an interesting profile and I’m pretty hopeful for you.
A safety is generally considered a school where you are extremely likely to be admitted AND that you would be happy to attend AND that is affordable. Which of these schools meet all 3 of the criteria?
I’m not sure if you would get a full ride, but you’d probably get close at Louisiana Tech. With your stats you would get an out-of-state tuition waiver plus $9500/year which covers tuition. I’d reach out to the admissions office to see if there would be any additional scholarship money for you (they give a full ride to NM finalists, and they might view you as a similar prize).
Another school that you might want to consider is Ohio U. The description of what they look for in the Cutlers Scholars program seems as though you might be a good fit. And the only one of the Cutler Scholarships you would be eligible for (Russ Legacy) for College of Engineering students says “full scholarship” whereas others just list an amount. I’d check to see if that includes room & board. Ohio University’s honors program also has a very good reputation.
Montana State is another option that you may want to consider. WUE makes it a pretty good deal, but you may be interested in its Presidential Scholarship which, again, is quite competitive, but I think you might have some of the characteristics they’re looking for. According to the engineering department, MSU has the third highest number of students (after Cal Tech and Stanford) receiving Goldwater Fellowships (for STEM students).
Auburn has all Airforce, Navy/Marine, Army ROTC scholarships available. They have aerospace engineering (my sons undergrad), mechanical engineering (my sons masters) and a BS degree in Professional Flight. Delta has a training center at Auburn. It’s a great school in many ways and your sons grades/scores would likely get him any number of scholarships.
I like your list. I might move UIUC and even Purdue to reach. UF to low reach or high match. Frankly you have a lot of great ones on your list that you’ll get into.
An Alabama, UAH, WVU, Mississippi State type might be your best bets of you are paying….especially the first two.
Best of luck.
Ps - competitive or prestige won’t matter. Whether you’re at Georgia Tech or Alabama, you’ll be interning side by side (as mine did) and when you graduate you’ll likely be at the same salary - at least at a job that have both.
ROTC may work for you but depending on what you can afford - a $20k all in school that’s ABET accredited will get you to the same place.
So you need a dollar figure you want and to figure from there. You need at least one you can afford since you won’t get need aid and a ROTC scholarship or academy entrance are far from assured.
Not that it matters, but as a FYI, one of my kids turned down GA Tech for a smaller school (Rice). Not everyone is familiar with it, but those who know, know, if you know what I mean. When he interviewed for one of his jobs (engineering) , he went through 9 interviews. The last one was with a Rice grad! It can matter.
The military academies definitely meet your financial requirements. I think they are a realistic reach. It takes some planning and networking. Reach out to your senators’ offices to see if they are having any outreach sessions near you.
They do favor having some more athletic participation than you indicated with JV track. Look at cross country if offered at your high school in the fall.
Air Force and Navy would be interested. The Coast Guard has aviation as well, they have MechE.
Rice is a great school but very different atmosphere - live in same dorm most years, small, no Greek life, sports are not really a draw, etc. My HS senior visited and didn’t apply. My oldest applied and got in but chose GT. We have family who went there and they loved it. If comparing between those two it really comes down to fit as outcome will be similar.
That wasn’t the point. The point was that name in some cases can matter. And as an aside, the residential college system is fabulous but most students didn’t live on campus all 4 years.
These would only be safeties if getting a full ride non-need-based scholarship is basically automatic. Note that ROTC scholarships are generally competitive, and may be less than full rides.
Did not notice this the first time, but if these are generally applicable to any college and any major, then that may get you some of the way to paying for college, so you may need a little less than a full ride. Possibly:
$7.5k per year from the outside scholarships.
$5.5k per year from federal direct loan (increasing slightly later years, requires parents to fill FAFSA).
a few thousand dollars of your work earnings during the school year and summer.
This means a stretch budget (with little room for error or financial setbacks) of perhaps $16-18k or so. So maybe a college with an approximately full tuition scholarship and low cost of room and board may work, though it would be more risky (in terms of a financial setback stopping you from finishing) than a college with a full ride scholarship.
Yes, this was why I thought that UND might work even without the full ROTC scholarship. It looks like closer to 20K with in-state tuition (which all cadets receive) and auto-merit, but one hopes a little more non-automatic merit would be possible; at least it’s not far from the budget you describe. And it’s a great place for student pilots (which I mean to include both students-who-are-already-pilots and those who are doing their flight training there).