Based on his recent reply to one of my posts, I think @An_D is not actually all that interested in business, but his family thinks that his past success in a business enterprise in high school will help him with his applications.
OP, do you currently want input and advice on the following:
I want to combine them if possible. If I have to choose It will be engineering.
No worries here. Of course they have made clear that the end decision is mine and it is just an option.
OK, then there are several posts above about combining them!
OP - A few posters mentioned Lehigh. It offers:
Integrated Business and Engineering Honors Program through P.C. Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Science. I think about 50 students are in the honors program for each year.
Computer Science and Business Degree through the Intercollegiate Interdisciplinary Programs. I donât know much about this.
Our eldest chose IBE bc he received one of the few full tuition scholarships for 4 years. Lehigh Merit Scholarships | Undergraduate Admissions | Lehigh University
There are pros and cons of combining engineering and business. Many posters on CC do not think itâs a good option. Our son decided that the business classes were ok, but wanted to focus on EE. I think many of his peers chose industrial engineering so they can go into the financial sector. His other options were universities with reputable engineering colleges like UIUC, UMich, Texas-Austin, UW-Madison, Northwestern, USC. However we are a full pay family so Lehighâs Trustee scholarship was an enormous gift.
There are pros and cons of Lehigh. Culturally itâs very heavy greek dominated. Mine did not join a frat. Itâs small - about 5000 students. Mine felt it got very small about half way through. Bethlehem is not the greatest town, a bit run down. Engineering college is not a power house like UIUC or GT with huge research budgets, but mine took advantage of everything it offered and more. He is gainfully employed in an engineering role in the aerospace industry and really loves his job.
As many posters offered, really do your research on each university you are considering. Itâs a ton of work to apply over 10 schools and you want to submit the best you can for each one. Each of my 3 kids applied to 10 to 12 schools. Itâs a long grueling process.
OP - when our eldest applied in 2017, he received larger merit awards from Iowa State and Miami University (almost full tuition), some OOS merit award at Ohio State and U of MN-Twin Cities. Case Western and Northeastern are need aware schools and their NMF scholarship was very small. USC offered half tuition bc of NSF.
When the youngest applied in 2021-2022 for CS in engineering colleges, he receive a small OOS merit award at Ohio State, U of MN-Twin Cities and U of Mass-Amherst.
Neither received any merit from schools like Michigan, Texas, Purdue, Wisconsin or U of MD-College Park. We are a full pay family. They both had ACT of 35 and SAT of 1530/1540. Both had high GPAs with several APs, etc. Both had meaningful HS Robotics experience and played a single sport all 4 years. Neither were valedictorians, but in top 10% at a public HS.
I am sharing this bc there are many average excellent students and merit awards are not as abundant as need aid. Your experience may be different bc you are a first gen and live in AL.
When my daughter applied to Lehigh they were trying very hard to attract OOS applicants who were not from the northeast. Geographic diversity was very important (they told us).
Is that still true (my guess is yes)?
(I see you mentioned this in your second post).
Scroll right when you open. Alabama small representation Florida and IL seem strong. but NY, NJ, and PA dominate. You may have to reset filters.
@cag60093 says âEngineering college is not a power houseâ - and I cut off like Ga Tech and Michigan which does give that statement context. But honestly, I think Lehigh is seen as extremely strong in regards to engineering.
Great get on the full tuition award.
https://oirsa.lehigh.edu/geographic-distribution-domestic-students
I donât know for sure, bc we never asked, but you may be right about the geographic diversity. We are from the midwest. For sure Lehigh has a very large majority coming from the NE area. I am sure he didnât get it because he was the smartest or most deserving in the applicant pool. I suspect his profile filled the schoolâs âneed.â
Lehighâs engineering is solid. I believe the university was established originally just as an engineering university. The curriculum is ABET accredited and the teaching is good. All IBE peers had job offers in various industries -financial, FAANG, fed govt, start ups, etc. In the NE area, Lehigh grads are well regarded. I think in recent years, the ranking has been a bit lowered. I am not an expert in this arena so I canât say for sure, but I think funding for engineering clubs and research was not at the level of some of the larger institutions like GT, Michigan, UIUC, etc. My son saw the difference when he went to the annual competitions.
Is it a huge possibility that colleges might add diversity essays if they do not already have because of affirmative action?
No but itâs possible or likely some may use words in essays or clubs to indicate an ethnicity status.
If Iâm not mistaken the ruling shared this is possible.
Colleges will now take into account social, cultural, ethnic, and/or geographical diversity.
Some colleges will expect some of these traits to pop up in what you write, some will have specific questions.
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