3.83/4 UW, 4.44/4 weighted GPA, 1500 SAT (710 reading/writing, 790 math), 16 AP classes, 1 college class, Seal of Biliteracy, NHS, NHS Science, Varsity track and XC, Mathletes (11,12) Science Olympiads (9/10), 70 plus volunteer hours, AP Scholar with Distinction, Club Soccer, Chem and Calculus tutor, part time job, National Hispanic Recognition Program.
Interested in Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering. I am out of state in New England at a public school.
Admit likely. Aid none.
Is merit aid really tough to get?
My son had better stats. Got none. NC State is very good for engineering.
What you’ll learn is a lot of colleges have merit aid, a lot don’t.
It doesn’t mean you won’t earn it - go on their website.
But NC State isn’t known for it.
The schools to get the best aid will be Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Ms State, Alabama, UAH, etc. Others like U Del and UVM have but not as much as a % of tuition. At FSU, you’d get an OOS waiver, etc.
If you want to attend NCSU but think you can’t afford it, just make sure you apply to for sure affordable options as well.
Admit likely, not sure about merit,but you could try for the Parks scholarship
So no merit for National Hispanic Recognition?
I’d email an admissions counselor and ask.
The flagship North Carolina public universities – UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State – are very stingy about giving merit money to OOS students, unless those students are just off the charts. They are saving most merit awards for NC residents.
NC State gives very little to out of state. NC State came in the highest cost across all need/merit packages for our daughter.
Look at USC -Columbia for far more merit and a strong engineering program.
Will you qualify for need based aid at a college that meets 100% of demonstrated need? With your stats, use the NPCs on the T50 colleges to figure out how much those would cost. Most will probably come in lower that NC State and they will care about some of your recognitions.
I think when you talk about “top 50” you should separate top 50 from top 50 mechanical.
For example, and RPI and WPI are great schools. Rose Hulman is great. They don’t come top 50.
But I digress - you need to get us facts - what you can afford (and yes, go to an Ivy or top private and run the NPC). Just because your mom is single does not mean you’ll get money. Many schools will include your dad’s income.
And we still have no idea what type of school you might be looking at.
Engineering is hard - but there are good schools out there for you - and the difference between a top 30 engineering school and a #80 won’t be much.