I am wondering what how important the ranking is for chemical engineering schools as far as leading to the best job.
I am currently considering Illinois, Purdue, Texas, and Texas A&M, and Clemson. Illinois, Purdue, Texas, and Texas A&M are all ranked very highly. Clemson is not, but it is known to have great career placement and I believe I would receive $15,000 per year for my ACT. In general Clemson seems like an awesome school to go to as far as student life, but is it worth going after the money if the ranking is lower?
Accounting and engineering are two areas where popular prestige like published rankings is not overly important. Clemson has national presence and I would take the money in this case. Clemson also has a beach, 
Clemson has been ranked #1 for best alumni network by Princeton Review and #1 in Career Services programs. I would think both of these would be extremely important in finding a great job .
Clemson has a high OOS cost to begin with, so what would be the net cost if you were to receive the award?
What about the other schools? Will you receive any merit from them?
Why decide now? Wait until the other schools decide if they’ll give you merit. TAMU or Purdue might as well.
Are any of these instate?
How much will your parents pay each year??
Edit…you have an ACT 34 and instate for UIUC.
I think you should wait and see what the other schools offer.
There is no point making decisions before you have all your choices on the table. Once you have your acceptances (including financial aid) then you can lay them out on the table, do actual comparisons on what they will cost you and see what makes the most sense overall.
It’s hard to wait, but once all your apps are in that’s all you can do. Put it aside until you get your offers.
I agree that OP should wait until he can weigh all of his options before committing to any schools. Of course if Illinois is his home state, that is the most appropriate financial decision. I took the purpose of the post was for OP to gather more information for making a decision , not to commit right now. Look at Cost of living for the area around the school as well when determining cost as some states are more expensive than other areas. Of course the OP should always ask parents what they are willing to spend for OOS. OP @mom2collegekids mentioned you have an ACT score of 34. If you are ranked in the top 1% of your class, depending on your GPA you may also be eligible for the National Scholars Program scholarship at Clemson. It is very competitive . You can find out more info on the Clemson’s website. Have you had the opportunity to visit any of these schools? Fit is very important and should be considered as much as finances ( once financial feasibility has been established ) Where can you see yourself living for 4-6 years? Do your homework and weigh apples with apples once all your offers are in. Good luck in your search.
Have you visited the schools, or are you waiting to see if you can narrow the field by other means?
You should also look at the intern and cooperative education opportunities, since you are very interested in career placement.
I also like post #5 thoughts/comments.
My DD is at in-state flagship but has summer engineering internship with a national company - so she may end up landing with opportunities elsewhere down the road. We as parents are thrilled that she sought out and landed this internship.
I worked for a large cooperative education program - it was a great plus for those students to get that work exposure.
Make sure you have a safety you can afford and would be happy to attend on your list.
U of I’s instate tuition is high for a state school (~$35,000 and I wouldn’t get any money, merit or need-based from them). This is okay with my parents but it’s about the highest they can go. Purdue and Texas A&M are above $40,000, and Texas is roughly $50,000, so I would need to get merit aid from them to go there. Clemson would be roughly $27,000 and so is the cheapest option. My parents’ biggest concern is getting the job. I know I’ll get a good job out of Illinois, Purdue, and the Texas schools and so they think it’s worth it to take out loans and go there, but if Clemson gets me just as good of a job, then obviously that’s the better option. I guess the question is that if I don’t get any money from anywhere else besides Clemson, is that the best option? At this point I’m not concerned about the student life aspect because I’ve visited Illinois, Purdue, and Clemson and I liked them all. I have not visited the Texas schools but I will if I get in. I think I liked Clemson the most but just don’t know if going there is a step down.
You should be able to get a good job if you go to Clemson. They have internships all over the country and good placement services as well. If you are concerned , contact the engineering departments at each school and ask them about placement rates and what internships and co ops that they have to make an informed decision. This is purely anecdotal but a friend is a Purdue alum and his son will be attending Clemson. I doubt that he would send his son to a school that wouldn’t give him adequate education or employment opportunities. In the end, all you can do is get as much info as you can, weigh your options and decide as a family what’s best for you. You and your family are the only ones who know the answer . Everything else is just suggestions and should be considered as such.
FWIW USNWR 2016 has Purdue and Clemson tied at 61 for national universities and 21 for public national
universities. They are ranked below Illinois and Texas , but higher than TAMU.
Have you considered UA? With GPA, you have 8 semesters of tuition plus eng scholarship of $2500/year. I can assure you ChE would be as good as Clemson as far as job opportunities - I do know a couple of female students that attend Clemson - one is in their packaging engineering so she is treated like an in-state student through our SE common market; the other had a Clemson mom engineer graduate which I am sure swayed her to attend and may have landed some merit money.
You need to meet the Dec 15 deadline on application for the automatic UA Presidential and Engineering Scholarships…
UA has put a lot into STEM over the last decade - new buildings, faculty, programs. Can view on-line video tour to see some of it (rated top 10 beautiful campuses). DD did the summer SITE one week program which gave her a preview of the various eng and CS disciplines.
UA has a terrific Honors College. Students get class priority - DD has submitted her first choice class schedule and it was taken by the system for her 3 terms since first term orientation scheduling.
If you are a solid ChE student, you will find opportunities and later jobs at graduation.
I do understand UIUC has been expensive and is getting more so due to lack of IL funding. There are a pretty sizable number of eng students at UA from IL. If you have local companies that have co-op or internship opportunities, UA will work with them or you can seek and win an internship yourself. DD sought out and won two different civil eng internships (one was OOS, and her recent/preferred is in-state).
Sounds like you are wanting education value - not spending a lot of money when you can do well with a lower cost plan.
I think your grades at college will be more important than which school. Top companies are looking for 3.3 minimune for best interships/jobs Go to the school where you will be most comfortable.