Colleges with strong Polytechnic and $50K or less COA?

College Search & Selection
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S22 stats:
Major: Computer Engineering (FYE)
1330 SAT (660/670)
3.8 WGPA – ~7 APs
Rather strong senior schedule (AP Govt, AP English, AP CS 3, AP Calc AB, Honors Physics, Sport) – all As except Bs in Calc/Physics
Eagle Scout, varsity sport, multi-year camp counselor
Wants to leave Texas for college
Isn’t into Greek and spends time with
We wouldn’t get any fin aid according to calculators
Wants to study abroad but isn’t fluent in another language.

Applying to Purdue, Wisconsin, SMU (parent faculty/staff), probably Florida

Purdue is his top choice. We also visited Wisconsin and he likes the city and nice engineering facilities that we weren’t able to tour but campus is spread out. On a family vacation to the Grand Canyon, he said he doesn’t like the cold too much but yet, Indiana and Wisconsin are top choices.

He’s choosing Purdue Polytechnic computer technology as his #2 major choice. I believe he might get admitted for that major and not FYE. In that case, we need some alternative choices for comparison sake. It feels like RPI and WPI would be much more expensive if he was admitted and they’re cold and I assume don’t have many females. Any other national universities with strong technology majors or nurturing engineering programs?

We’re comparing to SMU engineering with as much study abroad as he wants.

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-U Cincinnati - check out both the COE and CEHD

  • CPP

What about Penn State IST?

If you thought going abroad might be a possibility, look into UEdinburgh, Strathclyde, Herriot Watt, Edinburgh Napier, Aberdeen -all UCAS, with vicarious selectivity levels, and within budget.

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UAH, Arizona, Ms. State, Florida Tech, Missouri Science & Tech, Michigan Tech.

Good luck.

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S22 would love Edinburgh engineering and it has an 80% acceptance rate for non-EU applicants but it’s hard to determine what the COA would be. I believe foreign universities may have housing issues because many students commute.

Ohio State and Rutgers cost ~$48K. He doesn’t care much about football but I’d like a school with a decent amount of OOS students so the dorms aren’t cleaned out on the weekends. I think he’d like Pitt but it’s annual cost is $52K (before travel expense). Ohio State doesn’t seem to have technology/polytechnic degrees and I’m not sure he’d get into engineering.

Bucknell has undergrad engineering but probably wouldn’t be in the pay range. However, quite good reputation overall.

@tsbna44 would you pick these schools over Auburn or Alabama? Are they much more affordable? Do they have many OOS students? It seems like only Arizona would.

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Auburn has some, but not great scholarships. It would probably be in the $35-40k/yr range. What about Arizona State, Iowa State, Ohio State, and Michigan State? Of course some of those are “cold”. I believe Washington State may have a decent CS program. You are in the same boat we are in, except not looking at TAMU. SMU has great merit scholarships (former Hunt here). Not sure about the engineering. You probably know more about UT-D than I do.

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I priced the Scottish unis. Understand they are four year unis (did a masters at StAs). They run about $45k/yr. Inflation is the issue. Look at the English unis like Manchester and Imperial. They have a three year bachelors degree. So, there’s some savings there.

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Scottish unis used to guarantee housing to international 1st years, check if they still do; after that they had to find flatshares with “mates”. All should be 40-45k a year all in, and they do offer small scholarships to reduce that somewhat, so that 35k is a reasonable possibility.
The advantage of Scottish unis is that they’re 4 year long, so that the first year isn’t as rough on Americans as the English unis. A student with AP Cal AB would be okay, because it’s close to Scottish Highers Maths, whereas whenever A Level maths is required Calc BC (and higher: linear algebra, calc based stats) would be assumed.
All 5 I listed are reasonable for your son 1nd they cost $40 to apply to all 5.

Have you been able to look at Penn State IST? It’s a very large university but definitely what you call a “polytechnic” dept. Lots of things to do, walkable college town, big downside: merit uncommon and unpredictable (if you meet Nov 1 deadline you have a shot at some scholarships but there’s nothing published till they contqct you -.they are called Provost and For the Glory). There’s also Schreyer, super selective but automatic $5,000 I admitted. Should be within budget. 50-55% OOS, residential.

U Cincinnati Cybersecurity program is very hands on with built in paid co-ops. A good match. He can apply for Cincinatus scholarship. Mostly instate students but big city mitigates this.

Asu has many OOS students thanks to Barrett. On par with Alabama (better Honors college at ASU but better scholarships at Bama.)

Auburn unlikely to offer significant merit.

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Cal Poly meets the cost and quality goals. I don’t think his GPA will get him into CompE though. Worth a shot though if the program speaks to him.

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It is possible to gain admission to Ohio State and work your way into the College of Engineering. If he didn’t make it into the College of Engineering as an incoming freshman he could still be offered admission in the exploratory program. Enrollment criteria - freshmen - The Ohio State University

It’s usually possible to schedule the freshman FYE classes (Calc, Chem, Physics, Fundamentals of Engineering I&II) even if he’s not in the CoE. Is he interested in Computer Science? In addition to CSE, there is also CIS (BA or BS) offered by a different college, but has the same CS department for those majors.

https://cse.osu.edu/current-students/undergraduate/majors/application-major-and-requirements-apply

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I think when you are talking about engineering - short of the very top - and yes Purdue is almost at that level- any other school - does it matter?

Will Ohio State and Rutgers be ranked higher than Bama and Arizona. Probably. On the CC, we care about this. An employer may care that you went to CMU or Purdue - but outside of 10-12 schools, will they care where you went? I doubt it.

So to me, your son needs to find the right fit. Part of fit is finances.

So in that sense your Bama, AZ, even ASU, Ms. State, Arkansas, Missouri S&T, Michigan Tech, UAH, Florida Tech…these schools (with merit - don’t forget merit) - will make the grade financially. What about a school like Iowa State, Oklahoma State or doing something so off the wall - and in such a cool and awesome place if you’re outdoorsy - South Dakota School of Mines. Or New Mexico - supposedly great merit. And I see @eyemgh on here and when people talk budget, he talks Utah!!

If he goes to Purdue for his second major - does that get him to where he wants to be?

Listen, I’m a lot about pedigree. My son was into Purdue and got the rare $10K scholarship (I think it’s because he attended engineering camp there because his classmates with better #s who got in and went to UTK instead got nada). I wish my son was at Purdue. He declined because they over enroll and their housing is not good because of it. Bama has the nicest dorms you’ll ever see (Ridgecrest) - and he chose there for them (funny as he hated his year in the dorm).

Also, while a school like Bama may be low ranked, they’re bringing in more national merit scholars then pretty much anyone and they’ve got fantastic students in the high end majors - because they’re buying them in. With your son’s #s, it won’t be as lucrative but still affordable.

You ask about OOS - so it looks like Bama is 60%, Auburn and AZ 40% - so all very significant. Auburn is close to GA and I bet most come from there although I don’t know. Bama and AZ are definitely pulling from all areas of the country. My son’s first suitemate in Bama was from AZ and chose Bama over Baylor.

He can always apply to a few more. If you are chasing an overall cost, what’s another $500 or $1K in app fees - and I’m not even kidding. What if you apply to a school that just blows you away $$ wise. Or apply to no app fee schools - you can find a list on Niche.

btw - while I love pedigree, I have $70K-80K more in my pocket - plus whatever that grows to investment wise - and that has to account for something good - so chasing a name for sake of chasing a name - maybe not worth it. After all, I’m sure my stress levels will be a lot lower than other parents who sent their kids to a name who then realize - oh crap, what did i do to myself - and have to worry every night about that!!

One more thing about cost - don’t forget schools like Purdue have “surcharges” for engineering. This can run thousands.

Good luck.

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Are you eligible for tuition exchange because parent works for SMU? Are they a member?

What are the safeties?

Dayton or Miami U? UT Knoxville? WVU would be under budget.

If he likes outdoors maybe Utah, New Mexico or Colorado?

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Nevermind. I see SMU is not a member.

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@chmcnm unfortunately no tuition exchange. If so, we’d be open to a wider range of options. Only pay fees of $7-$8K, R&B and books. SMU has high room and board costs but Greek house and off campus are more affordable. Engineering is pretty small with good opportunities but won’t have the facilities of a large state school like Purdue, Wisconsin, Florida, etc. We told him we’d pay for a school that’s higher ranked than SMU (or real close). Therefore, WVU would be out. Fun place though! Clemson is $57K OOS or would be in range. VaTech is also rigorous but remote. Clemson might get a pass but also isn’t near a metro area.

@tsbna44 great color! Bama and Baylor, especially if business, probably have some decent overlap. Around here, A&M and Baylor have strong overlap due to culture.

Got dinner feedback. Bucknell’s site says 3 hours from NYC, Philly and DC, so basically in the middle of nowhere. An hour or so from State College which is also rather remote. I like them, and the IST program is very similar to Purdue’s Polytechnic, but wife nixed them. Next, I asked about Ohio State. S22 said it’s way too big. “It has like 50K or more students.” I replied that Purdue has about 10K freshmen. He says, “Yeah but Ohio State has like 17,000.” Not true but okay that’s out too.

I ask about Florida. He says, “Yeah, I’m going there if I get in.” Behind Purdue of course. He has a good friend whose dad lives in FL and would get in-state tuition if his top private doesn’t work out. I ask about Iowa State. I get “Cool talk dad. We’ll talk more when I get back (from tutoring).” Tongue in cheek.

Oh, and Edinburgh is out. Students would be too agnostic religion wise. We are regular church goers and hope that S22 has some semblance of religious influence in college.

Next, I’ll check Cal Poly’s formula and see if he has a chance. $47,600 COA. A sport mate of his is a freshman there and he’s a sharp kid.

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FYI : there are 2 Cal Poly’s. SLO and Pomona. Pomona will be an easier admit than SLO but both have excellent Engineering programs and the “learn by doing” teaching philosophy.

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I could be wrong but I think you have a lot if reaches. Purdue - reach. If he wants to study engineering then why polytechnic? In other words to me, he shouldn’t settle for a major when he can pursue his desired major elsewhere. There’s a big difference from engineering to tech.

Bucknell admits 37%. Not sure about engineering. But no sure thing. And yes it’s in Lewisburg, middle of nowhere.
Probably Harrisburg would be the closest airport. Or Williamsport.

OSU average SAT For engineering is well above yours.

Florida his weighted GPA is far below the school and engineering is higher. His test score will be below for engineering.

No issue applying to schools you mentioned but I believe they are all reaches.

Make sure you also apply to schools you know he will get into. Someone mentioned Cincy. I gave you a host of schools. They are all admits for you.

Not sure how Purdue is for Polytechnic but in general your lost skews to reach…maybe there’s a low match in there…but you definitely, in my opinion, need to skew downward.

Good luck.

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I had the same question about safeties unless you’re using SMU as the safety? OOS engineering can be a tough admit like CS and they might not be direct admission which is a negative.

Bucknell is off-the beaten path. No direct access.

I think there’s been some good suggestions. Cincinnati might be nice. Urban campus and big on co-ops. Dayton is a Catholic school and the campus is nice. UT Knoxville is close to the Smokey Mountains. It’s a nice area. Good luck.

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I like Utah a lot, but it’s not as good of a deal without WUE or higher stats. I think it’s underrated, but I wouldn’t pay full fare with so many other options out there.

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EDIT: the system double posted.

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@tsbna44 you’re totally correct, they’re all reaches with his stats. Maybe one would be a low match since they’re not direct admit to the major. I don’t get much feedback on engineering vs. tech majors other than engineering is more early stage design vs. “hands on” in tech.

@chmcnm yes, SMU is sort of the safety or low match because engineering isn’t an impacted college, just business and fine arts and there’s some hook. His sister attends SMU and is thriving.

Given its detailed breakdown it appears that Cal Poly is another reach with 4.12 to 4.25 (max) WGPA, no test scores and 26% acceptance rate.

We may need another low match to safety but SMU informs of its decisions in late December. If it’s a deferral or rejection, we’ll have to quickly find a solution.