I don’t know what “Polytechnic” means. Can you enlighten me?
What is your son’s unweighted GPA?
Toledo offers both engineering and engineering technology degrees, mandatory co-ops, admits directly to major and provides very good merit aid for modest stats.
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UW GPA is ~3.3 when taking out athletics, band and other extracurriculars. Some schools like Indiana and Iowa use WGPA in admission. I just ran the calculator for Iowa engineering and they say use the best GPA that the HS uses. He is above their cutoff for engineering admission and they’re $44K for tuition and fees. Worth exploring and applying as a low target. I know the Iowa schools have lots of school spirit.
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I missed that it was a weighted GPA. I’m afraid CP is out. Still good options out there though. 
Within Iowa, I would look at Iowa State. Lots to like there!
50K/year is a comfortable budget, but I don’t know that it is worth spending that much when you have options in Texas. Saving money now and use it later for a graduate degree out-of-state or even abroad might make more sense.
I see that schools in Texas care a lot about high school ranking. Can you share your son’s approximate raking?
If you really want go out-of-state, I think that you need to aim a bit lower than Wisconsin or Florida, considering that computer engineering is the desired major.
Check the COA for the universities below. They all offer some level of merit but you might be full pay nonetheless. The numbers are the US News ranking for the engineering programs.
Arizona State University: 36 : Biomed - 29, Mechanical - 21, Electrical -22, Environmental - 17, Civil - 17, Computer - 20
Boston University: 52 : Biomed - 9 , Mechanical - 30 (offers an Aerospace concentration), Electrical - 31
Colorado State University: 72
Iowa State University: 45 : Civil - 22, Industrial - 20
Mississippi State University: 96
Northeastern University: 45
Purdue University: 10 : Biomed - 23, Aerospace - 4, Chemical - 14, Mechanical - 8, Electrical - 11, Civil - 6, Computer - 11, Industrial - 2
Rochester Institute of Technology: 56
Texas A&M University: 15 : Biomed - 33, Aerospace - 10, Chemical - 15, Mechanical - 12, Electrical - 14, Civil - 8, Petroleum - 1, Industrial - 13
University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa: 96
University of Arizona : 52
University of Central Florida: 81
University of Cincinnati: 86
University of Connecticut: 72
University of Iowa: 63
University of Kansas: 86
University of Nebraska – Lincoln 86
University of New Mexico: 96
University of Oklahoma: 96 : Petroleum - 3
University of South Carolina: 96
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NC State is a strong engineering school. Plus it is part of the Research Triangle offering a ton of internship and job opportunities.
Ranked in engineering or overall? Why does it matter if SMU has the major he wants if another school is ranked higher.
I just met an old friend (our kids went to grade school together). Her son went to ND and is a chemE. He’s starting a new job on Tues as he’s been out of work for 14 months! My daughter went to a much lower ranked school, has been employed since graduation. I love ND, but it is not a guarantee of happiness or a good job just because it is ranked higher.
Not many schools have kids emptying the dorms every weekend. I rarely went home and my parents lived about 45 minutes away. In fact it meant when I did go home, I didn’t stay overnight.
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Agreed - the OP should find the “right school.”
If you’re limiting because of the staff connection, that’s fine - but he should find the right school.
I’m not suggesting Bama (although it’s in budget) but I am suggesting that - well they have more (or near the top) NM Scholars than anywhere even though they’re ranked lower.
Schools that you may not know of that hit the budget - Florida Tech and Embry Riddle - lots of space, defense types. UAH the same - as Huntsville is the NASA city part 2.
Rose Hulman - well it’s #1 in non-Doctorates - but do you know of it? Or Kettering? Or Michigan Tech? Or SD School of Mines?
A ranking (and there are many publications as well as overall or engineering or computer engineering) - it’s a marketing metric for whomever to make money.
SMU is a very fine school - but if he chooses not to go, then so be it.
There are great engineering schools at well under $50K and kids with much stronger stats than your son attend them.
It’s must important he finds the right fit - and that includes finances. Rank should be secondary if even impactful at all - in my opinion.
My daughter went to Florida Tech and it is a school that has about 70% male to 30% female. It really wasn’t a problem as far as the dating scene. All her friends who wanted girlfriends or boyfriends found them, even those who I found very geeky.
There are Greeks but it is a small community and their houses are 3-4 miles away from campus (school owns the complex) so if your son wants nothing to do with them it would be easy to avoid. My daughter was the only one from her team to join a sorority. I don’t think any of her other friends (boyfriend, class friends) joined.
Your son would certainly get enough merit to be under the $50k budget. They did have an extra scholarship for eagle scouts too, but things change all the time so make sure it’s still available. The temps are very pleasant most of the time. There was a hurricane problem when my daughter went but I don’t think they’ve had any in Melbourne in the last few years.
Embry-Riddle is nearby and is also generous with merit. Lots of internships and co-op programs, great Maker-space area, interesting TED talks with NASA people and SpaceX and business groups at both schools. And Florida tech has Buzz Aldrin!
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To be clear, when I listed CPP, I meant Cal Poly Pomona. SLO is out of reach.
Bucknell is a big reach and indeed in a very small, rural town.
State College has 100,000 people and 50,000 students. I don’t think students are bored there.
(Generally speaking, what’s most important is what’s organized on campus and what’s within walking distance. Most students’ life will be on campus and within a few blocks of it.)
The issue with larger cities is that by definition there’ll be way more commuters than in a college town. So, see what your son wants to prioritize: residential experience (and a college town rather than a big city) or large city surrounding the campus (but a majority of commuters and fewer activities on campus).
Another one I thought of: IUP-UI. Big city, “polytechnic” approach. Compares to Cincinnati.
(But more commuter than Psu IST).
The Scottish unis are public universities, equivalent to top publics in the US (UCs, UVA for Edinburgh or Aberdeen, or GaTech for Strathclyde or Herriot Watt, Edinburgh Napier closer to Cal Poly). They’re very selective in the UK but much more lenient to American applicants. However, they’re open to all students who qualify, regardless of religion or lack thereof. Just like in the US it doesnt mean the students do not belong to any faith tradition. In fact there are no specifically religious universities in the UK. Queen’s Belfast and Trinity Dublin used to discriminate against Catholics but that’s Ireland and 60 years ago. There are churches everywhere in Edinburgh and Glasgow like in all European capitals, open to all, passerbys or students who want to join a congregation. Presbyterianism is the state religion but there are many faith traditions in Scotland nowadays. You can look under “Pastoral care” or pastoral support and check if there is a church representing your denomination near campus, if that worries you. (Not saying you should consider the Scottish unis but rather that worrying about atheists is an odd reason not to consider them. Perhaps it’s your spouse’s way of saying it is too far.)
Chiming in to say that ASU Polytechnic would be a good bet. However, it should be noted that it’s located in a different campus than the main Tempe campus - in a former air force base in Mesa, AZ about 25 miles away from the main campus.
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There are great engineering schools at well under $50K and kids with much higher and lower stats than your son attend them and become engineers.
I don’t understand why you’d want your student in an engineering technology program when he’s clearly capable of becoming an engineer in the right program. You should understand the difference between the degrees before giving up that career aspiration just for a big campus experience which he could get at plenty of other schools.
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I’d encourage this student to do a deeper dive between engineering and polytechnic degrees. It’s a much, much different 4 year plan of study at Purdue, with different career outcomes and trajectories. The degrees are not interchangeable. Purdue FYE will be a reach.
I agree with the other posters to start there and then figure out the list.
I second looking at engineering at Cincinnati, Iowa State, and Michigan Tech.
The term “polytechnic” is a bit of a red herring here. Although Purdue seems to only offer technician degrees at their polytechnic campus, that doesn’t mean polytechnic is the same as technician in the degree sense. The way Purdue does it is an outlier from nearly all other polytechnic institutions like Virginia Tech, Caltech, Cal Poly, Georgia Tech, RPI and WPI.
All that said, I completely overlooked the fact that the OP is talking technician degrees and not full engineering. I agree completely that they need a strong grasp on the difference. School reputation also matters a lot less in this context, as technicians do not operate nearly as autonomously in most work environments.
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Thanks everyone. This is a kid who doesn’t put much effort into the college search. His friends don’t seem to either. The only one wants to go to Rice ED but has Florida (in-state) as a fall back. He’s an outlier. Others pick among a mix of the high school’s top 10 schools. I’m not sure what he’d do if he didn’t have SMU as an anchor and a mom (and dad) who talk about colleges a lot.
He’d probably be in the second quarter. School only ranks top 10%.
ASU Polytechnic – wouldn’t be interested in a campus 25 miles away. Doesn’t like FSU’s engineering being five miles away. Sounds like a solid option for AZ residents.
Edinburgh – my wife found a great church outside Paris when she was working there. However, it took an hour to get there. The EU churches seem to be beautiful and community focused but probably not a draw for kids in their 20s who aren’t super grounded. St Andrews seems the largest EU university draw for undergrad.
Pomona doesn’t seem as well regarded as SLO or as pretty. Sounds like a fine in-state option. Good to know SLO is out of reach.
Embry-Riddle. Not into AE. Another sport mate is a freshman there. Waitlisted or maybe got into Michigan but OOS costs.
Iowa State sounds like a better option than Iowa despite a lower overall ranking. I’ve heard good things about ISU from a former Purdue professor whose son attended. I’ll look into ISU. His engineering cousin from Plano got into ISU, OK State, OU and CSU and chose A&M’s ETAM via Galveston. A wise choice. I’m not totally sure how A&M manages the engineering enrollment numbers with four entry points – College Station, Blinn (Bryan), Galveston and McAllen.
Polytechnic vs. Engineering. That’s the key. He has a semblance of a shot at Purdue Polytechnic but I’m not sure if it’s also on main campus (seems so) and what the outcomes are. The students on the promotional videos are happy. 
I attended U of Houston for undergrad and spent three years in chemical engineering. Great job opportunities, even for low GPAs. They have a technology college as well so I suppose it’s a similar deal. I didn’t interact with the technology college because they had their own facilities. I know one guy who got a technical degree and has been an IT project manager.
For the cost, assuming he gets into SMU, he can double major, have smallish classes and a wide range of activity options. He would live away from home all four years. However, it’s in town and he is excited about seeing the world which study abroad can accomplish. Other good majors is key because he says he wants computer engineering but his worst grades are in math and science. He gets As in humanities AP classes. However, he isn’t a voracious reader and doesn’t want to go to law school (at this point).
I agree with many others on their school choices. Iowa State is an excellent option. Just adding on more, being from TX we chose Kansas State, not a traditional choice but has been an excellent one. Your son would get great scholarships, there is even one for students from TX, and the COA would be well within your budget. They have put a lot of money into their engineering school recently and many of my son’s friends were engineering majors and all have great jobs. In addition to the regular campus they also have a polytechnic campus.
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This is a bad recipe for engineering for sure and probably for engineering technology. The latter still requires a substantial amount of physics, math and courses that will build on that knowledge.
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Has he thought about data science/analytics? He’d acquire marketable skills and use computers to manage big data sets, but he could apply those skills in areas of interest in other fields. Graduates are in demand on research teams in a variety of fields, in the business world, etc.
SMU’s data science seems to be more business-y (not surprising given the strengths of the school) but not all programs are like that. Purdue’s program is more computer scienc-y Data Science - Undergraduate Admissions - Purdue University Hopefully someone here knows how the competitiveness compares to FYE. (Data Science is housed in the CS department at Purdue so maybe it’s just as tough to get into as CS - I don’t know this landscape…) Ohio State’s program is a great example of a broad Data Analytics major with multiple specializations available: Specializations in the Major | Data Analytics Major Denison has a terrific Data Analytics program and he might get enough merit there. At UF, Data Sciences is in the Statistics department in LAS, so maybe a better admissions shot than engineering. Same with Wisconsin-Madison, where there are both BA and BS options in Data Science, housed in the L&S Statistics department.
If he wants an internationally-focused engineering program and wants to become fluent in a foreign language, U of Rhode Island’s International Engineering Program might appeal to him. It’s a five-year dual-degree program (engineering and foreign language) that includes a full year abroad with an international internship. Computer Engineering is one of the major options on the engineering side. (There’s also an International CS program.) URI full-pay is within your stated budget, but he’d need merit to cover the additional cost of the 5th year.
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As an St. Andrews alum, I will note that not many students from St. Andrews actually GO to church. St. Andrews had (or had) the highest number of pubs per capita than any other town or city in the entirety of Europe. The train does not GO to St. Andrews. It goes to the beautiful cow pasture at RAF Leuchars which is a 10 minute cab ride away. BTW – the legal drinking age in Scotland is 18.
I loved my time at St. Andrews, but want your son to be realistic about it.
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Some engineering majors at Texas A&M have gotten increasingly competitive for secondary admission. See post #172 and following at TAMU ETAM statistics - #172 by pbleigh . For some majors, only those meeting the automatic admission college GPA (was 3.5, now 3.75) were admitted.
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