<p>I think her number one choice is cornell engineering...</p>
<p>but it is very expensive. She's undecided between engineering/ premed.</p>
<p>Top 1.5-2% of competitve school, 800 math II SAT, 750 World History, 2210 SAT I.</p>
<p>Great Essay and Recs...</p>
<p>Multiple leadership positions, research at Berkley with prof, mission trip to mexico, a few national awards.</p>
<p>Any help is greatly appreciated.... freaking out now.
Northeast is the best.</p>
<p>Aleeks, I think the number one decision lies with you, not your daughter. How much are you able or willing to pay? The answer to that question will determine your daughter's list as much as any other factor.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter and to you on some fine accomplishments. Now it's up to you to have a frank and honest conversation about finances. If you don't understand the options available to your family in financial aid, then you could start by using one of those on-line calculators to give you an idea of what to expect to receive in NEED based aid.</p>
<p>If that isn't enough, either because you don't have the money or don't want to spent it (it's your choice), then your daughter should be looking at colleges that offer MERIT based aid. That would be a different list from Cornell and some of the other selective Northeast colleges and universities which only offer NEED based aid, but would still include some great choices.</p>
<p>Figure out the money first, then come back and ask the question in that context. </p>
<p>Good luck and let us know how you do.</p>
<p>I dunno about northeast, but why not apply to the UCs? Sounds like she already has a relationship with Cal and it would save you money.</p>
<p>Thanks for your candid answers!
momrath, You were right about the money issue, although a lot of it has to do with cornell. If I am correct, a large portion of Cornellians pay full tuition...</p>
<p>Are there similar northeastern schools with a more generous financial aid plan?
Thanks</p>
<p>Princeton, Harvard, and Yale have the best financial aid programs in the Northeast. Among these three schools, Princeton is the strongest in engineering. </p>
<p>As for the social life, is your daughter interested in Cornell's prominent Greek life? If so, do know that there is a negligible amount Greek life at Princeton.</p>
<p>Aleeks, The question is do you need (or want) NEED based aid? </p>
<p>Most of the selective colleges in the northeast -- including the ivy league and many other like MIT and the top liberal arts colleges -- offer very good NEED based aid. You either qualify or you don't. Use an on-line calculator to find out.</p>
<p>The estimated amount may vary from college to college but this will give you a starting place.</p>
<p>If you don't qualify for enough NEED based aid, then your daughter has to look at colleges that offer MERIT aid (or you have to pay). Cornell, the rest of the ivy league and most of the selective Northeast colleges do not offer MERIT AID.</p>
<p>Once that's determined, then your daughter needs to decide if she wants engineering or a general liberal arts eduation. Both are viable entrees to medical school, but taking the engineering route seems to me a lot of aggravation if you're not sure that you want to be an engineer.</p>
<p>If she does want engineering, then she needs to make a list of colleges that offer engineering degrees. Many do, but not all.</p>
<p>She should apply RD to Cornell and some other Ivies, as they all have generous financial aid programs, and if you have multiple Ivy acceptances, you can use their financial aid offers as competitive leverage to get the other Ivies to sweeten their offers ;)</p>
<p>Aleecks, it sounds like your daughter could go almost anywhere. For good merit and/or need based aid, excellent premed, and if your daughter would consider a womens school, Smith Colleges Picker Engineering Program is superb. They have a phenomenal approach to teaching engineering. Smith College engineering students with a 3.5 GPA are guaranteed, should they wish, admission to the graduate engineering schools at Princeton, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Notre Dame, and University of Michigan. </p>
<p>Smith has Zollman scholarships for top entering students and these provide half the cost of tuition. Smith also provides STRIDE scholarships where high achieving students do research with professors. Smith has good need-based financial aid as well.</p>
<p>Smith is part of a 5-college consortium (with Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke and Univ Mass). You can take classes at any, and there is a free shuttle bus to get to classes at the other campuses. </p>
<p>You can find more information on the engineering program at: Smith</a> College: Picker Engineering Program</p>
<p>Aleeks: if your D can't qualify for enough need-based aid but can qualify for merit aid based on her GPA and test scores, then she needs to look the smaller research universities that offer both engineering and good pre-med programs (if she eventually wants to do that). Probably the tops in that category are Rochester and Washington U. (St. Louis), followed by Carnegie-Mellon, Johns Hopkins (depending on what kind of engineering) and Rice.</p>
<p>I would suggest broadening your school search with an online college matching service (they are free). You can search for schools by state at CC, but if you want a more comprehensive list of schools, try myUsearch.com or petersons.com. You enter in your criteria and interests and it will spit out some schools for you to look into.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Definitely look at Case Western. They offer excellent merit aid and are very strong in the sciences and engineering. Being female will also be a bonus.</p>
<p>Aleecks-
In which state do you live? California? Advice would depend on the quality of your in-state public engineering programs.</p>
<p>Cornell provides a wonderful undergraduate engineering education. It is quite demanding, a lot of hard work, but students there find time for some fun. Which field of engineering interests her?</p>
<p>My family with an income in the low triple digits paid about $15K per year out-of-pocket after generous grant aid and work study at Cornell engineering. I had two 4-year assistantships in Engineering Physics labs and classes.</p>
<p>There are a lot of internationals in the program which enriches the program, in my opinion, although as a caucasian American I was in the minority.</p>
<p>Professors assign many projects and problem sets. Graduate student assistants are readily available, often at odd hours, to help with problem sets and projects. Professors teach all of the courses and grad students lead review sessions. Cornell has a reputation for instilling a work ethic.</p>
<p>Cornell engineering is 70% undergraduates. The program is focused on undergraduate students but there is an excellent graduate program and intense research activity that provides opportunities for undergraduate involvement.</p>
<p>The masters program at Cornell looks favorably on Cornell undergrads. </p>
<p>What makes Cornell really special are the intangibles. There is a wonderful, rich academic culture there. Cornell has a great "feel". The professors and students have a certain sophistication but they are, at the same time, down-to-earth and friendly. Professors are in their offices and accessible to undergrads. </p>
<p>I think Cornell has the best undergraduate engineering program in the country.</p>
<p>The campus is beautiful. I enjoyed the four seasons, including winter, which has its appeal.</p>
<p>I might have missed it, but where do you live/qualify for in-state tuition?</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has an amazing engineering program, same with MIT, Stanford, Cornell, Berkeley.</p>
<p>I admire you parents for your involvement in your children's lives and academic careers. My parents reminded me on a weekly basis that at 18 I was moving out. I hope your offspring appreciate the support you're offering and are grateful. Do you think that this mentality will make adjusting to being an adult more difficult or less difficult for your sons/daughters?</p>
<p>Thanks for the great input everyone... i appreciate it dearly!</p>
<p>To answer your question: we live in North Texas.</p>
<p>To collegehelp: Was the grant through Cornell's financial aid program?, and how did you come about the work. Are there many opportunities to work off the loan/tuition? Thanks.</p>
<p>The grant was through Cornell's financial aid program. I had two siblings in college at the same time, which affected our family EFC, and increased the grant somewhat. It was need-based.</p>
<p>I think there are plenty of opportunities to work off the tuition. Cornell posts student jobs online. I applied the first week of classes. I was hired as a TA freshman year and then I secured an additional RA in sophomore year. The TA helped me get the RA.</p>
<p>There are all kinds of student jobs. You need an ID to search.
Job</a> Postings for Cornell Students</p>