<p>My older son will be a senior this year. This is my first go at college applications. We live in Dayton, OH. He is considering biomedical or chemical engineering. His GPA so far is 3.1 and about ranks about upper third of his high school class. First attempt SAT verbal 670, math 630, writing 600. Will take ACT in September.</p>
<p>Have done some college visits and won’t have time to do any more till late this year. I wanted to bounce my current ranking list and see what others think and would appreciate any suggestions regarding other universities or opinions about programs that I have listed. (Trying to stay local- he is not an adventurous kid) Financial aid not an issue, just would like the best program he can get accepted in.</p>
<li>Purdue</li>
<li>Ohio State University
(I know these first two are long reaches, just wanted to try)</li>
<li>University of Cincinnati
4/5. University of Toledo / University of Akron (don’t really know how they compare with each other)</li>
<li>Ohio University (would like some opinion how this program ranks with the others)</li>
<li>Wright State University (safety choice)</li>
</ol>
<p>University of Louisville is close by but would mean out-of-state tuition and is it worth it compared to the others in-states above.</p>
<p>Would appreciate any replies. Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>according to graduateshotline.com/ranks for top engineering colleges, this is
Purdue University is number 11 and Ohio State University is number 26. The other colleges are not listed, but U of Cincinnati has a supposedly outstanding co-op program for engineering. As for University of Toledo's engineering programs, it was recently ranked as one of the top four engineering programs in the state of Ohio by the Princeton Review. Also, I've read that "The University of Akron is the only public university in Ohio to have a science and engineering program ranked in the top five in the nation." University of Louisville also has "nationally respected programs in engineering." From what I've seen/read, ohio university's engineering programs do not seem nearly as prestigious/well-established as the aforementioned schools, nor does wright state university's engineering programs as well. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>I'm biased because I'm a high schooler who will be doing research in UofL's chemical engineering department, but I would agree that you should look at UofL. It has a fine chemical engineering department that is flush with cash and has a lot of important research going on. </p>
<p>If financial aid isn't a problem, then you should definitely give it a shot. Did your son take any AP classes in high school?</p>
<p>He has not taken any yet but will take AP Physics and AP Chemistry this year. He has taken the usual biology, physics, chemistry and math up to precalculus but never thought of taking AP. I guess I did not push him (unlike many other Asian parents). His foreign language grades brought his overall average down and he has some attention deficit problems that did not help. </p>
<p>I appreciate everyones reply so far. I will apply to University of Louisville also. I guess I can do some college visits after the replies come in. I hope to start applying in October, maybe get an early decision.</p>
<p>Have you looked at the University of Dayton? It's local and it has an accredited chemical engineering program.</p>
<p>UD is second among all Ohio universities in nonmedical research, and undergraduates can participate in research with faculty members, at UDRI or WPAFB, or through cooperative education. </p>
<p>Good luck with your search and making a decision!</p>
<p>Thank you for your input. I will take a look at the UD program. I don't know how everyone feels about the issue of tuition. </p>
<p>Although I did mention that I would not need (nor be eligible for) financial aid, the issue is the 24k tuition at UD vs 8-9K tuition at a place such as University of Cincinnati or Toledo for example, if the programs would be approximately equal in quality, would mean that my son would end up with about 60K extra money in the public school. That would be a great downpayment on a house, don't you think? Would the job opportunities be that much better to make private worth it? Would be happy to get your opinions. Thanks</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies all. I want to give ffup and ask for more advise. So far my son has been accepted to UCinn for mechanical engineering. I guess this trumps the acceptances at UAkron and UToledo. But just few days ago he got letter of acceptance to Purdue. Now I know that Purdue puts all their first years in a batch and only after the first year based on grades are the students accepted into a major. I heard that over half the first years get "weeded out". My son admittedly is not very organized and is now barely making it through AP Physics and AP Chemistry. I don't know if I should chance Purdue, not knowing what to fallback on if he doesn't make it past first year. Or just take Cincinnati since at least it would already be in a major. Also I heard only the top half of Purdue students get coop while it is mandatory at Cincinnati, is this an important factor too? (I haven't heard from OSU by the way, though I am not holding my breath). Thanks again for the advise.</p>
<p>Purdue is probably the bigger-name school, but if you think the competition will be too tough, you have to look at what will be best for him at this stage. </p>
<p>I think Cincinnati would be the better choice, since he seems to struggling right now. Purdue could be a good grad school option.</p>