Engineering "match" schools based on my stats+ECs?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi guys, I'm a junior planning on going into engineering - at the moment, I'm not sure whether I like CS or Aerospace more.</p>

<p>I'm applying to a fair number of reach schools - MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Cornell, and Berkeley (OOS - I'm hoping for scholarship money)</p>

<p>However, in terms of matches/safeties, all I have so far are Michigan (OOS, hoping for money), and UW (instate)</p>

<p>Do you guys have any suggestions for "match" schools that are in between mega-reach schools like MIT and schools that are relatively easy to get into, like UW?</p>

<p>Stats/Info:</p>

<p>SAT I: 2340 (800 R, 760 M, 780 W)
SAT II: Math 800 (taking physics this Saturday, expecting at least 780ish)
AP/IB: </p>

<p>I'm an IB diploma candidate, so all of my tests are senior year.
I took AP Calc BC last year and got a 5, and I'm in IB Math HL this year.
This summer, I'll be taking multivariable calc so that I can start on differential equations in the fall.</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.98
Rank: Probably will be something like 5/600
Race/Ethnicity: Indian
State: WA
Income: ~$120,000</p>

<p>Major Awards:
Really small awards at local math competitions and music festivals. I qualified for the AIME this year, but did poorly on both the AIME and the AMC 12 (4 and 100.5, respectively :/)</p>

<p>Current ECs: Math Club (3 yrs, president), FIRST robotics (2 yrs), Engineering physics club (1 yr, secretary), Rocketry (1 yr), playing the cello (5 yrs)</p>

<p>I think I've made a decent impact on the clubs I'm involved in, especially in math club - our club was disorganized and I helped refocus our efforts and rebuild our club's foundation. I've also planned summer practices open to the public and helped another school start a math club.</p>

<p>Current Volunteering/Work: Tutoring in math (1 yr), volunteering at a local organization that promotes conservation and science. I'm working on a project with the engineers there this summer (I don't want to give away any information that might identify me)</p>

2

<p>Have you tried the net price calculator at each school? Berkeley is likely to be very expensive unless you get the Drake Scholarship (for mechanical engineering majors only).</p>

<p>Note that Washington is very impacted in the CS and possibly other majors; students not directly admitted to CS must apply to declare the major, and that process is extremely competitive (try asking on the Washington forum).</p>

<p>If you are not certain of your major or do not get directly admitted to your major as a freshman, then investigate the difficulty of changing your major at each school.</p>

<p>Other schools to consider if cost is a concern: Minnesota, NCSU, Virginia Tech, Cal Poly SLO.</p>

<p>You can also try for reach-level big merit scholarships at Georgia Tech (President’s) and NCSU (Park). A safety level big merit scholarship exists at Alabama (3.5 GPA and 1330 SAT CR+M => full tuition + $2,500 per year for out of state engineering majors). USC (Trojans) is said to offer large merit scholarships for students with National Merit status. Texas A&M gives a significant merit scholarship with waiver of the additional out of state tuition to National Merit Finalists who designate that school as the first choice.</p>

3

<p>Oh for goodness sakes . . . what are engineering majors coming to if you can’t solve a simple problem like this on your own???</p>

<p>Go to the [American</a> Society for Engineering Education](<a href=“http://profiles.asee.org/]American”>http://profiles.asee.org/). There you will find a list of every accredited engineering program in the country, with information about areas of expertise, current research, student projects, etc. Cross-check with [Princeton</a> Review](<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/schoolsearch.aspx]Princeton”>College Search | The Princeton Review) to assess difficulty of admission and availability of need-based aid. Then go to the school website to find out about the availability of merit aid.</p>

<p>Now, you say you’re hoping for scholarship money. What do you mean? If you are low income, then you should look at schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need (preferably without loans). If you are high income, but don’t have money set aside to pay for school, then you won’t qualify for need-based aid and you need to look at schools that offer merit aid. The two groups tend not to overlap . . . so you need to figure out what kind of “scholarship” you’re looking for. (Yes, of course there are schools that offer both need and merit aid - they just tend not to be the schools that meet 100% of need.)</p>

<p>The high prestige out-of-state schools like Berkeley and Michigan aren’t going to help you no matter what kind of aid you need . . . they’re not going to give you need-based aid and merit aid is quite limited.</p>

<p>If you are looking for need-based aid, set your sights as high as you can - that’s where the best aid will be. If you are looking for merit aid, set your sights lower . . . in order to qualify, you want to be one of the school’s strongest applicants. So, focus on schools where the average applicant’s stat’s are lower than yours. Look at it this way - why would the school pay you to attend unless you really stand out in their applicant pool as exceptional?</p>

<p>With your GPA and test scores, you shouldn’t have a problem . . . but you need to apply to a range of schools if you’re looking for merit aid.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the advice so far.</p>

<p>In stating that I’m hoping for merit aid from Michigan and Berkeley, I just mean that I don’t think it’d be reasonable to choose either school over UW because the difference in quality wouldn’t be significant enough to warrant paying an extra $40k/year. This is especially true because I have two siblings who will be entering college after I complete my degree.</p>

<p>I’m definitely not expecting any need-based aid from these schools based on my parents’ income.</p>

<p>I also definitely would not mind attending UW - its academics and reputation are solid, and there are many elements of its student life that appeal to me. </p>

<p>My struggle is to find schools whose CS and MechE departments are of a higher quality than UW’s in which any significant increase in fees over UW is worth the extra quality. </p>

<p>As far as I know, most such schools are extremely hard to get into (i.e. they’re all at MIT-level caliber). I was just wondering if you knew of any schools that I could target as “matches” that would fit the above description.</p>

<p>I definitely feel silly for not checking the ASEE website before though, and I’ll be sure to do a bunch of independent research in the summer.</p>

<p>Thanks again,</p>

<p>-Mustache</p>

5

<p>You won’t get money at either Berkeley or UMich. Go ahead and apply but don’t count on getting anything. Since Dodgersmom mentioned ABET certification, unless you get into some serious specific research it’s doubtful you’ll get a different education at any engineering school.</p>

6

<p>Okay, my apologies to the OP . . . you did state your income in your initial post and I missed it. So you’re not the only one not doing their homework!</p>

<p>If all you’re looking for is a better aerospace program (I can’t advise you about CS), I’d suggest taking a look at Univ. of Alabama Huntsville. Not only do they have an excellent aerospace program with loads of local opportunities for summer jobs/internships, you are likely to be eligible for significant merit aid: free tuition if not a full free ride! The University of Alabama schools offer automatic merit aid for candidates with stat’s above a certain level. If you want to get an excellent education and save yourself some money, that’s the way to go!</p>

<p>On the ASEE website, I’ve yet to find the shortcut to “aerospace” schools . . . but doing a search for “aerospace” will work. Either way, using the search tool or just going school by school, it’s a time-consuming search.</p>