My son is a senior looking to major in engineering. His stats are SAT 1470, ACT 32 and GPA 4.8
We have visited several schools this summer that he would like to apply… Penn State, VT, Purdue, CMU and Notre Dame.
We live in Pittsburgh area. After doing some digging, I’m beginning to think our EFC is going to be very high ($45,000??) and will not help with financial aid. So, I’m starting to think of other colleges that maybe we should visit soon with the hopes of maybe shooting for the merit aid route to add to the list.
What schools might we look at with a decent engineering program that offers decent merit. Probably something in driving distance but open to suggestions. Was thinking possibly Miami of Ohio or Ohio University?
In Ohio, neither Miami of Ohio nor Ohio University have very strong or selective engineering programs. May be you meant Ohio State University? Its engineering program is comparable ranked with Penn State and Virginia Tech programs. OSU also has pretty good financial aid for out-of-state students. Columbus is around 3.5 hours from Pittsburgh.
To make Penn State’s price tag a little more palatable, apply for Schreyer, the honors college. $5k/year scholarship for entering freshmen. It’s competitive but probably worth a shot. He’ll have to pay special attention to the essays – they’re an important part of the application.
He might also get small merit scholarship(s) from the College of Engineering. I also was awarded a new one as a junior for being in honors in my specific major.
Big automatic merit scholarships may be available at Howard, Tuskegee, Alabama (Huntsville and Tuscaloosa), Mississippi, Louisiana Tech, Prairie View A&M, Florida A&M.
Youngstown State in Ohio offers discounted tuition for residents if some western PA counties. You may want to check eligibility. It has several ABET accredited engineering majors.
What type of engineering? U of Akron has a very good Chemical Engineering program. If he likes Carnegie Mellon perhaps he would consider Case Western Reserve University. They normally offer very good merit aid. It will still likely cost near $35k - $40k per year after merit aid though. He would be a match academically. CMU and CWRU are similar in size and both were formed in the 1960’s by combining two universities.
The University of Cincinnati has an excellent engineering program though they require a mandatory coop. Another school with a mandatory coop that will be comparatively cheap would be the University of Toledo. They really have a well run engineering school. Mandatory coops can be either good or bad depending on his goals. Coops in general will definitely help defray the costs.
Ohio U would likely give him very good financial aid. As of last year at least the engineering school would offer scholarships of up to $8000 in addition to any other scholarships he might be eligible for which would include a scholarship for OOS students and the Ohio Signature awards. They don’t have them listed for 2018 yet.
It is probably too close but U of Pittsburgh has a very good program and while it may not be ideal he could probably avoid paying for room and board by living at home.
Thank you for the responses so far. He doesn’t know what type exactly, but leaning towards Civil. I forgot to add that we did visit CWRU and liked it but was also figuring the $40K price tag with merit as we have a friend that got similar. Was hoping for a smaller price tag than that. He really isn’t interested in very urban schools which eliminates OSU, Pitt and Cinncinnati I think.
U of Toledo is a suburban Toledo school. It has a rather gothic feel to the main campus though the engineering campus is separate (across a street) from the main campus and was built from the 1960’s on. It would have the least expensive list price of the schools I’ve mentioned. It can be more of a commuter campus than other Ohio publics but engineering is one of it’s strengths. It is also one of the lesser expensive Ohio publics even for an OOS student. My D is a ChE at Purdue. It came down to Purdue, U of Toledo and CWRU. Purdue was far and away her number one choice. She was offered a Presidents scholarship and they met her need with grant money. She just completed a 5 term coop which has allowed her to graduate debt free. She was also accepted to University of KY and Ohio U. She would have chosen the universities in the order I’ve listed them. She was impressed by Toledo’s Engineering department.
You are right U of Cincinnati is very urban and compact. OU and Miami are both campus towns with Oxford being the more upscale and Athens being more laid back and progressive. Miami is comparatively expensive for an Ohio public. OU is not cheap but I think would offer the better scholarships. While neither school could lay claim to having the same reputation in engineering as the other schools you’ve mentioned, they are both ABET accredited and would provide great opportunities though perhaps more localized than the nationally known universities). Once he gets a job however, where he received his degree from will matter less to future employers.
While my ChE oldest daughter did not want to attend OU even though it offered the most scholarship money, it was my youngest Ds first choice. She chose it over Miami, tOSU and Purdue. She is a dance major taking prerequisite courses to apply to a DPT program. Our oldest just couldn’t see herself there.
Check out Cooper Union right in NYC. A very small, very remarkable engineering school where all students pay only 1/2 tuition. Additional financial aid is provided as needed. On a per capita basis, this is one of the best endowed schools in the country and the general public does not know about it. Learn more at: http://cooper.edu/about/tuition-fees.
Cooper Union only enrolls about 450 engineering students in CE, ME, EE, ChE, General Engineering and Chemistry, math and physics. About 13% of applicants are accepted. Very old, historic and long established institution.
Olin College is another small, highly selective engineering school where everyone receives a giant discount but they might not offer CE. They have a beautiful new suburban campus in Wellesley MA. They accept about 12% of applicants. This school is also well endowed on a per student basis and is a leader in new educational approaches.
Your neighbors may not have heard of these schools, but employers have.
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Does your S have any ECs that he enjoys and plans to continue in college? Is the GPA weighted 4.0 scale or unweighted 5.0 scale? Has he taken any SAT subject tests? I don’t mean to pepper you with questions, but my son and daughter both applied to engineering programs in the last couple of years. They had very different experiences with merit even though their basic stats were similar (she got more $). Not sure if that was due to gender, her SAT subject scores (he didn’t take any), the fact that she had better ECs, or a combination of factors. Your S has great stats, but unfortunately engineering admission and merit is very competitive.
You mention that he doesn’t like urban environments, so Cooper Union doesn’t seem like a good fit. CWRU’s campus is very urban, while Ohio State Univ has a very nice campus feel even though it’s part of Columbus. If he wants to be in a remote location, RIT and Clarkson would probably offer very good merit, and UMass Amherst gives solid OOS merit-based aid. I’ve heard Bucknell is rural and they have engineering but we didn’t look at it. University of Kentucky offers merit awards for students with stats similar to you son’s.
You really need to define what you will pay. I think merit that makes any actual dent in the COA is hard to come by with a 32 for males in engineering.What some would call very good merit is subjective.
Check out Olin in MA. Tuition is half off for everyone. Absolutely diabolical admissions process, but for the right type of kid, it is an amazing place.
Total COA of Olin is over 70K, no? If the EFC of 45K is not doable for the OP, even a 23K a year reduced tuition plus 16K R&B plus the other costs is probably still over 40K a year. Again, it is important for the OP to have a definite $ figure. The auto tuition schools might be the place to start. Even then a 32 may not garner full tuition.
Run NPC’s for George Mason and NCState. Both have good CE and solid internship opportunities. Should be good for GMU’s honors college and some $. NCState is on the lower side of OOS costs and may give a bit of merit $ at 32