<p>S1 needs 1-2 more safety schools. He's interested in Mechanical Engineering.</p>
<p>Currently list:<br>
Top of List: Villanova, Va Tech, WPI,
Next tier: Maryland, Rutgers, Delaware
(he didn't like RPI)</p>
<p>Stats:<br>
3.1 UW / 3.7 weighted (English grades has been his nemesis - Math/Science grades are B+/A)
30 ACT
4 year varsity letter earner in swimming, captain this year
Eagle scout, with deep experience</p>
<p>Delaware feels like the only real safety. </p>
<p>Has your son looked at UMBC. Its a good STEM school but is struggling to move beyond a commuter school. It also has a great president and seems very invested in its students. It was my NMF son’s second choice even though he was accepted to a lot of other higher ranked schools.</p>
<p>He hasn’t. I’m from Maryland, so it’s hard for me to put aside my prejudice that it is a commuter school and second rate to College Park. (one reason he won’t look at TCNJ or other secondary NJ schools - even Rutgers is unwillingly on the list) I will suggest he look into it. </p>
<p>Rowan?</p>
<p>Virginia Tech and U Delaware are no safeties. UD is at the very top in Chemical Engineering for example, for very apparent reasons (i.e. the Dupont Company), and VT’s reputation is quite strong. In recent years, no one gets off the VT admissions wait list.</p>
<p>Price limit?</p>
<p>3.0 GPA with 26 ACT gives free tuition at Howard (first come first served automatic scholarship): <a href=“http://www.howard.edu/financialaid/grants_scholarships.htm”>http://www.howard.edu/financialaid/grants_scholarships.htm</a></p>
<p>no financial constraints.</p>
<p>Chem E at Delaware is very competitive admission and is a separate box on the application. You can get into Engineering and not Chem E. </p>
<p>Stevens Institute of Technology. Swimming may make it a safety?</p>
<p>NJIT?Fairleigh-Dickinson? </p>
<p>George Mason in VA, Clemson in SC</p>
<p>A safety takes some work. Until your child says that he is willing to attend a school and stay there for a year at least, you don’t really have a safety. If he is waffling on whether or not he would go there, you don’t have a safety. I highly recommend a sleep-over and a tour at a safety if nowhere else.</p>
<p>When you say “east coast” do you mean the eastern half of the US, or literally a school on the east coast? </p>
<p>I don’t know if UDayton is too away from the east coast to be considered, but I imagine it would be a safety since money isn’t a concern. </p>
<p>Also Wright State University outside Dayton for engineering (it’s next to Wright-Patterson AFB and the USAF Labs).</p>
<p>OP, people tend to forget that Ohio is in the Eastern Time Zone and really not a terribly far drive from the eastern seaboard. I think that Columbus, for example, is about a 6 hours drive of Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>Big school? Small school? Prefer urban, suburban, or boondocks?</p>
<p>Is he a Frat Type or Club Type or Self-Contained?</p>
<p>Would he prefer to be taught by a professor with an open-door policy and maybe an adjunct with real world experience, a grad assistant, or a researcher/theoretician type?</p>
<p>Can he realistically obtain and complete the required courses in 4 years?</p>
<p>Would he rather attend grad school or get a job upon graduation? If it’s the latter, where does he see himself living after graduation? Most grads get their entry-level job not far from the school they attend.</p>
<p>What is his philosophy on fracking?</p>
<p>Does he see himself designing, for example, industrial tooling, commercial HVAC systems, engines, drilling/mining equipment, etc.?</p>
<p>Although math proficiency is key, don’t underestimate the value of communication in engineering, especially mechanical. The engineers tied to a computer are not as valuable to a firm as those who aren’t afraid of field work, drafting proposals & making presentations. It’s important to be able to convey complex issues in simple layman’s terms. In mechanical, techies are the first to be laid off, or who are likely to become “perma-temps”. Nothing wrong with the latter - sometimes they are paid higher than the going rate depending on the project, but it does have ups/downs. </p>
<p>What is his tentative Ten Year Plan? He is allowed to change it. But there’s a difference between Jobs People and Career People as well as Engineer people and Regular people. This question is more important to engineers than most. Here’s why: In golfing terms, normal people work ball-to-the-hole and adapt on the fly. The best putters, and engineers, work hole-back-to-the-ball first, and have alternate plans. That’s who wins the engineering game, and the Masters at Augusta. You can take the risky delicate downhill putt which, if you miss, could roll off the green, or you can execute a “good miss” to an area slightly away from the hole which will almost guarantee an easy tap-in. </p>
<p>To paraphrase Socrates, it’s not about having the answers, it’s asking the right questions. These are the questions that he needs to ask.</p>
<p>NJIT/Stevens: good. FDU, not as good.</p>
<p>No qualms about your Top Tier. Never met an unhappy VT alumnus; I would put their loyalty factor among anyone’s. But it’s far, and out-of-the-way. That sounds good to many high schoolers in theory but can be a major costly fail in practice.</p>
<p>I don’t know why Rowan isn’t on your list. Different culture than Rutgers - Rutgers has spectators in the Big Games, while Rowan kids participate in small games. Rowan engineering students typically graduate in 4 years; Rutgers students (due to class availability and other factors) don’t. The cost is about the same. If VT is on your list, I think Penn State should be as well. Drexel, too.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: My son was Top 3-4 in his class (2 went to Harvard; another to Bucknell, all for engineering) with 2100+ on his SATs. He pursued Civil Engineering. His list was similar to yours, with the addition of Cornell & PSU, no WPI or Delaware (which he considered a notch below in his major). Lehigh was ruled out due to cost, and he’s not a frat kinda guy. Accepted everywhere. But it was 2008-9, when the economy tanked. So, he took the full tuition & housing ride he was offered at Rowan. Worked on projects with those who went to other schools. One summer, rather than an internship, he got a job working with the Army Corps of Engineers on the Atlantic City beach replenishment - just before Sandy. Absolutely no regrets - has a great job in his field with a firm that’s developing him for a PE (he’s doing design work, field inspections, field supervision, proposals, etc.). Likes to “boss” guys from Lafayette, another good but pricey school. 100% of his buddy classmates are working in their chosen field or going to grad school. His cousin, a Mechanical Engineering grad a year older but on the Rutgers 5-year plan, just got a promotion to Sales Engineer for a company that designs large commercial/industrial HVAC systems.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Visit everywhere. He’ll be working a lot. If he does it right, he won’t be in his room much, except to sleep. So, let him pick the place that feels like home to him.</p>
<p>Thanks for that insight. We have toured many schools, as I see him as a kid who needs to be vested w his decision. He immediately did not like Drexel (too urban), Lehigh (unclear, but I think it was Greek culture that was very clear during our tour), Union (didn’t feel right). Over time, RPI & Lafayette dropped off the list,although he liked them initially. He’s researched Penn State and just isn’t interested. He also won’t look at TCNJ, which would be a safety. I will suggest Rowan. </p>
<p>While he is clearly a math/science sort of kid, I remind him that both parents & his sister changed majors during college, so he needs to pick a school, rather than a major. (I think he would be a great arbitrage trader, as his mind works that quickly!) Having a strong school spirit and sports program is very important to him. Lack of a football team is a huge negative. </p>
<p>I agree that Virginia Tech is out of the way but I would not cross it off the list if it is a good fit otherwise. One of my kids graduated in engineering from VT. One of his best friends was from New Jersey. In the class starting in 2010, there were 257 kids from New Jersey ( behind only Va and Md). There is HomeRide and Megabus( from Northern Virginia though), ride board, air to Roanoke with bus service to the campus,etc. Lots of kids do have cars after freshman year. Good luck!</p>
<p>Agree with Clemson. University of South Carolina also. GPA on low side but ACT may put him in range of some money at USC. Clemson does have a higher ranking than USC in engineering but know lots of graduates from USC that have great jobs and good intern opportunities. Both are big in sports. Know a kid at USC who does club swimming if there’s an interest there.</p>
<p>Both schools are well represented by students from your area.</p>