Engineering safety schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everyone, I'm an incoming senior at a public high school in the northwest Chicago suburbs. My stats are as follows:</p>

<p>Gpa: 4.0 unweighted
Class rank: Either top 1% to 2% (Last terms grades aren't in the ranking system yet)
Act: 31 composite (32 English, 36 Math, 25 Reading, 31 Science)
APs: AP Calculus AB (5) AP Computer Science A (4)
Senior Course load: Calculus 2 at local community college, AP Physics B, AP Psychology, Honors English, Honors Spanish 4, Accounting 1 (needed to fulfill graduation requirement)
Intended major: either mechanical or aerospace engineering
State of residence: Illinois
Extracurriculars: Varsity Baseball two years, President of 3 religious youth organizations, attended a selective leadership training course for athletics at my school, ran a community event website and Facebook page
Ethnicity: White</p>

<p>The schools I'm considering right now are:
University of Illinois
University of Michigan
University of Texas at Austin</p>

<p>And my current low match/ safeties (please correct me if I'm wrong)
Purdue
Texas A&M
University of Maryland
University of Wisconsin</p>

<p>I'm also considering RHIT and RPI but I think I want to go to a bigger school.</p>

<p>Please give me any advice you can and correct my list if you feel I made any mistake. </p>

2

<p>Read <a href=“Before you ask which colleges to apply to, please consider - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1621234-before-you-ask-which-colleges-to-apply-to-please-consider-p1.html&lt;/a&gt; , particularly point 1, in order to avoid making cost-related mistakes.</p>

<p>However, if you need low cost safeties, look here: <a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Thank you for your response. I am not too concerned with the cost as long as tuition alone is under 35k I should be good. Do you have any opinions on the schools I have listed or any to add? Again any information is greatly appreciated. </p>

4

<p>Illinois sate, niu</p>

5

<p>I do understand the point of a safety school but aren’t those a little too safe. I mean I know people who had an act 8 points lower than me and worse academic records than me who got in to ISU and NIU. </p>

6

<p>If you’re looking at $35K tuition then your parents are fine spending $50K/year for a COA?</p>

7

<p>I do understand the costs but I was told by my parents not to make it a consideration. </p>

8

<p>Obviously I don’t want to pay that much and saving costs is good but I don’t want to rule anything out purely on that basis. </p>

9

<p>Safeties are by their definition absolutely affordable. </p>

<p>Your reluctance to get a firm figure of support from your parents is interfering with my ability to help you. Your parents response to your request is not realistic. They will have to tell you this information when you file your financial aid forms, and that’s way too late for putting a list together.</p>

10

<p>My parents are willing to pay half where ever I go. I have quite a bit of money saved so as I said anything under the numbers I have previously listed would be fine. Really what I’m asking for are academic safeties though. </p>

11

<p>Why so many out-of-state public schools? You might get more merit money if you apply to privates where you are an above average applicant. But, if you’re set on out-of state publics, try Virginia Tech.</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>Have they assured you that they will pay $50,000 per year, or is there a possibility that, in April, they will tell you that they won’t, eliminating perhaps most or all of your acceptances?</p>

13

<p>You might add Case Western Reserve. It’s a great engineering school known for good merit money and looks like a good fit for what you want. No app fee and no supplemental essay and not too far from home, so why not?</p>

14

<p>UAlabama would offer you full tuition automatically if you raise your ACT to 32. A new STEM building and a beautiful campus.</p>

15

<p>Thank you for your replies. Case western does seem to be a great option. I will look into Alabama as well. </p>

16

<p>Case is not a safety. Drexel, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Northeastern, Temple, Miami OH, Denison, UDel, UPitt, WVU, Iowa, Iowa State, NC State. There’s money at some of these. Some are closer to matches with their 31 Composite at the upper end of the middle 50%, but with your 36 in Math you should be good to go.</p>

17

<p>I agree with jkeil911. Case is not a safety. Particularly because you’re out of state, UTexas and Texas A&M are not safeties; they are highly competitive even for transfers. You might look at WPI, which has project-based programs.</p>

18

<p>Actually, I think you only need a 31 ACT to get full tuition at University of Alabama IF you stay in the School of Engineering. If you get a 32 and major in eng. You get an additional 2.5k / yr too. Good financial & academic safety for you.</p>

<p><a href=“Scholarships – College of Engineering | The University of Alabama”>http://eng.ua.edu/undergraduate/scholarships/&lt;/a&gt;
Students who have a 30-31 ACT or 1330-1390 SAT (math and verbal scores only) and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will receive a tuition supplement to bring their University-level scholarship offer up to the value of tuition. In addition, they will receive $2,500 per year for four years.</p>

19

<p>For Alabama out-of-state, it is 3.5 HS GPA and 30 ACT or 1330 SAT to get the full tuition + $2,500 scholarship for engineering. But for non-engineering, it is 3.5 HS GPA and 32 ACT or 1400 SAT for full tuition, and 3.5 HS GPA and 30 ACT or 1330 SAT for 2/3 tuition.
<a href=“Scholarships – College of Engineering | The University of Alabama”>http://eng.ua.edu/undergraduate/scholarships/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

20

<p>Yea, I knew Case would not be a safety but I figured it seemed like a good fit for the OP and should be thrown in the mix…sorry for the confusion</p>