<p>SLUMOM- Yeah it is pretty low, but I have some awesome things I have done with Rotary, alongside great SAT/ACT scores and HS grades, course selection, teacher referals, etc. We’ll see where it goes…</p>
<p>Do you mind a small school? Are you a great out-of-the-box thinker? Check out Olin. They cover half the cost of education. Still much to cover, though with your circumstances there should be a decent amount of scholarship opportunity out there. For conventional schools, as was said, nail the essay. For Olin, you would have to participate in creating a project as part of admissions. </p>
<p>Nothing wrong with state schools. My mechanical engineering focused son (a junior now) will be going to a NY State (SUNY) school, one of which has an excellent engineering reputation and another of which is opening a state-of-the-art engineering facility next year. We will have saved enough on his undergraduate education to send him to graduate school for Architechtural Engineering.</p>
<p>Please remember, the best school is the best fit for you. You can always start out and then transfer. Good luck to you, you sound like quite an accomplished young man.</p>
<p>I’m just going to throw this out there, but when I think Howard Roark, I do not think “engineering school”. The curriculum in engineering schools is extremely rigid, and I could easily see you getting disenfranchised if you find an area you want to explore, but can’t because of curriculum constraints. The option to transfer is fine, but that could be disruptive once you’ve gotten settled in and made friends, etc. You might want to consider relatively diverse schools where you have the option of transferring into something a little more rigorous, but less structured, like engineering science, physics, or math, where you might have a better shot at doing some serious research prior to grad school.</p>
<p>Check out Kettering University if you want a hands-on school where you will get work experience right away. It is very small school, with a unique co-op program where you go to school one semester, and work for another, etc. A friend of my son’s worked for the FBI his freshman year. Because it is not a “traditional” college experience it wasn’t right for my sons, but it might be something for you to explore.</p>
<p>So the SAT scores were in today, so :
2160 combined
670 critical reading
780 math
710 writing</p>
<p>those were with no sleep or studying (took test day after last day of school, so finals=no sleep 
)</p>
<p>BigAarst- i was wondering if engineering science would be a better fit… i’ll check into it… physics would also be another area I am considering… I’m thinking of an engineering research type occupation (get a doctorate, become professor, do research type career path)… Physics/science type thing does sound about right though— thanks for pointing that out!</p>
<p>Ideologically it sounds like Olin could be a good fit. However, you might want to retake your SAT and see if you can raise it a bit. Another option to look into is Milwaukee School of Engineering (they gave at least 7 full rides the year I applied). Another to look into is Harvey Mudd as it has some similarities to Olin.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to Olin, I attended Olin so I can at least speak to this. Olin is much more project oriented than many Engineering schools and lets you get your hands doing projects the very first day. Olin is really big on do-learn. So they expect you to do a project (ex:build a race car) and learn the math and science along the way that you need to do it well. There is a huge focus on presentation skills and teamwork in every class. Many teachers allow “cheat sheets” on tests because they think memorizing a bunch of formula is stupid when in the real work you look them up on google. They know that half of any tech skills they teach you will be obsolete by graduation so they focus instead on “learning how to learn”. Learning where to find the resources you need to teach yourself whatever skill your future job or fun project on the side will require. Olin classes vary a lot in grading styles but you will find a focus on competencies, ability to explain why a project failed is more important than it succeeding. I’ve even had classes with time-based grading where you putting in the time is more important than if your circuit works at the end. They still give you a basis of skills but really focus on making you a learning, user-centric, teamwork machine</p>
<p>Another nice thing about Olin is, as there are no graduate students, it’s ridiculously easy to do research with the professors. Or do you own research, get a teacher sponsor and get some non-degree credit for it. </p>
<p>Currently Olin offers 50% tuition scholarships but Olin is need blind and meets 100% of need. Also, they are very good about helping you get an on campus job (at about $8-10/hr) if needed.</p>
<p>When I was at Olin it was 100% scholarship but I still had to pay my board and laptop as my parents didn’t see fit to save for my college education and they made too much to get any FASA. BUT, I was able to get internships EVER summer of Olin and make enough (while working a few hours of week on campus) to pay for my board, expenses, and laptop. Summer engineering internships at big companies are often $15/20/hr and Olin tries very hard to help students get connected with companies. And I ended up with no debt. And even if you ended up with some debt, at least Olin has a ridiculously high placement rate in jobs or grad school after graduation :)</p>
<p>O and I wanted to add, a bonus of Harvey Mudd is that it’s part of the Claremont schools. Mudd offers math, science, and engineering degrees. I think you might be able to cross register at other Claremont schools (which are more liberal artsy). It also wouldn’t surprise me that transferring between them would be easier than a lot of schools since they work so closely together.</p>
<p>[About</a> HMC](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/About.html]About”>About | Harvey Mudd College)
[Why</a> Mudd?](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/whymudd.html]Why”>http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/whymudd.html)
[The</a> Claremont Colleges](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/studentlife1/claremontcolleges.html]The”>http://www.hmc.edu/studentlife1/claremontcolleges.html)</p>
<p>I believe both Olin and Mudd have large senior capstone like projects working with industry/research so you get a good taste of “the real world”. </p>
<p>And at Olin, you can easily take up to 1 course per semester? or per year at Babson College (business) and Wellesley (liberal arts).</p>
<p>I agree that Purdue, Rose and Kettering are all interesting options. The Lilly is VERY competitive, but you have excellent stats. </p>
<p>Although I don’t generally like 3+2 engineering programs, Wabash now has a 3+2 that is with Purdue. If you are not absolutely sure about engineering, the school has a great track record for PhD programs, and their merit aid is amazing! They give full-rides for need and at least 3 for merit (and your stats are far above the typical applicant). of course, it is all-male, and not everyone likes that, but if you like Rose (almost all male) that shouldn’t be a problem.
Kettering has a great co-op program (mandatory). You would get real experience beginning as a freshman. And Purdue engineering is also a great program. Being from Kokomo, you should have no problem visiting each of these schools.</p>
<p>joyjoy1321-- Olin has always sort of been a “dream college” so to speak for me… but the admission seems somewhat selective… I do plan on retaking the SAT/ACT in attempts of better (maybe perfect) scores… and I do a LOT of stuff with Rotary/Interact (international service organization) and am a swimmer with near-perfect grades… </p>
<p>not too many people apply, and even fewer matriculate post-admission, so what do you suppose the odds are of getting accepted?</p>
<p>Also, what is the “candidate weekend” like (or did it not exist when you were accepted)</p>
<p>Regardless, it does seem to be the perfect college… sounds very similar to Rose Hulman in ideology (another school I will be applying to)</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is 25k a year for tuition and 10k a year for room and board, for out of state, not too bad. And while it’s not really prestigious or super selective on paper (52% acceptance rate), it’s a fairly self-selecting school and it ranks 4th in the nation for both undergraduate and graduate engineering programs.</p>
<p>Alright… so I am almost definitely going to Purdue, and here is why:</p>
<p>I get tuition for 120 credit hours paid in full automatically (for certain reasons)</p>
<p>I also will almost certainly qualify for 10-12k/year in merit scholarships </p>
<p>As an engineering student, the estimated earnings as an intern per semester (i’d only do the summer, for obvious reasons) is between 10k and 15k/year, with the potential for more</p>
<p>this adds up to around 36k/year for a cost of attendance of only 22k/year… so, yeah…</p>
<p>On top of this, it is close to home, diverse, competent in multiple areas of science should I decide to transfer, and will def. get me into many grad schools (I’ll probably do the honors program thing they offer for engineering students, and be one of the top students within that as well)</p>
<p>the 14k/year (minus taxes ) would apply to either grad school or tie me over until I find a great job as a researcher (hence the desire for grad school. get a doctorate, become a professor, do research, with private contracting for some real cash 
)</p>
<p>sound alright?</p>
<p>If you are admitted to graduate school to study to a PhD in engineering, it will usually be funded with a research assistantship, teaching assistantship, or fellowship. Also, internship pay may might be a bit optimistic for summers only, especially for the earlier years (e.g. after freshman year).</p>
<p>But still, going to a good school like Purdue at approximately no cost is hard to beat. Engineering also gives you the option of working at a good job in industry for a few years before going to graduate school. You should not have any regrets attending Purdue at approximately no cost.</p>
<p>First of all I will say, there is NOTHING like graduating debt free. Suddenly while your friends are paying HUNDREDS of dollars every month for loans, you can start saving for retirement or buy a home. It’s pretty amazing. Purdue is a great school. You should be able to get internships and job offers going there. You should be able to get into a good graduate school as well.</p>
<p>However, I would still encourage you to consider applying to some prestigious private schools in addition as sometimes they have amazing scholarships/grants. And then see where the money ends up before making final choice. That being said, I know it would be hard to get into a school you like better and then have to turn it down for $$.</p>
<p>As for your Olin questions. Olin has an acceptance rate of around 18% ([Most</a> Selective Colleges - List of the 20 Most Selective Colleges](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegerankings/tp/most-selective-colleges.htm]Most”>Most Selective Colleges and Universities in the U.S.)). If you get to candidates weekend I think your chances are closer to 1/3. This past year they had about 760 applicants. 120 got accepted, 70 of those decided to attend. I will say, Olin values all kinds of diversity. One thing you have going for you is being from Indiana. Olin doesn’t not have many students from Indiana and all things being equal that should help your chances.</p>
<p>Candidate’s Weekend is amazing. I attended the very first one ever I have been a student interviewer approximately 9 times. </p>
<p>Basically, you will be put in a group of about 5 candidates. Together the 5 of you will compete in team (ungraded!) project. You have a goal, like build a structure that spans a distance or holds the most weight, etc. And you are given a specific amount of supplies, tools, and time to finish. Then all the teams structures are tested and the winners are announced later that day. The purpose of this is to give you an idea of team projects at Olin and to get to know your team. If you don’t enjoy the design/build exercise, you probably won’t enjoy Olin. </p>
<p>Then you will have 2 interviews. One will be a 3-4 on 1 interview. Your panel will consist of a faculty member, current student, and alumni or staff member. The job of the interview is to figure out if you would be a good fit for Olin. Do you understand Olin? Do you really want to be there? What can you contribute? And you get to ask questions.</p>
<p>The second interview is a group interview. The same panel is interviewing everyone in your team individually and then they will observe your team in a group interview. The format can vary but often it involves each team member taking turns leading a discussion on some topic or planning a presentation or skit on a topic and then presenting it to the interviewers. This allows the interviewers to observe how you contribute to a group.</p>
<p>Note: You are not in direct competition with your team members though there will be inescapable comparisons. It is possible for all 5 of your or 0 of you to get in, though more often 2-3 get accepted.</p>
<p>You will also get time to sit in on talks by students and faculty. So you can ask questions about research opportunities or see cool student projects. There is a club fair where you can find out about opportunities for play and volunteering and professional development. Also, there is usually a play or talent show done by current students for your enjoyment. And lots of good food. Basically at the end of the weekend, most people have a great idea of fit. Would they be happy in this community or not? Fit is VERY important at a smaller university.</p>
<p>PS Most PhD’s in science/engineering are funded. Tuition + stipend is normal. You made live on ramon noodles but you should NOT get additional debt. You may have to apply to a few schools and see who gives the most money, but it is very common to get funding for PhD work.</p>
<p>Thanks, joyjoy1321!</p>
<p>The reason I am liking Olin as much as I am is that I have a physics teacher teaching with (as best as I can tell) the same principal as Olin: to a lab/experiment/project and use it to teach some principal of physics, emphasis placed on using formulas, not knowing them, and whatnot. I took the class as a junior (its a class taken, except for me, exclusively by seniors) and received his first ever A+ in the class. Twice. (both semesters). I loved the class and honestly believe, because of my experiences, that he is one of the best teachers at my high school. I’m just excited that I get to take his first AP physics class next year :)</p>
<p>The only part bothering me about admissisons is that course offering is slim at my school (only 150 people / graduating class, and in the middle of a giant corn field). It remains, despite this, one of the best public high schools in Indiana (not really sure why, just lucky I suppose). My entire high school career has been rather boring, but suplemented by private learning/experimenting (outside of coursework; I taught myself calculus in my sophmore year, for instance). Spare time (there is quite a bit) has been spent mostly on Rotary and Swimming. I am definitely looking foward to the challenges of engineering school, be it Purdue or Olin or MIT. If accepted to Olin, I hardly could imagine passing up the opportunity to matriculate there.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help!</p>
<p>*So apply to Rose Hulman, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, Olin (nobody mentioned this one, but I like the idea of an 80-person class plus a potential (but temporarily reduced) full-tuition scholarship), and maybe Cooper Union. See what I get as far as financial offers go, apply for Lily Endowment, and see who offers me the most money. *</p>
<p>Since the “free ride” at Rose is not likely with an ACT 33…maybe with an ACT 36, that can be a “financial reach” for you. An ACT 33 is at the 25% mark for RH…so that’s not high enough for them to be moved to give you much more than half-tuition at most. The school isn’t giving free merit tuition to 25% of the school.</p>
<p>RH’s average merit scholarship is for $10,000 per year. Merit is often given to students within the top 25%, so you can do that math to roughly guesstimate what someone at the 25% mark would get…</p>
<p>I was just curious, when I posted, what the absolute best engineering education available, disregarding cost.</p>
<p>Well, I think you know that answer already…MIT, Cal Tech, etc. </p>
<p>I think at this point, rising seniors need to concern themselves with cost. It’s like buying a car…there’s “the best that money can buy” (when money is no object)…and then there’s “the best that MY money” (and MY stats can buy). </p>
<p>Can you clarify your vet benefits? Is this GI bill stuff? If so, then can’t you use it out of Indiana? If it’s not GI-bill stuff, are you saying that the state of Indiana gives free tuition to any child who served in the military? </p>
<p>so should I settle for Purdue (which is great to begin with) with no debt, then move on to higher degrees at Berkeley or MIT?</p>
<p>That’s a fine plan. Your terminal degree is most important. However, if you don’t like Purdue as your only “safety” for some reason, then you should apply to some other financial safety schools…**then you’ll still have a choice if your pricier schools don’t work out. ** </p>
<p>my dad makes around 80k/year, my mom will, by the time I start college, be a nurse.</p>
<p>So, between the 2 of them, it sounds like your family will soon be making $100k+ per year.</p>
<p>Indiana gives free tuition, for 120 credit hours, for Indiana’s public colleges, to the dependents of disabled (to any extent) hoosier veterans, so yes, kind of, Indiana does give full tuition for the sons of (some) vets.</p>
<p>Not really interested in Rose Hulman at the moment, though I’ll still apply (it would be foolish to not apply and regret the decision later; after all, the app is free until December)</p>
<p>Going more for the need-based funding + intern work for the MIT’s and whatnot, and Olin is already half tuition regardless, and will hopefully become full tuition shortly :)</p>