Engineering School Suggestions?

College Search & Selection
1

S is interested in engineering, and leaning toward ChemE and/or Material Sciences. Also has interest in CS and business.

So far have looked at Michigan, Georgia Tech, Cornell, Harvard, MIT, Cal Tech, CMU, Stanford, Penn , Yale, Cal. He did not like MIT, CMU ,and Cal.

Stats:
Attends private prep school in Michigan . GPA: 3.94 UW. Has taken 4AP (USH, Spanish, Chemistry, Calc BC). Next year AP classes: Physics C, CS, Economics (Macro/Micro). Also taking multi-variable calc. Remainder mostly ‘honors’
Class rank: top 10% (school does not release rank beyond that)

ACT: 36:C (36:E 36:M 35:R 36:S 8:W)
PSAT: 221 (NMSF qualified in state) SAT: 2070 (>Finalist in state) : SAT 2 Math 2: 800, Chem:780

EC’s: School orchestra (cello), piano (10 yrs) , Science Olympiad, Ocean Bowl, Volunteers on breaks at local food bank, research intern (full time) in summer. Recreational sports (Ski, Mountain bike, etc…)

School constraints: prefer balanced M/F ratio (60/40 max), would prefer U with an engineering school instead of a tech only school. Would like to go to grad school shortly after, so UG schools should have strong research program. Likes a work hard, play hard attitude.

Financial: In-State for Michigan, would prefer school where he would qualify for some need or merit based FA if private or OOS.

Other: Male, Multi-racial

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

2

On the need-based financial aid front, have you run net price calculators on the various school web sites to get an idea of whether any would be realistic with need-based aid, or if a merit-seeking application list is needed? Note that some of the schools on your list offer only need-based aid, so they have no merit scholarships that can make them affordable if need-based aid does not make them affordable.

3

Purdue is a good place for engineering. With his stats it should be at least a match if not a safety. Don’t know much about merit aid there, but it might be a possibility. If he really needs the merit aid, he should look at schools that offer large scholarships to NMFs, like UAlabama and UOklamoma. Texas A&M offers a fairly large scholarship as well. There are many others too - mostly state universities.

The schools you have listed so far are largely reaches, even Michigan unfortunately. He should certainly apply to some of them if you think that there would be any chance for enough need-based aid to make one affordable should he get in, but stay realistic and also find some good matches and safeties. His status as a possible NMF and the 36 ACT should help with those. :slight_smile:

4

Lehigh University meets financial need.

5

He seems to prefer larger schools. How about u of Minnisota. They are less expensive for OOS than most and a top 5 school for ChemE. I think Purdue might fit well too. Engineering is very important at Purdue. Unlike UM where the engineering campus is a couple of miles away from the main campus at Purdue engineering is the main campus. He would be a strong candidate for either the trustees or presidential scholarship.

6

Last year Michigan admitted 95% of EA applicants from his school, 100% in his score/GPA band, and 78% overall. I don’t know how many attended CoE, however. Assuming that this continues next year, his chance of admittance is very high. (Also has legacy at Michigan and Stanford). He doesn’t want to apply to MSU (brainwashed by his parents, unfortunately) or Michigan Tech (M/F ratio too skewed) as a safety. We checked the net price calculator and are OK with the private schools listed, full price OOS schools are a stretch. He is pretty realistic about his chances at the other schools, he would be happy with one or two on the reach list.

Goal now is to compile a list for visits this summer so he can decide where to apply. We haven’t visited in the midwest or south apart from Georgia yet.

7

USC (in CA) would be an option. With NMF he should at least get 1/2 tuition scholarship. I’m not sure of their Chem E strength. U Delaware has a very strong Chem E dept (DuPont $) and offers merit aid.

8

If you could swing it financially, why not Stanford ? Prestige and the weather… Sounds like he’s got some incredible opportunities.

9

“The schools you have listed so far are largely reaches, even Michigan unfortunately.”

With his instate status, GPA, and ACT scores, Michigan is NOT a reach. It is a safe match. For engineering, the only schools that I personally would attend over Michigan on your list are Stanford or MIT, assuming costs are manageable. Unless your son can attend for free or comparable, there is no sense going to any other the other schools mentioned.

10

“Engineering is very important at Purdue. Unlike UM where the engineering campus is a couple of miles away from the main campus at Purdue engineering is the main campus.”

Huh? Because Michigan has a its engineering campus a five to ten minute bus ride from Central Campus, you’ve concluded that the engineering program at Michigan is not as important. That makes little to no sense.

11

Makes sense. Why not save you time and apply to in-state Michigan and than 2 out of state, 1 being Stanford and the other Georgia Tech ( since he did not like MIT) , especially if likes all 3 and money is comparable or attending free.

12

Lehigh meets their definition of financial need. That’s often very different from the student’s definition. Lehigh is not known for being very generous with aid, and much of what they do offer is loans. Loans are not aid. To be fair, this is common with many privates outside the wealthiest schools. Lehigh is an excellent school, but there is no way they will net down to Michigan’s in state COA.

What is your actual budget?

You say he did not like MIT, CMU, or Caltech. What did he not like about them? Besides strong research, what is he looking for in a school? What does “play hard” mean to him?

13

UM in-state sounds like a great option for him. I’d apply there early to hopefully get an answer by December and then he would only need to apply to those schools he prefers to UM. URochester might be a place where he could get merit aid. Maybe look into Notre Dame as well (not sure how merit aid would be there)?

14

He liked Caltech, but not Cal (Berkeley). Actually, he was pretty impressed with all of the schools we visited. Michigan had the best engineering tour (even had a Segway tour!) and superb laboratories and is close to home, (and cheap!) Harvard combined science & engine + had tons of research $, Yale had a beautiful campus and even more research $$, Caltech was intimate,promoted personal relationships plus was tied in with JPL and had a fabulous pranking culture, Georgia Tech excelled at everything, Cornell is the engineering focused Ivy that still maintains a full campus. Stanford was his favorite and had the best of everything.

He thought MIT was too stuffy, tense and no one was having fun, Cal promoted weirdness for it’s own sake, was too PC and the campus was too close to Oakland/crime, and just didn’t like Pittsburgh/CMU campus and cost. He didn’t want to go abroad for UG either, except perhaps for a semester.

Of course, other people have had very different impressions and the schools are very selective so he is likely to have a very small pool to choose from.

We are trying to keep net costs within $10k-12k/yr of Michigan in-state. Much beyond that I don’t see a return from any UG school, except maybe for Caltech or Stanford, and grad school is far more important long term.

Thanks again for the great suggestions! @happy1 , do you know if Notre Dame accepts many non-Catholics? Anyone have impressions of Northwestern?

15

@rjkofnovi I wasn’t trying to say that but I can see where one could read that into what I said. When you are on the Purdue campus the fact that engineering is a major part of their university is immediately evident (about 25% of their student body is studying some sort of engineering). I know Michigan is an excellent engineering school and in fact for those who care ranked higher than Purdue. I would argue that Purdue is an excellent engineering school with other programs that are good. I would say Michigan is an excellent university with an excellent engineering school. I think the bus ride is symbolic of that. It’s important enough that they have devoted a lot of resources into their engineering campus but unlike Purdue it’s not the identity of the university.

16

As I understand it, the Ann Arbor main campus was first built in the 1830’s on 40 donated acres. The university engineering department outgrew its facilities and moved to the north campus in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It may be that Purdue just had more land to expand.

17

Notre Dame definitely accepts non-Catholics. I really don’t think it would be an issue at all for admissions.

18

Apply SCEA to Stanford and apply early to U Michigan… with luck, your son will be accepted to Michigan and maybe Stanford by December.

For engineering, the ONLY schools to consider other than in-state U Michigan would be Stanford and MIT.
I just don’t see the point in applying anywhere else. Michigan is easily top 10 engineering, and being in-state, it should be relatively affordable.

Save yourself the cost and aggravation of applying to a dozen schools.

19

ToOld- Yes, NU is a great school for ChemE & MatSci! Full disclosure - I have a D who is ChemE alum, and a son that is a current ChemE at NU. D was a MatSci Co-Op student of the year runner up - son has no time to co-op - but will have his MS in ChemE in 4 years, thanks to all 5s in 12 AP courses.

You can Google some of my older posts, but starting right with Freshman Year - and the Engineering First Program - both were able to contribute as Freshman to helping people. Lots of things to do at and around NU - they both joined club sports that were different from their HS Varsity sports - and that helps with a group of friends. Nice campus, good people - My D still visits with her group of friends on an annual basis. D got job in her field and paid off student loans within a year of graduation. You can PM me if you have questions.

20

My thoughts on Northwestern: it seems like a school for the affluent. Others may feel differently, but it would concern me as the parent of a prospective student that they have such a high ED rate with their cost of attendance.

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/12/northwestern-admits-most-early-decision-applicants-ever.html

And personally, I’m not a fan of the quarter system.