Engineering schools that offer good merit aid

College Search & Selection
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<p>Also Alfred’s top scholarship is only $10K/year which still leaves the net cost at $30K. </p>

<p>We’re also partial to honors programs that offer honors sections of core classes rather than just additional seminars. Otherwise the level and pace of instruction in the core classes can be an issue if you choose a school where your stats are very high in order to qualify for merit scholarships. (Although he doesn’t have SAT/ACT scores yet, all indications suggest that his scores will be well above the cutoffs for their top scholarship, which suggests that he may lack academic peers.)</p>

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<p>RIT–about an hour from Canada, solid reputation for all engineering disciplines, huge integrated co-op program, merit aid can bring cost down under 30K before co-op earnings. He will also earn tens of thousands from co-op, reducing the total cost of education.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Chardo. RIT is already on our list, as are Drexel and Northeastern for co-op schools in the US, and U of Waterloo in Canada. S1 applied to the first 3 but not Waterloo as a NMF – all 3 affordable in that case, but probably less so if he misses that cut.</p>

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<p>Some schools that do not have honors programs do offer honors courses.</p>

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<p>ucb I did know that but thanks for the reminder to look for / ask about that.</p>

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<p>In reply to Post #15:
Lafayette College, a LAC of about 2400 undergrads, has ABET accredited engineering in Chemical, Civil & Environmental, Electrical & Computer, and Mechanical engineering fields. Engineering majors make up about 25% of the student body.</p>

<p>[Lafayette</a> Scholarships Tuition & Aid Lafayette College](<a href=“http://finaid.lafayette.edu/financing-your-education/types-of-financial-aid/scholarships/]Lafayette”>http://finaid.lafayette.edu/financing-your-education/types-of-financial-aid/scholarships/)</p>

<p>Marquis Scholarship</p>

<p>Marquis Scholars receive an annual minimum award of $20,000 ($80,000 over four years). Financial aid applicants who are designated as Marquis Scholars and whose financial need exceeds $20,000 will receive a scholarship up to demonstrated need minus a campus job ($2,000) and a loan, depending on family income (no loan for incomes under $50,000; a $3,500 loan per year for incomes between $50,000 and $100,000).</p>

<p>Other Benefits of the Marquis Scholarship</p>

<p>Other special benefits of the Marquis Scholars program include:
•a scholarship of up to $4,000 for one faculty-led off campus course during an interim session
•participation in special events and activities, including cultural opportunities
•faculty mentor</p>

<p>Lafayette offers a wide variety of special, intensive courses on campus and abroad during the January interim session and in May.</p>

<p>Who Qualifies?</p>

<p>Lafayette seeks students who have demonstrated intellectual curiosity in addition to their superior academic achievement. Curriculum, grades, rank in graduating class, and scores on standardized tests are all considered. Furthermore, the College looks for students creatively engaged in the life of their communities and who, like the College’s namesake, have “made a difference” through significant accomplishments in school and community.</p>

<p>Scholarship offers are typically made to students who are at the top of their graduating class in the most demanding curriculum available, with SAT scores (Critical Reading and Math) in the low 1400’s or better or ACT Composite score of 32 or better.</p>

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<p>What would be the difference between studying engineering at a LAC versus a technical school?</p>

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<p>We visited and liked Lafayette a lot. S1 and S2 definitely prefer an LAC to a university for science or engineering. Both want the smaller class sizes and more personal attention. Lafayette loves their engineering majors and encourages them to explore other areas out side of engineering. On our tour of the engineering building, the person who works in the engineering department office overheard our question of whether engineers would have time for music and she stepped out of the office to answer that many of the engineering majors are involved in music on campus. So it you are looking for more exposure to different areas, check out an engineering LAC like Lafayette. A smaller campus may be better for a shy person also.</p>

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<p>I do think he might like the smaller class sizes. (OTOH, sometimes a shy person would prefer to just disappear in a larger class and not be “expected” to speak, but he does like to participate in his classes.) However, I suspect he would not be all that excited about the opportunity to explore other areas :wink: He’s pretty single-minded, and liked the “geek culture” of some of the tech schools we visited with his brother (WPI, RIT, MIT, etc.) which I’m guessing would be less pervasive at a LAC. </p>

<p>You never know what might appeal though, so it might be worth visiting a LAC more locally to see if he likes that idea. Do you know of any in Western MA that might have a similar feel and offer engineering programs?</p>

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<p>Trinity College in Hartford, CT is another LAC w/ ABET engineering.</p>

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<p>[ABET</a> -](<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET”>http://www.abet.org) will list the schools with ABET-accredited engineering degree programs in any given state (note: “engineering technology” is different from “engineering” and is generally offered by less selective schools and requires less math and science).</p>

<p>If $30,000 per year is affordable, Minnesota, Virginia Tech, and Cal Poly SLO are three schools whose out of state list price is about that much, although they probably won’t have much, if any, financial aid to out of state students.</p>

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<p>$30K+ without any merit aid available is I think over the top for us. The 25K estimate was based on <em>merit</em> aid bringing it down to that number, so that he can still take ~5K in federal loans toward that 25K.</p>

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<p>It does not hurt to start looking around, but mathmomvt, you have stated your son will not graduate from high school until 2014, and a lot can happen between now & then with GPA and test scores. Without real stats, estimating merit aid can be difficult at best.</p>

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<p>Obviously we’re just estimating right now. My main focus is to try to find schools relatively near home that don’t care quite so much about “leadership”, ECs, well-roundedness, etc. and would be perfectly happy with a high stats kid whose primary ECs are also academic, but where my DS would also have academic peers and be pushed/challenged.</p>

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<p>What about some of the SUNY schools? It looks like they do offer merit money to out-of-staters. I don’t know much about them though – would any of those be worth a closer look?</p>

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<p>Probably Stony Brook (biomedical, chemical, computer, electrical, engineering science, mechanical) and Buffalo (aerospace, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, mechanical) have the highest reputations in the SUNY system. Binghamton and CUNY City College also offer several engineering majors.</p>

<p>Note that some of the super-selective schools like MIT, Stanford, and Princeton are generous with need-based aid, with their definition of “needy” sometimes stretching well into the upper middle income range. Of course, getting admitted is the hard part.</p>

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<p>In order to get a merit scholarship at any school for any major, the student should be in the top of the applicant pool. The only concrete way to tell where you stand is to check the mid-50% range for SAT and/or ACT scores, which are posted on College Board and other sources, as well as knowing what factors are very important to admissions.</p>

<p>If your child is above the upper limit of the mid-range (thus in the top 25%) then they have a good chance of some kind of a scholarship. Using Lafayette as an example, the student should have SAT (Critical Reading > 680, Math > 700, Writing > 680) or ACT > 31<br>
[College</a> Search - Lafayette College - Lafayette - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>For Lafayette, very important factors are Rigor of secondary school record, and Academic GPA. Important factors are character/personal qualities, class rank, etc…
[College</a> Search - Lafayette College - Lafayette - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>Obviously, none of this is a guarantee, and all factors are considered besides the above. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I understand how to figure out whether a kid is likely to get merit at a school according to where their stats lie and what they say they look for. But a lot of schools’ maximum merit aid (or maximum realistic merit, even if they offer a tiny number of better awards) would be too low to get their cost down to where we need it, so whether he would get it or not is moot. So for now I’m looking for schools where if he did get merit, it could bring the price down into our range, and where the primary consideration for merit is stats (versus community service, leadership, etc.)</p>

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<p>To take the Lafayette example forward, their COA is $53K and their maximum merit is $20K, leaving 33K which is no good unless they also happen to give particularly generous need-based aid to middle-class families. (our FAFSA EFC is in the 30s, but we’re not willing/able to spend that)</p>

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<p>“Also Alfred’s top scholarship is only $10K/year which still leaves the net cost at $30K.”</p>

<p>Actually, the programs of Biomedical Materials Engineering Science, Ceramic Engineering, Glass Engineering & Materials Science Engineering are through NYS. The tuition would be $21,762 (OOS) and R & B would be around $11,500, so the COA for these majors would be a total of $33,262, with the highest merit award being $11,500/year. (Net cost would be about $21,762/year). </p>

<p>For Mechanical & Undecided Engineering, same cost= $33,262/year with highest merit award of $11,500/year. </p>

<p>Just wanted to clarify the COA & merit possibilities for engineering, even if your applicant isn’t interested, someone else might be. </p>

<p>[Alfred</a> University : Financial Aid : Undergraduate Freshmen Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/scholarships/]Alfred”>http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/scholarships/) Merit Aid Incoming Freshmen </p>

<p>[Alfred</a> University : Undergraduate Cost of Attendance](<a href=“http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/undergraduate_cost.cfm]Alfred”>http://www.alfred.edu/finaid/undergraduate_cost.cfm) Cost of Attendance</p>