Engineering schools with generous merit?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hi all,

I’m a rising senior interested in engineering (mechanical or computer, I haven’t decided yet), and I’m looking for engineering schools w/ good career prospects that give significant merit awards.

I have an ACT of 35 and a 3.98 GPA with a nice set of rigorous classes (post-AP level). I’m also involved heavily in 2 different extracurricular activities… both of which I have major awards & leadership roles in (in other words, they aren’t resume fillers I do for college admission purposes…)

My family can contribute around 25000~30000 dollars per year.

Currently, I have the following choices on my list:

  • 3 top-tier engineering schools (estimated to be around $35000/year w/ fin aid)
  • a canadian school (estimated to be around $11000 w/ current CAD to USD conversion and co-op)
  • University of Washington (around $39000 even w/ merit... dream school, but expensive)
  • Local State University (around $16000 w/ merit. I can also graduate in 3 years. $3000 if I commute.)

Just looking at the numbers, the canadian school seems to be the best option but it’s unreliable because it relies on co-op earnings (which can fluctuate from the averages they post on their websites) and foreign exchange rates.

Any suggestions for schools w/ good career prospects that give significant merit awards?

Thanks in advance!

2

Check out Case Western in Ohio.

3

I second Case. My son had similar stats and was awarded $100K. With a tiny bit of loan on your part or even work study if you’re eligible that would put Case in reach. They occasionally award $30k per year. It’s certainly worth a shot. Cleveland and Case both exceeded our expectations.

Utah would be another suggestion. Their ME curriculum starts in earnest first year, it’s in a beautiful location with great skiing within 30-40 minutes of the U. My son was awarded a tuition waiver first year and instate the following three, resulting in a net four year cost of around $100K.

Lastly, there are a handful of schools that award guaranteed tuition waivers all four years for students with certain stats. Alabama is one frequently mentioned on CC. Utah State is another.

Good luck.

4

Big or small? Urban or rural? East, Central, South, or West?

Case, on our visit, said “sticker” was about 61500 a year. Would need something close to forty thousand dollars per year to bring it into the 25k range. A 25k award, while a whopping amount of cash, isn’t generous if it covers less than 50% of cost of attendance, but that’s just my point of view and other points are valid too.

Either way, do visit it first. DD was prepared to apply until the visit but hasn’t mentioned it since. This isn’t an indictment of the university, but a gentle reminder of the importance of a firsthand look.

I agree also about the co-op predictability. It could be just fine, but it is hard to plan on.

I think it depends on the area of the country you want to study in, because most universities will have a couple of full tuition scholarships, although they might require an on campus visit for a competition.

That said, the Alabama, Alabama Huntsville, and Ole Miss set a high standard in predictability, IMO.

5

Besides Case, you can look at other [url="<a href=“http://theaitu.org%22%5DAITU%5B/url”>http://theaitu.org"]AITU[/url] schools, a number of which have generous merit aid and even some special full ride scholarships.

6

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ lists the following with engineering that you qualify for automatic full tuition or better scholarships:

Alabama - Tuscaloosa
Alabama - Huntsville
Tuskegee
Howard
Florida A&M
Louisiana Tech
Mississippi
Temple
Prairie View A&M
Utah State

There are more lists of scholarships at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html .

7

I am always a proponent of the in-state option. My opinion is somewhat biased by geography since my region of the US (I am in NC) has a really good, reasonably affordable, school in state.

What is your in-state option?

8

How about Tulane (run the NPC which figures in possible merit awards)? You could apply to Rice and hope for a merit scholarship if your EFC is still too high with financial aid.

If you are a possible NMF, then TX A&M could be a very affordable option. Note that even a small scholarship gives you in-state tuition at A&M and would bring your COA to $25,0000 range. A&M has rolling admission.

9

Thanks for all the replies! It’s all incredibly helpful.

@50N40W

I love the Pacific Northwest- the proximity to the beach and the abundance of green mountains just makes it an ideal place for me (hence Udub being my dream school).

I’ve visited all of the schools on my current list, but I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to visit others.

I’m Asian American, so while I’d actually hate a place that’s 50% Asian, I’m not sure how I’d feel about a place that’s 1% Asian (but maybe I’m just worrying too much).

@guineagirl96
@eyemgh

According to their website, the COA for CWRU is $62020, which with a 25k/year scholarship would be $37020, which is comparable to top tier engineering schools w/ fin aid.

Is CWRU education distinct enough from an average state university to make it worth an investment of another $20000 per year? (I don’t know enough about CWRU to answer this question myself).

I’ve actually considered Utah, since they also have a competitive full tuition scholarship for OOS students. I’ll have to do some research into their curriculum and career prospects.

Alabama’s price is hard to ignore… the geographic location and the demographics put me off though.

@xraymancs
@ucbalumnus

Thanks for the resources! I’ll look into them and do some more research.

@DecideSomeHow

My local state university isn’t a bad school, especially in terms of finding jobs locally (based on anecdotal evidence from people I know). That said, I don’t particularly like their curriculum and its national reputation is nothing compared to UNC-CH.

I’ve also lived right next to it my entire life, so…

@txstella

I most likely won’t be NMSF, and I also haven’t taken the SAT and have no plans to.

How probable is winning merit scholarship from Rice? If I understand correctly, Rice is a top-tier institution with admission difficulty comparable to HYPS- I think being admitted alone is a big if for me.

Thanks again for all the replies!

10

Those state universities in Washington and Oregon which have your desired ABET accredited engineering major will be better than UNC-CH, which does not have ABET accredited engineering majors (in NC, the public schools with several engineering majors are NCSU, NC A&T, UNC - Charlotte).

11

That’s a perfectly fine reason. My point was to not dismiss state schools for engineering, the’re generally pretty good. I’ll let the UNC-CH reference slide :slight_smile: I can’t say I can keep the “universities of” and “state universities” straight other than the ones close to home.

12

State schools, particularly the flagships, are generally very good for engineering. You need to make the whole thing affordable and ensure that you like the campus enough to spend 4 years there. Apart from that, it is all a question of personal preference. Do you like large state schools or smaller privates, college town or urban? Just make sure that whatever program you attend is ABET accredited.

13

@wynlyfe, that is in line with other schools after aid. It’s just that most top tier schools don’t give much merit aid. Your reward is simply getting in. Now, if the OP is eligible for lots of need based aid, the the calculation changes dramatically. I didn’t get the indication that he is, especially with the EFC he reported.

14

Add U of Portland to your list. Additionally, a very good engineering program with moderate cost is South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Many SDSM&T students hail from the Pacific Northwest.

15

In Utah, be leary of the LDS, especially at Utah State. It’s a culture shock if you are not used to or familiar with it. Salt Lake is more liberal and The U is a nicer college. But U-State is nice and Logan is a very nice city.

16

The University of Alberta is one of the better engineering STEM universities in Canada. Current tuition for international students is $US17,000-$US26,000 per year. Canadian public university tuition varies, depending on the major.

17

I HIGHLY encourage you to apply to U of Alabama.
It is an easy application process with rolling admissions – Apply to the school, no essay. Then once accepted, immediately apply to the Honors College. With the guaranteed scholarship, there is no “competing” for money or waiting until March to know the financials. None of this means you must attend, but it is great to know in September that you have at least one school locked up both admissions and financially. Then, you can focus your time and energy on the higher ranked schools on your list.

18

I disagree.

An applicant should investigate and concentrate on target schools that interest the applicant. And “higher ranked” really has no meaningful appreciation among engineering professionals, including recruiters who seek out newly minted engineering graduates. UAlabama offers alot and may surprise a potential applicant whom is willing to take a good look at a school he or she heretofore was unfamiliar with. However, it makes no sense to apply to a school that you have no intention enrolling in.

19

Olin college of engineering. Everyone has half off on tuition.

20

Half of $45000 is still $22500 … total cost of attendance is (per F W Olin’s web site) $66000.
$66000 - 22500 = $43500.

Even with half knocked off from tuition, that’s still really close to Ohio State’s total cost of attendance for out of state students ($47000, per their site).

Half off isn’t as much as it sounds.