Engineering Schools with merit-based free or full rides?

Paying for College
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<p>My son is interested in Mechanical Engineering with an Aero concentration and he wants a school with research.</p>

<p>He's straight A student with lots of other accomplishments, and he just got a 36 on his ACT. SAT subject matter scores in math and science 780 and 790. Are there any top Engineering schools where he might get a full scholarship?</p>

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<p>He would be competitive at pretty much any school (UMich has some large scholarships, UC Berkeley, GTech). Also he’d get full tuition plus at Alabama. First you can look at the full tuition/full ride thread pinned at the top of this forum.</p>

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<p>Check University of Louisville and University of KY. I know they do for in-state students but I am not sure about out of state students.</p>

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<p>Berkeley has a highly competitive full ride Drake scholarship for mechanical engineering majors:
<a href=“http://www.me.berkeley.edu/StudentAffairs/ProspectiveStudents/Undergraduate/Drake.html”>http://www.me.berkeley.edu/StudentAffairs/ProspectiveStudents/Undergraduate/Drake.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>However, out-of-state students with financial need who do not get Drake are unlikely to find it affordable.</p>

<p>Here are some other lists of big merit scholarships:
<a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - #46 by ucbalumnus - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p4.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/”>http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Purdue also has large scholarships for oos students but full ride is very limited. UMich also has some large scholarships and a handful of full ride but they are much more competitive. He may be able to get a scholarship at $20k per year (CoA is $55k) although it is still not really guaranteed. EC are very critical to get those large scholarships are there are plenty of highly qualified candidates. There are more perfect score applicants than the number of full ride scholarships. If your S is NMF, he will be able to get full ride from many schools. </p>

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<p>Texas A&M offers about 1/2 ride for NMF, then you can stack competitive awards on top for a near or full ride. It is not guaranteed though. They waive OOS tuition costs for scholarship winners.</p>

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<p><<<
Are there any top Engineering schools …full scholarship</p>

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<p>Top ranked schools are full of high stats kids, so not many need to offer much/any merit awards. When you have a bunch of perfect/near perfect scores kids attending, who should get the awards? and many top schools only award need-based aid for that reason. However, some sometimes do award for ethnic or regional diversity or some other hook. sometimes girls in engg get some merit to help with gender diversity.</p>

<p>what is the situation? how much can you pay? If you need huge merit to afford college than something often has to give…either little/no merit or very good, but not top rankings. </p>

<p>Engineering does NOT require a top ranked school. there are over 150 very good engineering depts in this country. Calif has over 25 all by itself! Look for ABET accreditation. </p>

<p>is your child a likely NMF???</p>

<p>to determine how much merit you need, figure out how much your family can contribute. If the parents can pay 10k and the child borrows 5k, then the family could contribute 15k…if so, then your child would need at least a full tuition award so that the 15k can pay for room, board, books, fees, travel, etc.</p>

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<p>do you mean tuition, room, board, books? Not likely, not even close, at a top ranked school. too many just like him.</p>

<p>let us know how much you need. If you need a full free ride, then even the mid-tiers probably wont work unless he is a NMF.</p>

<p>For engineering, Alabama would give him free tuition plus 2500 each year. If he is a NMF, then he’d get a lot more. Since the second largest research park in the nation is in Alabama, he would have research opps, and internship opps, etc.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone.
He liked Hopkins the best of the schools we’ve seen. We live in NJ so Princeton is a possibility but he likes Cornell better. I know the ivies don’t give merit aid (fortunately we’re also poor-ha!). He’s also considering RPI, University of Colorado and VA Tech (so far).</p>

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<p>^If he is in-state for New York state, he could try University at Buffalo’s Presidential Scholarship. See <a href=“http://admissions.buffalo.edu/costs/meritscholarships.php”>http://admissions.buffalo.edu/costs/meritscholarships.php&lt;/a&gt;. It is unique that

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<p>Wow. That’s interesting.</p>

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<p>Poor and smart is the ticket for the Ivies!!! With this information you should also look at Rice and Vandy who meet all need and have GREAT engineering schools. AWESOME deal. Good luck.</p>

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<p>@deborahb‌ </p>

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<p>we dont know if she is kidding about being truly poor…may not be…maybe just no money for college.</p>

<p>@alr1628‌ </p>

<p><<<<
know the ivies don’t give merit aid (fortunately we’re also poor-ha!)
,<<<</p>

<p>what do you mean by poor? truly poor, low income? or “poor” because your good income goes to other expenses?</p>

<p>do you have an unaffordable EFC? I have friends in the Tri-State area and they all say that they’re poor cuz all their good incomes go to taxes and housing. but they all earn 6 figures…but have completely unaffordable EFCs</p>

<p>does your child have a non-custodial parent as well? if so, his total household income will also count at ivies and similar. Many of these kids have unaffordable family contributions since the NCP wont pay much/any.</p>

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<p>

No! Rich and smart is the ticket for any schools, including Ivies.</p>

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<p>Perhaps if by rich you mean six houses and Daddy’s megamillion trust fund, then sure. If you mean Obama’s $250,000 and up, then think again. $60,000+ for Ivies = 25%+ of GROSS INCOME.</p>

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<p>Poor and smart, that’s him!
His older sister is at RIT on a partial scholarship so I know I can afford what I’m paying for her (about $12k/yr including room and board) but she has 2 more years and he’s looking at $60k schools. </p>

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<p>If you’re in NJ then Rutgers will give him a free ride on both tuition and room and board. So he shld definitely apply there as a safety!! I think they call it the presidential scholarship. No separate application necessary–it’s awarded automatically to high stat kids like your son.</p>

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<p>Wow…not a bad deal…I’m paying that per semester!!</p>

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<p>OP, have you considered Questbridge?</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/for-students/cps-selection-criteria”>http://www.questbridge.org/for-students/cps-selection-criteria&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Without knowing income, it’s hard to know what “poor” is. The Ivies and Ivy equivalents tend to have good fin aid for the poor.</p>

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<p>Have you run your numbers through the net price calculator to see if what the school says you must pay is consistent with the 12k that you say you can afford to pay</p>