My bad - i’m not good with the CC thing - i saw you said Huntsville and jumped in. I just figure everyone reads everything. sorry bout that.
1 Like
@Debnbill Getting merit at Rutgers has been getting harder and harder over the last few years.
I posted some info a little over two years ago in a thread that I felt could be useful to NJ residents looking for merit in the engineering field, and I am linking it here for reference.
@Tictacmissus pointed out at the time that the data I gathered was incomplete and that there were outliers, but I nonetheless think that it provides some interesting reference points.
The following thread is also worth reading imho:
2 Likes
Our Stats are pretty equal. I will have 2 in college come Fall 2021. My son applied and was admitted to Rutgers Engineering. He has a 3.9 GPA and 1450 SAT. Our EFC is $40k-he received absolutely NOTHING from Rutgers. I took the advice of many of this thread and emailed the School of Engineering directly, as well as admissions and each time, both came back and said they are unable to offer my son anything. And, the cost is well over $35k.
Has your son applied to Rowan or does he like NJIT better? (Those are the two strongest choices for Engineering beside Rutgers in NJ; if Rutgers full price is too expensive, he has to be practical and choose another university).
Is he willing to look at Arizona, New Mexico, or UAlabama Huntsville?
Time if of the essence: he’ll need to deposit somewhere by May 1 (the earlier the better to secure the best dorms, especially if he didn’t get into/didn’t apply for/missed the deadline for the Honors College which has its own Honors Dorms). Then if he acts quickly during the first week in May he’ll be able to apply to other universities that miscalculated yield and still have scholarships (at which point you’ll have to forfeit the several hundreds of dollars of your deposit to save several thousands dollars, or stick with the initial choice.)
4 Likes
I kind of disagree with the school recognition factor for employment. We hire a law clerk every year and the undergrad as well as the law school is definitely looked at.
Law seems to have a reputation of being much more school prestige conscious than engineering does.
4 Likes
Law is very different.
4 Likes
Typically, in Law, the law school itself is the most important factor (undergraduate college would be secondary). Flagships and Top 14 tend to matter a lot.
For Engineering, because the programs have to be ABET accredited, hiring is not really prestige-conscious. Employers know there’s the accreditation covering what they expect, and while the sometimes “extra” material is appreciated some firms may not care all that much.
Some positions may only be open to rarefied colleges/programs (MIT, Georgia Tech, Stanford…), but AFAIK there’d be no difference between Rutgers, Rowan, and NJIT for entry-level Engineering positions. They’re all tough, recognized by businesses, and accredited.
The main difference is that at Rutgers his peers within the College of Engineering will be stronger overall (and stronger than him on average, since a 1500 SAT would be a norm) so that the pace and depth of the courses would be slightly different. It could buoy him or discourage him. You may want to find out what % leave Engineering after the first year, whether the college of engineering is proud of being very supportive and how first year students are supported (ie., review sessions, learning assistants, drop-in study center/tutoring center, anything else?)
7 Likes
what I am trying to state is that we do not ONLY look at the Law School; we look at the undergrad as well.
That’s not typical. I’ve worked at several biglaw firms and have been on the recruiting committee at one. We’ve never looked at undergrad.
6 Likes
Or, I assume, not in a way that would be negative for the student if two applicants attend the same law school (ie., 3 candidates from Yale Law, one got their degree from UDel, one from Kalamazoo, and one from Williams, is that the one factor that’ll decide? What about 3 from UVA + Howard, Spelman, and Morehouse? Or 3 UPenn from UMaryland, SUNY Bing, and Temple?)
It could make sense to parse their college transcript, but deciding based on the prestige of the undergraduate college…? Not saying it doesn’t happen, but it sounds… odd, even for White-Shoe firms?
2 Likes
Law is similar in having external accreditation of law schools, where the curriculum is similar at all of them. There is also a post-graduation licensing exam for law (in engineering, it is only common in some types of engineering, like civil). The difference appears to be that:
- There is a surplus of law school graduates, so employers want/need some way of distinguishing between them. Apparently, one of the preferred methods is how well the student did in undergraduate (that leads to getting into a law school of some level of admission selectivity which is the main influence on law school ranking).
- Law can involve more selling of the lawyer to outsiders, who may be more impressed with a prestige law school name than an unknown law school name.
I dont want to derail the conversation so I won’t develop, but there is a HUGE discrepancy between law schools, in a way that doesn’t resemble differences between ABET accredited Engineering programs.
9 Likes
All these colleges are seeing their engineers get hired. @Debnbill, you are looking to save money. People have given you the answer - U of Arizona (which you can still apply), maybe UAH and Ms State are taking apps.
I mentioned, my son is at Alabama and interning the Summer with a very good offer with a Ga Tech and U of Houston.
Rutgers is much closer to a Houston/Alabama than it is to a Michigan/Purdue/Ga Tech in “prestige”. It’s a flagship state school and no one will care if it’s Rutgers, Nebraska, Oregon, Arizona, etc.
You’ve got the tools to save money and it’s not too late- the question is - do you want to use that tool?
8 Likes
The point I was trying to make is that merit at Rutgers Engineering is certainly not common for SAT scores in the 1400’s and that, as @MYOS1634 suggested, NJIT or Rowan could be a better financial choice.
Also agreeing that colleges in the south (Arizona, New Mexico, Alabama but possibly also South Carolina) can beat Rutgers in term of prices.
While very likely an outlier, my son got offered a few K (cannot remember exact amount) merit at Rutgers Engineering (10K at SAS) with a 1550 single sitting SAT score two years ago and ended up at Arizona State University.
1 Like
I just need clarification–many are saying for him to apply to “Arizona” are we talking about Arizona State or the University of Arizona; I’m a little confused. And, I finally got him to sit and watch a great video from Rowan’s Department Chair. I think it spiked his interest in that they are a hands-on, 25 max to a class and have a hands-on lab that is required with every course–not to mention their state of the art facility–so he is now applying . Funny, because we just got another post-card in the mail from Rowan today encouraging him to apply. But if someone can clarify which of two Arizona colleges they are referring to that gives $$ that would be helpful. Again, thanks so much for all of your great advice.
3 Likes
Both Arizona State and the University of Arizona offer merit.
1 Like
Great, thanks so much!
I work for a judge–we look at it.
A judge with peculiar selection criteria is not representative of hiring of legal interns.
3 Likes