Good Engineering Schools w/ Good Football?

College Search & Selection
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<p>* Mom wants me to get really good scholarships, dad’s all gung-ho that he finally has a kid going to college and he says that I can go wherever xP*</p>

<p>Well, to be safe, you need to be sure to have some schools that give huge scholarships. Sometimes one parent is overly-optimistic as to how much a family can pay. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to “reel my husband in,” when he’s promising the kids that we’ll pay for something that really isn’t feasible. lol ) And, sometimes a parent has NO IDEA how pricey schools have gotten.</p>

<p>Since your mom is expecting you to get scholarships and is saying that they can pay $10-12k per year, then that suggests that she has a better handle on the family finances. </p>

<p>Your dad may have NO IDEA that a college like Georgia Tech would cost him over $40k per year. GT has some very competitive scholarships, but even students with near perfect SATs or 35 ACTs get turned down for merit awards. </p>

<p>Or that a private could cost him $55k+ per year.</p>

<p>When BOTH parents are in the room, ask them how much they contribute MONTHLY for college. This is often better than asking for an annual amount when there’s confusion on this issue. It sounds like you don’t have a college savings account.</p>

<p>For example…if your family thinks it can pay:</p>

<p>$12,000 per year, then ask them if they can contribute $1000 per month towards college costs.</p>

<p>$24,000 per year, then they need to be able to contribute $2000 per month.</p>

<p>$36,000 per year, then $3000 per month</p>

<p>Unless your family has a very high income, it’s doubtful that they can just pull out $3k a month out of the family budget for 48 straight months to pay for college. </p>

<p>Using numbers this way can be reality check to families who really haven’t “done the math” about how they’ll pay for college.</p>

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<p>I’m not sure how 6-10k became 10-12k?</p>

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<p>You can also can look into Notre Dame & Purdue – not sure how they stack up for scholarship money though. Be sure to look at your in-state university as well.</p>

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<p>You’re not factoring the additional $2500 engineering scholarship. Also, the Presidential Scholarship which OP would earn (automatically, btw) allows up to 20 credits per semester. Besides, UA is very generous with AP credits. Most students entering on these scholarships have earned significant AP credit, allowing many to enter as sophomores by credit. They can easily lighten their course load when advantageous or double major if desired.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the heads up on the bump to 20 credits, that’s good to know and makes a big difference for OOS kids! :)</p>

<p>I wish they would specify this under FAQ’s. The current Q&A regarding the credit hours covered by the Presidential doesn’t specify. It should as this is a benefit beyond the normal tuition that covers 12-16hrs.</p>

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<p>One of the disadvantages of going to a school with about 100 students 9-12 (from three surrounding towns) buried deep in ACT country: there isn’t a single AP course offered at my school. I do have around 9 hours of college credit completed already through dual credit classes and night classes, and I plan on having 15+ by the time I graduate, so it should compensate slightly for that.</p>

<p>My state doesn’t have any particular flagships. Instead, we have the “big three”: KU, K-State, and Wichita State. They’ve all got engineering, but they’re pretty different settings. KU is notoriously stingy, but it would be cheaper for me as an instate student. I’d have to say K-State is my favorite of the three, but its kind of my fallback. I’d rather go elsewhere.</p>

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<p>If you have a strong academic record and test scores, you might shoot for USC (aka University of Southern California).</p>

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<p>For us, USC was more costly than Bama.</p>

<p>Bama also gives credit for CLEP. </p>

<p>I strongly urge you to take the time and money to travel to Bama and request your visit through the honors college. Unlike others here, my son was not one of this 100% converted after the visit, but it certainly set a standard. He will be attending Bama in the fall – still not his #1 choice, but after factoring in finances, it won. </p>

<p>Other schools he carefully considered for engineering:</p>

<p>Tulsa. Much smaller than Bama and very strong in P-Eng.
Pitt - he did not apply, but they do have some nice OOS merit.</p>

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<p>Yeah, USC sounds attractive, but I don’t know about merit aid from there. According to their freshman profile, they had somewhere like ~165 people that got full tuition, out of the 3000 that enrolled. Their median ACT was 30-33, which would put me on the higher end of the middle. It might be worth applying to still, though.</p>

<p>Tulsa is a good engineering school, but their strength really is in the Petroleum Engineering.</p>

<p>I’ll try to work my parents around to the idea of visiting 'Bama, meanwhile I guess I’ll go check out Pitt. I’ve heard some good things about Ole Miss, can anyone back that up?</p>

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<p>It’s worth the application to USC if you’re a strong student. They are generous with merit aid - maybe not a lot of full tuition scholarships, but quite a bit half tuition…which makes the tuition costs on par with in-state publics.</p>

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<p>I’d consider myself a strong student. 33 ACT, 4.0 GPA, a bunch of activities and leadership roles. The level of in-state publics? Maybe instate publics in California. I would get about 46K on a half-tuition scholarship, which would still be more that 2x my in state schools, and that’s if I don’t get scholarships from them (unlikely). Heck, even minus tuition it’d be about as expensive as an instate public through R&B and books.</p>

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<p>^ Yeah, you’re right…it may not be competitive financially. But you never know until you apply and are awarded financial aid. I think USC is worth the application.</p>

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<p>With an AFC of only $6,000 to $10,000, the OP would need a full tuition scholarship and more to be able to afford USC. Consider it a reach at best.</p>