good engineering schools with generous merit aid?

Paying for College
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<p>Looking for East Coast engineering with those stats and depending on your other EC’s, I’d certainly not dismiss looking at the Ivy’s+Extended Ivies (Princeton, Cornell, MIT in the NE corridor). It always surprises me the generous packages they can put together due to their massive endowments if you can gain admission</p>

<p>Can’t go wrong with Rose Hulman for Engineering if you’re sure about your academic choices.</p>

<p>UMichigan should probably be added due to their strong Eng. school though they aren’t as well known for generous merit packages in the Engineering program as they give in the Arts and Sciences (LSA) side of the school – friend’s son with 33ACT/#1 in class received 35K/year in Merit from Michigan LSA basically covering 90-95% of his OOS tuition bill for 4 years.</p>

<p>Georgia Tech has some impressive scholarships and very strong engineering props though it sounds like a bit out of your geographic preference.</p>

<p>The state of Alabama schools (Auburn and UA) have become very aggressive at recruiting Merit Scholars trying to upgrade their academic chops to the point it has become almost free if you have the numbers. OTOH, neither engineering school is in the same class as the one’s listed above however. I think Auburn has a better engineering program and I’m an alum of the other school.</p>

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<p>Yes, look at Case. Top stats could qualify you for $27,500/yr merit scholarship. That makes is comparable to most state schools.</p>

<p>Northeastern in Boston offers full tuition scholarships for NMF. Their students all do co-op (a neat thing), often while they still live on campus… It’s worth investigating.</p>

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<p>

None of these schools offer merit aid.</p>

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<p>*I think Auburn has a better engineering program and I’m an alum of the other school. *</p>

<p>I don’t think that will be for long. Bama has built superior facilities in recent years.</p>

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<p>The facilities, but the faculty has to follow and then long standing reputations have to change. It’s getting there, but unfortunately perception becomes reality when it comes to employers and grad schools. Auburn has also been upgrading their programs though maybe not quite to the same $$$ level.</p>

<p>My roomie years ago complained about that after he got into the Real World. He was a HS Valedictorian, nearly a 4.0 in EE at at Auburn, and had turned down several far more prestigious UG engineering programs (Ga Tech and Michigan specifically). </p>

<p>He thought his education was just more than fine (“you get out of it what you put into it” and “the math isn’t any different at UM than at AU”) and certainly his employers eventually found him to be one of the most ingenious/creative/adaptable assets in the firm, but he continually felt put upon to prove himself twice over at every step.</p>

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<p>^That’s just the sort of story I hate to hear, prospect. My high school son, and soon-to-be engineering major, might be like your old roomie. His stats, like lizard’s, put him in the category of “contender” at just about any school he might want. But so far, after numerous college visits, he really only wants schools that aren’t particularly known for their prestigious engineering programs. Or, in most cases, for their “prestige,” period.</p>

<p>He’s very laid back and easy going. He’s as hard of a worker as he has to be to have perfect to very-near-perfect stats in all categories. But I wouldn’t say he’s “tenacious” or “driven.” He’s kind of blessed to just be good at things. I mean, he does everything that comes his way. He’s not lazy. He needs zero supervision. But he’s not one to push, push, push for the next accomplishment. He just has his ducks in a row; does what needs to be done; and typically comes out on top, in terms of stats. He prefers a busy, but very low key, social life. Not a partier. Plus, he loves all the liberal arts and wants to go somewhere with a wide range of liberal arts courses. And he prefers a medium-sized school, whereas a ton of really prestigious engineering schools are huge. Finally, he needs to rely on good merit aid. (which brought us to this thread)</p>

<p>I guess it’s for all those reasons that he so far hasn’t left a “prestigious” engineering school visit going “I definitely want to go there!” He’s always drawn to the medium-sized, friendly, conservative, kind of laid-back, non-competitive campuses – which are typically not known for their go-get-'em engineering. He’ll very likely end up at a “less-than-most-prestigious” engineering school, since those are the ones he’s always so excited about. To name a few that he’s loved, in alphabetical order: Alabama, Baylor, SMU, Vanderbilt, WashU.</p>

<p>We’ve heard all the advice that he should attend a school whose name will open doors for him. One that has a sterling reputation for the best engineering he can get. But so far, my son is resisting that advice. He thinks he will succeed wherever he goes, and that he might as well go somewhere that feels like a really good “fit” to him. (There’s also always advice out there that “fit” is the most important factor when choosing a school.) :slight_smile: Maybe the fact that my son is so comfortable in his own skin, and never feels like he has to prove anything, will benefit him when it comes time to participate in the “real world.” Maybe it won’t bother him that nobody is impressed with where he went to school? :confused:</p>

<p>Anyway, OP, if you’re like my son, you might like some of his same schools, except for the fact that none of them are on the east coast or midwest (wait … is St Louis midwest?). Alabama, Baylor, and SMU all offer very good merit aid. Vanderbilt and WashU have some hefty scholarships that are very competitive, but somebody’s got to get them, right? We have yet to visit U of Miami, but it’s on the east coast and supposedly has both – good merit and good engineering.</p>

<p>Good luck in your search, leapinglizards!</p>

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<p>^ There is nothing wrong with going to a lower tier program. Well established programs are putting more people into management positions who don’t necessarily look at the school name. Prospect stated what happened years ago. And I would hardly call Vanderbilt or WUSTl less than prestigious. Yes, they’re not at MIT’s level but few are.</p>

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<p>^Thanks, Erin’s Dad. I agree. I hope readers know that I didn’t mean to put any school (or tier) down. We also agree that Vandy and WashU are pretty prestigious schools. Vandy is KIND OF known for their engineering, too. We’ve heard that engineering is not really one of WashU’s strongest suits, but people recognize it to be an excellent school and known for its academics in general. Alabama and Baylor and SMU are pretty awesome too, we think.</p>

<p>When we go on the Engineering forums or talk to people who are really into engineering, they’ll tout schools like MIT, TAMU, UT Austin, GT, CalTech, Michigan, and so on. (I know I left a bunch of others out. sorry…) We have read and been told over and over again that if you’re going into engineering, you need to attend one of those big-name engineering schools for career and grad school prospects. Or you’ll be sorry. And we’ve read a lot of stories like prospect’s that do worry me a little. Because my son (and leapinglizards, I assume) COULD attend one of those and likely do well – so I sometimes wonder if my son is kind of passing up an opportunity by not applying.</p>

<p>But, I’m also happy for him – for knowing himself, resisting the herd mentality, and for pursuing what HE likes. I, btw, also really like all of the schools on his list and agree that they’re a really great fit for him. I can much more easily see him at any of those than at any of the big-name engineering schools we’ve visited.</p>

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<p>My Son has a 2170 SAT score ( 780 math) and is most likely a National Merit finalist. His GPA is 3.9 and is interested in Engineering in Northeast. Since we have two other children in college, we’re looking for schools that are generous with merit. Any ideas of where we should start? He likes Cornell but i suspect thats a stretch school based on his Extra curriculars( very limited).</p>

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<p>See if your school participates in the RPI Medal program; I believe it covers full tuition. While my Ss were in HS the award was offered to an outstanding science/math student, with no regard as to where they were interested in attending. As a result, the “prize” usually went unclaimed. If you are interested you might campaign for the award.</p>

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<p>We got nice offers from Rose-Hulman, Drexel, UMBC (Meyerhoff program); Case-Western. Awaiting VA Tech. Not much from Delaware. Nothing University Maryland College Park.</p>

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<p>The RPI medal is only $15K/year, not bad but less than half of full tuition.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say there are any schools in the northeast that are “generous” with merit aid. </p>

<p>How much can you afford? My S got enough from schools like RPI, RIT, and WPI to bring the price to the $30K’s , many of the schools gave him nothing. He had better stats although didn’t make NMF. </p>

<p>If you need better merit than look, you need to look at some other regions. There are schools in the southeast for example that would give much better aid with those stats.</p>

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<p>*See if your school participates in the RPI Medal program; I believe it covers full tuition. *</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure that the RPI medal is worth only $15k per year. That is less than half of tuition. Nice, but if the family has about that much in need, then that will just go towards need. </p>

<p>Mommy11…since you now have 2 in college, what is your EFC for those two? Are they at full need schools? When will these siblings graduate?</p>

<p>Many NE schools (with engineering) are rather bad at good sized merit. NE schools (in my opinion) seem to concentrate more on need-based aid.</p>

<p>If he makes NMF, then NEU and Fordham will give him full tuition (I think). The ivies and elites may give nothing. Cornell and the other ivies give NO merit.</p>

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<p>SUNY-Buffalo and Alabama both have stats-based merit, with add-on merit grants from their engineering schools. Definitely consider one or both of them as safeties.</p>