<p>Also Purdue seems like a good fit. Do they give a good amount of financial aid?</p>
<p>Purdue is a public school. It’s not going to give an OOS student FA.</p>
<p>What engineering discipline are you looking at? Purdue and illinois are good, but for chem/pet look at UT, A&M, LSU, UH etc. For cs/eecs cal poly, sjsu, ucb, uw etc.</p>
<p>You may want to add Clemson to your list. It’s engineering program is comparable to Virginia Tech’s, it’s about a 4 1/2 drive between the two campuses, and they (can) offer significant OOS merit aid, making it fall under your 35K target.</p>
<p>Either way, Good Luck!</p>
<p>I haven’t decided what engineering discipline I want to study but Im slightly leaning towards either Mechanical or Computer</p>
<p>Many have mentioned UIUC. They are really good for computer engineering</p>
<p>How significant of an advantage do I have at Cornell for being a legacy? Is it enough to give me a solid chance? Also does it effect the amount of aid I get?</p>
<p>bump bump</p>
<p>One of your criteria is good food. Virginia Tech’s Turner Place just won an award for being the best new dining facility in the country. VT has won many awards for their dining services.</p>
<p>You have two excellent instate schools on your list-UVa and VT. I had one son at each in engineering. Both great schools and which you prefer many times comes down to personal fit.</p>
<p>Only you and your family can decide if it is worth paying more than instate cost for a place like Cornell. Our family was full pay instate for UVa and VT. That was our limit. We did not make our kids pursue merit aid elsewhere. By the same token,if our kids had wanted to go to a school that cost more, such as a private or OOS public, that would have been on them. We felt their needs were well met with not paying more than the cost of our instate schools. YMMV. It truly is a personal choice for each family and no one here can really tell you and your parents how much to spend for college and how to spend your money! Good luck!</p>
<p>Yeah basically Im just looking for somewhere that could compete with my number one which is tech. Also, do you have any opinion on Tech Engineering/Uva Engineering?</p>
<p>bsmyth1,That is a tough one because I had a kid at both. Both will get you where you need to go so I would focus more on fit, social stuff , location, etc. My VT kid just graduated . He had an internship last summer and there were kids from all over in his internship class and past internship classes-including Cornell, Yale, Illinois,Georgia Tech, UVa, MIT, etc. He starts his post graduation job with them in a couple of weeks. We really are lucky to have such good schools in Virginia( including William & Mary ).</p>
<p>If your parents are willing to pay for Cornell, no need to take it off your list but definitely keep your instate options open.</p>
<p>How significant of an advantage do I have at Cornell for being a legacy? Is it enough to give me a solid chance? Also does it effect the amount of aid I get?</p>
<p>Not much of an advantage. Look up Cornell’s policies…some school require legacies to apply ED for an advantage.</p>
<p>NO, it doesn’t affect your aid at all. Aid will be purely need based.</p>
<p>bump bump</p>
<p>bsmyth1 -
My third year mech’e student faced the UVa/VT e’school choice two years ago. The choice was difficult as he was a long time VT fan, had slept under a VT flag since he was 7yo, etc. He really looked deeply into each program, meeting with professors, asking a lot of questions, etc. The programs are both excellent but their approach is different. If you look hard enough you will see it and almost always one will appeal to you over the other. It’s apples and oranges. He honestly faced a lot of questions from friends, teachers, and professional mentors, making the decision even harder. My advise to him was to block out the noise and think about what HE wanted, about which approach felt right to him, where he would be happier. You will succeed where you are comfortable academically and socially. Both schools provide an excellent education, it’s simply a matter of really spending the time to ask the right questions to determine which fits you best. He’s never looked back, is exceptionally happy, doing well academically, has had internships every summer (this year with Lockheed Martin). He has close friends in the e’school at VT that visit often. It’s wonderful to see them all progress and all very happy with their choices. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>CalPoly-SLO
Georgia Tech (slightly over $40k, but within range)
Purdue University-West Lafayette (slightly over $40k, but within range)
Texas A&M University
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Wisconsin-Madison (slightly over $40k, but within the ballpark)
Virginia Tech</p>