<p>I've pretty much always wanted to be a mechanical engineer or something very closely related. I don't have the SAT scores for MIT or Stanford. I know U of M is 2nd to MIT in Mechanical engineering, but I don't think I'd get a lot of financial aid. I was considering USC, but I don't know how good they are in mechanical, they seem to be more aerospace-oriented, which is still pretty cool. Washington University in St. Louis and U of Rochester seem like nice schools but how are their engineering departments?
What other colleges are good in Mechanical that offer a lot of financial aid?</p>
<p>800 Math (slightly lower than what I expected, darn)
620 CR (better than what I expected, believe it or not)
640 Writing (better than what I expected also)</p>
<p>4.0 GPA UNWEIGHTED</p>
<p>Do engineering colleges focus more on my Math? This would be a good thing.</p>
<p>Look at RPI. They have a great engineering program and you will definitely be accepted. See if you can win the Renssalaer Medal as this will save you $15000/year. Even if you don't get this award, they give pretty good merit aid. I recieved $12900/year with much lower stats. Also look at Penn State. They have a very good engineering program.</p>
<p>I looked at RPI, seems like a very nice school for engineering. One of the other colleges I was considering was Kettering University. My dad went there, (formerly called GMI). The only problem is, they specialize in the autmotive aspect of mechanical engineering and there isn't much of a future in that. I don't want to end up like my brother who got a 34 on the ACT and ended up going to wayne state university just because he got full tution there.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how good Washington University's engineering program is?</p>
<p>I'm a prospective ME major and here are the schools im looking at:
Michigan, Cornell, UIUC, CMU, Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Berkeley. Also check out Harvey Mudd, purdue, maybe UWisconsin, Umaryland, UT austin.
I havent heard much about USC or university of Rochester.
Nice GPA though.</p>
<p>You know where you need to look, is at Olin. It's a new college, they're very strong in engineering, they're going to graduate their first ever class this next year, they've headhunted a lot of the top professors away from MIT etc. and they've got the makings of being a top tier engineering school, comparable to Harvey Mudd.</p>
<p>Best of all, tuition is FREEEE. Their endowment pays for tuition plus room and board, I believe.</p>
<p>Competition's pretty stiff, but you've got a really good shot.</p>
<p>You really should not count yourself out of MIT and Stanford. Your SATs aren't amazing, but they are not below the range either. I have known students who got into MIT, Stanford and Princeton with sub 1400 SAT scores. So there is no reason you cannot do it with your 1400+. Obviously, those two or three would be your mega reaches, but why not? I would look at the following schools. They all give aid, but I am not sure whether you would qualify:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Purdue University-West Lafayette
Stanford University
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Texas-Austin
University of Wisconsin-Madison</p>
<p>In the case of Michigan, the earlier you apply, the better your chances of getting FA. I know students who have gotten $15,000-$25,000 of aid (mixture of grants and loans), so they do give out scholarships, but like I said, you are better off if you apply sometime in September. At any rate, I am not sure how good all those schools are at giving aid, but they are tops in Mechancial Engineering.</p>
<p>Wow, Olin looks amazing and the financial aid is unbelievable. But do you really think I have a good shot at Olin? I mean, my CR and Writing scores aren't very high compared to the middle 50% of freshmen there (710-800). I don't have very many ec's either: BSA-Eagle Scout and NHS.</p>
<p>Olin is an amazing place but I don't think you have a great chance unless you are a girl. Have you thought about Rose-Hulman? As far as undergrad engineering education I think they are the best in the country.</p>
<p>Check out Cooper Union. It's tiny though, but if you were considering Olin, then Cooper Union is just about the same thing... sorta. It's a very good Engineering school, but very small (sub 1000 kids.) It's in NYC, a couple buildings. Free tuition, but you have to pay for room and board. They only supply you with room and board freshman year, and then you have to find your own place to stay. It teaches Art/Engineering/Architecture there, which are all very seperate, or so I've heard. They are very number-driven, in terms of acceptance, once again, "or so i've heard."</p>
<p>itsthescottdog, the scores probably hurt you at Olin, but not as much at cooper union. Olin looks about as selective as MIT, if not moreso (though olin may be less selective for girls). Your SAT score falls smack in the middle of the mid 50 percentile at cooper, which is 1360-1510.</p>
<p>Olin's admissions will want to see enthusiasm and ambition, in ECs and application essays, as well as good scores. </p>
<p>Check out the board where olin students, current and just accepted, are posting. Google xforums and olin college. Real live current students will respond to posts about anything Olin.</p>
<p>You have perfect Math sat and a 4.0 GPA.......you have a shot anywhere. Come on now! I'd even try applying to an Ivy. People have gotten into Ivy's with 700/700, 800/650 for engi is no problem. I wouldn't even concern myself with writing scores...let the HS class of 2007 worry about those. Poor fools!</p>
<p>Thanks for the optimism. Everyone else on these forums seems to think my 620 CR is killing my chances at getting into a good school. </p>
<p>Do colleges pay more attention to your composite SAT score or your individual sections? A 620 CR is about a 28 on the ACT for the English/Reading sections... Comparitively my "36" Math would make my composite a 32, which is good enough for any college. It seems that colleges are only interested in your best composite ACT or your best Verbal and Math scores.</p>
<p>you can gauge your chances by looking at this website, with profiles of those admitted,rejected, waitlisted etc. at any given school. Link: p r s t a t s .com</p>
<p>lol, I just went there just a few minutes ago. The stats are kind of skewed since the only people putting their stats up there have insane SAT scores. There were more ppl in the 750-800 range for each section than anything else.</p>
<p>Yea, I know but thats why it is helpful to look at rejects and waitlistees. The point of looking at the stats is to determine the borderline between admission and rejection, and that is best shown by rejects and waitlistees. Acceptees could either have been really close to that threshold, or been far from it and accepted without a doubt, ie it was a safety for that person.</p>