<p>Hey all. Recently I've taken interest in engineering, and while I'd like to potentially work for an aerospace company like Nasa or Space X one day, I'd be content with any kind of cool, vanguard engineering profession which leaves me going to bed at night feeling like I'm creating something amazing and wonderful. That being said, I'm a junior in high school and although my private high school doesn't use state regulations(no APs) I do have an unweighted gpa of 4.0 and an overall average of 96.5 for the past two years here. Got a 200 on the psat, enjoy math and science, and expecting to get a 2100-2200 on the SAT (730+ on math) by studying hard. Involved in clubs, Orchestra, and almost an eagle scout. Can I get some recommendations for good schools? Looking for a bright, modern campus that is upbeat, preferably near a city</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is a feeder school for companies like Space X and JPL. They are part of the Claremont Consortium near LA, so you get the benefit of a larger pool of students across the consortium schools (which are all right next to each other), but the benefits of a small school at Mudd as well. They get dinged sometimes for campus appearance, but they have a great new building (opened last year) where my D2 (sophomore) has had almost all her classes, and a new dorm is opening next fall as well. It would be a reach, get your math score as high as possible. You also would need 2 subject tests, including Math II.</p>
<p>I will say that you will work VERY hard there if you come in with no APs. But my kid had no APs except Calc AB, and she is making it through. And loves it!</p>
<p>Hm, cali might be a bit far (sorry I should have mentioned I’m from NY). Though not totally out of thought. Any other recommended schools? </p>
<p>region of the country? region to avoid? gender? how much your parents are willing to pay each year? size of campus?</p>
<p>Region: preferably right of the Midwest.
Region to avoid: anywhere left of the Midwest, unless a really good exception.
Money: doesn’t matter, intend to take out loans, recommend more than one please.
Size: Average preferable, but not a deal breaker </p>
<p>Columbia SEAS, Olin, Tufts, Carnegie-Mellon, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Rice, and . . . if your scores are sky-high, MIT and Princeton.</p>
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Money: doesn’t matter, intend to take out loans,
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<p>You can’t borrow much. YOU can only borrow $5,500 as a frosh. </p>
<p>So, money does matter. How much will your parents pay each year? </p>
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<p>Was this as a sophomore? Did you take the PSAT as a junior???</p>
<p>My parents are going to pay most of it but I am owing them it. I don’t care how much loans I have to take out to pay them back. Money is not the primary concern for me. I care more about school right now. And I took it as a sophomore and got a 196 and I just took it this year and know I did better which is why I ballparked my psat at 200</p>
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<p>Ok, that’s fine. But you don’t have to go into big debt to get there…nor should you. You’re young. You have NO IDEA how burdensome big debt quickly becomes. You’ll be in your early 20s when you graduate…ready to move on with your life…perhaps buying a home, marrying, having children, etc. . And what if that great job is no where near your parents’ home? It will be very difficult to pay back big loans while also paying for: rent, utilities, cable/satellite, internet, car, gas, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone, food, entertainment, etc. And, you’ll be paying a good bit in taxes. </p>
<p>If you continue to do well in high school an score well on the SAT an ACT (take both) you can get some decent merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Are you saying that your parents won’t actually be paying for ANYTHING? Or will they pay for SOME? how much? </p>
<p>Um…you do need to be concerned about money. Some of,the school’s being mentioned here cost $60,000 plus a year to attend. </p>
<p>You are considering engineering and you are from NY? Look into some of the SUNY campuses that offer engineering degrees. They will be affordable to you.</p>
<p>For engineering, an ABET accredited school is what you will want. </p>
<p>Will your family qualify for need based aid? Or do they intend to take loans only.</p>
<p>If your Math and CR SAT is 1450 or higher, there are some schools with fine engineerining programs where you would receive great merit aid.</p>
<p>I’m not positive but I don’t think a 200 PSAT will be high enough for NM status in NY state. </p>
<p>It is common for high school students to assume they can borrow their way through college. They cannot, and families who co-sign loans for them or lend them money to pay for college are risking their financial futures and possibly their family’s future when the child struggles to repay the loans they’ve co-signed and possibly defaults. The family is left holding the bag on the default. It happens frequently, and it is devastating to families. There was a famous case recently where a family co-signed loans for a student who then died before she could repay the loans. The family not only lost a daughter but found themselves having to repay those loans without benefit of the daughter’s income. </p>
<p>At the very least, the child should be made to take out a life insurance policy for the amount of the loans and make the family the beneficiary so that the family is not stuck for the loans. Add that cost to the interest on these loans and this quickly becomes a financial nightmare.</p>
<p>I appreciate the talk of money. But it’s not relevant to my post here. I want to consider schools that I might think me (I’d like more recommendations please) and then decide if it’s financially realistic for each, NOT start choosing based on price. I am concerned about money but not in this post. Thanks</p>
<p>So for each school mentioned, one of the first things you should do is have your parents help you run the net price calculator available on the college website (on the financial aid page). You can put your fingers in your ears and hum, but probably 90% of the students out here have their college choices limited by cost. You can’t borrow much on your own, and you shouldn’t go deep into debt to your parents or anyone else. So you need to have that “money talk” with your parents and decide how much money is available, THEN start looking for schools. Otherwise you are wasting your time (and ours, honestly).</p>
<p>Can we please not talk about money here? I’m not “putting my fingers in my ears and humming” (thanks), or ignoring, money. But I want to create a list of schools I like best and then choose which is best financially, not have finance be the basis of my choice. If I’m wasting your time I’ll look elsewhere, but I’d enjoy the help. </p>
<p>@woogzmama’s made some suggestions. what do you think of them? your projected SATs are low for all but Tulane, which I don’t rec for engg anyway. I do suggest you take a look at the accredited aeronautical engineering schools mentioned by @thumper1:</p>
<p><a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx”>http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx</a></p>
<p>I’m also well aware of financial issues that can be caused by college debt. Have an older brother currently suffering through it, thanks. I recognize the limitation. But let’s consider for a second there was no financial restriction, and it was just recommending schools (really the purpose of this thread); are there any other upbeat schools you can recommend, so I can take those recommendations and determine the financial part with my family, by myself? Thanks</p>
<p>What is your opinion on Georgia Tech? (Tuition is low even for OOS) The buildings are modern and nice looking, #3 in the nation for aerospace engineering, right by Atlanta, and politically diverse. I like it, though I’m wondering as a political middle grounder how I would like the south. </p>
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<p>Since net price calculators and lists of merit scholarships are available, using cost constraints as one of your initial screens is relatively quick and easy, and will prevent you from wasting a lot of time researching and applying to unaffordable schools.</p>
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<p>Meaning that you would be taking on debt of the full net price of the college you attend, although owed to your parents rather than other lenders. Still, taking more than the federal direct loan limit ($5,500 to $7,500 per year) would not be a wise choice (and you can probably see your older brother’s situation).</p>
<p><a href=“Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html</a> contains lists of low cost schools to consider. For safeties, if you get a 1400 SAT CR+M / 2100 SAT CR+M+W, consider the following from <a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/</a> , with yearly residual costs listed:</p>
<p>Alabama (engineering), $10,622
Alabama - Huntsville, $9,592
Tuskegee, $2,664
Howard, $3,462 (first come first served)
Florida A&M, $13,096
Louisiana Tech, $5,229
Temple, $15,613
Prairie View A&M, $5,324
Utah State, $9,080</p>
<p>(Verify scholarships and residual costs with each college.)</p>
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<p>??? GT’s tuition is NOT low for OOS. The OOS COA is over $46k per year. You’d be borrowing $180k in debt…which is over FIVE TIMES the advisable limit for undergrads. </p>
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<p>lol…what the heck do you think southern national universities are like if you wonder if a “middle grounder” would have any concerns??? Southern national universities are full of “middle grounders,” as well as liberals and conservatives. </p>
<p>Are your parents lending their OWN money? or are they borrowing from somewhere and you’d have to pay the money back?</p>
<p>What year in college is your brother?</p>
<p>Their calculator is telling me slightly less than 40k which isn’t all that bad. You can’t tell me that any school that costs more than 36k for all four years is unadvisable (when you said that 180k is five times more than the advisable amount) </p>