Help me find a school -- PLEASE

Parents Forum
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<p>Hello parents. My mom is on here a lot, and now I am. I think she is tired of college stuff, so I might have to do my own. :(</p>

<p>I want to major in engineering - probably computer or electrical engineering. I am a junior at a good private HS. My GPA is 89.9 (the highest GPA in my class is a 94.2.) I haven't taken the SAT yet. I really don't want to take any SAT 2s. I have taken all the hardest courses, including AP Comp Science, Chem and US History this year, and next year AP Physics, Calc AB, Micro/Macro Econ, and Music Theory. (I just realized that's a lot of AP exams next year!) I got a 196 on my psat (I know, sux). I am taking practice tests for SAT.</p>

<p>I have played viola for 12 years (well, actually 8 of those were violin). I am in our city's top-ranked youth orchestra and i have played in a chamber group for 5 years. I am very active in stage crew at school. I have built many computers, including my own water-cooled one.</p>

<p>Here's the scoop though. My sister is like a genius. She got a great scholarship and is in college now. My parents say they will not get financial aid and I am limited to around $25,000 per year, including room and board. So, I have to either get a good scholarship someplace or go to a state school.</p>

<p>I really want to stay playing music in college. I don't even care that much if it is a GREAT orchestra - I just want to make sure I will get a seat. So, I'm worried that will rule out huge schools or schools with very strong music departments.</p>

<p>Also, I would really like to try being with people who are not all from New York and New Jersey. I'd like to meet new people but, I probably can't go too far south or west (too expensive and girlfriend here at home). So someplace NE or MidWEst I guess.</p>

<p>So, here are my needs:
- Someplace I can get into
- Someplace not with all NY & NJ kids
- Someplace I can get into the orchestra
- Someplace I can get a scholarship
- Someplace with a STRONG engineering program</p>

<p>THANK YOU so much for any advice you might have for me. I just know my guidance counselor is going to tell me SUNY Stonybrook or someplace I'll hate.</p>

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<p>Tim,
The AACSB is the agency which gives accreditation to engineering programs: <a href="http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/accreditedmembers.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/accreditedmembers.asp&lt;/a>
Once you see these you can look further into schools based on the size and locations which interest you. There are many state schools which would cost about $25,00 for out of state students. You will have to look at the music program web pages at these schools to see if music particpation is limited to majors.
Good luck.</p>

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<p>I think we need a good guess as to your SAT scores to guess your chances of a scholarship anywhere. Also, does your school rank? Have you consulted your school GC and/or does your school keep spreadsheets/scattergrams of students comparing GPAs to where they were accepted/got merit $?</p>

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<p>I looked at the aacsb web site and I don't see engineering?</p>

<p>i don't know if my school has a spreadsheet thing. Do most schools? I think they have a list of who went where with GPA and SAT scores. But I don't know about scholarships. I'll ask when we get back.</p>

<p>I don't know what kind oF SAT score i'll get. My practice tests are like this (I'm not going to list the writing):</p>

<h1>1 Crit Reading 640-720 Math 580-640</h1>

<h1>2 Crit Readng 630-710 Math 610-670</h1>

<h1>3 Crit reading 600-660 Math 620-680</h1>

<p>I'm pretty bummed that my practice tests don't seem to be improving much. My psat indicates I'll get crit reading 590-720, Math 650-740, writing 510-690.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<p>A school not much noted on this board is Grove City College in western PA. It is a Christian based school and not just a little bit but it has engineering and I think a pretty good music department. It's actually fairly hard to get into but the price is low and I've heard the education is great. <a href="http://www.gcc.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gcc.edu/&lt;/a> What made me think of it was one of the students from my kids HS who is there was the drum major in our marching band and the other was a sax player who went in as an engineering major. They do have both engineering and music majors, and have an orchestra as well as other musical groups. Both were pretty serious about their music.</p>

<p>Anyway, like I said, it's not for everyone but something to look at.</p>

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<p>Give RPI and Rose Hulman a look.</p>

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<p>akgirl, I don't think I can afford either one without scholarship money. I don't even know if I can get into Rose Hulman. What do you think?</p>

<p>kathiep, Thank you. I'll check it out, although I'm not much of a christian.</p>

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<p>tim its too bad that you cant go south because GA. Tech is what you are looking for and it seems to be in your range(although I dont know much about tech music:/). Its in downtown Atlanta so it doesnt have that redneck feel or anything. All of its engineering programs are ranked in the top 6 i think nationally (including many in the top 3). In terms of price I think it costs 19K without fees for out of state students. Altogether they estimate final cost at 28-29K per year. There are many scholarships available for young students interested in engineering regardless of where you attend. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.gatech.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.gatech.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>RPI gives lots of merit scholarships. If your school offers the Renssaeler medal you'll get enough $$.</p>

<p>RIT has merit aid.</p>

<p>WPI also gives merit aid and has a coop program.</p>

<p>Northeastern has a good coop program.</p>

<p>UMichigan is excellent in engineering, among the state schools.</p>

<p>What state are you in? I know you say you don't want NJ and NY kids but both states have state schools with good engineering departments, and a state school would really save you $$. You can always go out of state for grad school--and grad school in engineering would probably be paid for.</p>

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<p>Sorry Tim, I got my acronyms mixed up. Try the ABET site. <a href="http://www.abet.org/accrediteac.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.abet.org/accrediteac.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>University of Wisconsin at Madison has a great engineering program and is probably cheaper than private schools, even for an out-of-stater. Kids really seem to love that school!</p>

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<p>Thanks everybody. I found the ABET site and there are lots of schools ont here so i guess i have a lot of homework to do.</p>

<p>I also checked out Georgia Tech online. It looked pretty interesting, and they do have an orchestra. ryan2288 do you go there? Can you tell me any more about it? If it "isn't too redneck" (LOL) maybe it would be good and since it has a big airport maybe it wouldn't be too hard to get to?</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<p>I thought I better update this as its time for me to start trying to figure out what schools I should visit. My SAT acores are sort of weird. Here's what I got:</p>

<p>Critical reading 710
Math 680
Writing 680
Multiple choice 62
Essay 12</p>

<p>Total 2070 (?)</p>

<p>I am retaking in June to get my math scores up. I am quite good at math, so that was a surprise to only get 680 oh well.</p>

<p>Here are the schools I'm thinking about so far:</p>

<p>RPI (visited and I love it, but did not get medal :( )
RIT
Ohio State (too big?)
Ohio University
SUNY Buffalo (visited and didn't love it)
Georgia Tech
U Delaware
Worcester Polytech
Northeastern
Case Western (visited and it was OK)
McGill (Canada)
Purdue
U Viginia (longshot)
Maybe Mich State or Penn State</p>

<p>I only want to apply to maybe 5 or 6 schools. Also I refuse to take the SAT IIs. I am pretty worried about being in a huge school or a heavy frat scene. Also can only spend $25000 a year so I probably need scholarship but my parents make decent money.</p>

<p>Any more hints are welcomed. Thank you in advance.</p>

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<p>It may have quite a few NJ/ NY kids, but Lafayette could be a good place to investigate.</p>

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<p>RPI sounds like a perfect school for you. So you could apply there, and then maybe 2 "dream schools" and 2 easier schools.</p>

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<p>". I really don't want to take any SAT 2s. "</p>

<p>I would think some of the schools on your list would require them. Though you could try taking the ACT next fall instead. In your shoes I'd take the math SAT2s which might offset the lower score you're getting on the SAT1. My son also gets sent a magazine called Private Colleges and Universities, it's free, maybe came from PSAT?, anyway it has a website at privatecolleges.com. One of the magazines was devoted to just engineering schools. There were tons of places, unfortunately for you I only tore out the ones we were interested in, but there may be more info at their website.</p>

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<p>Go to collegeboard.com and look at each school by name using their search schools function. Look under Housing and Campus Life. That will tell you the % of students in fraternities. You would want schools with lower numbers.</p>

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<p>RPI doesn't require SAT IIs. If you like Virginia, what about VA Tech? It wouldn't be as much of a reach as UVa, and the school is very good for engineering.</p>

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<p>An excellent alternative that rarely pops up on this board is Bradley University in Peoria. They have both a great engineering program and a great music program. They like to recruit kids from the East Coast so they may have some merit, music or other scholarships programs for a student like you. My nephew got accepted at top LACs, and was waitlisted at Harvard, but ended up at Bradley because he got both debate and music scholarships, lowering his tuition to well under the cost of a state school. He couldn't be happier. As a junior, he already has a near full-time "internship" job at Caterpillar with an offer for a permanent job as soon as he graduates. He feels like he could easily have gotten lost at the other schools. At Bradley he stood out and as a result, got an excellent education and a very good head start on his future career in international business. Cat already is grooming him for a post in international trade.</p>

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<p>My son is a double degree student at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wi going for degrees in composition from the music conservatory and in Government/Economics. They have a cooperative Engineering program with WashU. The best things about LU are the student's ability to develop along individual interests, tutorials, strong campus environment, access by all students to the conservatory, great professors, no SATs if you prefer, great financial aid and merit awards. His friends on campus are from all over the country and world. He grew up overseas and he loves the Midwest and chose it over schools on both coasts.</p>