We are looking at Out of state colleges with engineering programs & merit aid to add to our list.
Weighted GPA:4.25
Unweighted GPA:3.75
SAT:1310
Rigorous course with AP and Honors in STEM subjects.
Decent EC with internships, volunteer,club sports, part time job.
Interested in
University of South Carolina,
UCentral Florida,
USouth Florida.
Would these colleges be a reach or target and do they offer any merit scholarships? Thanks .
Just a guess. U of SC will be tough. You might go TO. USF gonna be tough. Not sure I’d say reach but let’s say low reach. UCF I think gets in. All three have merit.
Btw I might be wrong on USF based on the link below. But it’s getting harder to get in and the #s are average but engineering typically tougher.
Have you looked at Alabama, UAH, Auburn, and Ms State. Arkansas if you want to be in a city.
All solid, all with merit, all will get in.
Here’s one example.
Thank you for the input. We do have Mississippi state in our list.
University of South Florida would be a good fit. Their OOS tuition is only $17k to begin with, and based on this table he will get $8k/year scholarship making that an annual tuition of $9k. Great deal for a solid education.
The GPA they reference is recalculated. As long as any of the classes on the 3.75 UW are AP or GT, he will be over 3.80 needed. And the 1310 just makes the cutoff for that level of scholarship.
Get the application in ASAP since OOS, and then be warned they will take seemingly forever to come back with the (hopefully) acceptance (like maybe not until January despite applying super early). Also, the first letter will not mention the scholarship, and it will be a month or two later that the financial aid office gives you first notice of the scholarship. But he does qualify. (We walked this process last year, seriously considered USF but ended up staying in state in the end.)
Great. Curious on Ms State. USF just on outskirts of Tampa (within city limit), same with UCF and Orlando. U of SC is downtown.
MS State is very nice. But very small town and the campus is by itself. Have you considered Arkansas or UTK if seeking a southern in city school. Or UAH for smaller but in a city ?
Or is that not a big deal…surrounding environment ??
Clemson?
Not sure about merit aid.
If you’re looking for southern big state schools in cities, check out LSU in Baton Rouge where there would be a decent shot at merit aid. U. of Louisiana - Lafayette would be guaranteed merit aid, but it’s a smaller town (about 125k people).
His preference is within city and a suburban setting. MSU is in the list but he is still thinking about it😀 If the FL colleges offer good merit MSU may be off our list.
Clemson would be a very tough get for OOS engineering at that stat level. Highly unlikely for merit.
What is the budget? Some good suggestions so far, but posters can make better ones if we know the annual budget.
Do you have an affordable safety selected so far?
Our annual budget is around 20-25k.
We do have few affordable safeties.
There’s something to be said for getting away from home for college, but since your kid is interested in engineering you should know that due to ABET standards the education itself is going to be similar no matter where. What will matter for job prospects are good grades in engineering and internships are a big plus.
Look at UAH. It hits budget with auto merit. LOOK AT Arkansas …cool city. uT Knoxville too. . UAH is in Huntsville a City of 200k but more suburban. Engineering is strong. Lots of space/ defense companies. Doubtful the others will make $. @AustenNut mentioned LSU. Great campus. Also trying to get competitive for top students $ wise.
my dd was accepted to Auburn with similar stats. We are OOS and she was eligible for a $15k scholarship. She opted to stay in-state, but Auburn was a close #2.
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