Full IB Diploma Candidate + Math HL
UWGPA: 3.828
WGPA: 4.280
ACT:
1st Sitting: 35 Composite (36 English, 32 Math, 35 Reading, 36 Science), 20 Writing
2nd Sitting: 35 Composite (35 English, 33 Math, 35 Reading, 35 Science), >20 Writing (Writing not released yet)
Parents’ Contribution: 20k per year
Financial Aid: None (EFC is ~$50k)
ECs: Little to none, total of ~80 hrs of ECs, ~30 hrs of volunteering, ~320 hrs of IT intern employment
Major: Engineering
My Colleges:
Ranked by my COA (minus estimated travel and miscellaneous expenses so I can standardize) after estimated merit scholarships:
University of Alabama: $12380
Oregon State University: $15177
UT Austin w/ Competitive OOS Waiver: $18250
TAMU w/ Competitive OOS Waiver: $18727
Rutgers: $18854
Cal Poly SLO: $34662 (would have to take community college bio course spring semester to be able to attend)
Tulane: $36154
Case Western: $37429
Northeastern: $40k-$45k
Questions:
Are there any other schools whose COA I could get down to about $20k with my stats?
Are there any schools I should eliminate from my list given my $20k a year loan-free money?
Are my sub-20k schools all worthwhile for engineering? Are some significantly better than others?
Which of my 2 ACT sittings should I be submitting? Do certain colleges care more about writing score?
COA at Northeastern is about $62,000 for tuition, room and board. Are you assuming merit aid? Your figures for Case and Tulane are low too. Merit aid is likely but not guaranteed.
@TomSrOfBoston I understand that this isn’t guaranteed, I’m just going off of the NPCs for the purpose of preliminary comparison. Case and Tulane are likely not worth the cost to me to attend, anyways.
Good list. UT-Austin your best choice/price, IMO.
You’ll get merit from RPI, but COA will probably be similar to NEU.
Your stats are in range for Michigan and G-Tech. Have you checked their merit OOS waivers? Other good engineering programs to check: Purdue, Ohio State, Colorado-Boulder.
Why do you think you’ll get a tuition waiver from UT and A&M?
UT is VERY stingy on scholarships, even more so for OOS students.
TAMU just moved the threshold for tuition waiver to 4k scholarship
Also don’t understand how you came to your numbers on UT and A&M. Both are over 20k just in state tuition and R&B
Just confirming. Your budget is 20k per year from family contributions and no higher? You don’t have significant enough need to bring the price down enough at top private schools. If you could get a tuition waiver at UT, that’d be your best bet BY FAR. Unless you get full tuition/full ride at a top private (think Rice, WashU, etc)
What is your class rank?
i would’ve said try for Georgia tech, but it’s past the application date for the full ride scholarship (the only one that could get you sub 20k)
University of New Mexico: your stats would make you eligible to apply for the Regents’ Scholarship - full ride - but deadline is Dec. 1. If your state of residence is within the WUE consortium, you’d be eligible for WUE Plus, which would qualify for you for instate tuition (about 7K per year) plus room and board. NM Tech is also good for specific kinds of engineering and is inexpensive, but located in a very small town and curricular offerings outside of tech fields are narrow. Colorado School of Mines also has full tuition scholarships but you would have to apply quickly to get a nomination before the Dec. 15 deadline.
@Jpgranier I don’t think I’ll get a tuition waiver from either of them. It’s just that the only thing that would justify me attending them is if I were to get a tuition waiver, so I just calculated the price taking into account the OOS tuition waiver and the minimum scholarships. My class rank is pretty poor (top public school in state, lots of ivy league kids) at 90th percentile weighted and 75th percentile unweighted.
They give out about 8% of their spots out to OOS students. Most pay full tuition. You have to offer something to UT for them to charge you 35k a year less (140k over four years).
I know your test scores are very high, but it’s still a crapshoot. They don’t take into account school competitiveness, just class rank.
@mamaedefamilia I’ve been looking at NM Tech, but it doesn’t seem like a great fit for me. I haven’t gotten enough info about its engineering programs to decide. I already submitted my app to Mines, though. I’m hoping for a good scholarship, especially since they place high value in test scores, but a full tuition scholarship seems pretty ambitious.
@Jpgranier Yeah, I get that there’s very little chance for UT Austin, but I figure I might as well try anyways. I guess now that I know they place a lot of importance on class rank, it might be less and less likely than it already was. I figure I’ve got a better chance at TAMU, (maybe) since they’re trying to expand their engineering program with the whole “25 by 25” thing, and also because they’re less competitive in general to get into (although the increase to 4k could pose significant problems).
^ Tech is definitely a niche school. One of my kids did a summer program there and it didn’t look like a particularly inviting place to spend 4 years unless you were very focused on explosives engineering. UNM is definitely worth a look though. It’s a good value for the price point and is located in a city of a decent size. Good luck on Mines - I know high test scores applicants who have done very well with merit scholarships there.
USC has very good merit scholarships if you get your application in by Dec. 1. Have a look at Franklin Olin College of Engineering - everyone admitted gets a 50% tuition scholarship.
Why do you have Cal Poly, Case, Tulane and Northeastern on your list when they don’t meet your cost criteria? Hoping for a miracle? Would you be happy to attend Bama or Oregon?
Case Western is a much better school than any of the others for engineering. My son graduated and every single one of his classmates who majored in engineering graduated with a good job. If you can swing it it might be worth it. You might get more aid than you think there. Case is good with merit based aid.
@turkle321 have you looked at UT Dallas? You would be competitive for one of the top level AES (Academic Excellence Scholarships). This would bring your COA well under $20K (possibly under $10K) even when you factor in costs of travel.
You may want to check out the McDermott Scholars Program at UT Dallas as well. I see one McDermott Scholar from your state in 2014, but none since then. Your dual citizenship would be a plus. This is a competitive full ride plus.
All I can say is Roll Tide. If cost is your primary concern, none of your other schools are worth the extra money over Alabama. Save your money, have fun, and land the same engineering job at the end.