<p>I would appreciate suggestions and insights that will help me find the right college. I am planning on majoring in chemical engineering and statistics. My dream school will have strong academics and a great college atmosphere.</p>
<p>31 ACT
3.85 GPA (4.7 Weighted)
Top 10% Class Rank</p>
<p>What exactly does “great college atmosphere” mean to you? Do you qualify for need-based aid? Do you need merit aid? How big should the school be? </p>
<p>In addition to school-finder websites (here, college board . com), check out [Accredited</a> Program Search](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx) to make sure your program will be accepted by employers; you need to make sure the program is accredited by ABET.</p>
<p>Geekmom is right. Please answer her questions.</p>
<p>The amount your parents will pay will largely determine where you should apply. </p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>A 31 ACT is very good, but may not be high enough to top eng’g programs with great aid (if needed).</p>
<p>What is your situation?</p>
<p>I have three boys who each define “Great Atmosphere” differently. You’ll need to explain a bit more. Are you looking for large/medium/small, sports, research, urban, suburban, rural, parties, etc? Where do you live? Where do you think you’d like to work afterward?</p>
<p>You don’t have to have answers for all of these, but some would be useful.</p>
<p>I want a school where sports events are attended on a regular basis, the city is great (can be small or large, no preference), the campus is vibrant, and the students are very active. I will not qualify for much need based aid. I did research on lyme disease at a university over the summer, I wonder if that would help with scholarships?</p>
<p>I’m from Kentucky but looking to go out of state. UK will always be special to me but I want to get out of Lexington. A school with a party atmosphere is not a problem to me, everyone wants to have fun, I guess!</p>
<p>Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Southern California
University of Texas-Austin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Virginia Tech</p>
<p>I really don’t think I can get much merit aid from those schools…</p>
<p>bigblue, you did not mention merit aid in your posts above, only wondered if you could get a scholarship for research that you have done. That being said, many of the schools above do give merit aid for top students, including the UCs, Michigan, Wisconsin and VTech, although as you point out, none of those schools are known for being overly generous with merit aid. If you want a schools that has generous merit adi offerings, you are going to have to lower your expectations of a strong academic program. I am not sure many uniersities with excellent Engineering pograms offer generous merit scholarships to many students.</p>
<p>By the way, definitely add the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and University of Delaware to the list of schools as both cost ~$30,000 to attend, including R&B, books etc…</p>
<p>bigblue94,</p>
<p>If you don’t mind to transform into big"scarlet" instead, tOSU certainly would be thrilled to have you. As an up-and-coming top public school in the nation, Ohio State is in the process of recruiting 100 additional faculties to its Engineering School. Ave ACT score for Engineering school students is currently at 31. :)</p>
<p>President Barack Obama at The Ohio State University</p>
<p>[“President</a> Obama visits Ohio State” - The Ohio State University](<a href=“http://www.osu.edu/features/2012/obamavisit]"President”>http://www.osu.edu/features/2012/obamavisit)</p>
<p>Lowrie Family Donates $17 million to Ohio State Engineering</p>
<p>[Lowrie</a> Family Donates $17 million to Ohio State Engineering | College of Engineering](<a href=“http://engineering.osu.edu/news/2009/02/lowrie-family-donates-17-million-ohio-state-engineering]Lowrie”>Lowrie Family Donates $17 million to Ohio State Engineering | COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING)</p>
<p>$20 million Space Discovery Gift to Create Glenn Chair in Engineering</p>
<p>[$20</a> million Space Discovery Gift to Create Glenn Chair in Engineering | College of Engineering](<a href=“http://engineering.osu.edu/news/2007/12/20-million-space-discovery-gift-create-glenn-chair-engineering]$20”>http://engineering.osu.edu/news/2007/12/20-million-space-discovery-gift-create-glenn-chair-engineering)</p>
<p>Ohio State celebrates groundbreaking of $126M building</p>
<p>[Ohio</a> State celebrates groundbreaking of $126M building - Campus - The Lantern - Ohio State University](<a href=“http://www.thelantern.com/campus/ohio-state-celebrates-groundbreaking-of-126m-building-1.2878372]Ohio”>http://www.thelantern.com/campus/ohio-state-celebrates-groundbreaking-of-126m-building-1.2878372)</p>
<p>OSU trustees OK hiring for $396 million plan
(Project would double beds on north campus)</p>
<p>[OSU</a> trustees OK hiring for $396 million plan | The Columbus Dispatch](<a href=“http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/09/01/osu-trustees-ok-hiring-for-396m-plan.html]OSU”>http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/09/01/osu-trustees-ok-hiring-for-396m-plan.html)</p>
<p>**
National Buckeye Scholarship for non-Ohio residents **</p>
<pre><code>Award amount
$12,000 ($48,000 four–year value)
Criteria
Ohio State is committed to enrolling a diverse and talented student population. The National Buckeye Scholarship is awarded on a competitive basis to non-Ohio students required to pay the out-of-state surcharge who are admitted to the Columbus campus for autumn semester. Those considered rank in the top 40 percent of their graduating classes and have ACT composite scores of 28 or higher or combined SAT Critical Reading and Math scores of 1260 or higher.
</code></pre>
<p>[url=<a href=“Merit-based scholarships - The Ohio State University”>Merit-based scholarships - The Ohio State University]Scholarships[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Ohio State is certainly more diverse than the Minnesota and Columbus ave temperatures are nowhere as freezing as the Twin-City.</p>
<p>Geographic diversity </p>
<p>Ohio State enrolls students from every state and territory. States with the highest enrollment:</p>
<p>500+: Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, California, Michigan
300 – 499: Texas, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia
100 – 299: Florida, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Utah, Minnesota, Missouri, Arizona, Tennessee, Connecticut
50 – 99: West Virginia, Washington, Colorado, South Carolina, Kansas</p>
<p>Best of Luck & Go Bucks!! :)</p>
<p>Alexandre…do you really think the student would get good merit at THOSE schools with an ACT 31? I really doubt it. I highly doubt it. Umich, Wisc and the UCs would expect this student to pay full/near full freight. I doubt even VT gives much to an OOS student with an ACT 31.</p>
<p>Since the student qualifies for little FA, the only FA the student would likely get is a $5500 loan and maybe a gap for the rest.</p>
<p>Anyway…for MERIT scholarships, this student needs to apply where the merit award would be large enough for the family to pay the balance. </p>
<p>Big Blue… </p>
<p>HOW MUCH will your family pay each year???</p>
<p>.if you major in some discipline of engineering or computer science then The University of Alabama would give you FREE TUITION plus $2500 per year. Your remaining costs will be about $12k per year…probably the lowest you’ll find at a school ranked as well as Bama. </p>
<p>The awards are assured for your stats…one from the University and one from the College of Engineering. You’d get BOTH scholarships! :)</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that Bama is the highest ranked school that would give you THAT much money.</p>
<p>Bama has a brand new mega-sized Science and Engineering Complex…800,000 square feet of new STEM academic space, labs, etc. </p>
<p>Bama has a BIG SPORTS that students attend, a vibrant student body, it’s in a very nice city (Tuscaloosa), and you’d also qualify for the Honors College.</p>
<p>Can you visit? I think you’d be impressed.</p>
<p>If you need serious merit aid I’m going to agree with Alabama for your best option. They give great merit aid for relatively “low” scores (a 31 is great, but not for great aid from highly regarded engineering schools) and have everything else you’re looking for in a college atmosphere. As their program continues to improve in the rankings (by attracting top students and all that comes with them by offering great aid) you’ll reap benefits by having a degree from there if prestige outside the southeast is an issue for you. (Quite honestly, prestige isn’t an issue in engineering once you’ve gotten that first job - your work on the job will count for far more.)</p>
<p>You can try Virginia Tech or Ohio State. You could also try Oklahoma as I’ve heard great things about them from the mom of a graduate, but Alabama is the only one that will guarantee the amount of aid you’ll get I think. Still, it’s worth trying a couple of others, if nothing else, just to have choices in the spring. No matter what someone’s final choice ends up being, they seem to always feel better mentally when they made a choice rather than just having one option.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech - top engineering school - not sure about merit aid there.</p>
<p>I agree with Creekland. If you are looking for serious merit aid, go South.</p>
<p>RE: Georgia Tech…no merit can be expected with an ACT 31. All merit there is HIGHLY competitive so even those with ACT 35/35 often get NOTHING. An ACT 31 would get nothing without some super hook…highly-desirable URM or something.</p>
<p>Syracuse? The campus is crazy about basketball! It’s in a city, has a nicer campus than expected, you would need to look at their stats about merit aid. Their engineering school is more competitive admissions-wise than the rest except for the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the architecture program.</p>
<p>Pick a few reaches, a few safeties and a few in between. Only apply to schools you think you’d want to attend. </p>
<p>[Best</a> Engineering School Rankings | Engineering Program Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings)</p>
<p>I think NC State, Ohio State and U Minnesota might be reasonably priced options. Son was looking for the same things, but decided to stay in state.</p>
<p>U Dayton, ABET accredited, great BBall, good merit aid, very active student body.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies! The University of Alabama is actually my top choice right now, followed closely behind by the University of Georgia. I am aware that my score will not get me much from TOP schools. I really just want a school with solid academics, it doesn’t have to be Berkley.</p>