Illinois Resident Applied to Ole Miss & Alabama (Engineering) - Do We Aim Higher?

College Search & Selection
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Many of the admission windows have opened up, and we have two in the bag. We toured both Ole Miss and Alabama and really liked both schools. Our son (starting as a senior) loved Alabama.

New here - not sure how the stats go. Great kid - and absolute pleasure to hang out with! It’s hard for us to imagine the house without him around!

Ranked 1/160 - unless something weird happens, he will be either valedictorian or salutatorian
ACT: 33
UW: 4.0
W: 4.2x - not really sure as the AP and 1818 classes have some weird formulas. He will graduate with 4 AP and 5 1818. All of his AP test have been 5’s. He just got scores back on APUSH and Chem (both 5’s) - apparently that is pretty good.
Good EC - varsity sports, captain of CC team, scholar bowl, NHS, leadership in stuco etc…
Eagle Scout

One oddity - he is deaf since birth (now oral w/ cochlear implant). Not sure if that is a wildcard or not - or how that falls into admissions decisions at competitive schools.

Lastly, we are Illinois residents and both earn good incomes - so probably not any needs-based aid.

We know that Illinois has a stellar engineering program. We toured the school (great campus) and the Engineering College (awesome too), but got the impression from admissions reps that he would be “average” at best and not to count on much in the way of merit aid. They were pretty clear that his ACT was mediocre for the engineering program…so that sort of stinks. We are actually debating applying at Illinois - but will probably do so just so we have something to compare. If U of I wasn’t IN Illinois, he would probably like it a whole bunch more!

Son is heavily interested in materials or chemical engineering - but open to other disciplines too.

We haven’t really explored any reach schools yet. To be honest, the whole concept is odd to us. We both went to mediocre state schools and have done immensely well with our careers (mainly through hard work). So A) we don’t really know what schools to look at and B) we don;t know if it really matters much.

Our logic (which may be totally flawed) is that he would get a good education in a smaller program and can build his career the same way we did. Is that just crazy?

Based upon our visits and discussion with admissions - both UA and Ole Miss are going to be free or very near it. So it is hard to imagine us absorbing $100K+ of tuition just to get into a better program - but we are open to ideas!

Just some odd schools we are considering adding into the mix:

U of I (that’s kind of a no brainer)
Purdue
Cal Poly

Now these are his “reaches”:
40 Acres Program at UT Austin
Roberts Program at Duke

Any help & advice is greatly appreciated. Are the Roberts and 40 Acres just crazy ideas?

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Our son (starting as a senior) loved Alabama.


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Roll Tide! :slight_smile:

What is your goal net cost?

You’re right not to assume any merit from UIUC with an ACT 33.

I don’t think 40 Acres or Duke’s merit scholarship is likely. Those schools award to those that they believe will have Ivy acceptances and therefore efforts are to poach those students.

Which Cal Poly? No Merit there, either. What is full pay OOS there? $35k? More?

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@morida

i don’t think there is anything wrong with your logic. an engineering degree for nearly free? makes sense to me.

you might want to add Alabama-Huntsville into the mix. it’s another place he will get at least full tuition if he maintains 4.0 GPA. they will throw in full housing too if he gets a 34 ACT. it a very solid engineering school, and Huntsville is a great city for co-ops and internships for aspiring engineers, and jobs once they graduate.

http://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships

NC State is a great engineering school and he could compete for the Park scholarship
https://park.ncsu.edu/

for really good engineering schools closer to home i might give a look at Iowa State, and University of Minnesota

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Cal Poly is $36K+. http://financialaid.calpoly.edu/_finaid/coa1516.html

In engineering ABET accreditation is what counts. Go ahead and apply to some reaches but realize no merit aid there.

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To me your strategy seems solid so far . . . he sounds like an amazing young man with a great story, so I’d probably cast my net for some reach schools just to see what happens (assuming he can withstand the pace of senior year, extra application essays, etc.).

Second the idea to look at UAH (in addition to UA of course).

I’m glad that you’re looking at Purdue but they don’t seem particularly generous with scholarships (you never know though).

Wishing you and your son the best!

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Reading between the lines, it looks like UIUC in-state is too expensive, correct?

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@ucbalumnus

In state Illinois is actually higher than many out of state offerings - silly, but this whole state is a bit silly.

I actually think that Illinois would make a stellar choice, but they are pretty realistic with an expectation of zero aid. That being said, we don’t know that until we actually apply. He is a bit stubborn that he does not want to attend UI. For those that dont follow, UI is RIGHT below the top tier engineering schools in the nation. They are typically ranked 1-5 in most of their disciplines. The program is BIG, however. That seemed to be a turnoff to him.

So that is what pushed us back to the “free” option that will be a bit more personalized.

FWIW - we (mom and I) really liked the idea of Rose Hulman. However, we soon found out (great tour BTW) that he wants a “real” college experience. There again, we don’t have experience. My wife went to an all women’s college and I went to a second - well third tier state university - you know, we call them directionals (SE, NE, SW etc.).

During the AL tour we attended a football game and Ole Miss basketball. He is not a sports nut, but I could tell he really loved what revolved around the athletics. He is actually fast enough to probably run div 1 cross country, but wants to leave that in HS and just be a student. I get that too (I played soccer in college and grew to resent it).

I really appreciate all the comments and suggestions.

This board has some wonderful threads on engineering programs and while I know a degree from MIT or Stanford will set him up for life, I am confident an engineering degree from either Ole Miss or UA with zero debt can do the same. Both schools have been making engineers for 150 years…so there are a TON of alumni out there. As you know, some of them are extremely (that’s an understatement) proud of their school.

@Wien2NC

I love the UAH option (I travel there for business monthly). I don’t think it will have that big school draw.

I am going to look at NC State.

Cal Poly is a school one of his CC buds is going. That being said, that kid got a 36… I am not 100% certain, but I believe he got significant merit aid. We don;t know their family well, but I know both are physicians of some type. “Yeah, he got a full ride” came from high school chatter, however. We may scratch that.

I have learned (and this sort of verifies) that in the engineering world, access to coops and internships is really what matters (and maybe even undergrad research). Someone summed it up that (I will paraphrase) “…the engineering academic world is much more flat than any other field, and the school name doesn’t matter much…”. This makes me feel if we are on the right track.

Any other “better” engineering schools that do offer merit aid?

Thanks!

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Maybe

Pitt: https://oafa.pitt.edu/financialaid/academic-scholarships/

Georgia Tech: http://www.finaid.gatech.edu/scholarships/

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Another IL resident. My only suggestion is to leave UIUC in the rear view mirror. Your son doesn’t like it, it’s expensive, engineering admit is not a guarantee, and IL is screwed up. Who knows what impact you will see in the next 4 years.

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I agree with looking into Pitt. My dad works at an engineering firm in pittsburgh and one of the students either doing an internship or co-op is an Illinois resident but went to Putt because it was cheaper than UIUC.

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If your safety is perfect for you, and free, why look elsewhere?

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(total rookie chiming in here, so take it with a grain of salt)

If he is fine with Ole Miss and Alabama then absolutely…just stop. I agree with Chardo above. No need to spend more time on apps and essays.

I’ve spent some time reading the “40 Acres” kids bios and I think your son has a compelling story and great stats. If he really wants to attend at UT he should definitely throw his hat in there…understanding of course that it’s a total crap shoot. Varsity sports, valedictorian, great ACT score and an interesting story with the implant. Has he done any ECs within the community of kids who have had implants? Is getting the implant part of his desire for an engineering degree? I would think the 40 Acres reviewers would find that interesting. We know a 40 Acres scholar and honestly…your kid sounds like he would be just as competitive.

Also, Texas A&M might be something to throw into the list. Even a small $1,000 scholarship would be enough to get you IN state tuition from what I can read. Good engineering and fun traditional style campus and experience. The program is huge of course and the admissions process is unpredictable for this year since they are changing to holistic review…but your kid has great stats. The cost would be cheaper than your in-state, but not as cheap as full tuition from UA and Ole Miss. Those are going to be hard to beat.

I would add in Pitt also but if you want merit it really looks like he would need to re-take the ACT and aim for a 34. I know it seems silly to type that out…a 33 is already fantastic. But their line in the sand for merit is a bit fuzzy. It looks like it is getting harder every year. BUT…from looking at last years info they REALLY like the OOS valedictorians and those who were OOS with a 33-35 ACT almost all got FULL tuition IF they applied early. The app is open and is not crazy difficult. Their engineering program is dynamic and collaborative and he is guaranteed his engineering major of choice after the first year (unlike A&M). The first year students work together on a huge professional presentation that culminates in a large conference. It is all quite impressive. It is an urban campus to be sure but still a bit of a traditional defined campus and lots of sports.

But seriously, if he is good with his choices already and doesn’t have a huge desire or preference, stay with what you have and enjoy senior year. I would only consider those other schools IF he is feeling restless about his list. I agree with you about opportunity coming from hard work rather than the name itself.

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I agree with Bama being suggested, but I think you should definitely look at and tour NC State as well. Fantastic school with a great engineering program.

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Shameless plug for University of Florida OOS scholarships (scroll down): http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/scholarships.html

He has a very interesting background, and UF uses holistic admissions. Something to think about. UF is not super generous with scholarships (it’s a bargain in FL especially if you have Bright Futures) but I’ve heard/read that President Fuchs is trying to increase the OOS student population.

Not to muddy the water further. :stuck_out_tongue:

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^ Keep in mind that, while its a fine school, UF has the lowest out of state percentage of any flagship in the country. Over 95% of your fellow students will be Floridians.

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We love Illinois-ians. :slight_smile:

ETA: At Preview we met a family from Las Vegas - now that surprised me!

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I agree that he will probably end up at Alabama and that its a great option.

But another idea would be RIT, merit, co-ops and a vibrant deaf culture. If he is intrigeued by co-ops, he should also look at Northeastern, also possoble merit. The big sport at both schools is hockey.

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Hey I love Floridians. I will be one someday (I’m from NY, it’s the law). It’s just that kids from far away should know that the school is almost entirely in-state students. Few if any realize that about UF. That might not appeal to them.

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You may look into University of Tulsa. It has very good engineering programs, not big, not a tech school, and offers full tuition and even full ride scholarships.

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Great idea about TAMU. Getting in-state tuition based on a scholarship. The cadet corp may be an acquired taste though.