Update: His PSAT scores came in and they went down a little this year, not by much - he still got a 1420, but that’s not close to NMSF. (We didn’t think he had a chance at that anyway). The good news is that he took the ACT exam last month just to gauge how he’d do on them, and he got a 34 composite on the first try. His sub scores were English 35, Math 30, Reading 36, Science 35. He did absolutely 0 preparation for it. He thinks the math was low because they had some items on there that he did a few years ago (He did geometry in 8th grade, trig was in 9th - he’s in AP Calculus BC now). I suppose he could take it again and prep for the math for the schools that super score, but does it really matter? It’s not like 30 is a slouchy score either.
If he takes the ACT again…perhaps his new scores will be considered…not superscore…just the whole second test.
But really a 34 composite is excellent.
He takes the SAT in April at school. I think ACT we will call it good enough. We’re not trying for elite schools - we are looking for good, affordable education and I think he’s in a good spot now.
I would still have him do the ACT again to try for a full ride at mid-level schools. We are in a similar boat and also live in the midwest. I have lived in the deep south and plan to return after our kids are finished with college but it is very different. I would have any child spend a few long weekends at any college that is geographically different. (My daughter’s dream school is in CA - she knows the reality of the situation)
I don’t think Purdue will give you a penny, that is our ISS and I don’t expect any money at all with a 32 ACT and 4.2 GPA.
However, the IUPUI degree will say Purdue and they have a very strong relationship with the IU School of Med. They are on the same campus.
If he is willing to forego the biomedical specialty, I would consider Valparaiso, Bradley, St Louis U. I was very impressed with Valpo and they offer a LOT of merit.
Montana State University can be generous for high-achieving undergrads from out of state. A beautiful place to go to school, if you like mountains and the outdoors
First of all, tell and friends who aren’t paying for his education to back off on their derogatory comments.
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We are looking at schools that have automatic merit, but there aren’t very many that offer the degree our son wants, which is Biomedical Engineering. I’ve done some looking, and it seems that University of Alabama Birmingham and IUPUI seem to be our best bets for what we can afford.
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UAB could be a very good choice. Excellent for medical fields. My son went there for med school. Has your son more narrowed down his medical interests? BiomedE is not a necessary undergrad major for ANY field. The grad programs accept students who were chemE, bioE, mechE, and EE. So that could mean more options, including UA the flagship.
promom4 - A lot of people have told me that the 34 he has now is really fine - continuing to take it to shoot for a 36 might not be worth the stress. It seems that 33 is the cutoff for the really big scholarship money for what I’ve seen thus far.
@promom4 --has something changed with Purdue merit this year? The OP updated and stated the student just made a 34 on the recent ACT.
Purdue gave my daughter $10K per year for the 2017 admissions seasons. ACT 34, 3.98 UW GPA.
@elodyCOH —it’s not guaranteed merit, but University of Pittsburgh has solid merit for OOS students with those stats and even better if he can get that score to a 35. There were several with ACT 35 this past year who reported getting full-tuition. Pitt has Bioengineering but students don’t have to declare their major for an entire year and then they get to choose their major.
I think there is a difference between merit and full-ride, particularly at OOS or LAC.
My daughter is only a junior so I don’t know what Purdue is offering but their presentation to a women in technology summer camp made me think we wouldn’t be getting any scholarships from Purdue.
At a LAC with good engineering the top level of published merit which my daughter already qualifies for - the amount of scholarship is 1/3 of the total cost, which is still a bit too much for us - still twice Purdue full price for ISS. I would think the LAC would show us more $ because why would any top students go there?
Our personal situation is that my daughter is very smart and hard working with great ECs but she doesn’t have a competitive bone in her body and I am trying to find the best fit for her. I expect her ACT will get to at least 33, 4.2 gpa. More than 50% honors/AP courses. She is actually stronger in English/Reading than math/science but it is very close.
We will apply at Purdue and IUPUI as our ISS and the rest will be LAC with true engineering. We won’t apply to any other OOS schools, it just doesn’t make sense/cents to us.
Do you live close to any of the CC’s that partner with UIUC’s Engineering Pathways program?
http://pathways.engineering.illinois.edu
2 years at a CC and guaranteed transfer in to UIUC Engineering for 2 years if you meet a reasonable GPA target.
Possibly less than 2 years at the CC if they take AP credits. Not sure how that would work.
If you can contribute $22K over 4 years, you may be able to afford UIUC for 2 years (and she may earn a small scholarship for the 2 years at UIUC; evidently, 40% of Pathways students do).
BTW, is this a D or a S we are talking about?
A woman with high stats interested in engineering may be able to get one of those big scholarships at Stevens or NYU Engineering (the old NYU-Poly).
We are about 3 hours away from U of I. CC would be of no value as he likely has already taken most of the math and core classes available there. U of I offers little to nothing to middle class white kids, male or female. Even merit is mainly need based. If family income is over $99K (and for Chicago and surrounding suburbs, this is not a lot), you don’t qualify unless you are in an under represented group.
^ ??? Value is that college costs are cut from 4 years (or 3 years) to 2.
He already has about 60 credits, not many classes of a high enough level at CC is the problem.
I believe the OP @elodyCOH has a SON.
But the thread was sort of highacked by @promom4 who has a daughter. Similar but not identical situations.
Yes, but nobody forces you to use all 60 or so AP/DE credits. Yes, CC may not be challenging, but that means he may have time for other stuff and if he stays disciplined, transferring in would be a breeze.
The key point is that you would only have to pay for 2 years of college.
But first you should look to see if any of the CC’s in the U of I Engineering Pathways program are near you.
Or he probably could forgo the Engineering Pathways admissions guarantee and transfer in after a single year of CC.
Otherwise, UA-Huntsville and UT-Dallas are known for STEM. UT-Dallas has some big (full-tuition/ride) scholarship programs that he would be competitive for.
I agree with @PurpleTitan my ds is one of those kids with tons of AP and DE credits and plans to attend UT-Dallas, He’ll have a full scholarship and be able to take part in their “Fast Track” program which will allow him to graduate in four years with a BS and a MS in CS. I like the idea of staying for four years because it gives him time for internships and to build his resume before entering the workforce.
Evidently, biomedical engineering is among the UT-Dallas Fast Track majors:
https://engineering.utdallas.edu/academics/undergraduate-majors/fast-track/
@elodyCOH check out UTD’s AES awards
https://aes.utdallas.edu/prospective-freshmen/awards