Hey everyone, I’m nearly done with with my applications but I’m not sure what my first (affordable) choice is. I’ve applied to and been accepted to Northern Arizona, Nebraska and Oregon State (my first choice but it’s too expensive). I’ve also applied to UA Fairbanks, West Virginia University, and Oregon Tech.
I live in California. I have a 4.0 gpa UW and 4.55 weighted, 1420 sat and have some extra curriculars like theater, work as a barista, refereeing, and boys state. I want to major in mechanical/aerospace engineering. Location is very important to me. I’d like a place with 4 distinct seasons and trees, something that reminds me of Oregon I guess haha. I’d like to have some sort of football or hockey team. I also prefer a school with total costs <$25,000 a year.
All the schools I’ve applied to above meet most of these criteria. I can get the first years tuition free at UAF, and I really like the idea of being able to live somewhere completely different, even if it’s only for a year. I’ve heard mixed things about the school though and the town. I visited NAU and I really liked Flagstaff, but I’m not sure how good their engineering program is. I have extended family in Nebraska and they have a great football program and I like the idea of a big school with lots of school spirit, but I’m not a big fan of the location. WVU has the football and location I like, but it’s the farthest away and I’m not sure what the engineering program is like there, nor am I much of a party-er. I used to live in Oregon so I miss it there a lot, and I would really like to go to OSU but it’s so expensive, so I applied to Oregon Tech, I like the location and the idea of small class sizes and their more hands on programs but I don’t have a lot of info on it. I’m also considering Portland State.
I feel conflicted because I really want to go to OSU but I can’t imagine taking out so many loans. Are there any other schools I should apply to? Does anyone have some info on the schools I’ve already applied to that can help me decide? My parents want me to apply to the bigger name schools and some UCs but they’re too expensive, which seems to be my biggest obstacle in my search.
Thanks
Do you know about the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)? You can get lower tuition at schools in other western states. What about Colorado State? CSU is a WUE school. It’s in Fort Collins, which seemed like a cool town, and has engineering. Washington State and Utah State are also WUE schools. I know less about them, but they seem like possibilities. Note that there are advantages to getting applications in early. Schools sometimes offer a limited number of WUE spots, and it’s first come, first served.
Here’s another idea that might work with your stats–Miami University (Miami of Ohio). Has mechanical engineering, football, and hockey. The women won the NCAA hockey championship a few years ago. It definitely has four seasons.
Here’s an easy chart on merit aid. Note it super-scores for admissions AND merit aid. Also, VERY IMPORTANT, Dec. 1 (two days away) deadline to be considered for merit aid. You would at least be on the middle line, so up to $18k per year in aid. Not sure if that’s enough.
You seem to think that you can just take out loans to afford any university, but that only applies to graduate school. For undergraduates, the amount of student loans you can get is very limited and will not pay for an out of state university and room and board, etc. I believe the limits are around $7,500 first year and $5,500 each year after. You need to include some financial safeties that your parents can afford. It seems logical that those would be in California, but I don’t live there so am not sure. Every university website should have on it somewhere a Cost of Attendance calculator, and that should help you figure out what is affordable.
Swarthmore has engineering–at least one sort of engineering-- and great FA–it’s also part of the Quaker Consortium with University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr, Haverford. Villanova is nearby with mega sports – https://www.swarthmore.edu/engineering
Two cheaper engineering programs that I know of that are state programs and small, and excellent, are–
South Dakota Mines and Tech–https://www.sdsmt.edu/
New Mexico Tech–http://www.nmt.edu/ – this school doesn’t have four seasons, but it does have a program that blows up a car once a week. You take what you can get . …
If your goal is to live someplace different even just for one year, then maybe think about a year exchange at another school, in the USA or abroad.
Check out Western Washington U and Washington State U.
Both are WUE schools and both have excellent programs in ME.
WWU has an innovative Mechanical Engineering Design program.
I second the popster above who mentioned Colorado State U in Fort Collins,
and New Mexico State U which has an amazing Aero program. Again, both are WUE.
Be sure to check out Arizona State, which offers WUE for some Engineering and CS majors,
but would likely give some solid merit aid for your high stats.
In state, CSU Long Beach has an excellent Aero E programs (plus partnerships with Boeing)
at an affordable price. SJSU, CPP and SDSU also have a solid and well-respected Aero and ME programs.
Be sure that you’re choosing an ABET accredited program.
Do you have any financial safeties on your list? How much can your parents pay per year? If it’s not much, you may need to attend college in state like your sister and move OOS after graduation.
Also–University of Maine at Orono has a flagship matching program. You may need to apply by Dec 1 which is tomorrow. If you look down the chart you will see “all other states” and what the automatic discount is.
If you like Oregon, you will love Maine (I say having lived in both places). Maine is GORGEOUS and fresh. Planes fly directly into Orono, so you could get there fairly easily.