Another shoutout for WPI - ulitimately, my daughter did not select it (girls tended to be “sporty” and she is “artsy”) but what an incredible place! It was the only university we visited where the labs were packed with students laughing, and having fun while working. And they give a ton of merit aid. D1 ended up at Tech and we love it, but WPI sure would have been a bargain! Creighton and CalPoly were also very affordable (I don’t know whether they have ChemE), but we found that private schools were willing to negotiate. Public not at all.
The student would only be taking bigger debt if the parents co-sign loans, or take the parent plus loan. The limit total for undergrad in their name only is $27,000 and that’s total for four years.
There are some very good and realistically affordable options for this student.
OP finds 97% of the comments here useful (including yours)! Thanks!
Unfortunately, this will not work for OP and his D because:
Round 2 :
(YES) The UC schools - UCLA, UCSD, and UCI - I’ll lump these 3 schools together since they’re all on their own application : Doesn’t look like a ton of merit aid, but with in state tuition and the possibility of living at home, we will apply to these
(PROBABLY) Vanderbilt : They have the Cornelius Vanderbilt full tuition scholarship, and it looks like there’s > 150 available.
(MAYBE) Stevens Institute of Technology : They do have some full tuition scholarships, but it’s not clear how many. Have to do more research if we want to consider this school
(YES) Kentucky : It appears that for a NHRP scholar you get automatic full tuition plus a $10K housing stipend for the first 2 years, which would make the cost around $5K for the first 2 years. You know that saying that if something sounds too good to be true… Am I missing anything on this?
(YES) Arizona : Similar to Kentucky - for a 4.0 UW GPA and 35 ACT, they give you a $35K scholarship to cover the $36 tuition. Automatically - done deal case closed??? This means we would only pay room & board???
Next the schools that also offer D1 women’s hockey, which means that these schools would get the nod with all else being equal :
(MAYBE) Boston University : My daughter had some really good contact with the coach there. Unfortunately they are not recruiting a goalie in 2020. They do have 20 full tuition scholarships that look more academic related.
(MAYBE) Northeastern : Doesn’t look like she qualifies for any of the full tuition scholarships, but apparently their NHRP scholarship can be worth $30K and they say “National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars will receive a competitive merit-based award and may also be eligible for financial aid.” But (virtually) everyone else says merit aid can’t stack with financial aid. I will have to find out more about this.
(MAYBE) RIT : No full tuition scholarships but they have a lower COA, and don’t use the CSS profile.
(PROBABLY) RPI : They have the Rensselar grant, but it’s unclear on the amount. They offered my daughter a custom streamlined application and no fee.
(PROBABLY NOT) : Ohio State : They have the Eminence full ride scholarship, but it looks like there is a heavy service aspect to it, which my daughter does not have (other than a few serve days and tutoring other students). They also have the Morrill scholarship but it looks like you need to be a SJW for that one, which my daughter is not.
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Round 3 :
(YES) Cal Tech : Almost all need based, but they do have Stamps scholarships. This is the lottery school, both to get in and get a Stamps. Gotta have something to hope for.
(Probably) Nebraska : It looks like automatic full tuition for NHRP scholars.
(NO) Rochester : My daughter won their Bauch + Lomb Science award at her school, which puts her in the running for their scholarship that is “at least $10K”. It would have to be a lot more than $10K. Plus, in her award letter they listed an e-mail to contact them with any questions, so I did a week ago, and haven’t heard anything back from them. All this, plus the comments about students having to leave after the first year, makes this a hard NO
(YES) Miami Ohio : Guaranteed half to full tuition based on GPA & ACT, there also the Presidential Fellows Program which offers a full ride.
(MAYBE) Maryland : 150 full ride Banneker/Key Scholarships
(YES) ASU : Full tuition for NHRP (couldn’t find it exactly stated that way but it is heavily implied)
(Probably not) JHU : Too bad, this is a really good school for engineering, but it doesn’t look like there is much merit aid
(NO) Purdue : Only 7 Stamps scholarships, doesn’t look like any other full tuition
(MAYBE) Utah : From what I can tell there’s only 30 full ride scholarships - chances seem pretty slim
(MAYBE) New Mexico : $23K COA and guaranteed $20 merit scholarship based on grades & ACT??
(NO) Tulane : They have an unspecified number of full tuition scholarships, but it looks like most people are saying the best they got is $30K, which still leaves a huge difference.
(NO) Minnesota : No full tuition
(NO) Cincinnati : 10 Full ride scholarships but nothing else that comes close
(NO) Fordham
(NO) Illinois
(NO?) Rice : I may have missed something, but it looks like there’s only a vague reference to some merit aid on their website and not much else
(NO) WPI : Sounds like a great school, but 70K COA and it looks like the best merit scholarship is half tuition, leaving way too much to cover
(MAYBE) Alabama : OK, I gotta ask about this… I see 8 academic elite scholarships (full tuition or full ride) out of 1000 applicants. The Presidential scholarship (based on grades) is the next best which would be $26K plus the NHRP ($1K) = $27K. COA = $45K, so it seems the best possible you could do is a $18K COA, which is in the ballpark and definitely worth considering.
Yes, there are a lot of “Yes”, “Probably”, and “Maybe”. We will need to go through them again in more detail to weed a few more out.
I had hoped to get through all the schools on the list by tonight, but alas my stupid work expects me to do work during work hours. We leave for Boston tomorrow morning (a Labor day hockey tournament weekend in Connecticut followed by dropping her off at school on Monday). Hopefully we’ll have a better idea of schools by Sunday.
It looks like you are thinning the heard, that is good!. Merit at Rice would be very competitive.
There is Trinity Tx, for a pure engineer with a career plan, probably not a thing, but if she is aimed at post grad, or is not really sure, might be worth a go. She would be invited to Towers which would be for a competitive full ride
https://new.trinity.edu/academics/departments/engineering-science
Alabama also has $2500 for engineering, so that brings it down to $15.5.
That’s also the COA and I’ve never known anyone who couldn’t knock $1-2k off the COA by renting books, getting a cheaper air fare, getting toiletries with a coupon or online, cutting down on the pizza and beer. If you have to cut corners, you do.
@KevinFromOC The Cal Tech Stamps is need based and not happening. I think that’s a waste of an application. What about Northeastern? It was a few years ago, but I know a strong NHS who got a very generous package with merit and need-based aid stacked. You haven’t said whether your D has any leadership or community service beyond hockey. That would greatly affect my recommendations. If it’s just academics and the sport, she would be unlikely to be competitive for the more competitive big scholarships. But if she has those two pieces, I’d recommend giving a few of the competitive full tuition to full ride scholarships a shot.
Is UKY still on there? It currently sounds like your dd’s true financial safety of the schools you have discussed.
In addition to the engineering scholarship (additional $2500), your Dd should investigate RRS at Bama. (If you research RRS , the name of the program just recently changed to Randall Research Scholars. It was formerly CBH, Computer-Based Honors bc it dates back pre-modern computers and the program teaches students how to use computers for research modeling, etc.) Some RRS students do get additional scholarship $$ (majority don’t, though.) But, even more important is the opportunities that RRS offers. The chemE dept, in particular, offers incredible opportunities for RRS students. They have had Goldwater winners almost every single yr since I started paying attention in 2013. Here are just a few: https://www.ua.edu/news/2017/04/four-ua-students-named-goldwater-scholars-in-2017/
https://www.ua.edu/news/2018/04/two-ua-students-win-goldwater-scholarships-for-2018/
https://www.ua.edu/news/2016/04/2-ua-students-named-goldwater-scholars/
Don’t overlook UAH. Huntsville is definitely a tech town and Cummings Research Park is the 2nd largest research park in the country. The U has a great relationship with industries. It is a small campus, so depending on what your Dd wants, it might appeal more. Industries’ opinion of the school is what is vital, not USNWR’s ranking, so don’t dismiss it bc it doesn’t have the “oohhhh, ahhhhh” name factor. I think it would be a full-ride option for your Dd:
If you are unfamiliar with Huntsville, it is home to one of NASA’s flight centers and is one of the top growin tech cities in the country. https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2017/09/how-did-huntsville-become-fastest-growing-tech-hub-government
@itsgettingreal17 , OP says in post #344 that his D doesn’t have much in the way of service. NE has recently, as in the the last three years, been dramatically whittling down their scholarships. Their quest to climb the rankings has been very successful and they don’t need to court applicants as they once did. Apply certainly, but I think this is a reach school is money is needed.
Someone said earlier that OP is going to get the most money by applying to lower ranked schools, and I agree. His D needs to find safety schools that she can afford and would be happy to attend. That’s really the key here. Choose lower ranked colleges with ABET accredited Chem E programs, which are known for offering auto tuition and/or full rides. Get those apps out early, then work on reach schools.
Iowa State has the George Washington Carver (GWC) Scholarship program. 100 full tuition scholarships are awarded to incoming first-year multicultural students.
quote Utah : From what I can tell there’s only 30 full ride scholarships - chances seem pretty slim
(MAYBE) New Mexico : $23K COA and guaranteed $20 merit scholarship based on grades & ACT??
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IIRC, Utah used to allow students to have instate status after year one. Check to see if that is the case…it might not be!
Read post 43 from @WayOutWestMom again…about University if New Mexico. You seem to have misunderstood her completely. If you have any questions bout that one…tag her yourself, and ask them. She wrote…
That’s guaranteed. Guaranteed. Plus she says your daughter is a good candidate for the additional scholarships there which would basically cover everything.
Re Rice. Their aid initiative is NEW this year and its very possible it’s not on their website clearly yet. But not sure you could get the cost below $15,000.
“(MAYBE) Utah : From what I can tell there’s only 30 full ride scholarships - chances seem pretty slim”
That’s better odds than almost any other competitive full ride cohort program since there are only 350-400 applicants. And a Hispanic URM would be very desirable from their point of view because Utah want a variety of backgrounds and majors in the cohort, it’s not just about service or leadership…
Note also that Utah offers full tuition auto merit scholarships, the qualifying score for OOS students (although not stated on the website) is 34-35 ACT. So it’s definitely worth comparing against Arizona (which also looks to me like a strong option, given home is SoCal), especially as Utah has D1 women’s hockey.
I agree that your best chance of money will come from “lower ranked” schools (I hate saying that but I don’t know any other way of making the point). I would take the BK award at Maryland off the list. There is NO shortage of big superstars applying to that school and the BK hasn’t been given out to our HS kids in many, many years (we are OOS). Valedictorians from our HS who get into top ranked schools typically get about $12,000 from Maryland. I think the Banneker Key goes primarily to instate students.
I second (for probably the third time) that Huntsville is going to come out better than Tuscaloosa.
Kevin - thanks for hanging in here. This thread is extremely helpful to me and others, I’m guessing, with similar stats kids and need. You’ve found a great forum with some very wise and helpful posters; and your research is helpful as well.
A friend’s daughter is at Iowa State - engineering. She said they really are trying to increase diversity there. Iowa State Engineering is well-known in the midwest.
The B/K is definitely possible for OOS. My D was invited to interview for it during her app cycle as an OOS. The issue there is it sounds like OP’s D doesn’t have the package for the B/K and other highly competitive scholarships. OP needs to look at what these scholarships are looking for and if his D doesn’t match up, don’t bother applying.
@itsgettingreal17 - (I’m reading this whole post right along with OP) – “package for highly competitive scholarships” means what – more leadership activities? positions? clubs/groups? thx
Agree that Maryland BK not a match for a straightforward scholar-athlete. You can see Banneker Key scholars page at UMD site.
@KevinFromOC @thumper1 is correct, UNM’s only guaranteed full ride is for NMF. Regents is also a full ride but highly competitive and requires a separate application. Amigo gets you the in-state COA of just under 20K per year (appears to have gone up about 1K from last year). That still approximates your budget if your child contributes work earnings or takes out a student loan.
There are many students from CA at southwestern schools like ASU, U of A(rizona), UNM, and UT Dallas, given how crazy competitive the UC’s have become. For high-stats students, they typically will offer enough merit to undercut UC prices. That plus lower cost of living, and relatively cheap non-stop flights make these schools increasingly attractive for CA residents.
Your progress on winnowing that college list is impressive! I don’t remember where you are on Case Western and Wash U St Louis but I think they might be worth keeping as reaches. Both do offer (competitive/separate application) full tuition scholarships - Wash U has one for Hispanic students and one for engineering but I don’t remember all of the criteria, so check their website. What I like about both of these schools is that there are no barriers between the engineering schools and the rest of the university. Once you’re admitted, you can switch in or out of engineering without a separate application. Engineering typically involves a fairly prescribed curriculum that begins in freshman year, so it’s easier to switch out than in while staying on track for graduation, but that’s another matter. Both are fairly accessible from their respective airports.