Looking for aerospace engineering schools on a budget

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I'm a high school junior moving into my senior year next year. I am looking for colleges and wish to major in Aerospace Engineering. I live in New York and my parents can only pay about 20,000 in tuition and other fees so I need either a NY state school or another school that can give significant financial aid. I really want a strong program in Aerospace Engineering but also need to get it for a good price...any ideas? I can get into most schools with a 33 ACT and 4.0 GPA. Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Alabama with the automatic full tuition + $2,500 scholarship for your stats can be a safety (remaining net price well under $20,000) with an ABET accredited aerospace engineering major.</p>

<p>Among SUNYs, Buffalo has an ABET accredited aerospace engineering major.</p>

<p>North Carolina State and Georgia Tech have ABET accredited aerospace engineering majors and competitive full ride scholarships to try for.</p>

<p>Would you also be interested in schools where aerospace is a subarea of mechanical engineering?</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus I think I would! Probably would equate to the same employment opportunities no? Do you have any idea of schools like this?</p>

<p>Lots of schools offer mechanical engineering (many more than have a specific aerospace engineering major), but you may have to look at the courses and curricula to see if they have the desired aerospace related courses offered in their mechanical engineering departments.</p>

<p>Ok thank you for the tip! @ucbalumnus</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus Would Cornell be a program like this?</p>

<p>

Have your parents fill out one of the FAFSA estimators. A lot really depends on what it says. If the contribution colleges are going to expect from your folks is that same value, $20K, then you have a lot of options. Look for colleges known for meeting full need with small loans as part of the package. If the contribution calculated is significantly higher you need to do something like look for schools with merit aid (hard to come by), stay in state, join the military and get benefits to pay for college when you get out, etc.</p>

<p>BTW your concern for “strong programs” is a bit misplaced. Engineering programs are acredited by ABET and so you’ll study the same subjects no matter where you go. Some colleges are more selective in admissions so employers might prefer to recruit there thinking they have a better pool, but by and large any decent college is going to give you all the opportunities you want if you do well in school and have internships. For aerospace spending a summer at NASA or Boeing or the like is going to make you stand out and give you much more of a boost than attending a more prestigious college but not having the outside experience.</p>

<p>^^^
Forget the FAFSA calculators. Those aren’t going to tell you much. </p>

<p>Use the Net Price Calculators on various schools’ sites. Don’t use the ones on HYPS because those give super-aid and they’ll mislead you about aid at other schools. </p>

<p>Be sure to apply to a couple of financial safety schools…these are schools that you know FOR SURE are affordable because of ASSURED merit awards and/or family funds.</p>

<p>Alabama’s app is LIVE now, so you should apply there for their assured merit awards for your stats. Be sure to also submit the scholarship app. Also go to the Bama forum here on CC for more info: [University</a> of Alabama - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/]University”>University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums)</p>

<p>With your stats, you’d get Free Tuition. Plus as an eng’g major, you’d also get $2500 per year. Your remaining costs would be very low. </p>

<p>Bama has a brand new mega-sized Science and Engineering Complex…over 900,000 square feet of new STEM space.</p>

<p>Look on page 6 of this PDF for a pic of the new Engineering Complex. All four phases are shown. The 4th phase just completed.</p>

<p><a href=“University of Alabama updates - Page 12 - SkyscraperPage Forum”>University of Alabama updates - Page 12 - SkyscraperPage Forum;

<p>FYI…the Russell Hall renovation on pages 9, 10, and 11 are complete.</p>

<p>go further and see student housing and other good stuff.</p>