I am aware of what schools offer Materials Engineering. But looking for one that provides good merit. We have one at about $15k (national merit) and the next at about $120k over the 4 years. Any suggestions of a good ABET program in between?
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You have several threads asking about merit at different schools. Other than being a NMSF, can you share a little more info about your son? What types of grades and outside activities has he done that what might help him qualify for merit aid?
In the Tulsa thread, you mentioned that you were looking for “engineering teams (think cars, rockets, space rovers).” Your comment reminded me of what @tamagotchi 's son liked at Oregon State.
USC Viterbi has the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. You’ll have to look to see if it offers what your son wants to study. If accepted, NMF automatically receive a half tuition scholarship.
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You should provide more info.
Stats , budget, desires, etc. I assume the $15k a year is Bama , with various teams.
My sons gf was in the metallurgical program at Bama. Very small. Lots of attention. The school took them to a job fair in Chicago where multiple internship opportunities were secured. They don’t have ABET materials.
I’m looking at the 74 accredited in the US. Most the big names don’t have but have a sub major. Many do but not most.
Forgetting the NMF which only helps at some, you’ll find mid priced like Florida and Minnesota, high merit if qualified + $3k for NMF at Arizona, to pricey schools. They are of various sizes and geographies.
What do u actually seek ?
There has to be more than who is in the middle. Lots.
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Case Western offers generous merit awards to strong students. Case offered my son, and many other students reporting on CC, merit awards equal to 50% of tuition with his acceptance. Beyond that, there are scholorships that require applications. He applied as a MechE because it was the most competitive major in which he was interested, but he may end up with a Material Science major or minor.
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RPI and Stevens Inst?
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Thanks for the suggestions already listed. Will start digging in to them further.
Some more info:
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He doesn’t know what he’s looking for in a school. He’s fairly open. But I think he wants large enough that there are opportunities to be involved in a number of things. And if it’s very large something that can make it feel smaller (via a good honors program, interesting LLC or something like that)
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re: honors - we’re finding at some schools honors isn’t a good fit b/c he has the below dual enrollment classes so he’s already “past” many of the classes you’d take in an honors program
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Is chasing merit
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The NM Materials school is not Bama but rather UCF. (Hasn’t visited yet. Hopes to in Nov. Visiting Bama early Nov.)
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Homeschooled
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No hooks
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SAT 1450 - not planning to take again
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3.9 GPA (As w/ exception of Calc 2 -C; Currently doing Calc 3 - fingers crossed), 99% of high school classes done by outside teachers or DE, vs “Momma Grade Inflation”
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Dual enrollment at local University of 16 classes including, among others (by end of senior year): Diff EQ, Physics 2, Chem 2, Intermediate Composition, MicroEcon, Psych, 2 communications classes - has enjoyed his Chemistry classes
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Looking for school that will accept a number for the DE classes and not
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Very active in FIRST Robotics
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During COVID built a forge and currently makes amazing knives, jewelry and other items - this is, in part, where the materials interest came from - sells items, mentors others
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Freedom Award with Trail Life (top honor similar to Eagle Scout)
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Various other volunteer hours
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Works at a machine shop
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Would be interested in working for the military - think like Skunk Works. Does not want to work at like a foundry, metal manufacturer.
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Middle Class who have saved well and don’t qualify for financial aid
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Likely wouldn’t stand out in a super competitive scholarship competition
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Had TAMU on his list, but I THINK it requires a 3.5 GPA to keep NMF scholarship. (checking in to it) While I think he can do it, I think that’s also asking for a mental breakdown. We’re OOS so don’t want risk it.
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Budget - ideally $30-40k or less/year including room & board. (recognizing many schools only freshman can even live on campus, but for now using their costs for our estimates). We CAN do more than $30k, but would PREFER not to.
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Edited to add - we have found some schools that fall within that price range or even less. But some of them, for example, are showing a 45% graduation rate, or the materials focuses significantly on mining. These schools have been pulled off the list.
Thanks for suggestions.
Stevens doesn’t appear to offer ABET Materials.
RPI - We’re thinking he couldn’t get it below $60k/year? Insights? Also, ideally doesn’t want to do a tech school surrounded only by tech people - especially a bunch of other guys. But also open to considering.
So you’ll want to go to a - I don’t want to say it like this - but a regular public university most likely. That said, my kid went into Bama with 30+ credits and still took four years.
And he should have listened to the student panel at School of Mines who said - retake the match and science classes - he WD’d a class his first semester.
Specific to Materials and Budget:
UAB
U of Arizona - fantastic Honors dorm with a dining hall at the bottom and gym/counseling center adjacent
Boise State
Iowa State
U Kentucky
Maybe U of Minnesota…maybe
Maybe Purdue - maybe
Southern Miss
Utah
Washington State
Maybe W Washington
I wouldn’t worry so much about graduation rates in this sense - engineering has, depending on the study, upwards of 60% that don’t graduate nationwide.
After the first semester, other schools, most notably business, are burgeoning with ex-engineering majors.
As for National Merit - if you want to save the money and it’s understandable - go to a higher merit school - Bama, Miss State, UTD, Maine, Tulsa, UAH, WVU, etc. You may have to find a Materials minor or something similar…but you’ll save.
Lots of schools will have similar programs - and you can save money.
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The OP’s student appears to be much stronger academically than the “average frosh engineering student”, so the OP’s student is much more likely to complete an engineering major than the “average frosh engineering student”.
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https://aggie.tamu.edu/getmedia/8b433c87-e930-4502-b5e7-5876971258ca/ScholarshipHandbook2324.pdf says that the “National Merit Recognition Scholarship” requires a 3.5 college GPA to renew, while the “National Merit Sponsorship” requires a 2.0 college GPA to renew. Aggie One Stop - National Scholars says that “National Merit Recognition Scholarship” is $7,000, while “National Merit Sponsorship” is $500. Losing the “National Merit Recognition Scholarship” would also likely lose the out-of-state tuition waiver (which requires at least $4,000 of scholarships).
Texas A&M also has secondary admission to major (Entry To A Major or ETAM) which is competitive admission if the student’s college GPA is under 3.75. However, materials engineering is probably not one of the more competitive majors. Check the ETAM threads in the Texas A&M forum section.
Does he have any political environment preferences, since he presumably chose the more right-leaning scouting organization Trail Life over the more mainstream Scouts BSA (or the left-leaning Navigators USA)?
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I can speak a little about the MN schools that have ABET Materials:
Winona State. Would probably get excellent merit after everything is added together. The town of Winona is cute. But school is small, and materials program is narrowly focused on composites (Wenonah Canoes is an important local manufacturer.)
UMN-TC. The stacking scholarships for OOS students would probably get him to <30K, if not lower. Both engineering in general and materials engineering specifically are great. Tons of engineering and manufacturing companies (both large and small) headquartered nearby for internships. School is big overall, but feels much more cozy due to some great LLCs. Lots of opportunities for clubs. MN has a long history of both homeschooling and DE, so applying as a homeschooled student will be no problem and his DE classes will be accepted exceptionally well. I personally know a number of formerly homeschooled students who are thriving at UMN. Twin Cities are an airlines hub for easy travel. Lots of outdoors opportunities, especially for those who like winter.
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Wright State University offer Materials Science Engineering as a BS. I would imagine they would offer good financial aid. It is a suburban campus outside of Dayton OH. Not exactly exciting but located close to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Many material science degrees are masters degrees as it’s kind of a specialty. There are colleges that offer 4+1 BS/MS programs.
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Ohio State took all of my students DE credits, and student was able to substitute graduate classes or individual research hours to meet the honors class requirements. The graduate classes were used as technical electives so they weren’t on top of other classes. They also allowed (and I think this may depend on college or department) to carry over a portion of those credits to graduate school, so student was in a sense dual enrolled in undergrad and grad school.
Materials Science is direct admit.
https://engineering.osu.edu/undergraduate/future-students/admissions/new-students
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You missed the point.
They are worried about graduation rates.
I wouldn’t -many schools, especially of the value sort, will graduate less. It doesn’t mean OPs will be one of them.
I’m saying - if you find the right school - it’ll be ok…because as you state, the student is ok.
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If applying to Ohio State make sure to also complete the Scholarship Universe application.
“The College of Engineering offers a wide variety of scholarship and funding opportunities to incoming freshmen as well as current Buckeye engineering students. The application is typically open on ScholarshipUniverse December to April with a February 15 priority date annually.”
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Thanks for this info on honors. We’ve been trying for about 2 weeks to get info on how get can participate in OSU honors coming in with a number of DE classes. No one, until now, has shared about the grad and research. Thanks for this insight. Although he didn’t really love OSU, but we said apply and let’s see…
Assuming he’ll be accepted into honors, he should consider IBE when that application opens.
https://engineering.osu.edu/integrated-business-engineering-honors-program
Although this is a “4 year” program, it’s actually just 6 semesters, because of the internship semesters, so it works very well for a student coming in with a lot of credit.
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So far we’re thinking of applying to (and our 4 yr cost estimate):
- U Central Florida - $15k
- Ohio State - $120k
- Iowa State - $123k
- U Minnesota TC - $170k - we’ve heard they give almost no merit to they are pretty decent. So fingers crossed.
Maybe considering:
- U Arizona - $95k
- U Tennessee - $130k
- Arizona St - $150k
These are our thoughts on some of these and other schools. Please correct us if we’re wrong:
- Winona State- looks like only engineering is general and materials. We thought that was too limiting in case he wanted to change majors/ do boarder research/ etc.
- Wright State - this is nearly in our backyard. Great location near Wright Patt, but we know it as very much of a commuter school and low retention. Could just be the stories we’ve heard.
- UMN - TC - my kids LOVES fishing. Originally not on our list b/c we’d heard little merit. Then heard more merit than we’d thought.
- OSU - he wasn’t excited, but still looking at it and considering it
Still looking at some of the other recs
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If you are considering UMN, Purdue has a very strong materials eng program. COA is at the very top end of your budget at $40K/year but your student could co-op at Purdue and help offset some of those costs.
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Iowa State should be closer to $100k with admission and engineering scholarships that your son is likely to get. You do need to apply early.
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