Want to do Mechanical Engineering. I live in California… I want to get out. I just started senior year. Money is not a gigantic problem.
ACT: 29 GPA: 3.4 Unweighted (3.7ish weighted?)
Currently taking AP Physics C, AP Calc AB, and AP Gov.
I’m looking at:
RPI, RIT, Case Western, WPI, Manhattan College, Georgia Tech, Univ of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Purdue
I’ve done robotics for over 10 years
Anyone have any advice? Thanks.
In terms of “money is not a gigantic problem”, what is the price limit that your parents have set, and do the results of the net price calculators at college web sites fall within the limit?
ASK your parents how much they’ll pay each year. Many will NOT pay $45k-50k+ per year for an OOS public when the Calif instate schools are very good.
I don’t think think you have the stats for Georgia Tech, Purdue.
WHY UW-Milwaukee???
Alabama would give you a half tuition scholarship IF your weighted GPA on your transcript is at least a 3.5
$70k is max limit. They are encouraging me to go out of state. I thought that UW-Milwaukee would be a decent safety?
$70,000 per year, or total for four years?
If per year, that covers pretty much all US colleges. If total for four years, that is a much more limiting constraint.
per year
What specifically are you looking for in a school besides your major? E.g. size, urban/suburban/rural, etc.? What specifically about schools in California do you not like?
Leaning towards large/medium urban or slightly suburban schools. It’s not so much the schools in California, it’s the fact that it is California. I’ve been here my entire life, and I think that college is a good time to explore a bit more of the U.S.
Try the Super Match function on the homepage of this website. Select MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, and enter your stats & preferences.
I looked at that. It told me that I had a 99% match for U of Illinois at urbana champaign, then I check their freshman profile and Engineering is a 31-34 ACT with a 3.6-4.0 GPA.
California is a big state, so different parts could feel very different. Even smaller states could have regions that feel very different from each other.
According to http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx , there are 311 schools with ABET accredited mechanical engineering.
Yep, I know California is a big state. I’m still pretty dead set on going out of it though…
If you have no specific preferences, then people might just throw in random schools like:
Arizona State University
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Oregon State University
University of Alaska - Anchorage
University of Hawaii - Manoa
University of Texas - El Paso
As a reach school, look into URochester.
My S is now attending RPI, and got into WPI. Also did Robotics (FIRST) in HS for 4 years, and applied as a ME major, so you guys have much in common. He liked both RPI and WPI, though picked RPI where he got a bigger scholarship. Very happy there. One thing that is unique, they have instructors, not just professors, who focus on teaching, not research. There are traditional profs and instructors.
We liked WPI too, nice campus, near Boston, but the local city itself is not a great city.
In Boston, Northeastern and Boston University would be great choices inside Boston proper.
Another gem most never heard of is Stevens Institute of Technology, with a view of Manhattan.
Great urban engineering school, but small. NYU Poly in Brooklyn, also near Manhattan.
Friend’s kid grew up in California, went to public school, and was heavily into FIRST robotics. Most of his teammates went to UCs or Cal Poly. However, he wanted to get an “east coast experience” at a smaller, undergraduate-focused school with a strong tradition of computer science and engineering. He considered RPI, WPI, and Stevens Institute of Tech (all mentioned above), but ultimately went to Lehigh. Loves it. 29 ACT might be on their low end, but they apparently like robotics kids.
Speaking of Patriot League schools in Pennsylvania, check out Bucknell. Smaller than Lehigh, more of a liberal arts college with engineering, but they also like robotics kids: they have $10,000 scholarships for FIRST team members. ACT profile is 28-32
Most of your current selections are rather urban. Check out the University of Cincinnati, especially if you interested in co-ops. Strong in engineering with a mandatory co-op program. Your stats indicate you would be a good fit.
For engineering, the first stop in looking for schools should be the list of schools with ABET accreditation.
Same here, 29 (superscore 30) with heavy FIRST and other activitives got my son into
many of these schools, but not all.