Purdue University
Pennsylvania State University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
SUNY Buffalo
Ohio State University
My current GPA is 3.4 unweighted (bleh I know, it’s an uphill slope though so there is that) and my SAT score will be 1550+ (waiting on the actual score on the 18th but based on my previous result, practice tests’ results and my own calculations during the test, I am confident). I have pretty good ECs and I am a female and Asian if that matters.
I am primarily looking for well, safety schools. Ones that I will have an easier time getting into and I will also need financial aid. However, I would also be appreciative of recommendations of harder schools or any other guidance that anybody can offer (please tell me if there is something wrong with my current list too).
I am willing to major in mechanical engineering if I need to really expand and look in the end but for now, my focus is on aerospace engineering.
edit: oh something to add about the costs. My family is lower income, however my parents are good with their money and have been saving up (I do not know how much, they want a list from me before they make final decisions and talk with me).
edit 2.0: I would prefer the school to be in or near the Northeast to be close enough to my family but feel free to make recommendations that don’t fit that criteria, I will research into it.
Look into university of Cincinnati. They are known for their required co-op program (will help with money for school) and GE aircraft engines has a facility in the area. They are not truly a safety but a solid engineering program that may be more of a match. Public transportation is available to the airport and lots of flights to get you home.
You can probably cross Penn State off your list if you need financial aid, as they give very little merit or need-based aid. Even for instate students, COA is high (over $30,000 a year). The University of Toledo is very generous with aid and has a strong engineering program but doesn’t have aerospace.
I am also looking for safeties for engineering and I was curious about what you said on the the U of Cincinnati. Specifically, I was wondering what the “required co-op program (will help with money for school)” was. Are they generous with aid? Because on US News it shows the percentage of people with need fully met to be less than 10%.
Missouri Science & Technology, formerly Univ Missouri @ Rolla, formerly Missouri School of Mines, should be on your list. Very good school, it is the designated top-tier engineering and sciences campus for the University of Missouri system. It has been a feeder into jobs at Boeing, formerly McDonnell Douglass, for decades and decades, and it seems every other Boeing engineer I know went to school there.
Seems like the wrong way to go about it, since you may have to remake your list after they tell you the financial limits. Or, if they do not tell you until April of your senior year, you may find that all of your admissions are to schools that are too expensive.
But this was for a family that needed merit aid due to middle class income.
UAH comes up a lot, too. I know there is a big aerospace community in Huntsville.
If you are low income, you may also qualify for need based aid. Try an NPC at Case Western as a private engineering school to see how you fare for private versus out of state public schools.
