<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-12.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-12.html</a> may have some safety options. Louisiana Tech and University of Alabama - Huntsville may fit the size limit (in addition to Prairie View A&M).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You can try going to colleges’ web sites and searching for “schedule of classes” or similar terms. Sometimes, the on-line schedule will show the capacity and/or actual enrollment in each class.</p>
<p>DPMDad, we’re in Oregon. The California budget situation has been tough. At some schools it’s difficult to graduate in 4 years due to challenges getting classes.</p>
<p>With that said, my S, also a junior will seriously look at Cal Poly SLO, but that’s the only Cali state school he’s considering. He’ll also visit Santa Clara, Stanford and Harvey Mudd.</p>
<p>University or Portland and Gonzaga are both good schools, but night and day for weather. Gonzaga is cold. Portland rarely gets worse than the worst winter days in Houston, you just encounter those days more frequently in Portland. The rain totals are similar for the year too. It just comes in many thimbles in Portland and a few buckets in Houston. Don’t let the weather scare you away from UP. It’s a beautiful campus and they are very generous to students who matriculated at Catholic and Jesuit high schools.</p>
<p>As for SAT, many schools will take a super scores. That’s the best individual math, reading and writing from any test dates. He’s already got math in the bag.</p>
<p>The trick is understanding that the SAT is a game. Learning how to take the test is very important. Get both volumes of “Vocabulary Cartoons: Word Power” and see if you can hunt down a used copy of Rocket Review. If not, I’ve read Barron’s 2400 is supposed to be good. Have him devote 20 minutes a day to SAT review. His scores will improve. With grade inflation, it’s not uncommon to see average entering GPAs over 3.9 for freshman classes. What they are buying with merit money is higher SAT scores. It makes them look more selective and that’s one of the main metrics in moving up in the USNWR rankings.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>M</p>
<p>Also, on the DIY college ranking web page you can rank % of faculty that are full time, % of students that are part time, cultural diversity, etc. to get a better feel for the institution. It’s a great tool.</p>
<p>M</p>
<p>DPMdad - Rice needs two subject tests +SAT or ACT with writing. So make sure he takes the one with writing. </p>
<p>Alabama has various scholarships too based on SAT/ACT scores. Since deadline is December 1st, he can attempt a few more times. Not certain UT Dallas has mechanical engineering but they have similar score based scholarships.</p>
<p>Clemson is a great engineering school btw!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In-state tuition has gone up a lot at UCs and CSUs. Community colleges have cut back on class offerings while demand went up; since they are open admission, this meant that they have less space in classes than students who want to take them.</p>
<p>Jan2013: I did not know that about Tulane. Weve talked about the 3 plus2 programs and right now, that is not something s is interested in. My brother in-law is a graduate of Johns Hopkins (BME Premed) and went there for med school as well. Good luck at Vanderbilt next year.
Ucbalumnus: Thanks for the link to the full tuition scholarship information. The idea to check class sizes was also very helpful. I did not know you could do that without being an enrolled student.<br>
It seems the general chemistry classes are the largest lectures: for example 212 at BAMA, 200 at Texas tech, 50 at University of Portland, and 180 at SLU, though engineering chemistry has 45 max.
First year engineering classes seem to hover around 40-50 for all four schools. Some listings at Portland show actual seats with a higher number than capacity with a negative number for seats remaining. Does that mean classes are overcrowded or that some students that signed up for classes were bumped out?
I cant access the schedule at Tulsa, RHIT or Missouri S&T.<br>
I was a bit surprised by this With the exception of the basic chemistry and math classes, most engineering classes were the same size in the larger public and smaller private universities. (Again, I could not access the smaller 2-6K school schedules
)
Eyemgh: Sorry about the assumption that you were in CA. Your insight into the weather in Portland is very helpful. I just cant seem to find any useful information on companies that hire UP students/graduates for internships/employment.
Texaspg: S is going to take the ACT with the writing. Right now, Rice is the only school that we are discussing that requires the subject tests and we are trying to decide whether or not he should bother as I have a hard time seeing him being considered by Rice for acceptance (let alone any scholarship $$) considering the reading SAT score.</p>
<p>We are willing to spend the time and money to visit schools as we feel it is a good investment in trying to find the right fit. Aside from the feel does anyone have any advice as to any questions we should be asking (ie: who hires graduates) during visits or anything in particular we should be trying to observe (ie: labs).
We are trying to plan out our post-Easter visiting week and right now we were planning on Clemson and possibly BAMA and or Auburn, though we are willing to travel across the country to U Portland and/or Santa Clara (though my wife is still very apprehensive about CA). I know Santa Clara offers a full tuition scholarship to every Jesuit HS. How they decide who gets it, I dont know
.</p>
<p>DPMdad, assessing the engineering is the hardest part because there is such a lack of objective information. We’re in the same boat trying to figure out he engineering at some of the schools my S is interested in.</p>
<p>M</p>
<p>Remember that base level math and science courses are often among the largest courses on any campus, due to many majors requiring them. General chemistry is often huge, due to all of the biology majors and pre-meds taking it, although if there are different versions for engineering majors, that may cut the size down somewhat.</p>
<p>Once you get to actual engineering courses, the sizes tend to be based on the size of the major (or combined sizes of majors for courses shared by several majors).</p>
<p>No idea how they manage negative number of seats remaining. It could be that they expect attrition, though you may want to find out what happens if the expected attrition does not happen (do students get bumped out, or do they increase the class size or open additional classes?).</p>
<p>Another thing to check in the on-line schedules is the frequency of offering of required courses for the major, particularly those in important prerequisite sequences. If the course is offered only once per year or less frequently, it can reduce schedule flexibility compared to if it is offered every semester.</p>
<p>University of San Diego has a small engineering college. It is a unique program that grants the only BA/BS degree in the nation in 9 semesters. It is also a Catholic school.</p>
<p>What’s the advantage of getting a dual Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree?</p>
<p>From Their website: </p>
<p>"Its a blended degree that…ensures that our graduates emerge from our programs not only as engineers of the first order, but also as complete engineers who are thoughtful, informed and engaged participants in the global community. This integrated vision of engineering is what makes a USD engineer different from your typical engineer.</p>
<p>There are quite a few schools who espouse those ideals without the BA (Cal Poly, Rice, Lafayette, Bucknell, Olin, to name a few off the top of my head). It is a lot to fit into four years though. Dartmouth is another BA/BS model, 4 for BA with an additional year for BS, one semester longer than USD. The tough nut to crack is that there are schools that offer BS/MS in five years. At $50k per year these decisions are significant beyond the hypothetical advantages.</p>
<p>M</p>
<p>From what professional engineers say, BS/MS program doesn’t offer much in the way of an advantage to the student, depending on your career objectives. Like Eyemgh said, you must weight the cost of an additional year of tuition against the salary you would forgo from being otherwise employed by an engineering firm. Of course, if graduate study and research is your goal rather than immediate employment, the BS/MS may suit you fine.</p>
<p>Not being an engineer myself, only informed based on the fact that S is interested, there seems to be one field where MS might be warranted, Civil. There’s been rumblings for several years now about pushing for a MS as minimal requirement for PE. Don’t know the reality. Maybe others can comment.</p>
<p>M</p>
<p>Does anyone have any knowledge as to where University of Portland engineering students typically find internship or job placement. I’ve been able to find this information on a number of other schools, but I seem to be coming up empty with UP.</p>
<p>This is where it gets hard, determining what it would be like at a smaller engineering program. </p>
<p>CC has plenty of voices that will cheer for a small number of giant, well respected programs (UIUC, GT, Purdue, Michigan, MIT, Berkeley and Cal Tech), but it is tough gathering information about the rest.</p>
<p>We’re in the same boat, just slightly ahead. Good luck!</p>
<p>M</p>
<p>Caltech is not exactly a “giant” school.</p>
<p>Neither is MIT, but point taken.</p>
<p>I meant it as giants in the field of purely classic engineering education institutions.</p>
<p>M</p>
<p>Mudd and CalTech are excellent, intense schools. But they are highly competitive.</p>
<p>OP - That SAT math score is excellent! Engineers tend to be top heavy on the math score, but improving the verbal score too will increase odds of acceptance and in some cases scholarships. Study books are a good idea. Also have your son sign up for College Board SAT question of the day, sent in daily emails.</p>