Arizona, Alabama, UAH, Miami of Ohio, Arkansas, Missouri Science & Tech are some others not mentioned.
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The good news is that where you go to school does not matter as much for engineering and grad school is not as critical in most disciplines. What is the next best State U in Illinois? That could be his financial safety.
I don’t think RPI is likely to give him money. My son with slightly higher GPA from a rigorous HS, slightly lower SAT, got waitlisted at RPI (got into similarly ranked BU but no merit $).
If money is not an issue, Lehigh could be a target as could U Pitt. If you want merit money, need to look at some of the lower ranked schools.
That being said, the upward trend may really help, at least at schools that take a more “holistic” approach to admissions. I would encourage him to talk to his GC about how his approach to school has changed since freshman year. For one of my kids, it was hard to fill in the “parent brag sheet” since he really did not have any “big” accomplishments, but he did fine in college admissions and was happy where he landed.
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By whom? Rankings? Both have good engineering programs. Yes, all Iowa schools are easier to get into but hard to stay into especially Iowa State… Michigan State students run in the same interview circles of like Michigan for many of their engineering jobs. It’s highly an underrated school for engineering with great research ability. Both programs if you put the effort in will get good jobs. Both have a rah, rah atmosphere on campus. Both with good campuses and research facilities.
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Not in Illinois it’s not a financial safety. The best Public is UIUC… $38,000 Instate for engineering.very expensive … Also the GPA might be an issue. Transferring in is not a reliable option at Illinois and why many kids go out of state for many times less money. Many suburban kids go to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Iowa State etc. for less money
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What is your price limit?
Look at Rose Hulman in Indiana, Case Western and Alabama (guaranteed scholarship for a 36). Also there are many small liberal arts colleges that have 3:2 engineering programs with AMAZING schools. Rhodes, Beloit, Eckerd, Furman, Centre, Wooster, DePauw and Knox have this and are definite matches and give merit. D21 is going to Sewanee in Tennessee which has this program with Wash U, Vandy and Columbia. You spend 3 years doing pre- engineering and then do 2 years at the respective engineering school. End up with a BA from home school and a BS from engineering program. Small LAC’s have a lot of money to give and will definitely give merit money for that ACT score! Half the price of our state flagship for us. Can also be a great way for a slower maturing student to continue to gain confidence and continue to improve as a student before tackling an engineering program.
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let’s take UIUC 40-45K / year as a benchmark for this discussion. UIUC engineering is a great value. But he might not be able to get in, in that case, we need to find other backup schools that has good programs without having to take on too much debt because he will most likely pursue a masters degree after a few years of work experience. I guess the undergrad reputation will matter somewhat if he wants to go to a brand name graduate school. And that’s were all of your recommendations come in! I didn’t know half of these schools that other parents suggested. Thank you.
How much debt would $40k per year require?
UIUC ME is a very high reach because ME (and CS and BioE) are the most competitive majors there.
In-state, beside UIUC, ME is offered at UIC, NIU, SIU-C, SIU-E, and WIU among publics. Perhaps these can be backups.
Relatively lower cost out-of-state schools include the “mine” schools and other publics in New Mexico and South Dakota.
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Can you take advantage of the Midwest Exchange? Kansas, Nebraska?
What about Missouri S&T?
Look for schools with direct admission to the engineering school. Schools like Penn State have GPA requirements to enter after sophomore year.
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Michigan Tech, MSU, Purdue, Montana State, University of Utah….if he likes northern climates
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