Materials Science / Electrical Engineering schools. Perfect GPA, bad test scores.

College Search & Selection
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<p>These are the schools that I think suite what I want. As you'll see my profile is lopsided so that's why I'm unsure about my chances and I just want to see if my college choices are realistic considering my family’s financial situation.</p>

<p>I’m from Iraq, came over to the US in 2008. I do speak Arabic (read and write at an okay level).</p>

<p>My parents make ~$30,000 a year. Even though that’s a lot and I’m thankful for it, I don’t think they can pay anything towards my college expenses. EFC=0. So I’m basically counting on merit and need based aid.
I understand that the cheapest and most appropriate option here is in state school, but was wondering if out of state schools are possible.</p>

<p>Major: Materials science / Electrical engineering. I specifically want to work with Nanotechnology but that isn’t really possible at the undergrad level.</p>

<p>Schools I’m thinking of (If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to)
Drexel
Clemson (in state)
University of South Carolina – Honors (in state)
Georgia Tech
UC – Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>Unweighed GPA – 4.0 (Same for UC GPA)
Weighed GPA – 4.87</p>

<p>3 on AP Stats and 2 AP World.
Expecting 3 on APUSH, 4 AP Lang, and 5 AP Chem.
Taking AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP Government, AP Physics B (C not available) next year.</p>

<p>I’m going to be a chemistry lab technician at my school.</p>

<p>Class rank – 6/377</p>

<p>SAT
Reading – 550
Math – 640
Writing – 550</p>

<p>ACT composite – 25</p>

<p>Note that I did not study at all for the tests, and those two were my first times. I’m studying right now; I’m doing really well (Almost all right answers), if I don’t time myself (~4 minutes overboard on each section). It’s time that I have a problem with. I have one final shot in September at the SAT and ACT before application time, so I’m hoping for the best on that.</p>

<p>Should I take SAT II tests?</p>

<p>AMC 10 (American Mathematics Competition) – 95 points. 120 points are needed to go to nationals. I was 4th in my school.</p>

<p>Extracurricular
FIRST Robotics – Completely redid the websites (and still maintain it), did some of the computer modeling for our robot, I’m in the executive board, and I help out with all the events, fundraising, and competitions that we do.</p>

<p>Science team – Captain junior and senior year. 3rd place overall. 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medals.
This is the thing that I put all my heart into, not only do I love the things we do there, but I’ve spent countless hours after school just working on our competitions. This is the thing that I treasure the most.</p>

<p>I’m in National Honor Society and Beta Club, but we don’t do anything there.</p>

<p>Leader of my Google Science Fair project and Real World Design Challenge (didn’t win anything but experience).</p>

<p>There have been a lot of opportunities (clubs and events) that I could not take part in because my I could not get transportation from parents. Keep in mind that I live in Columbia and although the capital is still a small city.</p>

<p>Hobbies
I like to play soccer when I have free time.
I like to read science and engineering articles/news. I also like to read science fiction and fantasy books.</p>

<p>Finally thanks everyone that actually read my super long post, and hope to hear from anyone.
-Mark</p>

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<p>Oops, I wasn’t paying attention and posted it in the wrong section, if someone could move or tell me how to (I can’t figure out how), that would be nice. Thanks again everyone.</p>

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<p>Would you be considered a US citizen or international for college? That makes a big difference. UCB will cost you $50K/year. That’s not workable. Unfortunately your SAT/ACT really need to come up to get some good $. Try looking here for some options: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt; I would forget about the SAT II to concentrate on the SAT/ACT. Most schools don’t require the SAT II.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The automatic ones can be candidates for safety schools; the ACT and SAT thresholds can give you something to aim for.</p>

<p>Be sure to use real previous tests as your practice tests.</p>

<p>Also, if time is an issue, it is ok, within a given section, to skip slow questions and come back later to them (but not ok to go back to previous sections). For example, on the SAT, the sentence completions are generally quicker to answer than the questions involving reading passages.</p>

<p>Math questions can often be done more quickly by plugging the answer choices back in than doing the math the usual way.</p>

<p>For the SAT, try the [The</a> Official SAT Question of the Day](<a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”>SAT Practice and Preparation – SAT Suite | College Board) .</p>

<p>Run the net price calculator on each school’s web site to see what its need based financial aid will be like for you. Do not be optimistic for out-of-state public schools other than Virginia and North Carolina.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies. Yes I’m a US citizen.</p>

<p>Okay, I have two questions that I think are different.</p>

<p>Can I even get accepted at these colleges (My ECs are mediocre compared to what is posted on these forums, my test scores are bad, but my grades and passion for what I do is high, and considering the financial status), would I even be able to get into these?</p>

<p>As far as need based grants/scholarships, do colleges come even close to giving half of COA, or is need based generally really low to matter as much as merit aid.</p>

<p>And I ran Net price calculator on University of South Carolina and UC-Berkeley. USC net price came out to 11k (with room and board and excluding work-study/any self help). UC-Berkeley came out to 32k. So that probably takes UC-Berkeley out right?</p>

<p>I am taking a look at the Automatic full ride list to see if there are any that have materials science, and will report back.</p>

<p>Again thanks for the help.</p>

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<p>Anyone else who can help me here? Much appreciated!</p>

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<p>Need-based aid can be up to about 90% of cost of attendance – but only at the wealthiest universities which are generally the most selective (e.g. Stanford).</p>

<p>Some (not all) public universities are good with need-based aid for their in-state students; it looks like USC expects you to take a Stafford loan ($5,500) plus earn a fairly large (for a student) amount of work earnings ($5,500). This is higher than the amounts expected from in-state students at some other states’ public universities.</p>

<p>Out-of-state public universities other than University of Virginia and University of North Carolina will generally come up far short. Berkeley probably showed you in-state financial aid applied to out-of-state cost of attendance (which is $23,000 higher than in-state cost of attendance).</p>

<p>Unfortunately, materials engineering bachelor’s degree programs are offered at only 57 schools in the US, according to [Accredited</a> Program Search](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx) . Electrical and mechanical engineering are more common.</p>

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<p>“My parents make ~$30,000 a year. Even though that’s a lot and I’m thankful for it, I don’t think they can pay anything towards my college expenses.”</p>

<p>Is that a typo or am I missing something?</p>

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<p>What would you be missing? $30,000 is consistent with the EFC = 0 and net prices the OP listed.</p>

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<p>Ok so since the OOS public schools seem to be very expensive, I should abandon them right? And would I be able to get better aid from the likes of Drexel (private university)?</p>

<p>What about Carnegie Mellon? Do I even have a shot at it?
I know everyone hates the what if situation, but If I raise my math SAT to 700 and Reading to 600, Would I have a shot then?</p>

<p>And finally, Clemson offers Material Science BS degree. COA = 26k. Net price after state and university aid = 8k. So would Clemson be a better option after stafford loan and work-study?</p>

<p>Thank you all for the help so far!</p>

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<p>OP, google the Common Data Set for each school and look at section C. It shows what is used in admission decisions and information on admitted students (score %ile, GPA, etc).</p>

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<p>Try the net price calculators to be sure.</p>

<p>Yes, a net price of $8,000 per year is generally considered to be within reasonable range of a student with no family contribution.</p>

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<p>Okay thank you for the help so far. I took GIT, UC-Berkeley, and Drexel (Net price ~30k) out. And I found an odd ball. Washington University at St. Louis. I had been getting a lot of emails and letters from them, and they seem like a pretty good college. They do not however have materials science. Keep in mind that I’m trying to go to Nanotechnology at the graduated level (so anything that prepares me for; chemical, electrical, and mechanical all prepare well for that right?)</p>

<p>Anyway after 62k COA, And 53k “Washington University Need-Based Scholarship” and pell grant, I got a $3,500 net price. Is this for real? Is there a catch or something (requirements?)?</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the help!</p>

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<p>

I wouldn’t assume a state school is the least expensive option. Many private schools require ~$0 parental contribution in your situation. For example, Stanford gives a full ride including full tuition, room & board, and books for students whose parents make under $60k/year (non-international + cannot have large enough savings to afford school). Instead they require the student to have a part time job to earn ~$5k/yr. The job is often at the school and relevant work experience to your field. You might try some net price calculators of other schools that are known for need based aid to confirm details.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply, but as you can see I don’t think I can get in at those wealthy colleges (or am I just underrating myself?) So far the best options I’ve found have USC, Clemson, and WUSTL. If you know any good colleges that are within my range who are known for need based aid, please let me know. And I’m going through a lot of schools’ Net price calculator but most of them are in the 20k range.</p>

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<p>The catch is that most schools that generous with need-based financial aid are also very highly selective. I.e. try to raise the ACT and SAT score a lot (and if you do that, you may have some chance at the competitive full rides at some of the otherwise-too-expensive schools listed in <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078&lt;/a&gt; ). WUStL’s middle 50% ACT range is 32-34.</p>

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<p>

Yes, your application is weak compared to most Stanford admits. I used it as an example that I am familiar with. There are also many less selective schools that also offer excellent need based financial aid. USNWR has a list of schools that claim to meet 100% of the financial aids needs of students at [Universities</a> That Claim to Meet Full Financial Need - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/02/11/universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need]Universities”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/02/11/universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need) . Testing the Net Price Calc on one of the least selective schools on the list with your stats, I got a net price of $3311/yr.</p>

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<p>Most of the schools on that list are liberal arts schools. These are the ones that I noticed to be well in engineering. UNC-Chapel Hill, UVA, and Boston College. So what are your opinions of those schools as far as my chance and their academics. Am I missing or overlooking a good college? And @Data10 what college is that you 3k net price?</p>

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<p>UNC-CH and BC do not have engineering. Virginia does (electrical and mechanical), but is very selective (raise the ACT and/or SAT scores to be competitive).</p>

<p>There are some other obvious schools on that list with engineering, but they are also very selective (MIT, Stanford, Olin, etc.).</p>

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<p>Okay then. Here is basically my final school list. Clemson, USC, WUSTL, UVA, and MIT (for the fun of it)</p>

<p>Do Clemson and USC sound like sure bet thing or do I still need to add an even lower safety?</p>