<p>Hello all-
My rising Sophomore MechEng son is researching transfers in junior year. He's attending a smallish engineering school in NY state - MechEng is not the primary program and research is limited. He desires a more competitive environment, more research, bigger campus - but maybe not Penn State size. Grad school likely, but probably not a Ph.D. Limited opportunities for research is his biggest complaint.</p>
<p>GPA 3.8, good rappor with profs, he's an energetic and diligent self-starter and would get great recommendations. HS grades not stellar but he's done quite well as a freshman and should be an attractive transfer candidate. From what I've seen, it appears to be much more difficult (and capricious) to transfer than to enter as a freshman. He's got merit aid now, and would need it even more if he attends a private school, but transfer aid also appears slim.</p>
<p>He's considering Penn State, Carnegie, WPI, RPI, RIT, Hopkins. What are we missing? </p>
<p>Transfer tips and insights are most welcome!!</p>
<p>Many schools just do not offer merit aid to transfer students.
Check each school’s policy very carefully on merit aid or need-based aid to transfers. </p>
<p>If you are not eligible for need-based aid, could you swing the sticker price of these over 50k plus schools, without the merit aid?</p>
<p>WPI and RIT would fit the definition of “smallish engineering school” I would think. Consider UMass Amherst–the #1 public engineering school in New England, about half the size of Penn State but still large enough to have the bigger campus and more research opportunities he’s looking for. I have no idea how UMass looks at transfers, but I do know that they are looking to attract more out of state students. The out of state tuition is pretty reasonable ($32K). Also consider SUNY Buffalo and Binghamton.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech sounds like a good match. World class engineering school and very strong in mechanical engineering. About 20K students total. Getting financial aid as an out-of-state transfer could be difficult, but Tech has an outstanding co-op program which would help with costs.</p>