<p>My son is a junior in HS and wants to study engineering (possibly electrical or biomedial). He is a very good student (4.0+) and just received a 36 on the ACT. Currently is taking 2 AP classes (one is Calc) and has also taken a couple of honors classes available to him. Has yet to take the SAT, but will in 2010. Received 211 on PSAT this year (234 last year... rats.) His ECs are average. His first choice would be MIT (if even accepted), but he's not super out-going, and we are thinking that it may be to his benefit to attend a closer-to-home engineering program, such as University of MI, Purdue, Northwestern, and the like. Any other smaller, yet excellent programs to recommend? A little concerned about his getting "swallowed up" by a huge program far from home. Anyone have thoughts/suggestions/recommendations?</p>
<p>MichMom, that PSAT score may still get your son NMSF standing. Rose Hulman has a highly rated engineering program and is small.</p>
<p>I agree with Erin’s Dad’s recommendation on Rose Hulman. It’s a really well-respected Engineering school and is quite small. However, the price tag that comes with it is quite high. There are always benefits of going to a bigger school’s Engineering program also just in case he feels like Engineering isn’t for him or he wants to switch the Engineering program he is in such as ChemE to MechE. I’d just recommend him applying to Purdue, UMichigan, and UIllinois also and see what happens.</p>
<p>I have a friend at Rose Hulman, they have a fantastic program and your son would get a ton of merit aid. The students are all very techy but friendly. It is a very rigorous curriculum, but RH is fantastic for getting students work placement and internships. It is rated the best non PhD granting engineering program in the US for a couple of years. It is worth looking into to apply even as a back up.</p>
<p>Otherwise I would look at Cornell, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue and perhaps UWMadison and Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information on Rose Hulman. I did visit their website, and yes, it’s right up there in price. Cost is a factor for him/us, so it would seem wise for him to apply to a few different places of varying sizes and types of programs and see what happens. It would be nice for him to attend a school that is really interested in having him attend and has nice merit scholarship opportunities, too.</p>
<p>UW-Madison I’ve head has an amazing engineering program, but it is quite big…
By any chance do any small liberal arts colleges in the midwest have an engineering program?</p>
<p>Good for your son!
I am a midwest senior looking for a quality, affordable engineering program, and I have similar stats to your son.
Thoughts:
U of I: BIG, w/little financial aid, but solid academics.
Northwestern: they have an excellent vision for engineering education. Check it out.
Vanderbilt: idk too much about engineering specifically, but Vandy has awesome financial aid.
Wash U: Wash U has good biomedical, but skimps on other areas.
Rose-Hulman: a quality, personal education, but big question mark on financial aid.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: The only reason I mention this is that someone I know with worse stats than your son got a free ride there w/ their ‘Meridian Scholarship’. That person got an internship w/ Boeing and a job offer of over 60k.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Look into the Olin School of Engineering in Massachusetts. It used to offer free tuition but it is still highly subsidized. It is a smaller engineering college that offers cross-registration with nearby colleges. If your son has a 36 ACT score he doesn’t need to take the SAT unless he is applying to one of the few schools that do not accept ACT. If Michigan is an in-state option and cost is a factor, there are few alternatives that will give your son a better educational opportunity in engineering. I would also send the application in to MIT if it is his first choice.</p>
<p>Rose Hulman is a great Engineering school and very highly ranked. Their graducation rate in Engineering are one of the highest in the country.</p>
<p>*Cost is a factor for him/us, so it would seem wise for him to apply to a few different places of varying sizes and types of programs and see what happens. It would be nice for him to attend a school that is really interested in having him attend and has nice merit scholarship opportunities, too. *</p>
<p>If cost is a factor and merit $$ is desired, then you need to target schools that are known for great merit. Also include some schools that give **assured **merit scholarships for specific stats.</p>
<p>Don’t expect financial aid (need-based aid) from out-of-state schools, because they don’t give aid to OOS students (UVa is an exception). However, some OOS publics will give merit academic scholarships to OOS students. That can make a difference, since many OOS publics have Cost of Attendances (COA) in the $35k-50k range. </p>
<p>The COAs for many privates can be $50k per year or more.</p>
<p>Do you know what your EFS is (expected family contribution)? Do you know what your budget is for your son’s education. These issues will likely influence choice of targeted schools.</p>
<p>Do you know what Michigan’s PSAT cut-off was last year?</p>
<p>Has yet to take the SAT, but will in 2010.</p>
<p>Since he has a 36 ACT, why does he need to bother with the SAT? Schools will take either score and the 36 ACT is just as good as a 2400 SAT. Of course, if he makes NMSF, he will have to take the SAT.</p>
<p>Along with academic offerings, what else does your son want in a school?</p>
<p>50/50 male/female split?
Rural? Big city? College town?
Quiet campus? Rah rah sports?
Warm weather? Cold/snowy weather?</p>
<p>Case Western could be a good possibility. Washington University in St. Louis perhaps isn’t known as much for engineering, but they have a great biomedical program.</p>
<p>St. Louis University
Iowa St
Purdue
UMich
Marquette</p>
<p>Will he consider going outside of the midwest?</p>
<p>Your son should definitely apply to Caltech, MIT, Stanford and Cal. Those are the top 4 Engineering schools in the US and he has the credentials. Other than those 4 schools, I would look into the following:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell University (not quite Midwestern, but close enough)
Northwestern University
Purdue University-West Lafayette
University of Illinois-Urbana Champain
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Wisconsin-Madison (it is no bigger than Illinois, Michigan or Purdue)</p>
<p>Unfortunately, small Engineering programs tend to be rare and not as good. However, there are four I recommend:</p>
<p>Cooper Union (located in NYC, but it is free)
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (on the East Coast, but it is free)
Harvey Mudd College (it is all the way out in LA, but it is good)
Rose Hulman Institute of Technology</p>
<p>A lot of great information - thanks! To answer a few inquiries…</p>
<p>SAT - He is hoping to make NMSF, as the cut-off for MI was 209 last year. Hence, we are hoping that he will have to take it. Also, it appears that some schools require a couple of the SAT Subject tests (Math 1 or 2 plus one other). </p>
<p>Olin - He has expressed some interest in Olin. We have researched their scholarship/tuition policy, and they have reduced their “full tuition” scholarship by 50% due to economic conditions. They also state that it could be reinstated in the future as the economy recovers. Tuition is listed at $36,000+, so they are currently giving $18,000. With room & board, annual expenses would still be around $35,000.</p>
<p>Our EFC - around $36,000 (ha!) However, we already have a daughter in college. She’s attending close to home at a reasonably-priced university, so we are not close to meeting our EFC with her tuition, but it will help our situation having him be #2 in college.</p>
<p>The Midwest - he has expressed some interest in schools in the northeast (Olin, MIT). It remains to be seen how he will feel when push comes to shove and he needs to decide how far from home he’d like to study (we are in southwest Michigan). Thankfully, we seem to have some really good options relatively close (U of MI, Rose-Hulman, Purdue). It will obviously be easier to set money aside for travel costs if the actual cost of education is lower. We shall see. U of MI is about 2 1/5 hours away from us, so that would seem to be the best “big university” program available in our vicinity, with Rose-Hulman being by far the best “small program” nearby (5-6 hours)2. Can anyone compare these 2 options? One thing that struck me about Rose-Hulman is that in the current freshman class, the percentage of women is around 20 percent. Yikes. He may not like those odds…</p>
<p>^^^MichMom, a friend has told me that the gender imbalance at Rose Hulman is somewhat ameliorated by the proximity of Indiana State University. Evidently some of the fraternities are available to students of both campuses, and parties include students of both schools. Nonetheless, the imbalance is a significant factor for some students.</p>
<p>On the other hand, a friend of my son’s was complaining to me recently that even at his large public university, with approx. a 50-50 split overall, females in his engineering classes–after freshman year–are few and far between (this varies by specific major).</p>
<p>My son is at Case Western, lots of Ivy league kids who choose this school for various reasons. He is mech E and my husband and I were very impressed with this school - strong engineering plus liberal arts options, smart kids, more laid back than some schools, but just as academic with a sense of cooperation among students rather than competition.</p>