money, fit, and engineering. Help!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Dear CC,</p>

<p>I am an junior at my local public high school. I'm looking for some qualified matches and safeties which fit my academic profile. I've read through Fiske's and The Ultimate Guide to American Colleges as well as several other college resources. (I'm am a compulsive researcher) I have found plenty of wonderful schools. Many I could likely admitted to but... money. </p>

<p>Basically my family make too much money to receive need based aid. But because I have 6 sibling included a sister attending Baylor, my parents can assist me with 15-18k per year. </p>

<p>My family has a strict no debt attitude so loans are out of the option. I need to find some schools which either have a manageable tuition, merit aid possibilities for my stats, or co-op opportunities. </p>

<p>STATS</p>

<p>ACT - 31 composite </p>

<p>PSAT - 195 (have not taken the SAT)</p>

<p>I have been homeschool up until this year. This yead I enrolled at the local public high school. My Freshmen and Sphomore year are now a pass or fail grades. </p>

<p>This semester I enrolled in all pre-AP courses and did fine except for B in Trig (opps) Because of these circumstances, I can't run for valedictorian or have an actual class rank I believe.</p>

<p>For college criteria, I prefer smaller schools. My safeties are Okla St. and OU both are obviously large universities and don't interest me particularly. Prestige would be nice but the merit need etc. May limit that. Distance is not a key factor but the college needs to offer something special for me to make it worth the hassle of long distance.</p>

<p>Engineering offered would be a plus. A religious institution would also be a positive. I will be majoring in something practical. I would strongly like an intellectual environment and I am not a partygoer so the social doesn't need to be particularly active.</p>

<p>Hope that gives you enough information for some recommendations. Thanks so much for your help!</p>

2

<p>How about these schools, all in neighboring states:</p>

<p>Colorado School of Mines
New Mexico Institute of Mines & Technology
Missouri University of Science & Technology</p>

<p>They are all public, but smaller than very large public research universities. They are all strong and well-respected in STEM fields. I’m not sure how generous they are with financial aid to out of state students.</p>

3

<p>A little bit farther, but in the mid-west:
Rose-Hulman Institute for Technology - has the reputation as being the highest ranked engineering school in category of schools that do not offer PhD.
A few years back, they invested a bit of money in attracting students from out of state.</p>

4

<p>Have you looked here?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-20.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-20.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-4.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Assuming that you and your family are Southern Baptist (based on your sister attending Baylor), here is a list of Southern Baptist colleges:
[Southern</a> Baptist Convention - Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.sbc.net/colleges.asp]Southern”>http://www.sbc.net/colleges.asp)
However, it does not look like there are many that offer engineering, besides Baylor and Cedarville.</p>

<p>A small engineering-focused school with a low list price is South Dakota Institute of Mines and Technology (lower list price than the other two mines schools). But even that low list price of $23,000 is about $5,000 over your parents’ contribution, so you need to supplement it with work earnings and/or direct loans if you do not get any scholarships.</p>

5

<p>A lot of LAC’s offer 3-2 engineering programs so if you see a smaller school that you like and is affordable, I would see if the school offers a program similar to that or can arrange a program like it. Very few LAC’s offer engineering, and those that do are often super competitive, so I’m not sure what your options are in that area. I would check the full tuition acholarships listed above and see if any of the schools listed interest you.</p>

6

<p>However, 3+2 programs leave questions about admissions and financial aid at the “2” schools, and the total of 5 years instead of 4 increases costs over a regular 4 year program with similar financial aid or scholarships.</p>

7

<p>How does your sister attend Baylor on those conditions?</p>

<p>If you are going to be chasing merit, invest some time in improving your SAT above the level the psat projects. I’m still not sure how you will be evaluated because of the homeschooling, but at least you can try for an impressive score. Read the pinned threads on the xiggi method and silverturtle’s post in the SAT-preparation subforum.
[SAT</a> Preparation - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/]SAT”>SAT Preparation - College Confidential Forums)</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the helpful replies! My sister was a National Merit Finalist so Baylor offered her a full ride which is how she is able to attend. I realize that the 3-2 program is relatively new but are there any LAC know for a good program in that regard? </p>

<p>I was actually thinking about not taking the SAT and just using my ACT score. I think I can improve my score up to a 32-33. Would that be a wise plan?</p>

<p>also with my financial situation, I was thinking it probably doesn’t make sense to apply to any reach schools because my chance at receiving merit aid would be next to 0%. Is that sound logic?</p>

9

<p>Yeah if you need merit you want to be above average. </p>

<p>I think Louisiana Tech would give you instate tuition and possibly other merit money as well. Strong engineering. Not religious but in a small town that’s very conservative/religious. Medium sized school, under 15,000 I’m pretty sure. </p>

<p>The financial aid forum has a thread on automatic instate tuition schools. Might be worth looking at.</p>

10

<p>If Alabama’s scholarships remain the same, then for engineering you’d get:</p>

<p>free tuition
2500 per year</p>

<p>Your remaining costs would be about $14k per year.</p>

<p>Apply in July when the app goes online. A safety in your pocket.</p>

11

<p>3/2 are not new. It was the track I entered college in 1987. I changed my major and did not follow thru with the 3/2.</p>

<p>My son graduated high school with 22 kids. In the early stages of his search, he focused on small LACs. He is now in his second semester at Bama. So far from where the non-Greek, non-football fan thought he would wind up. The more he focused on Engineering as a major and the financial reality, the more appealing Bama became. As a freshmen he is doing research. The lab and equipment at the LACs could not compare to the larger Us and Tech schools.</p>

<p>I am not pushing Bama, but I am discouraging the 3/2 route. </p>

<p>I also encourage you to figure out why you want a small school. For my son it was class size. Bama was able to provide small classes through the Honors electives and college. His “big” class this semester is 65 students. </p>

<p>Academically, it is not difficult to find students of your caliber at the larger schools. When researching the larger schools, look at the clubs and ECs offered then reach out to some that interest you. I think this strategy can be very helpful for finding a social fit. The current students are usually very happy to discuss their clubs with a prospective student.</p>

12

<p>One more issue with 3-2 programs is students don’t necessarily want to leave their friends after three years to finish up somewhere else. I believe completion rates for 3-2 programs is very low.</p>

13

<p><a href=“I’m%20am%20a%20compulsive%20researcher”>quote</a>

[/quote]
</p>

<p>A necessary skill for those of limited means, which will pay enormous dividends throughout your life! :-)</p>

<p>OP, I want to concur with the advice you’re receiving here. Based on your name, I’m assuming you live in Oklahoma, but regardless, explore the honors programs at your in-state flagship and also any other state-related schools that offer engineering. (Also, if applicable, see if any surrounding states offer in-state tuition benefits.) Consider applying to one or two as soon as the admissions cycle opens up next year. Having an acceptance there and at a school like the University of Alabama, which, as mom2 has explained, will provide you with an excellent (and relatively affordable!) option, will take an enormous amount of pressure off you next year as you go through the admissions cycle.</p>

<p>Like Longhaul, my son attends a relatively small school and his graduating class will be <100 students, so his preference is a small LAC too, but as he’s recently developed an interest in engineering, he’s also gone through the various stages of exploration: 3-2 programs (which, I agree with others, are not ideal), a 4-1 program, LACs with ABET-accredited engineering (both those offering general engineering degrees and those with a variety of traditional engineering majors), and research universities with good engineering schools.</p>

<p>Especially for those who aren’t sure they want to go the engineering route, it’s really important to identify affordable schools where your other interests–be they math, physics, whatever (e.g., my son LOVES philosophy and Fiske specifically notes the strength of Bama’s Philosophy Department)–can be met satisfactorily and where they can offer you good preparation for graduate school, since most LAC majors will not lead directly to a well-paying job after you graduate.</p>

<p>We’re in this process right now, and it’s very comforting to us, as we await final decisions, to know that our son has both our state flagship and Bama’s Honors College and generous scholarship as viable options. Cast your net wide, and strategically, and you will be in good shape when the time comes.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

14

<p>Somebody mentioned Cedarville. Did you look into it? You may qualify for an automatic $12,000 per year scholarship based on your grades and ACT score. They have a surprisingly good engineering school. The social scene may be a good fit based on your self-description.</p>

<p>My son visited and it immediately became his top choice. The size is what he was looking for, and he really likes the way they handle the religious aspects (daily chapel, required Bible minor).</p>

15

<p>Cedarville has the dubious distinction of being one of the only schools in the US to offer a creationist geology major, and one of their professors is associated with the Institute for Creation Research. Cedarville is just about the last place anyone should want to study a STEM field for the simple reason that it denies the S in STEM. </p>

16

<p>not nearby but likely to provide you with merit scholarship: Sweet Briar College, a women’s college in Virginia. And they have engineering.
I wouldn’t recommend Cedarville if you want to work in engineering.</p>

17

<p>Check out the University of Dayton. It’s a mid sized Catholic university which has a good engineering program. It’s a private university so it’s not cheap but I think your stats would give you merit aid. I would check out it’s Net Price Calculator. Good luck. </p>

18

<p>Here is the link for the assured merit at UD. <a href=“Undergraduate Admission : University of Dayton, Ohio”>Undergraduate Admission : University of Dayton, Ohio; I doubt the cost will get down to the $18K target. But it is a good school, particularly for engineering.</p>