@Engineer80 - you were right! That looks promising and lots of great merit aid, another to add to the research list.
A quick follow up question.
I suggested to my D that she only needs to submit the 1570 SAT since 1570-1600 correlates to a 36 ACT. Her 35 ACT is really a 34.5 rounded up so the SAT seems like the stronger score. She argued that some schools prefer seeing the ACT and that it is harder. (I think she feels like she made the effort to get the score, she’s going to submit it.)
Any opinions on a correct strategy?
Nearly all accept either. She may decide to submit both to show strength in both. But realize that while the composite is important, the sub scores can be more so.
I don’t see a strategy advantage. Just be sure you understand what match is to all these colleges that folks are suggesting. At many, it will be more than stats. The equation is not only what she wants and likes, but whether she meet what they want and need in the class, academically and other. Try to look for that at whatever colleges she wants to target.
I would submit both, as both are high scores and show the college she was adept at both tests.
I would also submit both. They are great scores and it shows that there was no fluke.
@lookingforward - good advice, I checked with my D and she thought she did best in the Math and Science on the ACT so that would bode well for engineering. @vistajay and @momofsenior1 seem to agree on submitting both too.
Have you looked into the U of Delaware yet? I’m guessing it would check a lot of the boxes, including a possible admittance into their Honors program and likely merit to make it affordable. It’s not cheap OOS, but maybe her stats would get them down to in state cost or better.
@tpike12 If considering Stevens , you can also think about NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Your daughter has excellent stats, and it seems they give merit awards to girls in engineering, according to classmates of my son who are attending there. The NYU name has a lot of cachet, even though the engineering program itself may be ranked similar to Pitt etc. Go figure.
@RandyErika - she hasn’t looked at Delaware, but my guess is that it won’t be less expensive than her in state options at Penn St, Pitt and Temple.
@tpike12 The Delaware suggestion was more about possible fit than cost. Penn State is huge and will probably feel that way (Schreyer Honors College might help in that regard, but it’s very selective). Delaware, on the other hand, is large but didn’t feel overwhelmingly so (from our visit anyway). Temple is in Philly and not for everyone. Pitt is a long way from the coast, if that matters at all.
@RandyErika - my D has visited Pitt, Penn St and Temple and liked them all (I was surprised by Temple) and she will be trying for the Honors program at all of the schools. It’s funny, with all the schools bombarding us with mail, I don’t remember Delaware contacting us at all.
@momprof94 - hadn’t even considered NYU. My gut feeling is that even with merit, we’re unlikely to get under our $20-25,000/year budget, but I haven’t looked at it closely.
@momprof9904 - Several of my colleagues who are alumni of the former Polytechnic University (formerly Polytechnic Insitute of NY, formerly Polytechnic Inst. of Brooklyn), which NYU essentially bought up weren’t pleased with that merger. They feel that the former Polytechnic had a better name than NYU in the realm of engineering (NYU originally divested its engineering school in 1973, much of it and their former faculty going to the former Polytechnic) and that the reputation of the school would be diluted by the larger NYU. NYU additionally is the most expensive private university in America, and from what I am told is one of the least generous with regard to financial aid, for what it’s worth.
“Swarthmore - likes the campus, but needs to delve a little more into the Engineering program”
I just perused Swarthmore and don’t think they have BME program, you may have the flexibility to custom build it if they don’t have one, you should check that. Hopkins I think makes the best sense given her reaction to the campus, assuming finances work out. CMU would be the other one to seriously consider, you do have to apply directly to their college of engineering as others have posted, but transferring out of engineering is typically easier than transferring in. The only major that would be tough to transfer in would be CS. The RPI award should give you a pretty good merit award there, wouldn’t it?
The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) is another school that offers tuition coverage + stipends for National Merit Scholars. A friends’ daughter is attending in the CS program and she’s very happy. She was accepted to Georgia Tech as well.
Swat Engineering grad here (and mother of a 2018 Swat engineering grad/CS double major). Each Swarthmore engineer concentrates in an area of engineering; so certainly there are those with more of a focus on ME vs EE vs Civil. But the degree remains Engineering. But my son (concentrated in Computer E) did take Thermo and the MEs take circuit design, etc.
@theloniusmonk - you are correct, Swat has a generalize engineering program with the philosophy that employers can train their new employee in any specialization they need.
So I started to do the NPC (using the college board calculator) for some of my Ds potential schools. I forgot that my wife’s retirement counts as income so we are actually at $133,000. I also was consulting in 2016 so we were paying for our own health insurance, a whopping $34,000. I think some of the colleges took this into account, while others did not. It’s amazing how different these are:
UVA - $42,000
Stevens - $41,000
Villanova - $39,000
Ohio University - $38,000
Tufts - $38,000
Carnegie Mellon - $37,000
Temple - $37,000
Lehigh - $35,000
Northeastern - $35,000
Rensselaer - $34,000
VCU - $28,000
U of Kentucky - $26,230
U of Pitt - $25,000
Duke - $21,000
Yale - $19,000
Johns Hopkins - $18,000
U of Penn - $15,000
Swarthmore - $13,000
Do you need any other schools on the list? Seems pretty good to me. Have you run the numbers for a SUNY? Probably doesn’t make too much sense when Penn State is an option, NY’s out-of-state tuition is about where Penn State’s in-state tuition is. There’s Binghamton, Buffalo and Stony Brook.
@Trixy34 - I’m always open to new ideas, but between Penn St, Pitt and Temple I think we have some good in state options. The NPC reveals what I expected, many schools will be reaches without additional aid.
I am shocked though that the in state CMU came in at $37,000 while OOS Hopkins came in at $18,000. And when my D sees the number for UVA at $42,000, she will be disappointed, she really loved her visit.
@tpike12 , I realize everyone’s situation is different but the results you came up with are very helpful – not what I would have thought either!
Thanks for sharing