Thank you @menloparkmom 
@tk21769 yes we did look into those and you are right much harder to get in. I do think it would be worth applying to Tufts though, especially if he can improve his SAT score. It was an 87 final grade he got freshman year that will keep him from an unweighted GPA of a 4.0 such a bummer.
Oh also @tk21769 we do have an instate school he can commute to (40 minutes one way) but he really wants to experience dorming. That would be our worse case scenario though.
It looks like U of New Mexico offers a regents scholarship that amounts to a full ride.
Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. Great engineering school and a liberal arts college. The college is making serious strides in trying to become a âneed blindâ institution. Average financial award is above 40k.
Tufts is another generous school with a good engineering program.
UNM Regentsâ scholarship is competitive, so should be presumed to be a reach, unlike automatic full rides at Tuskegee, PVAMU, and possibly AAMU that would be safeties for those who meet the stats thresholds.
Do not let the CSS Profile hold you back. Colleges that require CSS profile are some of the most generous schools in the country ( and also quite selective).
I think this is overblown. The type of kids that get these big merit awards are usually A students. If they donât do something stupid like party too much, play video games too much, or overload their semesters, then maintaining a 3.0 isnât that difficult. My son was chemical engineering and only got one B+âŠthe rest Aâs. And the B+ was in Spanish, not in engineering classes or science/math classes.
However, avoid any school that would remove the award after one semester of sub3.0 grades and that require a certain number of credits per semester. Most schools only evaluate after one yearâŠnot one semesterâŠand Bama allows a make up semester AFTER one year if the student is sub 3.0.
Also avoid any school that requires a 3.5
.
No, it can be cheaper. The COA is padded.
However, your son needs to retest and qualify for Presidential.
How much in Pell would your son get?
And did it show the addâl engineering award?
TrueâŠnot a reason not to apply.
But as far as âreally works at itââŠthat level isnât necessary for a 3.0. Lol⊠really working at it gets you a 3.7+. 
Exactly. Donât waste an app on GT
This is from Lafayette.
@Skippy00 Donât worry about a 3.0 for engineering. And if he canât keep a 3.0 then he needs to think about changing majors because he will have a harder time finding a job. Schools giving merit will have minimums.
Right, If a 3.0 in engineering is a huge reach in a school like UAH, then engineering is the thing to rethink.
This is a consideration when accepting, not when applying. If you have two schools that have offered full tuition and one requires a 3.0 and the other doesnât, well then it makes sense to pick the one without the requirement. Right now, you donât have any offers. Apply and see. It might be a harder decision if a school offers a full tuition award but requires a 3.0, or a school that requires only a 2.0 but is only giving a half scholarship, or is in an area you donât like. But for now, just make a list.
My daughterâs required a 2.8 for the big school merit and a 3.0 for the state merit aid program. She never came close to losing either. Honestly, we knew if she lost the merit scholarship (the 2.8 one) she would have to change schools, but if she couldnât keep a 2.8 that probably wasnât the right school for her anyway.
IMO this thread may be focusing too much on merit scholarships.
Merit scholarships are helpful when your income is too high to qualify for need-based aid, but you still cannot cover your EFC. High-stats kids from âdonut holeâ families (~$150K-$250K income) often are good candidates for competitive merit discounts.
However, if you qualify for Pell, then you should qualify for need-based aid (probably quite a bit of it). You may well be eligible for big automatic merit scholarships, too, but they most likely will be at colleges far from the NE. Merit wonât necessarily result in a lower net price than youâd get from n-b aid, and it may not come from colleges your kid considers as desirable as schools in the NE with better n-b aid.
Here are some schools in the NE/mid-Atlantic with engineering programs and good-to-excellent need-based aid (listed roughly from more to less selective):
Cornell, Tufts, Olin, Cooper Union
Trinity (Hartford), Union (NY), Bucknell, Lafayette
Loyola University MD
These are all good colleges but, other than the first 4 (which are quite selective), their engineering programs may not be bigger/better than what youâd find in the University of Massachusetts system.
@tk21769 I agree this student should have some meets full need schools on the application listâŠand some academic reaches in THAT group.
He is retaking the SATâŠand assuming that 680 goes UPâŠhe will have a better chance at places like Tufts, Cornell, Cooper Union and Olin.
Trinity Hartford is a good possibility for acceptance as is Loyola MD, and maybe Union.
The others are reaches right nowâŠin my opinionâŠbut Iâm not an adcom. And you canât get accepted ifmyou donât apply.
His other issue isâŠhis family owns a businessâŠand the building for that business. This has the potential to impact need based aid eligibility.
Take a look at the schools who meet 100% need. His stats put him in the average for several of them. Of course, being self-employed can skew the EFC a bit.
Someone mentioned UMassAmherst. Unfortunately, I donât believe it will be affordable. Its highly unlikely to come in under $10K with room and board. For example, with an EFC of 7K, the average COA is more than double that.
My D went on the merit hunt, applied to 19 colleges, was accepted at a dozen and five come in under the cost of UMassA (all safeties where she ranked in their top 10% for stats). At least another five came in within $5K and those were comparable schools to UMA (match schools where she ranked in their top 25%).
Had she been willing to look outside the NE area she would have had several more good choices but she chose not to do that. I recommend looking midwest and south.
@NEPatsGirl .$10k with room and board at Umass Am is doable for us. We can pay $5k and he can take out $5k in loans. Or is that 10k net price after loans, grants, work study etc? Do you mind sharing which schools came in under Umass for your daughter??
How do you all feel about Trinity College for engineering?
Trinity in Hartford has a fine engineering program according to DH.
But you didnât want such cold weatherâŠI thought!