UT Austin?
Kiddos, Given everything you wrote I would seriously take a good look at Case Western in Cleveland. I call it a poor mans (insert whatever elite school you want). We went and came away very impressed. The send me updates and their students are impressive. Looks like they give good merit aid as well. And as stated there are a bunch of other schools you can check out too. Michigan is only a few hrs away.
Also check out Bradley in Peoria IL. Neighbor went there. They may be able to offer pretty good merit aid. U of IL is close by and you cold hit Chicago or St. Louis. Good luck.
Thank you all for the suggestions! I’m sure it will take some time to figure out where to go, but we’ve got Christmas break for that. I have a feeling we’ll probably end up somewhere like upstate New York, but lots of other options and he just may surprise me with where he wants to take a look at. (And chances are he’ll hone in on two schools 500 miles apart.)
Many state flagships have good engineering programs, robotics / engineering clubs, etc. Try to squeeze that in. UMASS Amherst is only 2 hours from Boston. Ohio State if you go to Ohio, etc.
Also, New England, NY, and PA have lots of quality LACs (some will have good engineering programs) and large state schools so you can get a feel for both and max your time.
With all due respect…I do not agree. The student might not even want those schools or be competitive for them as a grad student…five years from now.
For now…concentrate on places that would work for undergrad.
Where are you coming FROM? Will this be a driving or flying trip? If flying, will you be renting a car?
We did a fun trip last year to Texas/Oklahoma. We picked Trinity, Oklahoma and Tulsa to formally visit, but you could easily add Baylor and Texas (did drive by), or UT Dallas, Texas A&M, Rice etc. (assumes you are willing to spend some time in the car). Being from the upper Midwest and having limited vacation time, it was important for my family that the trip be WARM and FUN as well as learning about colleges. Good luck.
@thumper1 - I’ll fly and rent a car if driving isn’t possible. (And for almost every suggestion, we would have to fly.)
@Booajo - Considering that we’ve already had snow this year, I would be all over a WARM trip!
NC State and Va Tech
Completely agree with @thumper1 re: HYPSM. And visiting MIT, Harvard, BU, Northeastern, Tufts, Boston College is setting him up… nothing after that will measure up, even your state flagship. I’ve seen a lot of kids who feel like they are settling for second best after that and it shouldn’t be.
Visit schools on a targeted list that you can afford (run the NPCs before you go) with a healthy dose of matches for his current academic profile. It’s also important to visit different types of colleges, like an LAC and large research university, rural and urban campus, and throw in engineering programs that emphasize co-ops which can help make them more affordable. FYI, many large universities have woven liberal arts requirements into their curriculums.
As far as writing an essay about his illness, he shouldn’t write about it unless it’s in the “additional information” section of the application. If he is still upset about it, I suspect he doesn’t want it to define him and he might have an even better personal story to tell.
Definitely WPI though his GPA is a little low. Can he be part of a FIRST robotics team? I think that they offer additional scholarships. Review the scholarship possibilities at both RPI and WPI. I don’t think RPI will be affordable though. I don’t think they stack scholarship s. Run the NPCs before you fall in love. Add in UMass Amherst if you sweep through New England. You might as well check out any state flagship based on where you are. All should have solid engineering.
@Dustyfeathers Alfred is an interesting choice. A family BIL went there. Their engineering is limited though.
We won’t be going to visit HYPSM or the likes. He can’t get in to any of them, and he isn’t likely to go to grad school. We also won’t be going to any LACs. I took him to one we could drive to and back in a day when they had an inservice day at school. It’s just not the type of school for him. I wanted to show him that was an option if he decided on CS instead of MechE.
@gearmom - He is on one of the world’s worst performing FIRST teams. They are an “anybody can join” team in their second year that is student led. They did win some “spirit” type awards because it is painfully obvious that they are working on their own. Their robot can best be described as “too many chefs spoil the soup.” However, working on the programming last year and design/build this year has helped him make a decision to major in MechE rather than CS, so from that perspective, the time spent on this has been very worthwhile.
@My3Kiddos Check out the WPI page regardless of team quality. The Dean Kaman connection is strong.
https://www.wpi.edu/admissions/tuition-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships-grants/wpi-merit/first-scholarships
Mech E or CS Honestly people move between the two. He should job shadow of he gets an opportunity.
@My3Kiddos “Their robot can best be described as “too many chefs spoil the soup.” However, working on the programming last year and design/build this year has helped him make a decision to major in MechE rather than CS, so from that perspective, the time spent on this has been very worthwhile.”
How about that! The mismanaged project led to some positive educational results! Some types of failure are part of the learning process too! This is not the same dynamic as giving every kid on the poor team a trophy.
This is part of what WPI has learned about project education. Students can learn from their mistakes. Imperfection brings about new and better designs. Evolution is nature’s way! :bz
My DS has a low GPA and 29 ACT. He has been very successful in his acceptances for Engineering. I think a 3.5 UW and that ACT of 34 will yield favorable results at many places.
It sounds like a great essay!! 
I agree with @retiredfarmer I’m a WPI alumni from the 80s. I went on a tour this summer with my son who is very interested in it. He’s applied EA1. We’ll see what happens. We live in CA so I’d like him to stay closer to home but really? I think the way the WPI plan has evolved? It is tailor made for him. I was so impressed while touring. I was telling the kid that I think the school has realized the dream of what they were hoping with the Plan all those years ago. (Granted I can’t believe they leveled the wedge LOL!). Learning through mistakes is key I think. I think our failures are how we progress.
For example there is a fountain they put in which, when the wind picks up, would spray the kids. So a group of kids got together for their MQP and designed a system with wind sensors to determine when to lower the water so people wouldn’t get splashed. Life hack! I thought that was so much fun and the inspiration was perfect.
WPI can be intense. It has 7 week terms. 3 classes a term. Classes almost every day. If you procrastinate or miss too much you can fall hopelessly behind (I speak from direct experience). I think this school is one of those hidden gems (well, these days it is getting more exposure) whereby people might not realize that it is extremely challenging and a strong school. And now? With the support systems they’ve built around it (I wish a lot of this was there in my day)? It really values collaboration and joy of learning.
I don’t want my kid to go to school so far away so I have mixed feelings. However? At the same time? If he gets in here and decides to go? I’ll be super thrilled. (He wants to be Electrical/CS)
@My3Kiddos Your comment “He is on one of the world’s worst performing FIRST teams” made me chuckle bc I think the same for my daughter’s team - in her team’s case, anybody can join and mostly student led, but only a few actually do the work. She’s having fun, but gets annoyed bc “winning” teams are not school clubs, but independent clubs led by engineering parents in their basements!
I think you deserve a trip to Florida! You could look at UF, USF, UCF or USF. All have good engineering. You could look at Embry-Riddle and Florida Tech on the space coast and do a day at the Kennedy space center. U of Miami has a lot of scholarships too.
And you’d be warm and toasty. Buffalo for spring break just doesn’t have the same draw.
Or you could do Denver and see Mines, CU Boulder, DU (has a pretty good engineering school, and lots of merit). I’d even do the Air Force Academy just to see it.
@cag60093 - My son would consider your daughter lucky to not have many people working! My son’s team has to actually set a roster for competitions because there’s too many of them. (And around here, the “winning” teams are also private/club teams.)