Ohio State - An 11th Hour Add to the College List?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Ohio State University
1

I’m not sure how Ohio State didn’t get on our radar sooner, but it looks like a really good add to my daughter’s list. Per the university’s website, she has the stats to qualify for the Maximum & National Buckeye Scholarships. I know she would need to hustle to apply by the November 1 deadline.

Stats:
Female, white, from Hawaii
4.0 UW GPA, 1st in her very small class (1 out of 24), rigorous course load (3 APs w/ 5 score, 4 dual credit so far, will get through Calculus III at community college by graduation)
32 ACT (E 35 M 34 R 29 S 30 & taking again in October)
Not a ton of ECs, but she works part-time, has been an outrigger paddler since she was 10, and started a group that organizes beach clean-ups.

Intended major: Mechanical Engineering

Can School of Engineering scholarships be stacked on top of the other merit scholarships? Are engineering scholarships very plentiful? Does anyone know the percentage of women in undergraduate engineering? I’m also curious why students choose to apply to the Honors vs Scholars Programs since per the website you can’t do both.

Thanks & aloha!

2

Yes, scholarships from the College of Engineering can be stacked onto other merit scholarships. Many students I know in engineering have received an engineering scholarship. I’m not sure what percentage of first-year engineering students are awarded engineering scholarships, nor do I know how large those scholarships usually are (my engineering scholarship is a few hundred dollars, but there are bigger scholarships available). As an incoming freshman, she can apply for freshman engineering scholarships.This website has useful information about that: https://engineering.osu.edu/students/undergraduate-students/scholarships/incoming-freshmen

There are also some smaller engineering scholarships that are awarded automatically (that’s what happened with me).

Once she is a student at OSU, your daughter can apply for additional engineering scholarships. Competition for these scholarships will vary by department (mechanical engineering will probably be pretty competitive for scholarships because there are so many students).

About Honors and Scholars:
I’m in the Honors program and I love it. Both Honors and Scholars receive priority scheduling for classes. Honors receives “university-level priority” while Scholars receives “college-level priority,” meaning that Honors students have scheduling priority before Scholars students do, but both have priority (nice perk). If your daughter is specifically looking for a tight-knit group of motivated people with similar interests, Scholars offers that benefit.

If your daughter is interested in applying for the Eminence Fellows program, which is a full cost of attendance scholarship plus a $3000 enrichment grant to be used for study abroad, internships, research, etc., she should apply to Honors. Here is the Eminence website: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/honors/eminence

Honors also offers the Honors Collegium: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/honors/collegium

I don’t want to provide any incorrect information about the Scholars program, so you’ll probably want to find a Scholars student to answer any questions you may have. Overall, I know both programs are great and will connect your daughter to fantastic resources and opportunities.

To your daughter:
Ohio State is an amazing university. It gets a little chilly here in the winter, but it’s a wonderful place full of very kind, driven people. Before I committed to OSU, someone told me that their favorite part about this university is “the spirit of possibility.” Big goals, ideas, and dreams are always floating around here, and there is always someone to support you in your pursuit of those dreams. You should definitely apply - we would love to welcome you here as a Buckeye!
Plus, you’ll get to sing the most beautiful alma mater out there, played by The Best Damn Band In The Land: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CPTQyr3bKw

Best of luck! I hope I’ll be able to welcome you to the Ohio State family next fall!

3

@hardlyimaginary your complete, insightful, and kindhearted response is so appreciated. OSU is lucky to have an emissary like you on CC.

Thank you & aloha!

4

Just for completeness … not trying to disagree with anything said above, but want to point out some of the drawbacks of the university as well.

In engineering, OSU has the worst faculty to student ratio of all schools in big ten. Big ten, with exception of Northwestern, is all (large) state schools … Illinois, Purdue, and so on. So, even more students per faculty than all of these big schools. With recent emphasis from the governor on affordability, this is all going to get worse. They plan to get more transfer students or students transfering from a regional campus - more students means more money for the university, especially if you can teach them with larger class sizes and/or using more adjunct faculty/TAs.