I’m considering going out of state. I live in North Carolina and would like to get away from home, make new friends, and see new things. Some of the schools I’ve looked into right now are:
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Connecticut
Iowa State
Texas A & M
University of Texas
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Penn State
University of Michigan-Ann Harbor
University of Florida
University of Central Florida
I want to major in Computer Engineering. I could go to NC State, but I would really prefer to go out of state. I wanted to know if any of you guys knew some things about these schools and maybe some other schools I should consider. If it helps I have a GPA of 3.45 unweighted, ACT: 24, and I would prefer a nice, beautiful campus. Also the more LGBT friendly, the better. The size of the college isn’t a big problem, but less than 100 student per classroom would be nice as well.
I don’t know your financial situation but one of your first steps should be going to each colleges website and using their NPCS, ie calculator to give you a better idea what the whole thing will cost. Some schools are better with OOS tuition than others you will quickly find out. I’m sure you have read some of the sad stories on here of students who didn’t do this step til after acceptance and realize their choices were not affordable.
My son’s interest is Engineering and after much research out of your list, A&M and CU Boulder made his list.
take a look at http://www.sreb.org/page/1304/academic_common_market.html to see if there are any colleges you are interested in that offer reduced tuition. Some even match your in-state cost. Eligibility depends on major for many programs.
I know you will pay more for each one of those schools being out of state. For instance Penn State, UMich and UT will probably be in the $50K/year realm. Will your parents pay that? Your stats would make UMich and UT a major reach.
I really like CU Boulder because of the Rockies but it’s pretty expensive. I’ve also decided to cross out Penn State because of money issues. UMich, UF, and UT are a bit of a stretch, but I plan to take the SAT this May and I’ll be retaking the ACT soon so maybe that will help out if I score well.
Talk with your parents now. Run the NPC on Colorado Boulder, Iowa State, UCF (those are the colleges where you have a decent shot at getting in from your list above), bring the results: which universities are affordable without loans?
Look into:
UMass Lowell, UMW, Longwood, VCU, Temple, Miami-Ohio, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Saint Louis University, UScranton, Missouri School of Mines and Tech, UWyoming, Lawrence Tech, Kettering, Rose Hulman.
Check the NPCs for cost, fill out the “request info” to demonstrate interest and get free brochures.
You won’t be climbing into range for any merit at UT or UMich. It’s HIGHLY competitive (think ACT of 35/36). BTW, NC State is a great engineering school so make sure it stays on your list.
I did expect a lot of competition for UMich and UT. My top picks so far are Texas A&M, UConn, Iowa State, and CU Boulder. I think UConn would be the harder school to get into out of these four. NC State is a great school, but everybody I know goes there or at least tries to go there because it’s a 30 minute drive from home.
Consider Ohio University. Your ACT is at the lower end for engineering but you might be ok for OU. OU is a very attractive campus with a competitive engineering program. It would definitely be cheaper than Penn State.
You should be forewarned that UT-Austin has become a very tough nut for out-of-state students to crack, on account of its statutory obligation to admit the top 7% of every high school class in the state.
I second the recommending of Ohio University as well as South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Also investigate…
U of Alabama Birmingham (and the LGBT Alliance Scholarship)
U of Portland
Illinois Institute of Technology
Marquette University
Washington University St. Louis
U of Southern California
Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
U of South Carolina-Columbia