hello, my brother is going to be a senior next year and he has had a tough time this year. i am trying to help him make a college list so we need help. so if you guys could please give us suggestions for some good schools.
His stats:
middle school honors student
Averages because his school weighs GPAs.
Freshman year: 88% (anxiety and mild depression)
Sophomore year: 87% (anxiety and mild depression)
Junior year: ~90%, 2 C’s in AP classes which add 10 points to gpa so around technically the count as B+:( (anxiety and serious depression (it got worse this year) )
Senior year: ?
SAT: around 1800 but going to improve
Excellent EC’s. President/ Officer in a few. Key Club, SkillUSA, Interact, etc. Class Officer
School doesn’t offer sports so he does intramurals
He loves community service
WON 2ND PLACE AT A STATE COMPETITION! ;
150+ hours at a science center and a few hours here and there from different places.
Summer leadership camp on diversity and change
been helping out dad with business since age 7
We live in NJ
There is no set limit on how much we could pay for his college but under 40K is better
parents went to college in our home country therefore we technically aren’t first gen college students
He should seriously look at Rutgers. It’s instate and has a good engineering program. With his stats though, for any engineering program, they will have to improve. That means higher GPA and higher SAT. (Middle school honors student doesn’t matter; only HS achievements matter) A more serious issue though…the anxiety and depression…I understand in some cultures, seeking help for psychological issues is frowned upon but your brother may need to see someone. Especially if it got worse this year.
If your brother’s anxiety and depression doesn’t improve, you might want to think about in-state options or community college so he is close to home.
Well, things like depression and anxiety get worse in college, so try to get those things handled FIRST. Has he seen both a therapist and physician.
there are many schools that will accept him, but my concern is that he’ll crash and burn without his support system nearby if he hasn’t been properly treated and medicated.
@TheDidactic @mom2collegekids i have talked to him about if he is ready for college. he said he is mentally ready for college and he is willing to go. he says that he is slowly going away. his depression is “largely linked to college itself”. he claims that it will go away after he gets there. plus if he decides to go to the same college i will be going to, i will be there for him.
bump?
In-state NJ publics and out-of-state SUNYs seem like obvious ones to consider from a cost standpoint.
But agree that the anxiety and depression need to be figured out.
I think he should look at some LACs or some smallish schools.
LAC sized schools with better engineering offerings that most LACs that have engineering include the “Mines” schools in SD, NM, and CO. The SD and NM ones are not that selective and not that expensive.
Rutgers and Rowan, maybe?
@hungryteenager we are considering rowan and rutgers but they both a very competitive i heard. it sucks to live in NJ sometimes 
Rowan and Rutgers are fine for people who are in-state. Same goes to any other college in NJ such as TCNJ, Rider, Stockton, Montclair State, Seton Hall, Kean, William Paterson, NJIT, Stevens Institute of Technology, Fairleigh Dickinson, Ramapo, or Drew. I would recommend Monmouth (which is very good) but it’s also very expensive.
Your brother, like all other students, should build his list based on his current GPA and test scores, not a fanciful one. He can always add a reach, if his grades and scores go way up, but it’s important to identify colleges where he can get in as himself instead of someone else. Rutgers, Temple, NJIT, and West VA are al possibilities. If he’s willing to travel a little further, he could look at Clemson, UCF, USF, FGCU, or even some western public universities (e.g. Montana, Wyoming, NM, et al).
@TheDidactic rider, stockton, montclair, seton hall, wp, fdu, ramapo, drew, and monmouth do not have mechanical engineering if i am not mistaken. rowan, tcnj, rutgers, stevens, and njit are the only ones that do.
@woogzmama we are considering wvu because of their double in aero and mech. i heard it has a decent engineering program. plus their gpa requirement is a 3.0 or something. other than that the only issue is the tuiton. i don’t think my parents would want to pay that much for a state school especially when it is not that high in ranks. don’t get me wrong, i am not saying that wvu is a bad school, but the only thing about it is that my parents have not heard of it. would you recommend Virginia Tech?
Stockton has dual degree programs with Rutgers and NJIT for multiple types of engineering. (http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=183&pageID=50)
Either way, I was just spouting those names off as examples. They are all schools that are not too selective/difficult to get into, especially for in state NJ students. A majority of the student body is from NJ.
@TheDidactic i appreciate that you took the time to find out info on Stockton. thank you for that! but my parents would discourage stockton because they haven’t really heard of it. the only issue in this whole thing is our parents -_-
Seton Hall has a similar dual degree program for Mech Eng. (http://www.shu.edu/academics/upload/270-06_Engineering-2.pdf)
Drew has engineering programs: (http://www.drew.edu/undergraduate/what-you-learn/engineering)
Fairleigh Dickinson also has Mech Eng Technology.
I understand how the prestige thing can shield a lot of people but honestly with your brother’s stats, a prestigious school would be difficult anyways. Engineering students really should have a 2050+ SAT and a top notch GPA. On top of that, money is a huge thing. It’s fine now to brag about a bumper sticker school such as Virginia Tech but funding it is a different story. Like said above, going away to a semi-cutthroat school may also worsen your brother’s anxiety and depression.
I would also consider Union County College if you are near by. Rutgers and NJIT have articulation agreements with them and Stevens Tech recommended I go there to transfer to Stevens.
Dual degree or 3+2 programs that require transfer make it less likely for the student to complete an engineering degree, due to the extra cost and need to transfer.
If he is intent on engineering, there are plenty of perfectly good schools with native engineering majors that are realistic for admission and cost. So there is no real need to look at dual degree or 3+2 programs at schools without native engineering majors.
@smokinact we are not in union