<p>Ello, Im a California student, readying myself for college apps and looking for some safety schools. I wont bore you with a long list of stats but I consider my self a pretty good student, i have a 34 ACT, and will be applying to top schools such as MIT and Stanford. I will be majoring in either mechanical of civil engineering. If I get into an elite private school, I'll get good financial aid, and if I get into a in-state school that's a safety, it will be decently cheap. Problem is there's not any really good engineering schools in California that could be considered safeties for me. ( Maybe UC-San Diego, but I've visited the campus, and I'm not fond of it.) UCLA and UC Berkley are not really safeties and UC Davis, Santa Barbara, and Irvine are pretty good at engineering but still below my standards. </p>
<p>So out of these really top tier public engineering schools ( Penn State, Texas A&M, UofTexas-Austin, Wisconsin, Illinois, UofWashington, Michigan-I know its not really a safety-, Purdue, maybe throw Minnesota and Maryland in that mix) I wont include VirginiaTech and GeorgiaTech because i don't want to go to school that's 70-80% male. </p>
<p>-Which of them offer good out of state financial aid. I here some are laughable and some are quite good so if you have knowledge please fill me in.</p>
<p>Quinn, Your assertion about Virginia Tech’s M/F ratio is not true . It is not 70-80% male. The Common Data Set indicates that the entering freshman class in 2012 had 3038 men and 2443 women. Of course, there are many more male engineering students than female but that is fairly universal . Good luck with finding the right school for you!</p>
<p>Having worked for Cal Tech phDs who were Professor’s at UC Irvine and who tried to make their courses as difficult as possible (granted they were upper divs), I can assure you that you’ll find UCI’s engineering challenging. If not, go work on one of the many groundbreaking research projects on campus.</p>
<p>Given that the OP doesn’t consider UCSB, UCD, and UCI to be worthy, it is unlikely that s/he considers guaranteed-big-merit schools like Alabama, Louisiana Tech, and Prairie View A&M to be worthy.</p>
<p>I.e. it is likely that the OP is picky enough to eliminate all possible safeties.</p>
<p>UC Davis, Santa Barbara, and Irvine are pretty good at engineering but still below my standards</p>
<p>lol…what does that mean? What are your “standards” and what qualifies you to determine that those schools aren’t good enough???</p>
<p>*Problem is there’s not any really good engineering schools in California that could be considered safeties for me. *</p>
<p>FYI: There are over 25 very good engineering programs in Calif alone. Since their grads are hired by people who know a heck more than you do about the quality of engineering programs, I suggest that you adjust your “standards.” lol</p>
<p>I took it my first time ( no studying ) and got 29. I took it a second time, again no studying and got a 31. My parents hired an act instructor and he says he can get it up to a 34 no problem, so im sure you can do it if you prep.</p>
<p>Why did you write that you have a 34 when you have a 31? That ACT tutor cannot promise that score. You “may” get it, but for him to say that you can get a 34 “no problem” sounds like someone promising in order to get the paid gig.</p>
<p>Minnesota won’t give much (if any) need-based aid to an OOS student, but its COA for OOS students ($31,374) is roughly comparable to in-state COA at UCLA ($32,563) or UC Berkeley ($33,320). I wouldn’t classify it as a safety for an OOS engineering student with a 31 ACT, however. Minnesota’s admission stats for engineering are considerably higher than for most of its other undergrad programs.</p>