Recommend a school?

<p>I'm going to be a senior this upcoming year, and I'm looking for suggestions to add to my short college list: PSU (University Park), Rutgers, and University of Maryland. I plan on going into Aerospace Engineering, and I'd like to stay around $30,000 or less per year.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.89 unweighted, 4.02 weighted
PSATs: 225
SATs: 2090</p>

<p>I took 3 APs last year: Calc AB, Psych, and Lit&Comp. Next year, I plan to take AP Calc BC, AP Physics, and AP Stat, as well as an English class at a local community college.</p>

<p>ECs: I'm the first chair viola in my school's string orchestra and pit orchestra for the musical, and I am the piano accompanist for two school choirs. I also participate in chamber orchestra outside of school. I'm the president of the school's music honor society as well as a member of the thespian society and the Do Something Club (a community service club). I have also won a Scholastic Gold Key in writing.</p>

<p>How are those three public Us in different states under $30K? What is your home state? It looks like you will be a NMSF so that will help. Go to the Financial Aid Forum and look at the pinned threads. I know Alabama would offer full tuition and then some.</p>

<p>@ Erin’s Dad I’m from PA, so PSU is right in my price range. According to the cost calculator on Rugers’s site, it’ll also be under $30,000. UMaryland is unfortunately out of my price range, but I’m keeping it as a reach in case I get any scholarships.
I’ll check out the Financial Aid Forum. Thanks! :)</p>

<p>A lot of the good aeronautical engg schools are going to be public schools and OOS. Therefore, they will have a COA greater than $30K. (It goes without saying that any private will be more than $30K.) So you’ll need to find full tuition scholarships or ones as big as Rutgers’ Presidential. So do check out the FA forum and those full tuition/ride threads.</p>

<p>Are your parents aware that you intend for them to pay $30K each year for four years? You can only borrow about $27K over those 4 years, so that leaves your parents to put up over $90K. You’ve had The Talk and gotten this commitment from them?</p>

<p>@jkeil911 I’ve had the talk with them and they’re willing to put up $30,000 per year max. Of course, I don’t want them to have to spend so much on me, so I’ll be looking for all the scholarships I can get. According to my older sister, who is a music ed major, viola minors get a fair amount of money because of how few people pursue the instrument past high school, so that may be an option</p>

<p>that’s a nice hook to have, OP. I hadn’t heard of that possibility. I’m glad your parents can be so generous, but I understand your desire to knock down the costs to them.</p>

<p>UMD could become affordable, OP. They love their music and aerospace programs. The arts are alive at UMD, and NASA Goddard is just down the road. I’m from MD and my S goes there in chem. I might add to your list: Embry-Riddle, Florida Inst of Technology, Clarkson, Texas A&M, Cal Poly SLO, Ohio State, and Worcester Polytech, in no particular order and without doing the affordability shtick for you.</p>

<p>How you’re going to squeeze time for a music minor/program/certificate into an aeronautical engg major is best left up to you.</p>

<p>@jkeil911‌ thank you so much for your input! I’ll definitely look into those schools and the music program at UMD :)</p>