Hi- DS (junior) is researching and narrowing down on schools to apply to for engineering. He is most interested in nuclear, aerospace or possibly chemical engineering. His stats are pretty good academically (35ACT, 4.5 weighted GPA) and he has a decent/ interesting EC profile. No hooks that I can think of. I’m watching different threads where kids aren’t getting into any schools they applied to, with the common refrain of “you needed a safety school” in the responses. So far, he is narrowing down to NC State, Georgia Tech, USNA, MIT, Olin, Northwestern, and perhaps CWRU. I’d say NC State and maybe CWRU are matches. The others are reaches to varying degrees. Any advice on solid engineering programs that would be a ‘safety’ option?
What is your home state? Also a safety includes affordability so what is your budget? Yes, his list is currently rather reach heavy since engineering is very competitive.
Wisconsin, UIUC, Penn State and Purdue all have nuclear engineering and should be safe admission options for him.
UPitt?
If it’s in your budget look at University at Buffalo. It was a safety for my d19 who wants ChemE. We loved their engineering department tour. Great facilities, great tour. He could apply EA, and there is some merit even for OOS. It was actually tough to hit that decline button when she got into her ED school.
Maybe Clarkson, that’s a NY private. There’s merit but again budget might make a difference in whether it’s really a safety.
Really focus on a safety or two and show it lots of attention. Not to boost chances of acceptance really (at UB for instance, showing interest doesn’t matter) but to increase his affection for them. It makes the process much better overall. My d has some super depressed friends who have their hearts riding on RD matches and reaches. Between rejections, unaffordable schools and super reaches they haven’t yet heard from, they are more than a little resentful that they might have to go to safeties they had been shrugging off for months.
The OOS flagships are matches but I would not call them safeties, especially for engineering majors.
Clarkson would be a good safety.
Cincinnati too.
I third Clarkson but they don’t offer nuclear. Was going to suggest Drexel as well but they don’t offer it either.
Colorado School of Mines, Ohio State, RPi, Kansas State or Oregon State
An engineering specialty does not need to be available to get a good undergraduate engineering education. Some in the field actually recommend a more general UG with electives to get exposure to a specialty. So, do not rule out a good safety until you look through the electives offered. For example, my DS16 has an interest in power. He has gotten exposure through electives and a summer internship but his major is Electrical (“EE”). His school is known for their power specialty without offering it as a major.
Are you sure NCSU is not a safety (particularly in-state)? https://report.oirp.ncsu.edu/ir/cds/pdfs/CDS_2018-2019.v3.pdf
Ohio State would probably offer some good merit.
Arizona State, Rutgers, UCF, USF
Many public universities suggested. Make sure they are affordable, as out-of-state tuition is higher than in-state (e.g. CO Mines $55k) and not all publics offer financial aid to out-of-states students. Check their Net Price Calculators.
For the record RPI would not be a safety, nor would I say Ohio State is for engineering. Rutgers is also a bit on the line.
As additions, WPI and RIT could both be better safeties if RPI interests him. Financial affordability has to come first here for safeties though.
If you are in North Carolina as your user name suggests, the other in-state publics would be (allowing for mechanical in place of aerospace if aerospace is not offered):
NC A&T: mechanical and chemical
UNC Charlotte: mechanical
Other possibilities, if out-of-state costs and scholarships result in affordability:
Alabama - Huntsville: aerospace and chemical
New Mexico: mechanical, chemical, and nuclear
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology: mechanical and chemical
New Mexico State: aerospace and chemical
Missouri University of Science and Technology: mechanical, chemical, and nuclear
South Carolina State: nuclear
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology: mechanical and chemical
Tuskegee: aerospace and chemical
Nuclear is not that easy to find, as only about 20 colleges in the US have bachelor’s degree programs in it. Unfortunately, the search for programs in ABET’s web site is broken for nuclear.
Since USNA is on his list, indicating interest in a Navy officer career, he may want to check for the availability of Naval ROTC at each school as well.
I have two kids at Maryland in engineering. Very solid school with a lot of connections to nearby government agencies. Should be relatively easy to get in with the stats you provided, and perhaps get some merit money.
His stats would probably get him merit at New Mexico, Arizona State, and Texas Tech if you are willing to look farther away. I know two kids going to Texas Tech for Chem E next year on generous merit, both smart high stats kids.
Currently, his stats would get him Full Tuition for all 4 years at UAH. A 36 ACT would currently get 2 years of Housing in addition to the Full Tuition aid. I get the feeling that the merit aid at UAH is going to continue to be trimmed back, now that they are at full capacity in their on campus housing. ABET certified for engineering, and they have an Honors College.
Thanks everyone for the great suggestions! Some we had pondered, some weren’t even on our radar. We are in North Carolina, and NC State is definitely a top choice. We see them as a match instead of a safety because the engineering program is particularly competitive. I’ve told him that I don’t want to pay out of state tuition for a public program, so he has included GT because of ROTC. There are a limit to how many schools you can include for ROTC, so that limits the number of public schools we can look at using that route. RTI, UAH and a few others above had been on his earlier lists, so maybe time for him to dust that off and run the numbers again. I do really appreciate the time everyone takes to help with these questions! 
I gots to tell you that don’t count on CWRU being a “match”…look over at the RD results thread.
I would look at any public ABET accredited schools in your state to be possible safeties.
@bopper we honestly don’t count on any guarantees from any program (even ‘safeties’). Too many variables outside our control. However, in terms of what I think of as a match- where his stats and numbers are similar to the 50-75% percentile of current students, then I think CWRU could fit.