<p>I know i am asking for a lot; i mean (at least in my opinion) what school can compare to Cornell? The reason i ask this unconventional question is that Cornell is a very competitive school, and i would like to add more safety/match schools to my list. Another reason i want to consider other colleges is because i live in Montana. New York is just about as far away from my home i could get and with a young niece, nephew, and close knit family i could see the distance becoming a psychological burden. Relating back to the question above, i am looking for a college with the following, listed in order of importance:</p>
<p>NORTHWEST/WESTERN REGION (will also like other recommendations if it seems like a good match.)</p>
<p>Intended major: Mechanical Engineering
Possible minors or areas of expertise: aero-Eng, applied math, music
ROTC: (Army, Air Force)</p>
<p>preferences but not necessarily deciding factors:
Academic prestige, especially in intended major
Rural setting
20k or less undergrad students
Football possibilities for an athlete being recruited by lower D-1 conferences (Ivy League, Big Sky, Patriot League)</p>
<p>It would be GREATLY GREATLY GREATLY appreciated if i could get any recommendations, i have several in mind but little information to persuade myself past any more commitment then an idea. Thanks in advance</p>
<p>Reed is definitely not what you’re looking for. No engineering (there are 3-2 programs with Columbia and Caltech, but that looks like more hassle than it’s worth to me), no football (or any other sport), urban setting, no ROTC, very small compared to Cornell. I’d also discount Whitman for similar reasons, though its students are reasonably athletic from what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>I don’t believe there is any school in the Northwest (WA,OR,ID,MT) that matches your criteria (with good mechanical engineering, ROTC, rural setting, football; prestigious but less selective than Cornell, 20K students; etc.) The closest match might be the University of Washington, one of the University of California schools, or a Big Ten school (like Minnesota). Northwestern is similar to Cornell in some ways, but it is about as selective.</p>
<p>If your heart is set on a large tech/science oriented school in the PNW, then…
U of Washington
Washington State University
Oregon State University</p>
<p>Two catholic schools, Seattle University and the U of Portland, offer a Mechanical Engineering degree. I’d say UP is the stronger of the two. Liberal Arts Colleges in the region with good science departments (but no engineering) are Willamette University and Linfield College. Take a look at Southern Oregon University (public) also.</p>
<p>You might also look into Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, WICHE. Western states grant students from other western states in-state tuition at some schools including U of Oregon and many more. Here’s a link: [WICHE</a> FRONT PAGE | Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education](<a href=“http://wiche.edu/]WICHE”>http://wiche.edu/)</p>
<p>WSU meets all your criteria except academic prestige, which is over rated for educational purposes, they have a good engineering program. Even their football team meets the criteria, since they would be better off in the Big Sky than the Pac too many. Maybe U of Idaho. Pullman and Moscow are both rural, OSU is too I guess, especially compared to UW.
EWU in Cheney still has football, don’t know anything about engineering there. There are other small colleges like Whitworth that play lower div. football, but then you are not hitting the engineering track. Good luck, but there is no Cornell in the NW.</p>
<p>Actually, if I were you, I’d save yourself a little bit of money and go to Montana State. You’d pay in-state tuition. I don’t know where Montana State is in the rankings (or how good their football team is), but after a few years of working in the engineering field, no one cares where you went to school.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the comments! I was surprised to see 12 posts already when i was barely gone 12 hours. U of Washington was on my list, as well as U of Portland, and Montana State U was also very high. Reed was almost at the top of my list until i decided that i wanted to pursue an engineering degree rather then a mathematics degree (it’s comparable to Carroll college in Helena MT in my opinion, 3-2 program). U of Minnesota has been recommenced to me several times, and i am unsure yet. Would anyone be able to compare it to U of Wash? because i am a little more familiar with that university. Montana State University has a fairly good engineering program. However a 2.5 GPA and 22 on the ACT is all that it takes to get past admission, i know a lot of people that are there for engineering that barely passed Algebra II in high school. Though my friends think it’s weird, i was looking for a little more course rigor to help challenge myself more. CAL-poly? Minnesota? University of Portland? U of Wash? These seem to be near the top of my interests for Northwest. And does anybody have some information regarding the Air Force Academy in Colorado? Sorry for the big chunk of information… haha</p>
<p>Definitely consider Minnesota. Its overall academic prestige may not quite equal U Washington’s but for engineering they’re pretty comparable and for mechanical engineering Minnesota’s rated several notches better, one of the best in the nation. Somewhat surprisingly given Boeing’s historic presence in the Puget Sound region, Minnesota even ranks ahead of UW in aerospace/aeronautical engineering. </p>
<p>It’s not exactly the “Northwest” but it’s pretty darned close. Billings is actually closer to Minneapolis than to Seattle, and many Montana cities have non-stop air service to Minneapolis-St. Paul, one of two major airline hubs (the other is Denver) that serve multiple Montana cities with non-stops. There’s also train service (Amtrak’s Empire Builder), and of course high-speed, lightly traveled interstate highways that make auto traffic between the two a breeze.</p>
<p>It’s big (33,000 students) and in a city (Minneapolis), not a small town—but similar to UW on both those scores. The winters are cold but not colder than Montana; you’ll feel right at home weather-wise, whereas Seattle is warmer but rainy in the winter; come to think of it, Seattle is rainy pretty much anytime, whereas Minnesota is often sunny, more like Montana.</p>
<p>Best of all, OOS tuition is pretty reasonable, pegged at in-state plus $4,000, so currently right aronud $15,000 for OOS.</p>
<p>As for football, the Gophers play in the Big Ten, overall pretty comparable to the Pac 10, but lately (well, pretty much since the 1960s) the Gophers have played the game as if they were a non-BCS school. So maybe you’d have a chance as a walk-on.</p>
<p>Definitely Montana State! It’s a very solid engineering program - trust me, people in the NW know of it. Lots of smart kids I know are going there for engineering because it a) is cheap for WUE or in your case instate, b) is in a gorgeous location, and c) has pretty good engineering programs.</p>
<p>UDub and UMN are extremely similar. Both are enormous flagships and excellent engineering schools located in large cities that dominate their respective states. I’ll be enrolling at UMN this fall, so feel free to ask any questions you might have. If you are willing to compromise on urban vs. rural setting, I’d recommend it.</p>
<p>U Portland is a fine school, but I don’t think it is especially known for engineering. Given the urban location, I would only look there if you really wanted a small school.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you’d like the unique atmosphere of a service academy, but the USAFA fits your criteria pretty well. Though Colorado Springs is definitely not a small town anymore.</p>
<p>In addition to the above, check out Colorado State and U Wyoming. I’d argue that Colorado and Wyoming have more in common with most of Montana than either Washington or Oregon. CSU has a particularly good engineering school, and UWyo has received lots of cash from the resource-rich state of Wyoming and is pretty impressive too.</p>
<p>Rule of thumb is that you go with the best school you can afford, with emphasis on <em>afford</em>. Starting pay for engineers is normally around $50K, so you definitely don’t want to mortgage your future for an engineering degree. Regarding Montana State’s lax entrance requirements, you obviously will have a better chance of running into bozos who shouldn’t ever have been admitted into college. The thing is, the academics will likely not be any easier at Montana State than other schools on your list, and most of the bozos will disappear by the end of Calculus I because they realize they actually have to work hard.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info guys, Montana State is a for sure to apply to. Im just not worried about admision, and i concider it a backup. I know quiet a bit about MSU to, having alumni and 50% of my class mates going there, so i don’t have many questions concerning them. Financially my family doesn’t have much for support. I’ve been told by counslers and recruiters that i have a very good chance at an ROTC scholarship (I have the grades for an average scholarship winner and good ec’s for ROTC ex. Eagle scout, firefighter, work experience, several varsity sports every year, leadership ect.) so that will be the deciding factor for out-of-state possibilities. U of Minnesota is sounding better every second. I was wondering about the campuses other then the main campus? I’ve gotten football letters from Morris and Duluth without my own inquiry. I’ll choose a better school over football however. And for Air Force Acedemy, im planing on ROTC reguardless of scholarship. I want to serve my country for 8 or more years, should i look more into the air force? I’ve heard it’s great, but another concern i heard was that if it’s not your first choice they look the other way. does anybody know about this? Those are my thoughts for universities at the moment.</p>
<p>I’m very happy to have chosen Minnesota. It’s a huge school in a large metropolitan area, which won’t appeal to everyone. But I loved the campus and the Cities.</p>
<p>The Morris campus is a fine public LAC, but it does not offer engineering. You would have to transfer to the Twin Cities. UM-D is a decent school, and Duluth’s location by the lake is very pretty, but I think MSU is stronger academically. I can’t really see why you’d choose the Duluth campus over your own state school.</p>
<p>With that said, after I applied to the Twin Cities campus I was sent a letter with an offer to have my application forwarded to any of the other campuses for consideration as well. So it might be very easy to apply to multiple campuses even if they aren’t perfect.</p>
<p>I hope that helps! Do check out Wyoming as well; I think it might be a very good fit.</p>