<p>S2 visited Lehigh recently and really liked it. He's interested in Mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>He likes the small size, the friendly profs, the enthusiastic students, the project-based curriculum, the project teams (SAE etc) and the fact that Engineering is a major portion of the school.</p>
<p>We can only afford it though if he gets at least half-tuition scholarship, and I'm not sure he walks on enough water for that ;-) </p>
<p>Where else should we look for a similar vibe? He'd prefer to stay in the northeast, but we need merit money. He has 1440 CR&M on his first try at the SAT -- that's a bit lower than his PSAT so he will probably take that again if his ACT is not higher (written but not scored yet). Nothing outstanding in ECs/Community Service.</p>
<p>By way of comparison, he hated Stony Brook (too big, engineering not enough of a focus, no one seemed enthusiastic about anything) and liked both RPI and Waterloo, but seems to have maybe liked Lehigh a bit better. I like the idea of co-op for him (real co-op like Waterloo, Northeastern, Drexel, RIT do it, not the single co-op options so many engineering schools now offer) so we will visit some more of the co-op schools as well. But wondering what else is out there in the way of smaller engineering schools.</p>
<p>Basically most of the [Association</a> of Independent Technological Universities: AITU](<a href=“http://theaitu.org%5DAssociation”>http://theaitu.org) schools. Beyond the ones already mentioned, Lawrence Technological University has ~3000 undergraduates, Illinois Institute of Technolgy has ~2600, Milwaukee School of Engineering is a bit smaller, as is Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Kettering University.</p>
<p>Co-op, research opportunities, Honors Programs, small classes</p>
<p>Dean’s Scholarship is $10,000/year with GPA at 3.2 or above, SAT over 1100, for Mechanical Engineering.</p>
<p>Cost of Attendance $34,142 less $10,000 in merit, equals $24,142/ for 2013-14 school year.</p>
<p>However you may feel about it, you ought to take a look and view it as a financial safety.
Schools that are over 50k year may not yield much in merit or put much of a dent in the sticker price.</p>
<p>LOL, mathmomvt, I am not trying to sell you a “pig in a poke”…</p>
<p>Alfred University, in Alfred, NY established in 1836 as a co-ed university, is categorized as a Regional University. Comparing it to Rutgers as you did on another thread is comparing apples to oranges!! A large public national university should not be compared with a small regional university… :)</p>
<p>Princeton Review’s Best 377
Princeton Review’s Best Northeastern Colleges
Princeton Review’s Best Business Schools
USNWR’s Best Value
Fiske Guide Best Buy 2013
USNWR’s Great School Great Price
Fiske Guide 2013
Fiske Small Schools Strong in Engineering
Fiske Small Schools Strong in Art & Design
Washington Monthly’s Best Master Degree Institution</p>
<p>Northeastern was the first thing that popped into my head. Boston College is very similar to Lehigh but doesn’t have the engineering chops. If he wanted to try the midwest, Purdue might interest him, or Georgia Tech in the south.</p>
<p>Northeastern, really? Northeastern is also on our list, but based on my visit a few years ago with S1 it seems really different to me than Lehigh. It’s 3 times the size, and very urban compared to Lehigh. In what ways do you think it’s similar?</p>
<p>beantowngirl, I think CMU is off the list for not offering good enough financial aid. The other 3 are all schools we have on our radar. WPI will definitely get a visit. S2 was very interested when we went there with S1, and he was also impressed by a rep who visited his HS. </p>
<p>xray - thanks for the AITU suggestion – will check those out.</p>
<p>slumom, Alfred is on our “maybe” list. He’s a likely NMF so we have financial safeties in Northeastern and Drexel, but for a smaller, more rural school, it may be a good fit. We hit Drexel last week and he did really like it. </p>
<p>You say we shouldn’t compare a big public like Rutgers to a small private like Alfred, but we have to compare the big to the small, urban to rural, and lots of data points in between to see which seem like a good fit and which seem like the best quality education he can get within our price range and his parameters (which are only beginning to be defined). The comparison helps him figure out his priorities.</p>
<p>Run your EFC on the College Board website EFC for both IM and FM. Keep hitting save so you can refer back to it. Use your 2012 tax returns.</p>
<p>Buy the book “PAYING FOR COLLEGE WITHOUT GOING BROKE” Princeton Review, by Kalman Chany, the most recent edition… Do the worksheets in back of the book with your2012 Tax Returns.</p>
<p>Lafayette college comes to my mind when I think about Lehigh. Lafayette has 2400 students, which is lesser than that of Lehigh, but also has a great engineering program, enthusiastic professors and students, and a nice community feel. They give out merit scholarship that covers half tuition I think, and a 1440 is definitely in the range for consideration. Lastly Lehigh and Lafayette are rival schools in sports and geographically they are not that far away from each other.</p>
<p>My daughter is interested in Lehigh, but for science – probably biochemistry. She says she wants to go into drug research. I am steering her to look at Rensellaer and Worcester Polytech, both of which have biotech facilities on campus. Anyone know about Lehigh’s science program – not engineering. Thanks.</p>