Searching for Good Engineering School

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I'm a high school junior (soon to be senior) in search of a college that offers great engineering programs, as I'm sure many of you are</p>

<p>My main goal in my search is to find one where I could get a sufficient amount of merit-based aid/scholarships. (I'm stuck in the ol' middle class conundrum: my parents don't make enough to afford the full cost or nearly full cost of tuition, yet they make too much for me to get sufficient need-based aid from most schools)</p>

<p>So, I guess this is the part where I lay out some info so you can get a better understanding of the kind of student I am:</p>

<p>SAT: 2240 (720/800/720); SAT II: Chemistry: 760, Mathematics Level 2: 800
GPA: My school doesn't inform me of me GPA on a 4.0 scale, but my weighted average is around 98%
Courses: I won't bore you with a long list, just know that I take every AP and Honors course I can (other than AP Bio and some art one because they don't apply to the field I'm interested in), and I have taken on a full course load every year (no daily study halls for this guy).
ECs: Again, I won't list everything, but I consider myself to be involved in a sufficient amount of ECs and I am on the Varsity Track and Varisty Cross Country teams.</p>

<p>Now, not to worry, I did some research of my own before asking you guys for help. So here's a list of some schools I'm interested in.</p>

<p>-Rochester Institute of Technology</p>

<p>-Case Western Reserve University (I'm scared of big cities like Cleveland, though. Just thought I'd note that)</p>

<p>-Johns Hopkins University</p>

<p>-Georgia Institute of Technology (Public school=usually not much aid, but I figure it's worth a shot)</p>

<p>-University of California-Berkley (I would pay in-state tuition)</p>

<p>-Cornell University (I know they don't offer merit-based aid and are very selective, but I really liked it there so I plan to apply anyway)</p>

<p>So any input, suggestions for schools to consider, or comments on the schools listed above would be very much appreciated. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>You cant beat instate tuition. Drop git and add more ca engineering schools
You need to find out what you can afford and what your coa is</p>

3

<p>One strategy I have read about is to go to a cheap instate public school for you undergrad and save your money for an elite university for a masters or doctorate degree (Since the reputation of your undergrad means very little when applying to grad school), so If you are planning to get a masters in engineering that might be a viable strategy.</p>

4

<p>Add Alabama to your list. You will automatically earn full tuition scholarship to their honors college, plus additional $2500 per year engineering scholarship. Total COA will about $12K. School is flush with cash (football dollars), spending tons of it recruiting top professors and high-end students. Most other schools are cutting back on spending. They also just built an enormous state of the art engineering complex. Campus is stunning, students are quite attractive, and everyone there loves it. Definitely worth investigating.</p>

5

<p>Is in-state cost at UCs affordable to you and your parents? If so, you may want to add more of them for match or safety purposes.</p>

<p>Note that CSUs like Cal Poly SLO are less expensive than UCs.</p>

<p>If you need really big merit scholarships, look at these lists:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Thanks for all your help, guys. As far as the UC’s go, and all the other colleges for that matter, I haven’t had the “money talk” with my parents yet, since that tends to be a sensitive issue with people. However, my sister is starting college this fall and her full cost of attendance will be around $28,000 per year, and my parents don’t appear to be terribly troubled by that, so I think that paying for UC schools would be doable. I’ll probably look into UCLA and Davis.</p>

7

<p>If you like RIT, you might as well consider their local rival U Rochester - esp if research is also an interest you have. The stats are higher at U Rochester (overall), but you’d be in there with a potential for merit aid.</p>

<p>Other schools that you could consider (with engineering and good merit aid) would include Pittsburgh and Clarkson (NY). U Alabama would also be on my list, but someone already mentioned it.</p>

8

<p>RPI, WPI, maybe Northeastern, BU, Drexel?
If you are trying to score merit aid, you need to cast a wide net since it is hard to predict how hard any given school will work to attract you.</p>

9

<p>Consider NMT in Socorro NM?</p>

10

<p>Rose Hulman - usu #1 ranked engineering school for schools that don’t offer PhD.</p>

11

<p>Look into Northeastern, USC, and Trinity University (TX).</p>

12

<p>Why not Illinois Tech?</p>

13

<p>RIT gives good financial aid, and with your stats, some of it is guaranteed. </p>

<p>If you are scared of big cities, Hopkins may not be a great fit. It’s in Baltimore (where we are from), and while it isn’t in the heart of the city, it is urban, and crime is not unheard of . . .</p>

<p>Georgia Tech is pretty outstanding and increasingly competitive.</p>

<p>Have you thought about Rice? I’m not sure what the aid situation would be there, but it is an incredible school . . .my son didn’t have the stats to get in there, but we loved our visit.</p>

<p>Another school worth looking at might be Lehigh.</p>

14

<p>Do you prefer theory or practical knowledge? If you’re excited by building robots, computers, or circuits then you should consider Cal Poly SLO. The in-state cost is quite a bit less than UCs, up to $10,000/year less if you live off campus. If you prefer theory, then you can add UCSD along with UCD. Also check out Harvey Mudd - might be a reach, but they give a small number of merit scholarships, and with 2 in college your EFC will be lower for the years there’s an overlap with your sister.</p>

<p>[Home</a> - College of Engineering - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“http://ceng.calpoly.edu/]Home”>http://ceng.calpoly.edu/)</p>

15

<p>Most of the UCs have very strong engineering programs with ample, high level, research opportunities (excluding Merced). You might want to look into UCSC’s Baskin School of Engineering. UC Irvine also has an excellent engineering school with plentiful undergraduate research opportunities. </p>

<p>Oh and if you’re scared of big cities, Georgia Tech is in the middle of Atlanta, and Berkeley isn’t exactly a rural school.</p>

16

<p>Harvey Mudd</p>