I plugged everything into the financial aid calculator for my dream school and it calculated $0 of financial aid. It feels like I pulled all those all nighters and got rekt every Friday for absolutely nothing. Should I even bother with taking 4 APs and having days with 12 hours of school+extracurricular+leadership activities? Cuz I’d rather just sleep tbh.
But, really… what are some affordable options for engineering?
How much can your family afford? What are your stats? It’s a little early to do the woe is me tune when you haven’t applied yet. You can make this a win by selecting the right schools.
What can you afford?
What kind of stats do you have?
In WA, are UW and WSU affordable?
You should keep doing well in high school to prepare for college. If you slack off, you will have to catch up in college.
However, try to use your time better so that you will not “need” all nighters.
Also, high test scores, accomplishments, etc. lead to scholarships and thus more options. Don’t just focus on one dream school. That’s like pining after only one girl your whole life without noticing any others.
Where are you from and what are your dream schools? That would help us determine what’s in your price range (most if not all public schools in your state will be cheaper than out of state or private universities).
Also, high AP scores could earn you college credit. That’s real money.
I couldn’t afford my dream school. Nor can I afford my dream house or dream car. The idea is that you make the best choices you can given your resources.
I’m in WA. My parents can only afford up to $35k/year. My dream school is CMU. I was also interested in Berkeley. I have a 3.85, which is not amazing, but I go to the top school in the state. I also happened to screw up my GPA freshman year and I’ve been making up for it by trying to pull straight As. I’ve needed the all nighters to get 5+ hours of homework/studying done after getting home from school at like 10 pm. I’m kind of dumb so studying takes a while. 
I did some pretty cool internships too. I know it probably doesn’t matter to schools, but I just want to go to a school full of opportunities and hands on projects.
You have a ton of options, don’t despair. If your test scores are up there, you could in fact study undergraduate engineering with close to free tuition at some schools, do well and go to grad school at your dream school (paid by research fellowship?). UDub is an outstanding engineering school, but you may not want to stay in Seattle, alas.
Apply to the University of Washington. It’s a great university. Well-respected outside of the state, as well. I had thought about applying there personally as a New Yorker, but those damned OOS costs! You could always look into CMU for graduate studies if you’re interested in pursuing education past a Bachelor’s.
But that’s a generic response and probably doesn’t ease your anxiety, so let me ask, why is that your dream school? What does it offer that other universities don’t? Is it the location, internships that you couldn’t land elsewhere, academic rigor, a staff of professors that you just have to study under?
Anything out-of-state is going to push up against your financial ceiling. UWash by itself is $28k if you include room and board. UCB, under your budget, is definitely out of the question. But apply to CMU. Apply to any program you’re really interested in and they’ll send you financial aid packages - maybe you’ll be surprised. Just have a solid safety, which should provide you with a decent education, even if it’s not your number one pick.
In WA, UW is excellent for engineering! It’s a great value for WA students. WSU also has good engineering, and Western Washington has electrical engineering and computer science.
You may also be able to get scholarships to fund some of the schools you like. So I’d still apply to CMU, and try to curate a good list of colleges that offer some merit aid and have good engineering. There are thousands of schools in the country, and if you are competitive for CMU, you are very competitive and eligible for merit aid at tons of other schools.
However, OOS public universities are usually out of reach for students whose parents aren’t full pay, so I wouldn’t put too much investment into going to Berkeley.
^ Good suggestion.
Is that GPA weighted or unweighted?
UW is the school I will most likely end up going to if I don’t have any other options. I have a safety, but UW isn’t incredibly hard to get into. My problem with the school is the large class size. Maybe it’d be more appealing if I got into a program directly, although I’d like to attend a more competitive college if I can afford it. Plus I’d like to move away from my sexist dad and eventually become financially independent, but that’s just infeasible. D:
Right, what test scores do you have?
Cool internships do matter.
Depending on scores and your total package, schools like WPI, RIT, RPI, and Stevens may be affordable.
If you can get in to Olin or Cooper Union, they may be on the edge of affordability.
Webb is free (all 3 of Webb, Cooper Union, and Olin have limited majors).
BTW, all research U’s have large intro classes. Including CMU.
Washington engineering majors are quite competitive to get direct frosh admission, since they only admit 10-20% directly as frosh. Getting into Washington as undeclared or pre-engineering is less difficult, but then it will be a competitive environment due to the heavy interest and limited space in the engineering majors.
https://www.engr.washington.edu/future/undergrad-adm
https://www.engr.washington.edu/current/admissions/admitstats
Of course, there is also Washington State.
If net price calculators at CMU and other schools do not show affordability on need-based aid, you can look for merit scholarships. Look at these lists, but verify scholarships on school web sites.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ (potential safeties)
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/ (probable reaches for the scholarships)
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (if National Merit)
Even if that GPA is unweighted, it would be in the middle of the pack at UW (and thus, not likely a direct admit to an engineering major, unless the SAT/ACT is off the chart). Instate will help for general admission. Unweighted GPA of enrolled freshmen in 2015: 3.75 to 4.00: 64.24%; 3.50 to 3.74: 27.16%.
P.S. Get some sleep. It will help you feel better about things.
What are your ACT or SAT scores?
Also, remember that no school is perfect, & your dream school probably isn’t as amazing as you imagine it to be. I knew a really sharp young guy who went there & hated it.
You’re knocking UW for having large classes. That’s what you’d see at UCB as well, and you would be full pay there (unaffordable). If you really want to look out of state then look at the links in post #17.
Apply to schools you are interested in and see what the financial package is. Don’t just write the school off. Schools give aid for different reasons, not just for need. Our family doesn’t meet need and our B student received some discounts/scholarships from a few schools. Our guess is because of her major choice. In fact, some of the Ivys give need to students whose families earn up to $100K.