<p>Hello all
I have spent some time on these boards and I thank you for all your insights...</p>
<p>I have a son who is a sophomore in HS and we would like to start visiting colleges this spring and summer....we are so overwhelmed with choices and wondering if you could give us some guidance on places to start :)
He is very interested in mechanical engineering and would specifically like to work in the automotive industry ( perhaps car safety systems?). He has done well so far in school taking all advanced classes at a top high school. His GPA unweighted is about 97... He took a math SAT section just for giggles and scored 700... He would do as well on the other parts I am assuming. He is a personality who prefers a more collaborative environment rather than competitive...so we would like him to go to the best school he can and still be in an environment that is not so cut throat. </p>
<p>Any thoughts on where to begin....it would be a bonus to go somewhere that will offer some merit aid for a kid like him...we are in New York....so far our list includes:
Case western
RPI
Miami of Ohio
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Northeastern...big coop program
George Washington
Illinois
Carnegie Mellon
Michigan
Northwestern
Purdue
Virginia tech</p>
<p>His dad attended Cornell but we feel like that is not the right environment for him</p>
<p>Thanks for any direction, personal experience etc....</p>
<p>I see that you have a number of big 10 schools listed. Not sure why you have Miami of Ohio rather than Ohio State. My son was accepted at a number of Big 10 schools–Ohio State was, by far, the most generous when it came to scholarships–and the Buckeye Scholarship is given to high-achieving out-of-state students. He majored in Mechanical Engineering and interned at Honda in Marysville, outside Columbus.</p>
<p>Thanks for your personal perspective… Miami of Ohio is on the list because we have always loved the campus and because they seems to give alot of merit aid :)… Good to know info about Ohio state</p>
<p>I’m a big proponent of doing college touring. But initially you can start with schools that are faily close to home. That will give some initial idea about general factors (big vs small, urban vs rural, etc). Then next year you can have a more refined list and plan a spring vacation / college tour. </p>
<p>IT is often more interesting to visit when college is in session. But we did a lot of summer tours at places if handy when visiting back-East relatives.</p>
<p>We are definitely planning on lots of local college tours so that he can figure out what he is looking for. I went to Binghamton and my husband went to Cornell… One of my biggest regrets of my life was attending BU… No school spirit, industrial campus, lack of national recognition…so for my kids, I would prefer they not attend a SUNY if they did well enough to get into a school “worth the money”… Luckily we able to give them that opportunity. We are close to RIT and U of R so we will visit there also…
What about smaller private colleges… Any we should take a look at?</p>
<p>Our son is in the middle of the waiting game on his pending applications. He is interested in MechE as well specifically AERO. You definitely would want to consider RIT on this as we noted they have an excellent AUTO concentration with the ME dept. Certainly works if coop is something he’d be interested in and there should be decent merit + they’re a bit lower than some of the other privates to start with so may be a good $$ school if you dont feel you’re going to get any FA and will need to rely on merit aid. That’s the boat we’re in as well. WPI should definitely be on your list since you are looking for a collaborative (non cut-throat environ.). Our son was accepted there EA, but it is pricy and merit aid is not as good apparently as other schools, but excluding the money factor it sounds like exactly what you’d be looking for in a school. Its one of our top choices so nice to have in the bag at this point. And one school that often goes under the radar but is very good overall for eng., esp. MechE is Clarkson. Being from NY I’m sure you are aware of this school. Just curious why it is not on your list? Too remote?</p>
<p>WPI and Clarkson are good choices for smaller STEM schools with a less-cutthroat environment. Both offer merit scholarships. If you are looking for merit aid you need to cast a wide net, since it is hard to predict how much your student would be valued at one school versus another. There are some merit awards for specific accomplishments such as NMF, or WPI has one for valedictorians/salutatorians, but most merit awards have no specific requirements.
I think Clarkson has a problem attracting lots of applicants because its location is too remote. We visited and my son liked the school but not the location…</p>
<p>If money is a big deal, follow BeanTownGirl’s advice. You can’t count on a school’s reputation for merit aid as a guarantee. </p>
<p>My son was accepted to both Case and WPI. He has very good stats and relative to those of last year’s freshman class at both institutions, would have been in the upper part of either. Case is more selective. As judged by test scores and class rank of the previously admitted classes, they attract a higher caliber student. Case has far better USNWR rankings (for whatever that’s worth). My son was awarded $50k in merit at WPI and $100k at Case. Go figure.</p>
<p>Do the official tour at a local state school that you know he’d be ok with AND you know he’d get into. Then you can build from there without any pressure.</p>
<p>Terryellen-- I also think that Miami of Ohio is a beautiful campus, but two of my kids opted for Ohio State–it seems that students either fall in love with one or the other–but not both–they are so different, so it depends on your son’s personality. Miami is very rural, small, fairly conservative with a very preppy feel–the greek life is very popular, and they are known for their Business programs. I know kids that have been very happy there. Ohio State is in a city, very diverse, lots of things happening both on and off campus, many strong programs in all areas of study. My son was in the Honors program, so he was in small classes and was able to sign-up for courses early, so he never had a problem getting into classes. He was also accepted to U. of Michigan, Purdue, and Georgia Tech–but the money offered at OSU was so much more. He had lots of internship opportunities, and just graduated with multiple job offers–so it was a good decision, and he has no student loans to pay off. Many of the BIG 10 schools have good engineering programs, though–your son probably would be happy at any of the schools–but offers of financial help can vary quite a bit.</p>
<p>Thanks dexters dad for throwing WPI in the mix… It wasn’t on our list but we will check it out… Clarkson is a school we think highly of… Unfortunately, his older cousin just applied there and our son is not a fan of his cousin… So he won’t even consider it:flushed: silly I know and maybe we will bring him there to check it put for himself</p>
<p>Thanks for all the references and thoughts… So generous with your time
Really like hearing about Ohio State… Wasn’t on our list but you are making it quite attractive…Small classes, honors track and the all important job offers!!
Since DH went to cornell he feels like it is still an asset and opens doors twenty years later…just want to make sure we get that too if we can😄</p>
<p>WPI is great, I am a senior here. The school has a small SAE chapter and the classes are not really geared towards automotive engineering. The mechanical engineering is solid, if that counts. As part of the project-based curriculum, seniors can do their design capstones in SAE projects, such as Baja and other stuffs I cannot remember. Totally check us out!</p>
<p>Most of the smaller [Association</a> of Independent Technological Universities: AITU](<a href=“http://theaitu.org%5DAssociation”>http://theaitu.org) schools would be a good choice to look at (a number of them have already been mentioned…). Kettering University is particularly focused on automotive.</p>
<p>Terry - I’m a MechE from Clarkson and really liked it a lot. (Take that with a grain of salt. I’ve lived near SUNY Binghamton and took a few grad classes. - also had positive opinion of it. And per above you regret SUNY.) STEM-centric schools are not everybody’s cup of tea. That’s why you are wise to be thinking about visits. </p>
<p>Northeastern does have a great co-op program. The neat thing is that you can live on campus for at least the first 3 of the 5 years. Many students do Boston co-op and continue campus life with their friends. Co-op is a great thing, but not as easy to do when not part of everybody’s agenda. </p>
<p>We liked Case more than we expected. They gave DS (top stats) excellent scholarship, so costs would have been less than state flagstaff. He liked it better I than Caregie Mellon, which only does need-based FA. </p>
<p>Generally a good way to begin is to run some NPC (Net Price Calculators). That will help you know whether you should chasing need-based financial aid or merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Thanks colorado mom… Guessing you are back on line after the big game we will not get any need based aid… We already have one in college and our estimated contribution was 99999…
Good to know about Carnegie Mellon… That means it would be a full ticket school for us…</p>
<p>Terry - You should know that 99,999 EFC gets divided… thus “only” 50K per student when 2 in college. But that is not much difference from full ticket, and for many families overlap is just one or two years. We only kept CMU on our list due to the fabulous experiences of a relative and the rumor that they match offers from “peer schools”, including RPI. But RPI only offered 10k/yr (plus 5.5K loans). </p>
<p>Northeastern and WPI give good scholarships to NMF (National Merit Finalist). That requires top .5% on junior year PSAT (done by state averages). Next summer have your son take some practice exams and check past state cutoffs to see if that is a factor for you. Then make sure he is signed up for fall PSAT.</p>
<p>Northeastern gives fairly generous merit aid even to non-merit finalists with good stats. And their coop program is fantastic if that’s something your son is interested in. My daughters is only a sophmore and currently on her first coop in computer engineering. She’s with a great company and doing real engineering.</p>
silly I know and maybe we will bring him there to check it put for himself</p>
we will not get any need based aid… We already have one in college and our estimated contribution was 99999…