Spring Tour Help

College Search & Selection
1

Longtime Reader, first post…

Planning April southern college visit tour for S20. Not sure we can hit them all. Also, he is not super keen on Tulane so may skip.

UTAustin
Tulane
Alabama
Vanderbilt (with understanding the CV is a reach $)
Clemson
South Carolina
UGA

The background:
He thinks he wants engineering, we his parents don’t think it suits his personality. So, I think we are looking for an engineering school that has other options in the event he realizes he is not an engineer. (I do think engineering with business management would be more of a fit.) We won’t get any FA and be willing to afford $50k/year (30k us, 10k 529, 10k loan). Name used to matter, but not so sure it is worth the $$, especially with 3 kids after him. I would love it if he fell in love with an honors college and chased decent merit. We have seen GA Tech, Emory, Duke, UNC, UVA. We can handle the oos cost at GATech&UNC, but the others are likely out. Open to any others in the southern region. Of course, any other schools for a different visit are welcome too-we have several on the list.

Current Stats:
White, Male, CT
ACT 35 (a little bit of prep-likely won’t retake)
SAT 1470-740m 730la (took with zero prep and will take again)
4.08 uw I believe they value an A+ at 4.3
school doesn’t rank but top 5%
All honors with AP World History (5), this year AP Chem, APUSH, AP Lit. (Sr. year AP Physics, AP Calc. AP Eng, AP Bio)

EC’s-I feel are a bit weak:
XC, Indoor&Outdoor Track (very rigorous team/practice-top in state in region)
National Honor Society (math, science, history, latin, english)
Sea Cadet (since age 12 will make highest rank-Chief Petty Office and will be the cadet in charge after June. Sea Cadets includes a variety of summer and winter trainings. No idea if College Admins. care about the awards from them.)
Works part time at Subway
Referees Youth Soccer&Umpires Little League
Altar Server

Sorry so long and thank you!

2

University of Richmond, Davidson, College of Charleston, Washington and Lee, Rice, Ut Austin, UF, University of Miami

3

^^ Good suggestions. Is he a National Merit Semifinalist? Also, with an ACT of 35 I wouldn’t have him retake the SAT.

4

Out of curiousity, which aspect(s) would be wrong? If it is lots of at times tedious study, you’re right about that and there is no escaping it in an engineering degree. However if you’re thinking engineers just sit in an office all day and he’s more an outdoor type there are some branches of engineering that are less deskbound, and also sub-fields within branches that are more outdoors. Field support engineers also regularly visit customers.

5

Not sure why prepping and retaking the SAT is a good use of time/effort when he already has a 35 ACT nailed down. The only way he could improve his position admissions/merit-wise would be by getting a perfect score, which is rather a long shot and not really necessary unless he’s gunning for the top award at 'Bama or the equivalent. (And even then, getting a 36 is easier than getting a 1600 - more margin for error.)

UT Austin is a great school but it’s a pretty big detour relative to the rest of your itinerary, for a school that’s unlikely to be affordable. Also look into whether switching into business would be a definite option if changing his mind about engineering - the b-school is very competitive in its own right and might not take all the students exiting engineering who want business.

Have you looked at Wake Forest at all? Merit might bring it into range, and they have a new and relatively small engineering program that might suit him if he’s not looking for something super hard-core and specialized. Agree that Miami is worth a look.

Is he interested in either academics or military/merchant marine pursuits related to his Sea Cadet experiences, or is he ready to move on from that after high school?

6

Thank you all for your quick responses. Interesting advice on SAT and I see the point that 35 is good. I guess I never thought he would be one and done for both. He knows he can do better on the SAT. So would we just submit the one ACT and never submit SAT?

Commended but not NMSF. Yay CT!

Why not engineer? He is the type of kid who learns something quickly, just to learn it, but never wants to pursue with passion or to perfection. He rather likes to ease his curiosity and then move on. As great as GaTech is, it would concern me that it would be limited and very difficult to switch majors.

We visited Miami and it’s ok in his eyes, but not high on his list. Dad’s undergrad is from there (would kill him to have a UF son) and grad. from UofSC. I am hoping he likes UofSC honors. Kind of wrote off Rice due to cost, but could add. Yes, UT may be a financial reach as well as of oos admit. I didn’t think Wake Forest offered much for merit same for William and Mary. Davidson, URich is on the radar. Not sure W&L fits too remote and too small for him-same for Clemson (even though his uncle went there and a cousin is a current student). Never considered CofC. We really think the Naval Academy would be a good fit, but sadly he is no longer interested.

Thanks again!

7

You could look at some of the Ohio Schools. Ohio State, Miami University and CWRU would likely get in that price point.

8

@NEaster you are from CT, so the Coast Guard Academy is probably on your radar. Sounds like it could be a good fit.

Since you are considering UVA and URichmond, I suggest checking out JMU. The Engineering program – https://www.jmu.edu/academics/undergraduate/majors/Engineering.shtml – is multi-disciplinary, with a focus in sustainability, problem solving, and includes Business Management coursework for Engineering. There is also the possibility of adding a Business minor… and check out the X-Labs https://jmuxlabs.org/

9

Ohio, especially CWRU is on the list. That would be a different trip-along with UofR and Toronto. No interest in CGA. We have a friend’s daughter at JMU, will check it out. Thanks!

10

I have 2 sons pursuing Engineering. S2 is NOT an Engineering type and I can’t talk him into changing.

S1 attended Bama with scholarship. Thanks to generous AP credit/ CLEP, even with Engineering major, he had room to explore other classes for fun.

I STRONGLY encourage contacting Bama Honors college and requesting they set up your visit and an Engineering tour.

You should also explore Ole Miss.
I would drop Tulane due to lack of Engineering, even if you believe it isn’t his major.

SCarolina deserves a visit.

Bama has new facilities for Engineering. S1 visited some top schools, but most didn’t get an app for Engineering because they couldn’t compare to Bama in terms of what freshmen could do. S1 did freshman research (paid stipend), an internship and 3 semesters of coop in addition to summer study abroad.

S2 is at a New England school and he can’t do half as much as his brother did. But, he made his choice based on his perceived prestige of his U.

Have your student really think about what they want outside of Engineering for college years.

11

Even though you can afford $50k per yr, with a 35 ACT there is no reason to pay anywhere near that for a good engineering degree.

There are certainly private universities which would give decent merit aid. But for real bargains it’s hard to beat automatic or near-automatic scholarships you’d get from some big publics in the South or the plains states. Alabama, as already mentioned is a great option, but so are Auburn (seemed more compact and manageable than 'Bama to us), & Florida State (would be very inexpensive for you with tuition waivers and scholarships),

In the states in the middle of the country (Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma), the large publics usually offer low sticker prices, excellent merit aid, beautiful campuses. In both the Midwest and the South, the big publics are sometimes in quite interesting cities (Iowa City, Lincoln NE, Lawrence KS, Norman OK, Columbia SC, Lexington KY) and sometimes cities that are nice, but don’t offer much variety (Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Ames IA, Manhattan KS, Stillwater OK, Oxford MS). Determining approximately how much off-campus variety and excitement your student will need to keep him interested for 4 years might help narrow down the options.

12

UTK, NCSU, VT all have engineering as well as lots of other options and are all in the south.

13

@chb088 excellent schools, but do they offer out of state merit scholarships in amounts sufficient to drive net cost down as low as at some of the others mentioned (Alabama, et al)?

14

You should take UT Austin off the list. We perceived (and all of our friends have confirmed this with personal experience) a huge amount of INflexibility within the department of engineering. You are admitted straight to one specific major, no chance for exploration and it’s next to impossible to switch to another major.

It sounds like his learning habits put him at risk for not being able to choose his major. He learns something, masters it and then wants to move on. This is a cool trait to have but at some point he will have to satisfy the itch so to speak and decide on one thing. So perhaps the broadest engineering degree possible that has many different paths within the one major such as Mechanical Engineering?

You’ve been given good advice above. You should consider adding University of Pittsburgh to the list. Freshman engineering students get an entire year to explore different majors within engineering and then they can select their specific major. We know a few who have transferred out to business, architecture and other majors with no issues. Some have added certificate programs or minors to satisfy the “learning itch” you describe above. With an ACT 35 he could be in line for good merit but it is not guaranteed of course–I would estimate anywhere from $10K (lowball) to 15-20K per year.

15

@moooop UTK most definitely. NCSU offers some, as does VT.

16

Not sure UTK is comparable with some of these other ones, chb. With UTK oos scholarships it looks like somebody with a 34 ACT would still be paying about $15k per yr in tuition. Compare that to a 32 ACT at Bama getting all tuition covered. Or even a 29 ACT at Nebraska, which brings tuition down to about $8k per yr.

17

Look at NC State and VT for engineering. VT is ranked higher, but NC State has lots of great nearby jobs opps and amazing facilities. Both top 30 engineering schools and he’s got a shot to get some merit $$.

18

Thank you all for continued response. I do like NCState, especially with proximity to RTP. Merit or tuition waiver seems tough.

He wants to add TAMU. I like their new Brockman Scholarship, but highly competitive and a long shot.

Good info on Austin’s flexibility, or lack there of! Yes, Pitt and PSU may need to get put on an OH/PA tour. I will have to look into the middle states. I think I am biased being on the east coast. Not sure any of us could be far from the ocean. (Bad way to choose a school!)

I do think he would be better in a more urban area. Having accessibility to internships would be appealing.

Thanks again, so helpful!

19

CofC does not have engineering. They do have an excellent business program.

20

@moooop merit is more generous at UTK than NCSU or VT. But this applicant has good stats and should apply (if they like it) and see what they get at the various schools. My OOS kid got nothing at VT, but his stats weren’t as high. He’s now at NCSU (in state, no merit).