<p>I'm a high school senior looking into engineering programs. I feel pretty lost because it seems like I dont have too many options. So I'm here to ask for any suggestions for colleges. </p>
<p>Desirable Attribtues:
Big School (7-8000+)
High quality engineering program
Lower cost is of course prefereable</p>
<p>But at the same time, I appreciate any suggestions even if it isn't a perfect match. Some suggestions for safety schools would be nice too. </p>
<p>Current List:
U of I UC
Carnegie Mellon
USC</p>
<p>Stats:
35 ACT (35E, 36M, 34R, 33S, 9W)
3.92/4.00 Unweighted GPA
4.99/5.33 Weighted GPA
No Class Rank Reported
800 on Math II SAT II and Physics
3 AP Classes in progress, Spanish, Calc BC, Physics C
Without going into too much detail, my extra curricular are, by my own gauge, above average.</p>
<p>University of Alabama. It is ranked somewhere between 75-100 in Engineering schools. But, they have great merit based financial aid (cheap to attend).</p>
<p>With your grades, you have a chance at MIT. They have great need based aid (cheap if you are poor).</p>
<p>So, MIT would be a nice Reach school, and UAB a good safety school.</p>
<p>Without knowing what state you’re from, I’m not sure why you feel that way. You appear to be an extremely strong applicant. Cal Poly SLO is a good choice if you are from CA, not as good a choice if you are OOS since the costs rise rather dramatically compared to in-state applicants.</p>
<p>If you could advise what state you reside in, that would be very helpful to recommend good state schools with solid E programs.</p>
<p>A buddy of mine is out of state from California and got a full ride here at NC State, you may want to check us out too as we have a good aid package, a pretty strong engineering dept, and amazing recruiting.</p>
<p>WPI is an option if you’re willing to settle for 5000 students instead of 7000+. They have a minimum scholarship of 20K for National Merit Finalists if you happen to become one. You don’t mention your SAT scores here but your other stats are excellent and if your scores are 2250+ you have a good chance at merit money from WPI, and you also have a good chance of getting into MIT, CMU (engineering but probably not CS), and especially Harvey Mudd. </p>
<p>Although the Cal Poly campus and SLO in general are beautiful, I can’t recommend it. At least, two years ago when my older S was college shopping (CompSci) it was common knowledge that Cal Poly SLO students were having a hard time finishing their degrees on time because budget/prof cuts were making it hard for students to get into <em>required</em> classes let alone electives. </p>
<p>Other options besides WPI, mostly match/safety schools for you, are Rose-Hulman, Univ of Michigan (state school but extremely well-regarded in Engineering / CompSci), Georgia Tech, UT-Austin, and Wisconsin/Madison.</p>
<p>Are you from Illinois? If so, definitely keep UIUC on your short list. I also think NC State and Northeastern are great suggestions from Chucktown and colorado_mom, both giving good merit aid. You might also want to look at Arizona State, also known to “buy” talented applicants who might otherwise go to more selective schools (similar to UAlabama’s strategy, only ranked higher in Engineering). </p>
<p>Definitely apply to more selective schools as well. Some other options may include: Duke, Northwestern, and Rice (smaller than your indicated preference, but an excellent school).</p>
<p>If you have something distinguishing and different about yourself (you said EC’s above average), you might want to consider Harvard. If you can get in, they have one of the best financial aid program.</p>
<p>Remember: Don’t look at sticker price. Look at cost after financial aid (excluding loans).</p>
<p>In response to questions, I do live in illinois, am not a merit finalist, and have not taken the SAT I. </p>
<p>From what I can see, I need to talk to my parents about how much they can pay and using an estimated cost of attendance to better gauge colleges on their price.</p>
<p>Depending on which engineering you want, I would check Rice in Houston and Trinity in San Antonio. Both are generous w/merit for students with your stats. Rice, followed by TU, has the highest SAT/ACT in TX. Both are also generous with FA. Rice is a PROFILE school, TU is not. At least visit the websites of both.</p>
<p>You’ve got good stats and, depending on your strength and commitment to your ECs, a top engineering school (such as MIT) could be in your future. </p>
<p>A good place to start looking (and one my kids used) is thru the college board online (yes , the ones who produce the SAT tests). Just do a ggogle search on “college finder and college board” and it should pop up. It will ask you to decide between large schools/ small schools; big city/rural settings; etc as well as your GPA and test scores. </p>
<p>Then just start looking a the schools online to see what they offer and is it in line with what you like.</p>
<p>See if you can visit the school or if they have a local info session you can attend.</p>
<p>There is a lot of info out there and it can be overwhelming at times. Just relax, kick back and enjoy going thru it</p>
<p>Texas A&M ranks 8th in public engineering programs and 12th overall. If you qualify for a scholarship from the university, which seems like a strong possibility since you have excellent stats, you would be eligible for in state tuition. If you are a NMSF or beyond scholarships are excellent. One drawback though is that they are on rolling admissions and engineering majors fill up quickly, some faster then others. I would suggest that if you are interested in applying that you do so quickly and possibly contact the school of engineering to get an idea of how likely it is that you will be able to get into your chosen specialty.</p>