<p>Not too many geeks are recruited for football. It’s definitely a solid hook he’s earned the right to use of whether he chooses to play or not. </p>
<p>“It’s definitely a solid hook he’s earned the right to use whether he chooses to play or not.” I totally disagree. My engineering kids both had some athletic interest that they decided not to pursue . I would never have encouraged them to waste a coach’s time or their time if they knew they had no intention of playing. Recruiting is a stressful process. There is no need to get into it if you don’t want to play. My nephew plays basketball for an Ivy now and the recruiting process definitely afforded him opportunities but also added some tension to the application process. I think it is great that the OP considers her son a " very straight shooter." He is doing the right thing by not leading coaches on.</p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad </p>
<p>I meant to post this also but was interrupted.</p>
<p>Addressing ME b/c that is the OP’s ds’s interest, UA student, Sarah Johnson, a ME undergrad, is a Hollings, Goldwater, and Mitchell Scholar. </p>
<p><a href=“http://uanews.ua.edu/2012/11/ua-student-receives-prestigious-george-j-mitchell-scholarship/”>http://uanews.ua.edu/2012/11/ua-student-receives-prestigious-george-j-mitchell-scholarship/</a>
<a href=“http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2012/12/08/mitchell-scholars-chosen-for-2014-masters-study-in-ireland/”>http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2012/12/08/mitchell-scholars-chosen-for-2014-masters-study-in-ireland/</a></p>
<p>In general, UA’s engineering dept has undergrads winning top scholar awards.<br>
<a href=“http://eng.ua.edu/about/demographics/”>http://eng.ua.edu/about/demographics/</a></p>
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<p>if the dept is devoid of providing a quality engineering education, it is perplexing how these students managed any level of achievement.</p>
<p>@BobWallace:</p>
<p>You’re right about BC; my badd (BU looked like BC on Google; it was late). As for being full-need & need-blind, I went by Wikipedia:
<a href=“Need-blind admission - Wikipedia”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia;
<p>Looking at just U of Miami, they certainly seem to say they are need-blind and try to be full-need (<a href=“http://www.miami.edu/index.php/office_of_financial_assistance/faqs/):”>http://www.miami.edu/index.php/office_of_financial_assistance/faqs/):</a></p>
<p>“Will applying for financial aid affect my chances for admission?
Absolutely not! The Office of Admissions and the Office of Financial Assistance Services work independently. The University of Miami’s “need-blind” admission policy assures that admission decisions are made without regard to a family’s financial circumstances.”</p>
<p>“The University of Miami is committed to meeting as much of our student’s full need as possible throughout their undergraduate years. However, an individual student’s need may change from year to year. First, educational costs may increase. Second, changes in family size, number in college, and gross income, for instance, can increase or decrease parental contribution from year to year. If family circumstances remain stable, the parental contribution will be relatively constant.” </p>
<p>Cooper Union (which until recently, gave full tuition scholarships to everyone), will still be giving a bunch of full tuition scholarships and seem very likely to meet full need.</p>
<p>Where are you getting your information from, Bob Wallace?</p>
<p>Well in terms of ivies, since they meet full need, Cornell would be great. Columbia would also be a good choice since you said he’d also like to take a little bit of music and such. I wouldn’t say they’re all that far out of reach given his profile. </p>
<p>@mdcmom Is your son familiar with the five service academies. What you have posted here leads me to believe he could be competitive for admission. They do not cost any money but they are not free in that they all require a period of service.</p>
<p>The USMA, USNA and USAFA all require 5 years of active duty service as an officer in their respective military branches.
The USCGA requires 5 years of service as well but their mission is more humanitarian in nature.
The USMMA requires 5 years of civilian work in the maritime industry along with a naval reserve commitment.</p>
<p>The academies are not for everyone but they have excellent academics and tremendous opportunities for the right people. They like straight shooters.</p>
<p>In any case, please keep in mind that there are a lot of schools between MIT/Ivies (definitely reaches for the OP without a football hook for the Ivies) and Alabama. Nothing against Alabama, BTW, but like most schools, it certainly tends to open up more job opportunities and offer a stronger brand and network in its immediate region than elsewhere. So the OP’s son should definitely take in to consideration what region of the country he wants to work in after graduation.</p>
<p>Also, what denomination is the OP clergy of?</p>
<p>For instance, BU offers a scholarship to children of Methodist clergy:
<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/costs-aid-scholarships/scholarships/merit/”>http://www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/costs-aid-scholarships/scholarships/merit/</a></p>
<p>Still, those scholarships probably aren’t going to be as much as fin aid. Depending on the region of the country, I would certainly have the kid apply to schools where he’s around the 75th percentile in stats, are need-blind, and meet full-need (or close to it). For instance, GWU and Case Western can’t be completely full-need any more (they’re in that big group of schools who want to be), but a kid who’s around the 75th percentile is likely someone the school wants more than a kid around the 25th percentile, so they’re much more likely to meet full need for that kid.</p>
<p>Here’s a good list of schools that are need-blind, need-aware, full-need, or try to be:
<a href=“Need-blind admission - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.parchment.com”>www.parchment.com</a> has percentile data.</p>
<p>BTW, I’ll put in another plug for Case Western (I’m not affiliated with them), as they are known for engineering and also have a respected music school. They’re also known for offering generous merit scholarships to kids above the 75th percentile in stats, so I certainly would expect the OP’s kid to get full-need.</p>
<p>If ending up in CA is the goal of the OP’s kid, along with USC as an option, both U of San Diego and Santa Clara are need-blind and do not meet full-need, but with the OP’s stats being comfortably above the 75th percentile of both schools, I would be shocked if they did not offer him full-need. They both have engineering as well.</p>
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</p>
<p>The CDS for each school will show stats on how much of need is met and for how many students.</p>
<p>For example, U of Miami:
</p>
<p>OK, thanks, @BobWallace.</p>
<p>The Common Data Sets of the schools the OP is interested in are definitely worth checking out.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned UVa but I’ll add more detail.I think he sounds like a very good fit and it is about 6 hours driving distance from the Binghamton area. His athletic and musical EC’s are great. UVa meets full need, D1 sports, beautiful grounds, great recruiting and loyal alumni. <a href=“http://www.seas.virginia.edu/about/facts/”>http://www.seas.virginia.edu/about/facts/</a></p>
<p>Virginia Tech is generally considered the stronger Engineering school but UVA is ABET accredited in Mech.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, I had one kid at each. Both very good . Virginia Tech is probably more hands on-lots of research in robotics, Lumenhaus ,etc. They have a brand new Signature Engineering building. </p>
<p>For a kid from the NE interested in engineering and music/performing arts, I suggest WPI. My nephew, a talented actor/singer, is going there, and he will be able to continue with performing. They gave him generous merit (family probably didn’t qualify for need-based).</p>
<p>I’m not sure RPI has been mentioned yet. Anecdotally they are quite generous with FA.</p>
<p>Lafayette, Union College and Stevens Institute of Tech are popular choices for kids from my D’s science/math magnet school who intend to do engineering.</p>
<p>Re: Alabama, I floated that possibility to my daughter when she was considering engineering schools. My D is an extremely politically liberal, atheist, sports-hating Northeasterner; for her, the idea of attending an enormous, Big Sports, big Greek-life school in the deep South had zero appeal. I truly don’t say that to insult m2ck, Bama or anyone who loves it. But the social/“fit” piece is important for all kids, even engineering majors, even kids seeking considerable FA. It’s hard to do well in college if you really don’t like your environment. I think Bama would have been a horrible fit for my particular kid. She is attending Smith College with an immensely generous FA package- another school that would be a terrible fit for many, and not an option at all for OP’s son. ;)</p>
<p>I was having problems editing my post above. Whoops!</p>
<p>Of course, one should still consider Alabama / any other automatic tuition scholarship schools, because at least they have a financial safety (assuming they can afford the residual cost). To be honest, if one intends to go to college and would have to go to Alabama or nowhere, I’m sure most of time they would select the former. Of course, the OP has many more options open to her, and if the social climate of the deep south does not appeal to her, she need not have to put too much emphasis on Alabama.</p>
<p>@Ctesiphon, I agree. Just wanted OP to be aware that there are private choices that may turn out to be more affordable than OOS publics, and there may be things that make them especially appealing to a kid who’s interested in music/theater and wants nothing more to do with football. The kids I know who will be attending WPI/RPI/Union/Lafayette/Stevens got very good FA.</p>
<p>It’s not enough just to get into and pay for college- we all want our kids to do well once there.</p>
<p>“wants nothing more to do with football.” I may have missed it but does the son want nothing more to do with football or just doesn’t want to play anymore? That is a big difference. Some boys do prefer schools with big football and basketball programs, others could care less. Neither of my sons would consider applying to Wm & M , despite it being a great school and instate. They preferred schools with a bigger sports scene. They also had no interest in tech type schools. They probably would have liked Alabama! Roll Tide!</p>
<p>@sevmom, I don’t know the answer to your question, but OP mentioned that music was important to her son and that playing football wasn’t. Simply going to a college with great sports wasn’t mentioned at all, at least not that I noticed, which leads me to believe it isn’t a big priority for her son. Given her son’s great stats and high financial need, a private such as Lafayette or Union might be a great fit for him. I also wanted to be sure to point out to her that WPI DOES have a nice music program, despite being a “tech school”.</p>
<p>Agree, sugarski Those could be good fits depending on what the son is looking for . That is where fit comes in. Cornell ED sounds like a good fit as well and since they are fairly low income, he probably doesn’t have anything to lose by giving that a shot.</p>
<p>Ohio University in Athens and U of Portland in Oregon are two ‘under the radar’ universities whose engineering alumni do well. Both have significant undergraduate scholarship programs. OU is a state university and UP is a Catholic school. Athens has a reputation as an interesting college town. While not California, Portland is a very culturally hip city. As for music, there’s the OU Jazz Ensemble and the UP Jazz Band. Athens is about a 8.5 hour drive from Manhattan, NY.</p>