<p>Perhaps due to some issues of semantics, but this is a tad confusing. Questbridge or Quest Scholars are students who have been accepted by schools through the QB programs. This should include the College Matched students as well as the ones who were admitted but without a College Match. </p>
<p>As far as second level “schools” that is yet another confusing statement. As far as I know, there is only one group of schools, and they all participate in the College Match program.</p>
<p>I suspect there are several schools (UA birmingham as well as UA) that go pretty far with aid for a 34 ACT score. However, there may still be some loans involved.</p>
<p>His ACT is a 32. those schools do not superscore for scholarships. Frankly, I don’t know of any schools that superscore for assured scholarships. </p>
<p>Yes, at Bama he’d get full tuition. </p>
<p>As an eng’g major, he’d get 2500 added to the full tuition. </p>
<p>then adding full Pell and other fed aid, he’d likely have his direct costs covered.</p>
<p>a. Physics is probably a better choice for major to prepare for engineering if engineering is not available (though applied math or statistics may be prepare for industrial engineering).</p>
<p>b. Some LACs (and other smaller schools) do offer engineering. But some other LACs which do not have engineering also have limited or weak math, physics, statistics, and computer science offerings and degree programs. One has to choose carefully.</p>
<p>c. Financial aid generosity varies among LACs, as it does with non-LACs.</p>
<p>“An ACT 32 will not yield a large scholarship from Purdue. At most, he’d get about $10k per year, at a school that costs more than over $40k OOS. Purdue would only add fed aid to that, so the student would be gapped big time.”</p>
<p>Wow, you’re right. I was thinking of a student I knew several years ago with a 34 ACT; he received $15k back when OOS tuition was $22k. With federal funds added, the gap seemed small enough to cover with loans, especially considering the employment value of a Purdue engineering degree. The current figures definitely make Purdue less of an option. </p>
<p>I agree with trying Clarkson, Case Western, and you also might want to consider the University of Rochester. They rate pretty high with need based aid met (96% last I saw). </p>
<p>You can try Pittsburgh too, but they aren’t so good with need-based aid and last year one needed a 33 to get good merit aid (might have had small awards for lower scores). I doubt they allow superscoring.</p>
<p>xiggi - thanks for clarification. I know there are several Ivies and top 10-20 schools participating in the QB program. However, I am not sure which ones are a step below that participate.</p>
<p>Do you have any recommendations in the QB program for this kid?</p>
<p>m2ck - Sounds like UA will cover the entire cost through FA for a 0 EFC kid?</p>
<p>Maybe, it’s worth an application as the guaranteed tuition makes it a good financial possibility, but don’t count on it all to come through. My guy had the free tuition w/scores, but the rest of the FA would have had us paying a little more than both Rochester and Pitt, plus, of course, there will be travel costs. Our EFC was low, but not 0. </p>
<p>Try many options and see where his best finances lie when it all comes in. If there are a few with similar finances, then let him choose based upon what he likes/better program/pretty girls/whatever. We were able to do that. My guy will be going to URoc this fall. He likes the oodles of research options there and felt he had found his “group” of students after spending an overnight. But we waited until we found out finances first, then let him choose. (He chose applications, of course, so would have been happy at any of the places he applied had there been only one affordable option. Don’t waste the $$ applying to places he doesn’t like.)</p>
<p>I know several former students who’ve attended U of R, including my nephew ( he liked it so much that he stayed 7 years & got his Phd.), all of them have raved about the school. Campus is stately & impressive. Great school!!</p>
<p>^There are several parents on 2012 class thread whose kids will be attending U of R this year. Some have older kids (at least one) who are already students.</p>
<p>Lehigh – IMHO I think he has a very good chance of getting in at Lehigh. Definitely worth the application there.</p>
<p>Lafayette – Explore Lafayette as well. They have limited merit, but the merit is large amounts.</p>
<p>TCNJ – A student (URM) from my son’s school who applied as an Engineering major was offered far more than the average published merit amount. It is a small school with a nice campus layout and green space. They now take the common app. </p>
<p>Bama – Remember they are rolling admissions and the application is already open. Applying there is a 3 step process (genl U, scholarship app, after acceptance, honors app). My son HATES large schools and schools with roads through it. He agreed to look at Bama for the $. The more he looks, the more he discovers it has far more things he wants in terms of community, class size and academics then he expected. It has gone from bottom safety to the measuring yardstick.</p>
Pretty much yes … with a couple very nice quads also. The one issue I had with the campus is there is not a lot to do/eat walkable from campus … we didn’t do an expensive search … the school built a very nice campus in a nice location (space, trees, quads, etc) but to make that work it seems to not be near much.</p>
<p>We’ve never been to RPI, so can’t compare. We did visit Pitt (not CM, though it’s right next door, so we saw it). Rochester has more of a bubble feel to me (and my guy). Pitt felt far more urban. </p>
<p>My guy was checking out neuroscience schools.</p>
<p>m2ck - Sounds like UA will cover the entire cost through FA for a 0 EFC kid?</p>
<p>It depends on what you consider the “entire cost”. COAs can include things like travel, personal expenses, priciest dorms, etc. UA isn’t going to cover all of that. But, with full tuition, plus 2500 per year for eng’g, when you add a 5500 Pell grant and a 5500 student loan, then nearly all direct costs would be covered as long as you don’t choose the pricey dorms. </p>
<p>As for “roads going thru the campus”…Bama has made great strides to close streets to traffic within the inner campus (where the academic bldgs mostly are). The inner roads are largely limited to the campus bus system. However, since Bama has a large campus for a non-ag school (over 1300 acres), there are car-traveled roads in the outer areas of campus…it would be nearly impossible for a large campus not to have ANY roads…the university police/fire/support need quick access. the campus is not like an urban school where there’s no defined campus with greenspace and has major roads running thru with cars zipping by. It’s not like that. There definitely is a bubble feel in the main/academic part of campus.</p>