<p>Hi. I am currently a junior at a high school in South Dakota. I would call myself a decent student. I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA, a 33 ACT, and a 2260 SAT. (I took each test once.) I scored a 217 on the PSAT, and due to my state of residence, I am anticipating becoming a National Merit Finalist with relative ease. I have taken and will take several AP, college-credit, and honors classes. I would also say I have above average involvement in student and community activities. My family of 7 is somewhere in the middle class. We're well-off, but not rich.</p>
<p>As for my future career, I believe I could succeed in a variety of fields, but it seems most likely that I will pursue a career that involves scientific problem-solving. Understanding the natural world is pretty cool. Applying that understanding to infrastructure and technology to make the world a better place is cooler. Thus, I would say I will likely go into engineering.</p>
<p>Now the question- what should I ultimately consider in my college selection? </p>
<p>The prestige of the college? The financial benefits the college will offer me? The location? The campus and faculty themselves?</p>
<p>This brings up several questions I have.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How big is the difference between a big-name, prestigious institution (Harvard, for example) and a state school (for example, the University of Kentucky)? Is there a tremendous gap in the quality and experience of the education I will receive? In what I will earn after graduating?</p></li>
<li><p>Would it be better for me to pay my way through a prestigious university, or take a full ride through a public university? I see that some state schools, such as University of Oklahoma, practically guarantee a full ride to National Merit Finalists. Is that an opportunity I should seriously consider given the character of the schools that offer those big NMF scholarships? I am really wondering why these schools would pay for my entire education just because I scored high on a couple standardized tests.</p></li>
<li><p>Does anyone have any general knowledge on what it is like to attend an out of state college? I want to know some of the advantages and disadvantages of being so far away from home right off the bat. Is the travel and added expense worth it?</p></li>
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<p>Thank you for any and all help you can give me. I find it scary that in the near future I will have to make these decisions that will have such a huge impact on where life will take me. I truly appreciate any guidance. </p>
<p>Ok, the first thing you should do is buy yourself a Fiske College Guide, it contains information on hundreds of colleges throughout the country; it gives you the admissions stats, quality ratings, campus descriptions, locations, sizes, costs and is pretty accurate about the campus vibe and proclivities of each school’s student body. You’ll start to get a picture of the range of choices out there.</p>
<p>A lot depends on how much your parents can contribute for tuition; can they pay full tuition, or are you going to apply for financial aid, need based and/or merit? You should have that discussion with them soon, the answer will shape the way you compile your college list. If you ask me, the goal should be to get the best education you can, at a place that excites you, while taking on the lowest amount of debt possible.</p>
<p>Being an NMF opens doors, why do schools give full tuition to these students, because enticing such high achievers to attend pushes up their admitted student stats and and makes their profiles look better. Is it worth it for the NMF, you bet, for plenty of people getting free college tuition is very desirable, and in some cases the only way they’ll be able to attend college.</p>
<p>You can also learn a lot about the college experience by talking to family friends, neighbors, relatives,and former students from your high school who are attending college or have recently graduated. Get some personal stories from people who are close to your age and who you can relate to. The question about the advantages and disadvantages of going far away to school is a vary broad topic, and hearing lots of other peoples stories will help you sort it out. </p>
<p>I hope your parents are going to give you a hand, but if not, you won’t be the first young person who has had to do a lot of the figuring out for themselves. Is your school guidance counselor available to help? The people on CC are a knowledgeable group and very willing to share what they know. Just keep asking questions.</p>
<p>You do have a low cost option in your home state in South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.</p>
<p>Note that the range of quality and content of engineering degree programs is narrower than that of many majors, due to the minimum standards requires for ABET accreditation. The relatively high minimum standards also mean that many prospective engineering majors at less selective schools switch out after a semester or few of finding that courses to be fairly difficult. You, as a 4.0 student with high test scores, are much more likely to be able to handle to rigor and graduate in your desired engineering major.</p>
<p>You have a lot of questions that take up a lot of time to answer. Some of these questions can be answered by doing some forums reading. And UCB gave a lot of links. Then you can break down into more specific questions.</p>
<p>I will comment that prestige college is too expensive for you to ‘pay your way’ through. You need to run Net Price Calculators to see what the price might be for your family. Yes, seriously consider full rides and apply to some so you have options. And look at other colleges too.</p>
<p>My daughter went from the West Coast to the East Coast and it was something she had no doubts about because she is adventurous and desired to know what it was like living in the East Coast. College is a great way to do that within a community setting. She did not come home often because of expense and having other things to do, like research projects. You can go back for Winter break and Summers at the least. Add spring break if affordable. I visited her several times too over the years. It is easy to talk on the phone, Skype, email…</p>
<p>You may have an edge in your applications in that you have a geographical hook. Many colleges like to have diversity in having students from every state and your state has fewer applicants.</p>
<p>I’d say that you should aim as high as you’d like, provided you have a viable selection of financial and academic safeties. I suggest a candid conversation with your parents about what they are willing and able to contribute, as well as a consideration of your possible, general, long-range objectives. You probably don’t want to begin piling up debts if law or medical school loom on your horizon. Your prospects are excellent, and will only improve if you take the tests again next fall and can tweak them a little. You have some geographic diversity working in your favor. If your extracurricular activities are strong, and you have been taking the “most demanding available” course-load, you could certainly include one or two of the most selective colleges. The most prestigious colleges are, for the most part, the wealthiest. They have the resources to admit the freshman class they want, irrespective of the students’ financial circumstances. Harvard, for instance, provides financial aid to households with incomes as high as $250k.</p>
<p>Do you and your family have the time and budget for traveling to see some colleges? College tours can be worked into family summer vacations quite pleasantly and affordably (especially if you have younger siblings who will be applying within the next few years). As long as you have a few public colleges, with guaranteed admission and scholarships for NMF scholars, I’d recommend building a list based on other preferences - ie. urban vs. rural; large university vs. liberal-arts college; close-to-home vs. distant; East vs. West vs. South. </p>
<p>Your test scores are very good, but if you want to shoot high, I’d advise a second seating in the fall. Both my sons had pretty significant increases in their scores as seniors. When it comes to the most competitive schools, the difference between a 2260 and a 2300+ or a 33 and a 35 can be significant. That’applies even more to Math scores for aspiring engineers. </p>
<p>You didn’t mention your gender. If you’re female, and interested in STEM (ie. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), you should explore special private scholarships promoting women in those fields. </p>
<p>If cost is a critical consideration, then you would be wise to place South Dakota School of Mines & Technology high on your list because it has a very strong reputation among engineers nationally, in addition to the tuition bargain especially for Dakotans. Why pay in excess of triple the tuition rate for a Michigan, Cornell, Georgia Tech or Northwestern when you’ve got a great undergraduate engineering program at your front doorstep? </p>
<p>Most LACs do not have engineering (although a few do like Harvey Mudd and Swarthmore). But there are some small engineering-heavy schools like:</p>
<p>South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (a bargain!)
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Colorado School of Mines
California Institute of Technology (super selective)
Harvey Mudd College (super selective, also considered a LAC)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Worchester Polytechnic Institute
Cooper Union
Franklin W. Olin School of Engineering
Stevens Institute of Technology
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Kettering University</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Be careful how you’re thinking. Many “State Schools” are big named prestigious institutions. Many of the University of California system schools are fantastic, UVA, Georgia Tech, UNC, Penn State, Michigan, Texas, Florida, etc. Obviously there is a dropoff between say UVA and Kentucky, but you should not shut large public state schools out of your mind - especially since many of them offer some of the top engineering educations in the world. </p></li>
<li><p>See above for the “prestigious v State” argument.</p></li>
<li><p>I am an OOS student - I am from North Carolina and go to Penn State. 2 things make it acceptable for me to go here - A tuition grant from my fathers employer, and family that lives nearby. OOS tuition is stupid expensive, and unless you’re very well off or have a scholarship backing you, I wouldn’t recommend it financially. Its nice to get out and experience another part of the country for 4 years and be surrounded by people you don’t know. Its very scary, but once you find your niche it feels just like home. You obviously lack the ability to go home for the weekend or minor holidays, but thats just part of the deal. </p></li>
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<p>Take some time and visit some schools. Visit a larger one, a smaller one, a college town and one integrated into a city. Decide if any of these factors are important to you. </p>
<p>Also, decide what type of engineering you are leaning towards, civil, mechanical, petro, aerodynamics. That will also help you narrow things down. </p>
<p>Decide if it is likely you will pursue post graduate education. My thought is that if you want post grad, go for the prestige factor there and let someone else pay for your undergrad. </p>
<p>Last, although you have awesome stats, don’t assume you can automatically get into places like Harvard. CC is littered with the tales of woe of students that applied only to schools that are very selective and schools that are very expensive and have no real options come decision time. </p>