What college is right for me?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Act (projected- I have taken it multiple times, just retook on the 10th and this is the range I would give myself)
Math: 33-36
Science: 26-30
English: 22-25
Reading: 20-23
gpa weighted- 3.8
Gpa excluding freshman year - 4.15
class rank 250/1000 (very competitive school)
Diamond achievement award
All Accelerated classes
currently in college level calculus
taken multiple C.A.D. classes
enrolled in aeronautics classes through embry riddle at my high school</p>

<p>I live in the suburbs of chicago and am interested in some form of engineering (Aeronautical?). I would go to U of I engineering but.... I know somebody who had similar grades/rank and a 34 composite score. He was put on the waiting list :/ I could transfer from gen-ed but this would mean all As and Bs freshman year, and that is way to risky. so..... other schools that would fit the bill? </p>

<p>Additional info
Money: anything over 80k for four years WILL be taken out of a loan.
Location: I love to snowboard, and would love to get out of the midwest.
However, I will still consider midwest schools.</p>

2

<p>University of Wyoming. Cheap and offers scholarships to OOS students. Would probably be about $20000 per year or less. Their admissions web page gives info on their automatic OOS scholarships.</p>

<p>Boise State university. See if you can get their Gem scholarship which waves OOS tuition, you would pay the instate rate. Check their website.</p>

<p>Montana State university will probably be around $24000 cost of attendance. They also give automatic scholarships so check their website.</p>

<p>Colorado schools will be too expensive.</p>

3

<p>Why is your English and Writing projected to be so low? Is English your second language?</p>

<p>Who will be co-signing those extra loans? Have your parents agreed? </p>

<p>YOU can only borrow the following amounts…anything extra will require co-signers.</p>

<p>5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr</p>

<p>What are you projecting your composite to be? 30???</p>

<p>What have been your previous composites?</p>

4

<p>University of Washington in Seattle
For aeronautical, you might as well go to the source!</p>

5

<p>*Money: anything over 80k for four years WILL be taken out of a loan.
*</p>

<p>This is going to be a very limiting factor unless the composite is high enough and the school gives substantial merit. The student may not understand that he can’t borrow much, nor should he.</p>

6

<p>well I got my act scores today.</p>

<p>Math 31
Science 32
English 24
Reading 24
composite 28</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the put downs people. Oh by the way MOM, I am fully aware of the loan situation. Just because you have over 30,000 posts doesn’t make you the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. And by the way, 24 is in the 75th percentile on english and reading as compared to US BORN STUDENTS, so english is my first F*****G LANGUAGE. So please get you facts straight before you misguide 30,000 aspiring students.</p>

8

<p>Not sure if these schools are the right fit for you, but you might want to try UC Davis or UC Irvine for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.</p>

9

<p>Take a deep breath and don’t be too defensive. Your Math and Science scores are good. Your GPA is good. You have a fairly clear idea of what you want. All this puts you way ahead of most graduating HS seniors.</p>

<p>However, like so many others, you have a money problem.
I think what scares a practical person like m2c is when you say you’ll borrow anything over $80K, but would prefer OOS schools. Public schools generally only have very limited aid available for OOS students; OOS costs at many of them are much higher than $20K; there are strict limits on what you can borrow without a co-signer. She’s right about all this.</p>

<p>Check out the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Average stats are slightly lower than for UI (your Composite is within median; your Math is over their 75th percentile). OOS costs are relatively low compared to some top flagships. However, they are still high for you (over $30K/year), and they might hold you to a higher admission standard as an OOS applicant. So to be cautious, consider it a “reach”.</p>

<p>For somewhat easier admissions and lower cost ($20K-$2K) consider the University of Minnestota - Morris. stateuniversity.com actually gives UM-Morris a slightly higher rating than UM-Twin Cities. Morris is far smaller; it’s really a “liberal arts college” not a research university. A disadvantage is that it does not offer engineering programs (and you’ll have to put away your snowboard … take up XC skiing). However, you could start out as a math or science major, then transfer into your 3rd year if you decide you want engineering. You’ll be saving about $10K/year this way and probably getting more personal attention. Morris has an S:F ratio of about 13:1 compared to about 21:1 at Twin Cities. Rack up a solid GPA, get some good LORs, save money, then transfer to UC Boulder if you can manage the extra cost at that point.</p>

<p>UW-Seattle sounds good but the admission standards are higher than Morris and OOS costs are much higher (>$35K/year). It might be a good transfer target.</p>

10

<p>Also, another school to take a look at is Cal Poly SLO for your major. It’s a CSU so it’s a bit less expensive than the UC’s.</p>

11

<p>What can I expect from Financial aid? my dad was just laid off, and my mom makes about 50 thousand a year. So anything over 80k plus the financial aid will be taken out of loans.</p>

12

<p>I would not expect much aid, if any, from OOS public schools (other than loans).
Aid from private schools will vary greatly. Generally, the more selective the school, the more generous the need-based aid. In any case, need will be based on the school’s formulas, not yours. It’s usually based on the previous year’s income. In your case, you may have to persuade the financial aid office to base it on next year’s projected income.</p>

<p>Union College is a small private college in NY that offers engineering. Your ACT composite is within their median band; your Math score is above it; your grades seem to be in range. According to the Union College Common Data Set file (2010-11), on average it meets 99.5% of determined need for students who are awarded need-based aid. 303 of 313 students determined to have need were awarded need-based scholarship or grant aid. The average aid package was nearly $35K (with an average of about $31K in scholarship or grant aid.) Average debt at graduation was about $26K. Total cost before aid, including air fare etc., would be nearly $55K. </p>

<p>Two other good (but small) private schools with engineering are Trinity College (CT) and Lafayette College ¶. Both are among the USNWR top 40 national liberal arts colleges. For Civil Engineering, USNWR ranks Lafayette 6th among schools without PhD programs; for Mechanical Engineering, USNWR ranks it 10th in the same set of schools. Here is Trinity’s data on financial aid with break-downs by family income:
[Trinity</a> College: Financial Aid Facts](<a href=“http://www.trincoll.edu/orgs/planning/publicdata/FinancialAid.html]Trinity”>http://www.trincoll.edu/orgs/planning/publicdata/FinancialAid.html)</p>

<p>If any of these schools has any appeal, talk to the aid office about your situation to see if they would base aid on projected family income for the coming year.</p>

13

<p>You might want to look into Colorado School of Mines…</p>

14

<p>@mom2collegekids</p>

<p>Asking if English is his second language is one of the more pompous and ridiculous things I’ve seen on CC. OP didn’t exactly handle it well, but what can you expect?</p>

15

<p>^^<br>
Colorado School of Mines<br>
Full OOS cost > $41K/year.
Average need met = 75% of demonstrated need.
Average need-based gift ~= $9K.
(source:[Colorado</a> School of Mines Tuition, Costs and Financial Aid - CollegeData College Profile](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=634]Colorado”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=634))</p>

<p>ACT median Composite 26-31, Math 27-32. Average GPA = 3.76 (unweighted?); 54% of students ranked in top 10% of HS class.
(source: CSoM 2008-09 Common Data Set file on CSoM web site)</p>

<p>CSoM is a good suggestion (for engineering quality and the Colorado location) but I’d say it’s a reach (for costs). Private colleges with similar admission profiles (e.g. Union, Trinity, Lafayette) seem to meet a much higher percentage of need with lower average out-of-pocket costs. Of course, much will depend on how each college interprets the OP’s need.</p>

<p>Apply to a realistic mix of private schools and OOS public schools; be sure to have a financial safety (maybe an in-state “directional” public university); see how the offers shake out.</p>

16

<p>@mom2collegekids - Asking if English is his second language is one of the more pompous and ridiculous things I’ve seen on CC.</p>

<p>Pompous and ridiculous? Uh no.</p>

<p>Are you aware that many kids who post on CC that have lopsided scores (very high math, lower reading, English, writing) are ESL? </p>

<p>It wasn’t an outrageous question, since th OP (not me!) projected the following lopsided scores:</p>

<p>Math: 33-36 (which are 98/99th percentile)
Science: 26-30
English: 22-25
Reading: 20-23</p>

<p>I think many people would have wondered the same thing. </p>

<p>If he had gotten the projected 20 Reading and/or 22 English…that would have been 48th percentile for Reading and 63rd percentile for English…contrasting with his projections for math which were in the 98/99th percentile! </p>

<p>those were his projections…not mine. </p>

<p>The fact that the OP later posted his actual scores is irrelevent. My post was before those stats were known. </p>

<p>* english is my first F*****G LANGUAGE. So please get you facts straight *</p>

<p>I wasn’t stating a “fact” when I asked if English was your second language…asking a question is never “stating a fact.” I was just seeking some clarification for the projected lopsided scores. When kids are ESL, that can be mentioned in an essay to explain the lopsided scores. </p>

<p>And, the mentioning that students can’t borrow much on their own was a natural response to your statement of: </p>

<p>*Money: anything over 80k for four years WILL be taken out of a loan.
*</p>

<p>That means your family will contribute $20k per year. Since many OOS schools are costing $40k - 55k+ per year (and you prefer OOS), the loan amounts could easily exceed federal student loan limits. If the parents are unwilling to co-sign to borrow more, then that could be a problem. And, since you have said that your dad is laid-off, then co-signing and qualifying could be an issue (if the parents agree to co-sign). </p>

<p>*However, like so many others, you have a money problem.
I think what scares a practical person like m2c is when you say you’ll borrow anything over $80K, but would prefer OOS schools. Public schools generally only have very limited aid available for OOS students; OOS costs at many of them are much higher than $20K; there are strict limits on what you can borrow without a co-signer. She’s right about all this.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

17

<p>I agree with mom, I didn’t see anything offensive or condescending in her post. I feel like op is just being too defensive.</p>

18

<p>The thing with engineering degrees is the job availability and return on investment. The max in loans I am willing to take out is 12500 per year. Also, my parents are willing to cosign on the loans; they did this with my sister. Mines is one of my top choices because of the education quality and the location. Any opinions on university of dayton? I know several people who go there and they all received a substantial amount of money.</p>

<p>Is transferring from 2 years at a community college a good option? this could save some serious dough.</p>

19

<p>Dayton is less selective than Mines (and Union, Lafayette, Trinity). It’s a larger school (~7K undergrads); it offers engineering. On average, it meets 82% of demonstrated need (where need is granted). The average need-based scholarship/grant is about $15K. Total COA >$38K.</p>

<p>Here are the USNWR rankings for some of the schools we’ve discussed that have engineering programs (engineering rank / overall rank):</p>

<p>Union College: 16 engineering / 40 overall (among national LACs)
Lafayette College: 16 (tied) gen. engineering, 6 civil, 10 mech / 40 (tied)
Trinity College: 60 / 37
U. Dayton: 130 / 101</p>

<p>Minnesota: 24 gen. engineering, 4 chem / 68 overall (among national universities)
Colorado School of Mines: 52 / 75
UC Boulder: 34 gen. engineering, 14 aero, 18 environmental / 94 overall</p>

20

<p>I’m not really sure who said Colorado schools are too expensive…but look at CSU!
It is in fort collins which is such a great town. the campus is so beautiful and the school has gotten really great rankings as of late!
It is pretty inexpensive and is known for decent aid…its about 15,000 for in state and not too much more for OOS (I think like 25,000).
You would most likely get in. A 28 is above average (and btw I think a very good score) and so is your GPA.
Its really close to the mountains and students get great discounts for ski resorts.
I don’t know anyone that doesn’t like it. IT’s got a reputation to be a very friendly school.
It also has just gotten HUGE grants for research in the sciences and engineering schools so that might be a really great bet for you!
Good luck!</p>