What Engineering Colleges Should I look at

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>As college application season is rounding the corner, I was wondering what engineering schools I should consider. What would you all recommend based on my stats? I'm instate for Michigan universities, by the way.</p>

<p>Intended major: Electrical Engineering and/or Computer Science</p>

<p>GPA UW = 3.97</p>

<p>Rank: top 7-8% (only people with 4.0s get in the top 6% or higher , but I have one of the most rigorous schedules at my school)</p>

<p>SAT: 2270 (CR 730, M 770, W 770 Essay 10)
ACT: 34 (E 35, M 34, R 34, S 34, Essay 9)</p>

<p>SAT II Subject Tests:
- Math Level 2 - 800
- US History - 780
- Physics - will be taking this October; expecting 750+</p>

<p>ECs:
-Track and Field (only in 10th grade -- I suffered a serious injury and am not allowed to run anymore )
- Kiwani's Club (10th-12th)
- Model UN (10th-12th)
- Science Club (10th-12th)
- Computer Club (we are building and refurbishing computers to give to low-income families and make a computer lab free of charge in a local nursing home) (10th-12th)
- Debate (12th)
- DECA (12th - can only do DECA at my school if taking a business class)
- Project Euler Problems
- Google Code Jam
- making an app for college students to help them keep finances in track</p>

<p>AP Scores:
- APUSH: 4
- Chem: 4
- Calc AB : 5
- Physics Mechanics: 5
- Computer Science A : 4
- most likely 5's on Lit, E&M, BC Calc</p>

<p>50+ community service hours tutoring elementary school students in mathematics and English and working as a farmhand at historical homestead</p>

<p>My ECs and community service hours aren't so hot because I've been moving around a lot, which has made me somewhat more reserved than others. Do colleges take this into consideration? I spent 10th-12th grade at the same high school by the way, but it was somewhat hard to adjust since it was such a tight-knit community.</p>

<p>Here's my coursework if interested: </p>

<p>9th Grade
-Algebra II Honors
-ELA 9 Honors
-World History Honors
-Spanish 3 Honors
-Engineering 1 Honors
-Biology 1 Honors</p>

<hr>

<p>10th Grade:
-Pre-Calculus Honors
-AP US History
-AP Chemistry
-Spanish 3 (i was forced to retake it because Spanish 4 at my school is an IB class and sophomores can't take IB classes)
-Civics & Economics
-ELA 10</p>

<p>11th Grade:
- AP English Language & Composition
- AP Calculus AB
- AP Physics C: Mechanics
- IB World History HL 1
- IB Spanish SL
- IB Computer Science HL 1</p>

<p>12th Grade classes:
-- AP Lit
-- AP Calculus BC
-- AP Physics: Electricity & Magnetism
-- IB Business HL
-- IB Computer Science HL 2
-- PE/Health (mandatory)</p>

<p>Thank you for your time!</p>

2

<p>University of Michigan – hands down. You have the grades and SAT/ACT scores. EC activities are not heavily weighted when considering an applicant for admission to UM</p>

3

<p>You can definitely go higher than university of Michigan, even though u of michigan is crazy good already. Go apply to Berkeley, or maybe even Stanford or Mit or carnegie mellon, although those three schools are always reaches</p>

4

<p>Amazing stats. Definitely consider U Michigan your match school and try the top schools. Not sure Berkeley is worth it out of state but try some of the other top privates and you should be set.</p>

5

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<p>Given California finances, it is a dubious move for anybody OOS to attend Berkeley, but for a Michigan resident to apply to Berkeley is just plain insane. </p>

<p>It’s really hard to argue with Michigan. If your parents have plenty of money, consider a private school like MIT, Stanford, Cornell, Rice, Harvey Mudd or CalTech. </p>

<p>Those are about the only schools I might consider as an alternative to UMichigan. They each have something about them that you might find particularly appealing, but really you would have to like them a lot better to not go to UMichigan. For CMU, you’d have to choose CS or EE now, and if you’re not ready to make that choice (and why should you be), then just punt it. Michigan is probably better in EE anyway.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the input, guys! I really appreciated it!</p>

7

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<p>California state finances do not really figure into the reason to attend or not attend Berkeley. However, the actual out-of-state cost of attendance should for an out-of-state student. Berkeley meets in-state need based on federal expected family contribution plus a ~$8,500 expected student contribution, but does not cover the $23,000 out-of-state additional tuition with financial aid grants.</p>

<p>Michigan is an obvious choice for a Michigan resident.</p>

<p>But what is left unstated are the cost constraints and financial aid situation. Run the net price calculator on the web site of Michigan and other schools being considered to make sure that they are affordable. Michigan appears to meet need for in-state students (although with a ~$9,000 per year expected student contribution), but you need to check whether you and your family can afford the expected student + family contribution.</p>

8

<p>I would definitely reccomend Purdue, UIUC, and UT Austin. However, since you already live in a state with a great in state option, idk if you’d want to apply to these. You would have to decide for yourself.</p>

9

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<p>They certainly do for me. Why would I pay a private school price for a public school that my child may not be able to get the classes they need because of the state budget. There was a poster on this board who did their undergrad at a midwest public (Wisconsin, I believe) and couldn’t believe the student-to-TA ratio in some of the engineering classes. Has Berkeley’s funding and level of course offerings been restored to pre-2008 levels? I hadn’t heard that. </p>

<p>Berkeley’s “rating” is due in a large part to faculty quality and competitiveness in admissions. </p>

<p>However 28% of Berkeley’s budget comes from the State of California, so the budget issue is important. In contrast UMichigan only gets 17% of it’s budget from the State and seems a little more immune.</p>

10

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<p>The “cannot get the courses you need to graduate” problem is way overblown. Berkeley students don’t complain about that on the Berkeley forum, and Berkeley has one of the highest four year graduation rates among public universities. (It is, however, a problem at the community colleges, which are open admission and are also much more sensitive to state budget allocations due to fewer other sources of funding.)</p>

<p>Berkeley is, however, expensive for out-of-state students, although it is less expensive than many private schools for the full-list-price paying students.</p>

11

<p>Because of UM’s new guidelines, I technically am not a resident, since I moved to MI in the last three years, so I’ll unfortunately be paying full-freight. I’d have to give an edge to U of M since it and Berkeley are comparable in terms of rigor and prestige in engineering but U of M is only a stone’s throw from where I live, allowing me to save on auxiliary costs. I’ll still apply to Berkeley and see what financial aid I’ll get there – assuming I’m accepted, of course.</p>

12

<p>Each school should have a net price calculator to give you an estimate of financial aid before you apply. Look at the estimates before finalizing your application list – you want to ensure that you have at least one assured-affordable safety in your list.</p>

<p>Michigan’s residency rules can be found here: [Residency</a> - Office of the Registrar](<a href=“http://www.ro.umich.edu/resreg.php]Residency”>Residency | Office of the Registrar)</p>

<p>If you need school with lower list prices, consider Minnesota, Virginia Tech, NCSU, and Stony Brook.</p>