<p>S2 is an excellent student. Right now is #1 in a class of 600, National Merit Semifinalist, 36 ACT, high grade pt avg., got 5's on 3 AP tests last year and is taking 3 more AP classes this year, and has decent but not spectacular ECs (no sports, but is in band, scouts, science team etc.) Only got a 2180 on SAT, but an 800 in Math. Not sure what his major will be, but he's interested in the STEM fields. We live in SE Wisconsin, and he wants to go to school no more than a 7 hour drive. He is very quiet so I think a university with 2500-15,000 would be best, but he probably would consider a good honors program at a larger university. Money will be an issue as we can only help him with about $10,000 per year as we have another in college, and a sophomore in hs. Our EFC for S1 last year was 24,000 so even if this is halved, S2 will have to take out loans unless he gets a good merit scholarship. I would like to steer him towards a good university that will leave him with relatively little debt. Besides Madison (which we only expect $2250 for the WI excellence scholarship) and University of MN-Twin Cities (which will give him $10,000 as a National Merit Finalist) what other schools would you suggest he apply to? Should I even have him look at regional schools like Bradley in Peoria, IL or Univ. of Evansville, or would this be doing him an academic disservice? He does not want to go to the Univ. of Chicago, and Northwestern is out of our price range. Any suggestions would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Bradley would accept your son in a heartbeat. They have a connections with Caterpillar and have a good engineering program. Probably would get a lot of scholarships too. Perhaps St Olaf?</p>
<p>UW Madison and UM Twin Cities are excellent schools at in-state prices for you.</p>
<p>If interested in engineering, be sure to check [ABET</a> -](<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET”>http://www.abet.org) for accreditation of the engineering degree programs.</p>
<p>Many other midwestern flagship schools (e.g. Michigan, UIUC, Purdue) are good, but will likely be expensive for out of state students.</p>
<p>For smaller schools and LACs, you may want to check the course catalog and compare the course offerings in the majors interested in to each other and UW Madison and UM Twin Cities. For example, Carleton has a fairly large offering of physics courses, while St. Olaf’s physics offerings are more limited.</p>
<p>Michigan Tech? A really good engineering school. They have some decent scholarships for out of state kids including a full tuition. If he decides he wants the “big 10” atmosphere people do transfer fairly easily from Tech to UofM because Tech is just that good…ironically it’s sometimes alittle easier to get to the UP and Michigan Tech from Wisconsin and Minnesota than it is from downstate. </p>
<p>[Scholarship</a> Financial Aid | Michigan Technological University](<a href=“http://www.mtu.edu/finaid/types/scholarships/]Scholarship”>Scholarships | Michigan Technological University)</p>
<p>With his stellar stats he could get a very good scholarship to Case Western in Cleveland. It’s the right size, has a smart student body, and is known for Science/Engineering. The EA deadline has passed, but do apply asap for the best chance at $$. They give 1/2 and 3/4 tuition scholarships.</p>
<p>U of Illinois would also give him in-state tuition & possibly other money, but it’s larger than you indicated he wanted.</p>
<p>“Money will be an issue as we can only help him with about $10,000 per year as we have another in college, and a sophomore in hs. Our EFC for S1 last year was 24,000 so even if this is halved, S2 will have to take out loans unless he gets a good merit scholarship. I would like to steer him towards a good university that will leave him with relatively little debt.”</p>
<p>I know you asked for a Midwest U, but if $$ is a big issue, may I suggest he apply to USC ,# 24 USNWR , but he needs to complete his application before Dec 1 to qualify for scholarship consideration. That way he will be eligible for one of their 150 FULL TUITION scholarships, or 250 1/2 Tuition scholarships. USC also has terrific financial aid. [As he is already a NMSF, he WILL get a 1/2 tuition scholarship if he is accepted there and names USC as his first choice before May 1]. USC has very strong STEM programs, as well as the highly respected Vertibi Engineering school.
[Trustee</a>, Presidential & Deans Scholarships > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences](<a href=“http://dornsife.usc.edu/trustee-presidential-deans-scholarships]Trustee”>Scholarships & Financial Aid | USC Dornsife College)</p>
<p>[USC</a> Scholarships - USC Undergraduate Admission](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/scholarship.html]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/scholarship.html)
scroll to bottom of page and open pdf to see more details re scholarship criteria</p>
<p>I second Case Western. The size is right…I didn’t mapquest it for driving distance.</p>
<p>If your EFC will be $12000(half of $24000) and you can provide $10,000; how is NU too expensive? NU will probably meet your need so your son would probably have less than a $5000 loan. Have you run your financials through NU’s online calculator? If you have not, it will not hurt to try.</p>
<p>Haystack, they can’t assume NU will “meet their need” with scholarships. That would be nice, but the package may well include an uncomfortable amount of loans.</p>
<p>Truman State University will offer him some automatic scholarships and he would be competitive for additional competitive awards. He might also be eligible for an auto reduction in tuition based on your residence in WI, if I read the web site info. correctly.</p>
<p>I’ve known several students who attended or currently attend Truman State. All have liked the school and love the attention from the faculty. Some have not loved the town of Kirksville, though, and have transferred because of that. (Others say there is plenty to do on campus and they don’t mind a quiet town.)</p>
<p>I don’t have the numbers at hand, but I believe they pull in a fair number of students from other states. There is a pretty good sized group from the Chicago area (direct Amtrak service).</p>
<p>I think there are about 6K students.</p>
<p>Deadline is approaching to be considered for the merit awards.</p>
<p>I just noticed the STEM comment. Engineering is not a strength, but sciences and math are good. You might want to look at their lists of national award winners. There is at least one Goldwater winner in recent years.</p>
<p>You probably already know your son would get full tuition at Evansville for NM Finalist. D1 attended UE for both her undergrad degree and her doctorate in physical therapy. She had a great experience there, academically and socially. I don’t know much about their engineering program except that it’s ABET acredited, has co-op programs, has won national student competitions in concrete canoe design. It would b worth your while to visit.</p>
<p>Money will be an issue as we can only help him with about $10,000 per year as we have another in college, and a sophomore in hs. Our EFC for S1 last year was 24,000 so even if this is halved, S2 will have to take out loans unless he gets a good merit scholarship.</p>
<p>If the school is a CSS school it won’t likely halve the EFC, it will use its own calculations and then do a 60/60 split. </p>
<p>And, of course, if Child #1 and/or Child #2 are attending schools that don’t meet need, then any split amount is unknown. </p>
<p>Do you know if Child #1’s school will increase aid once that child’s EFC goes down? At many schools you won’t get more aid. You should contact that school and ask what a future aid package would look like. </p>
<p>if it’s possible that Child #1 will NOT get more aid once the EFC goes down, you might want to protect yourself by having your NMF son apply to a few schools that give HUGE NMF scholarships.</p>
<p>Have him look at Alabama. It’s not exactly in the Midwest (still central time zone though!) and it’s 5 hours or so past his 7 hour driving limit, but the scholarship packages for NMFs are incredible and there are a lot of opportunities there for top students.</p>
<p>My D, who didn’t want to go further than Madison (2.5 hours from home) is seriously considering it, and not because of the scholarships, either.</p>
<p>I agree - southern schools will be a welcome change for a Wisconsin resident and OOS is not THAT bad (not like Purdue’s OOS :-(). The SEC school that DD1 attends is plenty generous with OOS scholarships. </p>
<p>What it boils down to is that with $10k / year available we’re talking nearly full ride. I don’t see as much full ride potential to most flagship Big 10’s simply because they draw way too many people chasing too few scholarship dollars. So, as others have wisely advised, smaller schools, or further south, may be the answer.</p>
<p>For Michigan Tech, I’ve worked with some of their grads and they’re pretty good (if strange after weather exposure :-)) but Michigan in general has expensive tuition and OOS is way expensive. </p>
<p>I’d say cast a wider net and see what bites.</p>
<p>Don’t settle for a lesser school than UW-Madison. The Honors program is great, many top grad school programs with the possibility for undergrads to take grad level courses as undergrads. Be sure you don’t trade for something with fewer opportunities than our flagship.</p>
<p>There’s a fine line between choosing a school for the merit aid and choosing a school that will be a good fit for your bright son. My son was also a NMF with strong technical skills, looking for an engineering program that would challenge him. When all was said and done, he ended up in a school that is very well regarded in engineering, where he feels he is learning and fits in. However, they didn’t offer him a dime of merit aid (and we could have used the money!). None of the schools that did offer him money had engineering programs that interested him.</p>
<p>Marquette has a nice engineering program and would probably award your son with some decent merit aid.</p>
<p>Washington University, but also out of your price range.</p>
<p>
With those stats, there’s no way this student would pay full tuition at Michigan Tech. At the very least, they would grand him in state rates and probably much more. Also consider Kettering University which is private, but would give him a scholarship. You may also at least want to apply to Umich although too big. MSU would also probably give him merit aid, but huge.</p>
<p>D2 and D3 both attend University of Evansville. Merit money is wonderful, and both are being challenged academically. Neither one is in engineering, but from what I understand it’s a decent program. Bradley has a good engineering program-my husband has worked with Bradley grads and has always found them to be competent.</p>