What schools best fit my abilities and financial need?

College Search & Selection
1

Hey everyone. First post on CC.

I’m a white male from WV planning to go to school for mechanical engineering. Over the last few months, I’ve been weighing my options but still haven’t concluded as to what schools I plan to send applications to.

Here’s a snapshot of my abilities. I scored a 1330 (670EBRW, 660M, 19/24ESSAY) on the April 9 SAT. I hope to bring my score up by taking the ACT, hopefully earning a 32+. I have a 4.0 GPA, but this comes from taking no AP or honors classes. Next year (my senior year) I’ll be taking AP Calc AB and BC, US Government and Politics, and Physics 1. I am very passionate about music and golf and my ECs are primarily related to the two. In addition, I plan to learn Hindi over the summer, do a personal community service project, and do more general community service.

Thing is, my parents can’t afford to put me through college; hell, they can’t pay for much of my schooling at all. If I want to attend college OOS, I’ll need either a generous merit aid package or to be accepted at a school that meets 100% of financial need. I think my EFC will be around $8k, but I can’t say for sure.

I plan to apply to both WVU and Marshall (in-state safeties), but I’m not sure it’s worth my time and money to apply anywhere else. What do you guys think? Should I save my efforts and money and go in-state only, or should I shoot for OOS schools and some more prestigious colleges?

EDIT: Grammar/phrasing

2

Run the Net Price Calculator on each schools web site to see if you can afford your schools (your perceived safeties and others). With a 4.0 and a 32 there are some options (like the Alabama publics) that will give you some very good merit aid. Practice for that ACT.

3

Here is the situation: With a $8K EFC, that is the minimum you can expect schools to say you have to pay after financial aid. If the schools fund you with, grants , you have $5500 on Direct loans, you can use to bring the cost out of pocket to $2500 which is doable with a summer and school year job.

WV has PROMISE and the WV Higher Education Grant. One is just good for WV. schools; the other for WV and PA schools. They add up to about $8k. A bit of Pell, and a bit of luck and you can pull this off with financial aid for in-state schools. Which means you just might be able to pull off living at school instead of commuting. It’s going to be tight. That’s also assuming your FAFSA EFC is $8k.

The problem is that most schools that say they meet full need do not go by the FAFSA EFC and use PROFILE as well which usually comes up with more. If you don’t have a Non custodial parent situation, if your family doesn’t own a business, you can get reasonable estimates of what some schools will expect you to pay. Schools that use FAFSA only, do not tend to meet full need. Run some numbers for WVU, Marshall, Pitt, WJU, WVTech.

Look up what schools are ABET, what programs they have and see if you qualify for some of merit awards. Google full ride scholarships and a list of 84 schools will pop up. Sift through those. Be aware that to get the best chance for those awards, you should be in the upper % of students in the school with your grades and test scores. Pick a few high risk schools as lottery tickets, but really, if it’s important you go out of state, you want done colleges where you have a fighting chance. It’s easy peasy to add all the name brand schools to your list. They are “shoot for the stars” but you need s moon landing on your list.

UNC-C-H had shown an interest in first generation , challenged candidates where you might stand out. UAlabsma-Huntsville, does it still offer full rides? Check all of this out. UT-Dallas maybe? The scores are on the low end for hefty merit at name brand schools or accept into engineering at all, in schools that meet need.

Make sure you get your stats school apps in early. Yes, a higher score in math, maybe on the ACT would help.

4

Your best bet may very well be WVU, given your finances and scores. Despite what you see on College Confidential, many/most kids still go to their instate schools.

5

But it has not much in the way of engineering.

6

Automatic full rides are getting less common. Here are some possible remaining ones at colleges with engineering majors (some web sites are not entirely clear about whether they may be competitive, so ask directly):

http://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/freshman-scholarships
http://www.aamu.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/scholarships/index.html

Some are less than full ride, but may be affordable if room and board costs are low enough relative to what your parents can contribute:

https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-tuition-scholarships
https://www.latech.edu/admissions/freshman-scholarships/
https://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/#8
https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/out-of-state/
https://financialaid.arizona.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/freshman-transfer

Most out-of-state public universities do not give good need-based financial aid. Virginia and possibly Michigan may be among the few that do and have engineering majors; check their net price calculators. But they should be considered reaches, like most of the private universities that give good need-based financial aid, or the large competitive merit scholarships at many universities.

7

Let me clarify a bit, so you guys have a better idea. Both of my parents went to college, so no first gen. Can’t get Pell Grants, either.

I don’t see a point in going OOS for the sake of going OOS; if the school in question isn’t head and shoulders above WVU/Marshall, I’d rather save the cash and go to one of those. I’m leaning heavily toward Marshall; it’s half the net price of WVU with my scores right now, and I like the school better.

8

Marshall seems like a nice school . Know a guy who played golf for them. I didn’t realize they had engineering so thought of WVU first. You have good options.

9

As a student in WV, wouldn’t the OP be eligible to attend Berea College? That’s a pretty extraordinary educational experience.

10

@Lynnski ,The OP has said he is neither first gen nor low income so Berea is not a fit. Not everyone who happens to live in West Virginia would qualify! There are plenty of families of all income levels living in West Virginia, just as in any state.

11

Make sure you apply for those WV grants in a timely basis.

I agree with you. If there is a school that really catches your eye, no reason not to throw an application into the ring just in case. But you need your bases covered first. With the WV grants , loans, a little PELl money maybe, you can make it work in WV. Getting funds from most name brand OOS is scarce to none. Merit money standards to name recognition schools are sky high

Pitt, not the main campus but their other campuses might be an option. They do give awards and I know a WV student who went to one with either full financial aid or merit. For engineering too Pitt main campus is highly competitive especially for engineering