My S22 is considering universities. He is interested in engineering, but is not sure of the field. He is leaning towards mechanical, industrial, or video game/electronic arts. He wants to be in an honors program and wants to be at a school where everyone is not like him (which makes sense as he attends a small, private high school). He scored a 34 on the ACT and has a 4.21 weighted GPA. He is on path to graduate with an IB diploma with 4HLs and 2SLs, taking the highest level math (I can never remember the name, it is WAY beyond me…its embarrassing when you cannot help your kid in a subject) and Physics. He is heavily involved in the high school Robotics team.
Financially, we have been saving in a 529 for him since he was born. We are continuing to contribute on a monthly basis. Our goal is to wholly fund college out of the 529 with any balance (after taxes, of course) being his. He should be able to afford $40k/year. So, he needs to offset any differences between that amount and the total cost of attendance with merit aid (we will not qualify for financial aid).
We are considering:
Purdue (reach)
Florida (reach)
Auburn
Arizona
Arizona State
Iowa State
Ohio State
Utah
Alabama
Alabama-Huntsville
Texas Tech
Mississippi State
Are there any other universities we should consider?
He seems to really like Auburn, Iowa State, and Bama (which is fine), but I wanted to know if there were any options we were not aware of/considering? Thanks for your time.
None of the schools you mention are top-tier. No MIT, CalTech etc. That’s ok. My point is that universities like to blow their horns about how great they are. A BSME from any school should guarantee a job. What I have found, is that some schools don’t provide a good theoretical background, necessary for graduate work.
Texas A&M is a good engineering school with a very strong alumni network. If your son is National Merit Semi-finalist, the cost would put you way under Texas Tech.
I should have responded directly to your comment. We are in Tennessee. We are not enamored with UT-K. The state has not done much to keep up the physical plant of our in-state universities, consequently there is millions of deferred maintenance at the public universities in Tennessee. We know UT has a good engineering school, but when you compare the facilities to that of other universities, it just isn’t there. Also, the state has gutted merit scholarships for Tennessee student (the HOPE scholarship is a ghost of what is used to be). So, a Tennessee student with good grades and high standardized test scores can, usually go to other public universities cheaper or at comparable prices to UT (long-term effect being a brain drain for the state…bad policy).
My son’s GPA is a 4.00 unweighted, currently. The weighting formula is weird, but frankly I blame the IB curriculum. In 9th and 10th, only HL-level classes are weighted and then on a 4.5 scale, it changes again in 11th and 12th grade, with SL classes being on a 4.5 scale and HL classes being on a 5.0 scale.
Agree with adding Michigan State. My D19 applied and was accepted to engineering with a great OOS merit scholarship- $15K per year + study abroad allowance. She had similar stats - slightly lower ACT + slightly higher GPA. The other nice thing about MSU is their excellent communications/visual arts school, if engineering ends up not being in the cards.
With the 34 ACT score, he should get full tuition (Presidential Scholarship) at Alabama automatically.
Iowa State is also known to have a very strong engineering program, and likely would offer good merit.
ABET accredited for all types of engineering, with a very strong Video Game design program that crosses over with UNM’s highly ranked College of Fine Arts.
Colorado School of mines?
University of Kansas? Colorado?
alabama is not full tuition. Close, but not full. However, engineering college usually offers a scholarship that pretty much closes that gap. You have a healthy nice budget to pay with. hope to hear what your top choices are.
I have a junior in honors engineering at Purdue. Out of state COA without any merit will still come in around your $40K budget. I think he will be accepted to Purdue with his stats. Honors college is where it is more hit or miss but IMO, that shouldn’t be a deal breaker. There are plenty of other living/learning programs that mimic some of the benefits of honors college at Purdue: Learning Communities - Learning Communities Available to Students in the College of Engineering
UMD CP would be another school with a great engineering program that would come in at budget.
If your son would like to add a private to the list, he should see enough merit at RPI for it to come in around $40K too.