<p>Stats: 1350 SAT, 30 ACT, 3.7 GPA with toughest curriculum offered at my school, broad range of extracurrics that fit more of a "well-rounded" style. </p>
<p>Top 20 percent in extremely competitive class for my small rural school, probably most academically gifted class in last decade or so. Also hope to bump standardized test scores up, and will take SAT II's. Also taking three AP classes, and maybe even more AP tests.</p>
<p>Major: Business (NOT accounting or actuarial science due to their restrictiveness) and Engineering double</p>
<p>Location: within 7 hours of Columbus Ohio</p>
<p>Other: I have a high EFC and probably little ability to pay it because of my parents awkward financial situation in this economic downturn. So, colleges that would offer merit aid or generally give good aid would be awesome.</p>
<p>Also, I want a school that would challenge me fully, and to be well respected by most. I also really don't want a tech school, since I want to spend some of my days dating attractive women.</p>
<p>So, can you help? any comments would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Most confused Ohioans apply to tOSU. I’m also just curious, where do you live in Ohio that it might almost take seven hours to get to Columbus? I mean if you’re Amish I can understand with a horse and buggy…</p>
<p>You might look at Hope College in Holland, MI (on Lake Michigan, just west of Grand Rapids). [Hope</a> College: Holland, Michigan, USA](<a href=“http://www.hope.edu%5DHope”>http://www.hope.edu). It’s a LAC, but on the large side (3200-ish students). Does have an engineering degree, not just a 3-2 program. And Business, via its Econ Dept that offers 3 different degrees: Management, Econ, and Accounting. It’s in “Colleges that Change Lives.” (See [Colleges</a> That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org%5DColleges”>http://www.ctcl.org).) It is associated with the Reformed Church and retains more of its Christian identity than many LACs that were similarly founded by various denominations. It is sometimes called an “evangelical” school, but I find that label misleading in this case. Worth looking at, and does offer merit aid.</p>
<p>Case Western Reserve University. They have an excellent engineering school & are very well known for their business program. They also offer very good merit aid & scholarships.</p>
<p>No, it does NOT take me 7 hours to get across the state. I’ pretty sure that you can go from Conneaut to North bend in probably about 5 hours, and that’s our state’s longest straight line.</p>
<p>I wanted to go to college WITHIN 7 hours of Columbus, so that I will only be living within a day’s drive of home. To give you guys an idea of the range that I am talking about, Washington DC, Cornell University, St. Louis, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Toronto, and Mackinaw City, Michigan are all at the outermost points on this circle. So, anything within these boundaries would be great. Thanks!</p>
<p>Also- thanks for suggesting Hope and Case. I will have to keep these in mind.</p>
<p>Kettering near Detroit, Michigan is very well known for engineering and business (rated best for one specific type of engineering, I forgot which). However, their engineering program takes 5 years because it’s co-op but hey, at least you supposedly make around 50k doing the co-op, so basically it pays for itself! And you can choose to do the co-op near home. Also, Ohio kids get awesome merits. I think you get 15 grand or something like that right off the bat since you’re from Ohio and you have such a nice gpa so tuition would be around 17-20 grand. You also get nice single room dorms which is also a huge plus! You should definitely check it out, it’s very intriguing. Sorry if my numbers are a little off but that’s the most I can remember from reading the brochure a little under a year ago/from their presentation.</p>
<p>Asbsent the $$ issue I would say maybe look into Bucknell, Lafayette & Lehigh. But the $$ situation is a problem; you probably need to stick to state schools.</p>
<p>Check out Ohio Northern U. You would be competitive for their top scholarships. Also, I think you are aware of the usual recommended merit aid schools - OWU and Wooster.</p>
<p>monydad - I live in OH & both my kids go to Case. Believe me they are very generous with grants & scholarships. It is far cheaper to send my boys there than our OH state schools which run close to $20,000. I am sure we qualify for more grant money at Case because the average parent (household) income is something like $105,000 so since we have a much lower income we qualify for more grant money than another family who makes above that amount. </p>
<p>My oldest had much higher scores than the OP & was offered free tuition to Bowling Green and although he didn’t apply to OSU from looking around their website he would have received little “free” money there because we make a higher income than most students attending OSU. I believe though that if you are a National Merit Scholar then you are eligible for free tuition. </p>
<p>Apply to the schools you would like to go to regardless of what money info. you hear about. You NEVER know what help you are going to receive. People think that if they have the best scores they will get accepted anywhere & it is just not true. If they have a lot of kids applying for a particular major & they only have so many spots then it just gets your foot in the door. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>However, my EFC is kind of ridiculous if I figured it correctly, about $100,000/year. A lot of our investments are not easily accessible things, and my parents are at high risk for losing their jobs. Fortunately, I got a year to figure this stuff out, so again, thanks for the imput. I will be considering all of it very seriously.</p>
<p>mominsearch: the OP has stated his parents have a high EFC. So it would seem to me that your experience at Case would not obviously be applicable to him. </p>
<p>And you said the OPs academic profile seems lower than your son’s. It follows that your son’s experience at Bowling Green also may not be highly translatable. OP did not indicate being a National Merit Scholar.</p>
<p>The OP seems to be in a situation of not terribly low reported financials, and not necessarily the level of outstanding academics that will open the coffers to much merit aid. That’s why I said what I said.</p>
<p>But I am not the one who decides this, the schools do, so I agree by all means he should apply to the programs that most interest him, as well as those that more obviously fit financially, and hope for the best, money-wise.</p>
<p>Consulation- is it really that bad to want a girlfriend at college? I really want a wife and kids when I am middle-aged, not a Posche that I call “Betty” (although that would be nice to have in addition to the wife and kids, too).</p>
<p>I know that my stats aren’t perfect like most on here, and maybe my profile looks a little cushioned, but I have had to endure hardships and jump through obstacles more times than you would want to believe. I am going to try and work my butt off to get a 1400 on the SAT, just like I had to the last time I took it and got a 1350, or like I had to last year when I got a 30 on the ACT, so hopefully that will help things out. I also have a friend that went to BG on a full scholarship with a 30 ACT, so I am sure I can do that too.</p>
<p>I appreciate the imput, and thanks for the suggestions. I will keep them in mind.</p>
<p>What are your feelings about Miami? Well respected business school, in-state tuition, plus it has a reputation as a very social school with many good-looking women.</p>
<p>Monydad - at first OP didn’t say how high his EFC was. Even if it is $100,000 that would still mean he is right in the middle at Case regarding EFC so he still may qualify for grants. Even though the sticker price at Case is around $48,000 if he got a scholarship that could almost cut it in half. Remember Case also counts books, health insurance, and a little for travel which makes the $48,000 go down if you don’t need health or traveling expenses which would pretty much make it on par with in-state schools.</p>
<p>The point I was trying to make is that you should NEVER discount any school because of the cost. For almost half of what I would pay at OSU my kids are getting a world class education, grants to travel to Europe for one month, a trip to Germany for another month, and another 6 weeks working with a prof in another country. I doubt neither of them would have ever had the chance to get these experiences if I had been afraid of the cost. There is absolutely nothing wrong with state schools & if we hadn’t been so lucky then my kids would be in a state school.</p>
<p>York College of PA (about 6 hours away from Columbus) might be worth looking at. YCP.edu
They have business and engineering programs, and you might be able to get some nice merit aid there.</p>
<p>No, it is not a bad thing to want a girlfriend. Nor is it a bad thing to want a wife and kids.</p>
<p>It IS a bad thing to make insulting sexist generalizations about women. </p>
<p>You are a fool if you think that appearance is everything. You are a bigger fool if you think that intelligent women interested in math and science are unattractive and make poor companions.</p>
<p>What your statement tells me is that your idea of “attractive” is probably the kind of girl who devotes an inordinate amount of her time to grooming herself in order to appear attractive to foolish boys. It also tells me that you are afraid of women who are your intellectual peers or–gasp!–superiors.</p>
<p>Continue in this mindset, and you may find yourself supporting some elbow ornament who will only hang around until she can land a better financial opportunity.</p>
<p>What do YOU have to offer a young woman who possesses reasonable brains and a good heart?</p>
<p>“Monydad - at first OP didn’t say how high his EFC was.”</p>
<p>No, but he said it was high in post #1. I inferred from that that his family would not be at the income level where lots of need-based aid was very likely.</p>
I’m also just curious, where do you live in Ohio that it might almost take seven hours to get to Columbus? I mean if you’re Amish I can understand with a horse and buggy…</p>