<p>If you happen to decide firmly on mechanical engineering, consider applying to Berkeley and for the Drake Scholarship. This is a competitive full ride (including out of state tuition) scholarship for mechanical engineering majors only.</p>
<p>However, Berkeley otherwise is very expensive; most people will not find the out of state list price to be worth it over in state UT Austin.</p>
<p>Really, with UT Austin as a safety and well within your affordability, there are very few (if any) schools that are worth a significant additional cost, especially for engineering, unless you really want to go to a completely different kind of school (like a small LAC).</p>
<p>If lower cost is desirable, your stats (or National Merit) may find some very attractive scholarships that can make some other schools attractive. Examples include Texas A&M for National Merit Finalists who designate the school as their first choice, and competitive full tuition or full ride scholarships at Georgia Tech (President’s) and NCSU (Park). There are also some guaranteed big scholarships for stats at places like Alabama. Yes, USC is worth a look here as well, although the half tuition scholarship would still leave it more expensive than UT Austin in state (you want to aim for the bigger ones like Trustee or Mork described by the previous poster).</p>
<p>Among the super-selective schools, MIT and Stanford have top reputations in engineering. Stanford is also relatively generous with need-based aid.</p>
<p>To get an idea of need-based financial aid, try the net price calculator on each school’s web site. If it comes up with no non-loan aid estimate, it needs to have a low enough list price or large enough merit scholarships to aim for.</p>