Worrying About My Chances of Getting Into Even One School

[coolguy40]

Right now, I’m seeing a long list of rejections, and a strong likelihood that the school you get into is going to be out of your price range. Not every private school is generous with financial aid. You need more safeties than UIUC, especially for a program as ridiculously competitive as engineering. What you also really need to do is focus heavily on scholarships, not prestige. Try University of Alabama to start. Scholarships are more abundant in less populated areas like the south and southwest. “Less ranked” schools in your home state are a very good places to obtain merit aid.

[riverandsasha3]

@ucbalumnus

Here is a full ride at a college that offers chemical engineering: University Scholarships - Financial Aid

@ucbalumnus thanks so much this is really helpful

[riverandsasha3]

@Mwfan1921

@riverandsasha3

@helpingmom40 The net price calculator says that I’d be paying ~$25,000 a year. Is this way too much? Will I not be able to recover from having to pay this amount?

What school’s NPC shows $25K? This context will help posters make more/better recs.

What can your family pay per year for college? Is living at home and commuting to UIC an option?

I don’t know if Pitt’s NPC includes merit aid, but I would not expect anything greater than $15K in merit/year (look at class of 2024 thread), which would get OOS tuition into the low $20’s…meaning you still would have to pay room and board plus travel, incidentals, books, etc. Pitt will likely have to come off the list.

@Mwfan1921 Didn’t know that about Pitt. Thanks for the heads up.

[riverandsasha3]

@CollegeMamb0

No money at Oxford so take that off

Alabama (see also Randall Research Scholars program)
Alabama - Huntsville (right in the research park)
Iowa State
Arizona State
Miami OH
Utah
South Carolina (see also Capstone Scholars Program)
Ole Miss
Rose Hulman

It doesn’t matter if these aren’t ‘prestigious’. You want an affordable degree in engineering to launch your career or post grad study. ALL of these places will get you there, and there will be plenty of smart students in the engineering department for you to meet and hang out with.

There is a really long thread by @KevinFromOC about his daughter who had a limited budget. Accepted to Princeton and Johns Hopkins, but these were un-affordable. Final three affordable choices: South Carolina, Rose Hulman and Miami OH. Will be attending South Carolina on a top (and very prestigious) scholarship.

Good luck

@CollegeMamb0 Thank you so much. This list is really comprehensive, and I’ll definitely look into it.

[riverandsasha3]

@mamaedefamilia

@riverandsasha3

Here are a couple of ideas that might be affordable, some from your original list. Not sure about the biomedical engineering programs at all of these.

Case Western (has 2-3 long shot full tuition awards by separate application, demonstrated interest important)
Wash U St Louis (has long shot full tuition awards by separate application)
Duke (has some long shot full tuition merit scholarships)
Vanderbilt (has long shot full tuition awards)
Ohio State (has a number of full tuition OOS scholarships)
UVA (has some long shot full tuition merit scholarships)
Pitt (merit money becoming scarcer, apply early!)
Georgia Tech? (I think there may be some OOS merit money if you apply early)
UIUC (in-state)
BU (has a competitive full tuition or full ride award - Presidential?)
U of S Carolina (competitive full tuition merit award, maybe full ride)
Lehigh (if you’re open to a smaller school, well regarded for engineering and has some full tuition awards)

If you end up qualifying for National Merit, you might look at USC (So Cal) that has 1/2 and full tuition awards for NMF.

Finally flagship universities in the West and South often have good deals for national merit scholars. There are several examples listed above. Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Arizona are often recommended here. If you make NMSF, add the Florida public universities to your list (Benaquisto scholarships.) UF Gainesville is highly regarded and many praise UCF’s Honors Program. Check availability as the program is funded by the state of FL and COVID may have had an impact on level of support)

Seconding recommendation that you look at @KevinFromOC 's mega thread for more suggestions.

Best of luck!

@mamaedefamilia This list is great. I appreciate all of the help. I’m definitely going to research more about affordability and my chances with these schools. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this!

[ajbananacatfish]

Which Se did you get into? Northside? I’m currently at Lincoln Park and I’m really worried about my chances. Do colleges do a background check? I’m also in the Ib program so Im not sure if it’ll benefit me but the school doesn’t offer much AP then the Se schools.

[riverandsasha3]

@ajbananacatfish Yeah, she went to Northside. I don’t know about background checks, but colleges do have school list when it comes to Chicago SE schools. My sister was the first person to be accepted to Duke from her school in over 5 years because people from her school would use Duke as their “backup school.” Not that Duke was truly a backup school for them, but HYPSM were always their first choice, not Duke. Generally, SE schools get kind of screwed when it comes to these T20 colleges because of the reputation of our schools. IB at Lincoln Park is definitely an achievement (maybe even more so than a lot of APs), so I wouldn’t worry too much.

[ajbananacatfish]

Oh okay, thank you so much! I was a bit worried on how more kids from SE will get into Ivy’s or really good colleges in general, than schools that aren’t SE just because of how much competitive and difficult those schools are. Also, how do colleges determine GPA? I’m going to be a sophomore, and my freshmen GPA was 3.94/4.67.