ssexton Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Thank you for all the wisdom shared here regularly! My son is a rising junior this fall, and we've started trying to identify potential college fits for him. He wants to study mechanical engineering, and at this point he's looking for honors programs within a larger state school. I'm wondering if anyone can help us identify universities that might be generous with merit aid, and how he can best position himself for awards? He took the ACT for the first time in June and received a 32. He has a 3.85 gpa. To date, he has no AP or SAT subject tests, but he is planning on AP Calculus and physics and a couple of dual enrollment classes before he graduates. He has some good extra curriculars. We are in Tennessee, and his safety school is Tennessee Tech. With our state lottery scholarship and automatic scholarships, it is an affordable option. It also has a good regional reputation. However, our family is all originally from the midwest, and he'd love to explore possibilities up north, particularly at a Big 10 school. He's also interested in other state universities such as University of Alabama and Georgia. He's just particularly interested in heading north. I'm not sure if we can make it happen with the out-of-state tuition costs, though. Any suggestions for possible schools or recommendations for things to make him a more attractive candidate? Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in NY Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Not Big 10, but Div 1, SUNY University at Buffalo has an excellent Engineering program. UB awards 25 full ride merit scholarships a year (tuition, room, board, books, fees, etc.), along with entrance into the honors program (Which has *many* nice perks, including a dorm right off the academic quad, individual mentoring, a great honors program space.... lots of good stuff). (Beware, there is another SUNY school called Buffalo State - not the same school.) Depending on your finances, an Ivy League School or somewhere like University of Rochester might also make sense... they meet 100% EFC.... and the Rochester area has just been awarded a massive DOD Photonics Initiative. HTH 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 The big midwest schools like Illinois and Michigan are expensive for out of state students, unfortunately. You can find information on schools that recruit out-of-state with merit aid from this article: http://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/out-of-state-student-arms-race/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssexton Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 The big midwest schools like Illinois and Michigan are expensive for out of state students, unfortunately. Yes, Michigan is his dream school. It's completely out of our reach, unfortunately. I was hoping there may be others that are able to be more generous with merit aid. Thanks for the link!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in NY Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Try cross posting on the college board for more replies. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anne1456 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Sounds similar to my son, who is also a rising junior in Mechanical engineering. These are the state schools we have identified as most likely to give him money - In the midwest: Michigan State - They have some full ride and full tuition scholarships, but they also have lots of smaller scholarships, and I believe they let you stack them. For example they offer 200 professorial assistanceships to Honors College students, which gives you instate tuition and paid research with a professor. If you stack that with one of their merit grants you end up with a relatively low price. Ohio State - They also have a scholarship that gives high scoring out of state students instate tuition, and let you stack them with merit aid. And there are competive full tuition scholarships too. I felt this probably would still be out of reach for us financially, but check it out. Miami of Ohio - not in the Big 10, but a midwest school that gives lots of merit aid. They do have ABET accredited engineering (which surprised me). In the east : SUNY Buffalo - like Jen said. We visited last week and were impressed U of Delaware - Further east, but they offer quite a few large merit awards, and are a good engineering school. U of Maryland - They also offer big scholarships, although I get the impression they are quite hard to get. But being from TN could be a plus. U of Pittsburg - They are known for giving lots of merit money. Temple U - They give full tuition plus some summer funding for an ACT of 34 or more And there are lots of places to check in the south, U of Alabama, U of Alabama Huntsville, North Carolina State, U of South Carolina, Clemson and U. Texas Dallas to name a few. One big thing he can do to increase his chances is raise his ACT score, because while 32 is a great score a 33 or 34 is more competitive for the big scholarships. I am pretty sure Michigan State looks for a 33, and Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Temple want a 34. Also make sure he studies for the PSAT, because being a National Merit Finalist would open up a bunch more scholarships. Here is a link to automatic full tuition scholarships based on test scores, arrange by state: http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssexton Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Anne, That is wonderful information that gives us much food for thought!! Thank you so much for taking the time to type all that! Thank you also for the confirmation that it is worthwhile to continue working on his ACT score. He's still has some time to hopefully bring it up a bit more. Appreciate all the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 If he applies to UA, have him look into CBH. It is their elite research honors program and the opportunities it offers are fabulous. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssexton Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 That is great to know 8! We'll be visiting UA and UGA this next year. On a side note, I'm looking forward to starting Treasured Conversations with my 4th grader this year! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssexton Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 That is great to know 8! We'll be visiting UA and UGA this next year. On a side note, I'm looking forward to starting Treasured Conversations with my 4th grader this year! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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