Which schools to apply for following profile of my son.

kevbush777 · June 2014

My son got his SAT score - 2120 (CR-650, Math-800, Writing 670)
His GPA Unweighted - 3.85 weighted 4.45, UC GPA : 4.07
IB (middle and high school). 4th degree blackbelt.
ACT : 33
SAT II Math - 800
SAT II Chem - 760
We are based in california and He is interested in Engineering.

Torveaux · June 2014

UC school of choice. Arizona State. BYU. Colorado School of Mines. Idaho.

You didn't say much about what his interests are other than the martial art. He could be competitive at some schools. HIs CR score is a bit low for the top tier schools.

Do you need money or is that covered? What is he looking for in a school?

mathmom · June 2014

Is he interested in going away? Could you afford it? For engineering any of the big state U's will probably be good options, but if he'd like something smaller - he may have to look further afield since both Harvey Mudd and Caltech are very selective. (My older son didn't get into either of them with higher grades and better scores, seven years ago.)

MiamiDAP · June 2014

It is OK to go to any school for engineering, any UG that you son personal prefers. Engineering firms hire mostly locally anyway. If you are looking for Merit awards (might as well with this stats, we were defifnitely interested and D. ended up going to UG on full tuition Merit), then one school that I know is Case which is very strong in engineering. However, many CA kids have trouble driving in the snow, so your S. might not like being in OH at all.

Knoxpatch · June 2014

Cal Poly might be of interest.

ucbalumnus · July 2014

Read http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1621234-before-you-ask-which-colleges-to-apply-to-please-consider-p1.html (the list is aimed at students, but parents can read it when helping their kids come up with application lists). Points 1 and 3 are important to narrow down the list.

If he is interested in UCR, and it is affordable, he should sign up for UCR's admission guarantee during July:
https://vcsaweb.ucr.edu/gap/index.aspx
Then he should include UCR in his regular UC application. UCR will then be a 100% sure thing safety.

aunt bea · July 2014

Son's SAT score needs to go up more for the first tier UC's. I would also recommend the Cal Poly's but make sure he VISITS the campuses.

Don't mean to offend you, but why are you looking for your son? Did he ask for help? Most kids want to be proactive with this process. Just wondering because my son wanted to make sure we wouldn't influence his choices so he talked to his counselors, minimally asked us for opinions, and researched the university websites and then came up with a list. We told him what we could and couldn't afford so he pared his list.

bookworm · July 2014

caltech

compmom · July 2014

Aunt Bea, your son's behavior was the ideal, but I think many of us who have at one time had 17 year-old sons had to do some of the preliminary exploration. And our guidance office was terrible, no help at all, even harmful! It sounds like your son had counselors he could trust. I would not expect a kid this age necessarily to find the best choices, and the whole thing is a bit overwhelming. Those whom I know did operate this independently made some misguided choices and regretted not having some parental help.

We all have different schools, different kids, and different situations so I would not judge, to be honest.

oldfort · July 2014

I would use his ACT score of 33 and 2 SAT II scores. He would be competitive for Cornell Engineering if he is top 10% of his class. Again, as mentioned by other posters, does he want to go away and will he need FA?

LakeWashington · July 2014

Certainly Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona.

Consider also...
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Rice University
Texas Christian University
Iowa State University
Illinois Institute of Technology
Northwestern University

happy1 · July 2014

Do you have any geographic/financial restrictions? Certainly the UCs should be on the list. Then perhaps schools like Cornell, GA Tech, Carnegie Mellon, UMichigan

intparent · July 2014

Aunt Bea, your son's behavior was the ideal, but I think many of us who have at one time had 17 year-old sons had to do some of the preliminary exploration.

And 17 year old daughters, too. And odds are good that the parents are paying most of the bill, so for the parent to sit on the sidelines seems ridiculous to me.

kevbush777 · July 2014

Thanks for your responses. He is interested in Electrical Engineering. At least that's what he tells us. So far, we have visited Cal Poly SLO, UCD, UCB, UCSB & UCSC. This weekend we will visit UCLA, UCSD.
He being the only child, we would like him to stay close to us.Though, we are planning to visit Michigan/Illinois this summer.
Right now, we are very confused with schools. We hear it doesn't make sense to move out of state unless you are getting some kind of ride. At the same time, we hear stories about How overcrowded UCs/CSUs are. Its like we are in panic mode and feel may be we should have started looking into this earlier. Again, its going to be his choice. We are just trying to collect information for him.
Has anyone used college planners help in this regard? What is your experience?

ucbalumnus · July 2014

Use the net price calculator at each school's web site to get an idea of what financial aid will be like. Out of state public schools usually do not give good financial aid. However, some may not have that high out-of-state prices (e.g. Minnesota, SUNYs, NC State, Virginia Tech, SD Mines, NM Tech).

dustypig · July 2014

The UCs are certainly getting more competitive, but your son has good stats and stands a good chance. There's no need to panic! He will get into a good school.

Has he expressed a preference for any of the campuses you've visited? I haven't been to all of them, but I would say that UCD and UCSC, for example, are very different in terms of "feel."

BrownParent · July 2014

Stop panicking you have time and you don't need a college advisor. And don't apologize for helping your kid with the process, I think that is very necessary in this competitive environment.

First, apply widely through the UC system since it is just one application, just pay the application fees. Also add a good number of CSU unless he is really averse in case of a shut out of UC. There is one kid posting recently with higher stats that yours and more/great EC and he didn't apply to many csu so didn't have choices and will be at CSU Fullerton this fall after no UC admission (he didn't apply everywhere.) Engineering is filling up and shutting people out. That one is a head scratcher, though.

moonchild · July 2014

UC Santa Barbara is becoming a popular choice for engineering, has a stunning campus and is probably a bit easier to get into than UCSD right now, and certainly easier entry than UCLA or UCB. The few students I know who graduated from Santa Barbara had a good experience and have had no trouble finding jobs.
If you're considering privates, USC is also another excellent California-based option.

mom2collegekids · July 2014

Are you willing to be full-pay at UMich (engg and upper-division costs are probably 55k+ now)

Your state has plenty of very good engg schools. try....SCU and USC for privates.

MiamiDAP · July 2014

I woudl say that if UMich is under consideration, then there is no reason under the sky to pay that much if he can attend comparable and much smaller private Case Western paying very little in tuition.
But it looks like CA is a choice of state any way. For engineering, as I have mentioned before, there is no reason to travel far. Specifically, my H. is an Electrical Engineer. All engineering firms that we know hire locally from the local colleges anyway.

Torveaux · July 2014

Many good schools offer merit for OOS students. The test scores are good enough...how was the PSAT? Is he a candidate for NMS? That opened a lot of doors for our future engineer.

Which schools to apply for following profile of my son.

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