Chance/Match me Aerospace or Mechanical, Good to very good school, IL resident, 3.98 GPA, 35 ACT, 1540 SAT, NMSF

Chance Me / Match Me
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Looking to help my son finalize/refine his college list. 3.98 cumulative GPA (Junior year), 35 ACT, 1540 SAT, NMF semifinalist (I think he has a high chance to become finalist, his score was 224, 2 points above the cut-over). Illinois, suburbs, fairly small but decent school. He is 1st gen (both parents are immigrants).

Played/ing 3 sports at school, made it to JV, decided not to bother with sports scholarship route (we tried). Various clubs (2 or 3), either member or officer. Honors society (due to high academic performance), obv some volunteering. Bunch of activities outside of school, did local toastmasters club, participated in robotics team and his team did well (that was middle school though). Went to id Tech summer camps a few years ago. Participated in a hackathon (was a designated coder :slight_smile: ), the team got a recognition award. The science team he was on made it to state competition. Things like that, nothing groundbreaking but I think fairly solid.

He attended 1-week summer program at UIUC and I think he liked it (well who wouldn’t, a whole week away from family :slight_smile: ).

He wanted to do aerospace first, but reconsidered after realizing the ebbs and flows in the job market, so now mostly considering mechanical. Maybe automotive (he’s been into cars lately).

His list is as follows:

Safety: local community college (has agreements with UIUC on transfer), University of Alabama (full ride for NMF finalists, that’s from parents’ list), Milwakee School of Engineering (small but solid school close by)
Target: UIUC, University of Michigan, Purdue, Colorado School of Mines, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Case Western Reserve
Reach: MIT, Stanford, CalTech

He does not seem to have a preference RE: geographical region but I think it’s important consideration, South vs Midwest vs West Coast vs NorthEast etc etc.

We are not rich, but will not likely qualify for any need-based aid, while the full price will make a big hole in savings (and have 2 other kids to send to college soon).

Any thoughts and advice on these (and any other schools) will be greatly appreciated!

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Have you run the NPC for these schools? Are they affordable? You really need to set a budget and work from there.

Georgia Tech is a reach. OOS acceptance rates are low. They also don’t offer many merit scholarships. You’ll most like be full-pay.

I would search through threads for schools that offer big scholarships for NMSF/NMF students. UT Dallas and a few others. Good luck.

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Congrats on your son’s accomplishments; he sounds terrific. If you haven’t found this already, here’s a thread that describes the schools that offer big merit for National Merit: Big merit NMF/NMSF schools and their specialties

An in-state school as strong as UIUC as a “likely” sets a high bar for the rest of the list. We also were in the situation where we were full pay, but not so wealthy that tuition costs didn’t matter. So for us, we took flagships that weren’t in-state (or in tuition reciprocity states) off our list. Our S22 ended up at one of the “big merit for NMF” schools listed above and is very happy. It was a better fit for him than our flagship.

I do agree with the idea of going ME rather than Aerospace. A student can always do an Aerospace minor or concentration, or target their internships to aerospace.

For your current list, I predict he will get into all his safeties and targets. I predict he won’t get into his reaches, just because admit rates are so very low that these schools are unlikely for any applicant except those who have won specific prestigious national awards. That said, he certainly is qualified academically for these schools, so no reason not to apply and see if luck goes his way.

Best wishes!

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What about University of New Mexico. @WayOutWestMom can elaborate on scholarships and other opportunities there.

Mechanical Engineering | The University of New Mexico.

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Michigan, Georgia Tech and possibly even Purdue should be in your reach category. And Michigan is a very expensive. I would definitely run the net price calculators and make sure all of these schools are affordable.

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Not sure what this means – is it likely that he has a preference but is not telling you yet, or that you as the parent has a preference here?

Have you determined the price limit and checked net price calculators on the various colleges?

ME is one of the most selective majors at UIUC. Are any other IL publics with ME of interest?

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Oh, re-reading this made me realize I should clarify. Is this weighted or unweighted?

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What is your budget - when you say “We are not rich, but will not likely qualify for any need-based aid, while the full price will make a big hole in savings (and have 2 other kids to send to college soon).” - that’s not saying a lot.

You can easily do aero from MechE - but if he truly loves aero, he can pursue that. Amongst these schools - the where likely will matter little. Mine turned down Purdue with merit for Bama and works with Purdue, Michigan, U Wash, Case Western and more - but also Akron, W Michigan, Buffalo - they all hired in at the same class and salary - and he had 19 interviews and 5 offers coming from a no name.

If cost matters - and you need a budget - you’re not going to beat Bama but UAH is in the aero hotbed - Huntsville - surrounded by aero companies galore. With NMF, you’d get 4 years merit, 1 year housing, and $3K for study abroad. Not Bama cheap but cheap. It’s smaller and more STEM focused although has most majors.

Once you have a budget figure, then you can optimize your list.

As for the chance me, I’d adjust a bit:

Parkland to UIUC is fine, Bama and MSE are safety.

Mines is a safety.

Purdue a hard target and A&M a target for engineering (not entry). Statistically CWRU is a target or even likely but - there are some anomalies there.

UIUC, Michigan, Purdue and Ga Tech are reaches in addition to your listed reaches but he can easily get into one.

But going to a school you can’t afford is not a good thing.

So determine a budget # first - so you’re not paying Michigan $360K because you applied and you couldn’t tell your son no - even though you knew up front you’d never want to pay that.

So figure out your budget - an actual # - and then go from there. It’s likely, for example, Mines would come off the list in that case - and if you’re not getting need aid, your reaches as well.

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My bad. It is unweighted.

Also he took 5 AP classes last year and taking 7 AP classes this year, among them Economics, Physics BC, Calc (don’t remember which one), History. Had some 3s but mostly 5s and 4s. He’s been working really hard.

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And his effort will reward you with being able to support his education and your other kids - that’s where the schools like Bama, UAH, Mississippi State - all outstanding for education - take care of kids even without NMF. They buy them in.

That’s why over 1500 kids from Illinois are at Bama. Think about that # - and that’s just one state they pull from (they pull that large from several).

Even without NMF, you’d be $20K-ish a year.

That’s what the hard work accomplishes - vs. the I worked hard, I can go to Michigan.

You can - but for $300K more. If he didn’t work hard, he could go to Bama - but at $120K more. So that hard work, even without NMF, got him $30K a year
.and with NMF, $50K a year
.that’s how you have to see it.

Is it worth it? Only you can decide.

When my son turned down Purdue for Bama (own dorm room, shared bathroom with one), I questioned the logic.

$80K more in my pocket and he has likely the same job as he would have - as he told me, rankings are to sell magazines and for parents. Companies don’t care. Turns out, he’s not wrong - given the # of interviews and offers he had.

So figure your truly desired budget - and build for that - and know, that affordability happened because of his hard work!!!

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Thank you! I agree that Georgia Tech is a reach, and honestly so is Purdue and Michigan
 But then I’m thinking it might be close to target with his grades/scores (esp if he becomes finalist, as he’s in the top <1% of kids his age).

I have run NPC and we can kinda afford UIUC, Purdue, and Texas A&M ($42 - $45), and Georgia Tech gave me even slightly lower number surprisingly. But the rest were in $60s and $80s range which is honestly beyond not only what’s affordable but what’s reasonable.

I’m still trying to figure out what kind of merit-based aid is available at all of these, it def looks like they’re hiding it on purpose.

Nothing beats ‘Bama in terms of cost, of course, and he put it on the list at our insistence (I went through the list of generous NMF-based scholarships), but he’s definitely not looking forward to going there. I don’t blame him, would suck to put all this work and get all these results and end up in 100+ ranked engineering program


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If you are looking to keep it under $60K, RPI would be a good target because your son should see a big merit award there. My daughter felt like it had a similar vibe to some of the other schools already on your child’s list and they have a great engineering program.

I also live in IL and we know a number of people who have sent their kids to Iowa State for engineering and rave about the school. It would be another safety.

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I would be hesitant at any OOS school to assume merit, unless it’s auto merit - and don’t forget, some schools charge additional for engineering. And for need, only UVA promises to meet so run their NPC. They are there to fund their students, not other states - unless they are buying smart kids in to improve the school’s profile.

Purdue, as an example, charges $2,050.

They are showing 2024 direct costs (tuition, room and board) of $43,664.

But don’t forget, that’s last year - and schools raise prices (even Purdue now is) and many raise year after year.

In the end, you’ll have affordable - so you can take your shots - because you can fall back on the affordable you have.

But if it were me, I’d take my shots at schools I have a chance to afford - and that’s not going to be schools like Mines or Michigan. And for the need aid only schools you can see from the NPCs (Stanford, MIT).

What you don’t want to have happen is you get into a high pedigree school that’s pricey, and you don’t know how to say no to your kid.

In our case, I set a $50K max and mine applied to no, non merit schools. She did apply to schools that could get there but there was no assurance. She knew right away those had to come off if they didn’t hit $50K - no discussion - but that was made clear up front.

So you have to set ground rules if you apply to those highly unlikely to be affordable.

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Just a note here, first gen means first generation to college - not first generation in the USA. Did either parent get a degree, anywhere?

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There isn’t merit available at most of these these schools. It’s not hidden. Georgia Tech offers a few Stamps scholarships but those are ultra competitive. Typically used to lure MIT caliber kids. Maybe a few other scholarships but very limited.

GT is a reach. Your son is very competitive and has a chance but still a reach. For reference my S20 probably had a half-dozen NM winners on his dorm floor freshman year.

I think your son will have some good acceptances but reaches are hard to predict. Even the 100th ranked school will be challenging for engineering. As long as it’s ABET accredited it’s fine. Many stellar students end-up at their state flagship.

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There will be students who worked just as hard and did just as well at many universities and programs. Several of my kids’ friends were Val’s and Sal’s and ended up at our flagship, mostly due to cost. My kids certainly did not attend the most selective colleges they were admitted to, and honestly didn’t apply to many due to affordability. The more rejective, the lower the merit. We have 5 kids, 1 income, no FA, high COL, it all worked out.

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Ohio state would be a good addition, they do offer merit scholarship for OOS. Wisconsin would also be excellent addition, if affordable as you cannot count on merit there.

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In terms of region, I think it should be important consideration so I definitely keep that in mind when offering or discussing options with him. I do not think Illinois is a great growth area in terms of business formations, business migration, and job market as a result, at least at this point in time, and I think some Southern or Western states might be better. I might be wrong though!

(Unofficial) acceptance rate for ME I think is around 25%, not exactly high, but not really low either (CS for example is around 7%). Also, his school def looks like a feeder to UIUC (looking at the anekdata on graduates’ admissions).

I honestly do not know much about UIC, UI in Springfield, or Illinois State, to have an opinion, but have an open mind.

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Where you go will or can have zero impact on where you end up.

My Alabama kid had I think one interview for a Southern job (Tampa) and is in Irvine, CA. The other 18 interviews were midwest, northeast (including a well known aero), and west.

You apply for jobs on line today - that’s how most find them - and you can target areas for employment, where you want to be.

Budget should be your concern over region - if you’re picking regions for jobs.

Region can be fixed by your job search
is what I’m saying.

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Does this anecdata include all majors, or just engineering majors? Admit rates by division suggest that the engineering division is much more selective than most other divisions (or exploratory studies where those admitted to the school but not their majors are put) at UIUC: Admit Rates, Undergraduate Admissions, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign