Okay, thanks for the advice. I think I’ll apply as long as my visit doesn’t go horribly wrong. Do you think I would qualify for merit aid with my current stats?
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I think Lehigh could be a target school for you. They are a very well known engineering school. My son goes there now. You should do a tour - see what you think. The campus is gorgeous! Mid sized school, about 5800 undergrads and about 1200 grad students.
I did some preliminary research and it looks interesting, has a minor in aerospace engineering as well, I will add it to the schools to look more into. I could visit in on the same trip if I decide to visit Drexel, Penn State or UPitt.
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They are test blind, so it would be purely based on your GPA. I’m sorry, but I have no idea how well you’d do.
WPI actually changed back to test-optional recently(I think this is the first year with the change), I also initially thought it was test blind as my friends who go there told me it was when they applied. No worries about the merit aid part was just curious if you had any info.
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I would be more bullish on Lehigh if you qualified for need-based aid; they are a fairly generous, full-need-met/no-loan school. Merit is possible, but the odds of getting the COA down to the cost of the Canadian schools, for a Canadian citizen, are pretty low. You have such great schools available to you at that price that it sets the bar pretty high, IMHO, for what US privates would be worth paying for.
My (California) kids had dual-citizen friends who all opted for Canadian U’s, from Toronto to Dalhousie to UBC. Fantastic schools at a bargain price. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the lower acceptance rates at US schools mean anything in terms of relative reputation. Students in Canada know exactly what stats they need to get into the Canadian U’s. There’s no need for the festival of rejection that we do here; kids self-select and apply where they’re qualified. The top Canadian U’s have stellar reputations worldwide.
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My daughter with a 3.95 either didn’t received merit from Lehigh, or not nearly enough to be affordable (and no FA).
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That was our experience with Lehigh as well but with a 4.0 GPA, and that was back in '18. The most they did was invite K to apply for a special music scholarship that would have been $8K/year.
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If you are really interested in automotive you should look at Kettering (the old General Motors Institute). The bad news is that it is in beautiful, scenic Flint, MI and the campus is a bit rundown. The good news is that it feeds into the auto industry in Michigan (especially GM, where many on the management team - including Mary Barra - are alumni), it has strong outcomes, and it is a relatively easy admit. Note that they have a strong coop program, so you get great experience before applying for work upon graduation.
Also look at Michigan State if interested in automotive. It gets overshadowed by UofM, but it is a strong program.
Michigan Tech is a good school, but both MSU and UofM are higher ranked for engineering, especially MechE. Tech was historically Michigan’s public school to train people for extraction industries like lumber and mining. Today, it is best known for it’s CivE program. It is also very isolated at the far west corner of the UP; we live outside Detroit and it is a nine hour drive. We know several engineers who attended Tech, and they either loved it or transfered after one winter. Bring lots of long underwear and cross-country skis.
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I was also going to suggest Kettering. The co-op program is very strong and there are many job listings that are just for Kettering A or B co-ops. My husband’s company has used them for 25+ years.
Michigan Tech is a great school, but it is not the easiest to get to and is very far from MA. I’m in SE Michigan, not too far from Kettering and I can be at the U at Buffalo in 4.5 hours, if the borders are fast. Michigan Tech is 9 hours from me. If you’re near WPI, you’re looking at 18-20 hours to get to Tech, driving.
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However, since the OP is an international student on a visa, the need for a work visa may make using co-ops more difficult for the OP, unless the co-op location is in Canada.
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Co-ops are covered under F1 visas, not sure about H4s. Legally, they’re treated differently from off campus internships (which are also allowed through CPT but have a strict limit).
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This would probably be a question for the ISO to best answer but a quick google search says co-ops are not allowed on H4 unless the holder has an employment authorization document (EAD). @tghmr , do you know if your H1B parent has an approved green card petition (i140) from their employer? If so you can apply for an EAD, if not you’d need to get an F1 if you’re interested in a co-op study course,
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If I understand what you are saying then it’s not that the top Canadian universities are a lot easier to get into then American universities it’s that there are specific stats you need to get it and since you know that it doesn’t make sense to apply to schools where you won’t get in. I will look further into if my GPA meets the requirements and tour the ones I do. Thanks for the advice.
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I was just looking on Google Maps and I see what you mean. The difference is around an extra 8-hour drive, which I think makes it too far for me. Michigan state and Kettering both intrest me although Kettering is a little too small for my liking.
I’m planning to get an F1 visa because the H4 visa will expire when I turn 21.
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I’d suggest several schools in the New York City area:
Manhattan University
Steven’s Tech
New Jersey Institute of Technology
SUNY Stony Brook
SUNY New Paltz
All have ABET approved programs in Mechanical Engineering. All are very good engineering schools but with varying degrees of selectivity for admissions.
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- Clarkson University
- Michigan Tech
- University of Pittsburgh
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that’s true, they don’t seem to be that generous with merit but are pretty good with need-based.
Hi All,
Thank you to everyone for your input. Sorry for the late response. I was busy with makeup AP exams, Prom, finishing my Go Kart Project, and a bunch of other things, and colleges got left on the back burner for a little while.
Some updates:
Confirmed with my counselor that I qualify for in-state tuition for Massachusetts Schools.
I was elected vice president of my community service club.
Got a second letter of recommendation from my engineering teacher (I had him last year and will again have him next year).
Looked into Canadian Universities and found them pretty interesting and would be significantly cheaper. I found that they place a lot more emphasis on senior year classes and have clear-cut prerequisites. I meet them as of now for all the schools except McGill. I found a bunch that were interesting, and I think I am definitely going to apply to a bunch of Canadian Universities as the application process seems simpler with fewer requirements than U.S. schools, and also later deadlines. (I have 9, which I have it narrowed down to). I am also more hesitant to ED to Northeastern because of the Canadian school options.
Some other U.S. schools that have interested me are Virginia Tech, OSU, the University of Pittsburgh, Drexel, and SIT
I have signed up for visits to UMASS Amherst, WPI, as well as Purdue.
I know the University of Pittsburgh and Wentworth have rolling admissions, so I plan to apply as early as I can so that I will not need to apply to as many safeties.
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If you truly want motorsports, go to UNCC or IUPUI.
Those are the mecca - Hendrick, as an example, hires many UNCC.
Good luck.
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