Hello,
Looking for ideas and recommendations to help DS build a college list. DS is wonderfully average and has some lofty unrealistic ideas (financially and academically.) He currently has a list of over 40 colleges all around the country that are extremely expensive, zero chance he’d get in, or have nothing to do with his interests. No common theme either, some are schools he likes because of sports, location, or just because idk he likes the name?
Here are his stats . . .
UW 3.54
W 3.80 (has shown a steady gpa increase over the past three years, so hoping this upward trend continues or at least remains)
Lots of honors classes, only 1 AP so far, (discovered his ADHD in grade 8, needs additional test time/processing time).
Prefers to go Test Optional (has not taken SAT)
Club sport, volunteer service, summer work, leadership
Here is what he is looking for . . .
He recently announced he would like to explore civil engineering as a major (?!!) he has not taken physics. Has also expressed an interest in business. Trying to be supportive of him and wishing they offered career exploration classes at his high school.
Midsize school (no more than 12,000???)
He has toured several big schools (25-30K) and says they feel too big. He has one large instate school listed as a target school on his school. But only because I told him he had to list an instate school that he would be okay with OR a CC (he did not like that option.)
The only part of the US that is off HIS list is anywhere with high humidity (currently live in NC, dislikes.) Normally I would say, omg you are going to be studying inside most of the time! who cares? BUT he is such an easy going guy and the fact that he is stating that he an environment where he feels he can work (and is aware of that) needs to be taken into consideration. Not a dealbreaker but he prefers the look of stone buildings and beautiful campuses (don’t we all? lol)
Loves sports, if school doesn’t have sports would need a solid national league team nearby to cheer on AND a drop in play or club team for him to play (soccer), doesn’t care about greek life or parties.
We would most likely be full pay (we are a struggling donut hole family) so anywhere that gives merit to an average kid or doesn’t cost a human organ.
Ideas on affordable midsize supportive schools where he could realistically try to get into for civil engineering or business?
TIA
My S was an average student as well, though he did get a 32 on his ACT. Civil engineering major. Quinnipiac ticks a lot of your boxes. He got $36k in merit there but that was 5 years ago. Maybe look at U Maine too. Clarkson gives excellent merit but might be too small for your son. But strong in engineering and business. All of those are big hockey schools, not sure how strong they are in other sports. QU and U Maine both have pretty campuses. Clarkson not so much.
Sorry about humidity and beauty but UAH, Manhattan (Catholic), Marshall, UT Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech, Wyoming.
All would be easy admits on err on the side of affordability (even forgetting merit) plus have business majors. Not sure his math level but I suspect engineering will be tough.
Manhattan University seems perfect for your son. Their Student Success Office is on top of students at the first sign he is struggling in a course, which is really helpful for an ADHD kid. Well established engineering school which has been teaching civil engineering since the 1890s. Big engineering school (900) at a small to midsize college (3000+).
The NC publics with ABET-accredited civil engineering are NC A&T, UNC Charlotte, and NCSU. All have more than 12,000 students, though NC A&T is only slightly above, while UNC Charlotte and NCSU are much larger. No idea what the humidity is like in these places, but you probably are more familiar with the weather where these campuses are.
not sure about merit totals or what you deem “Affordable” for you…
RIT (not pretty, but good engineering, and it sounds pretty supportive from what I can tell, also a huge variety of majors. They house an institute for the deaf/hard of hearing so I think that focus on disabilities filters over?).
WPI (slightly small for him maybe?)
UNH / UVM / URI not huge engineering programs but substantive and aren’t huge for flagships - UVM just one national soccer title. All 3 are pretty IMO - lots of stone buildings.
Fairfield also has engineering (like quinnipiac) and a much prettier campus IMO.
It’s in a town with 5 other colleges and only 5 minutes away to see the PawSox and Railers (Islanders farm team). So fun to see players before they hit the big time and also really affordable.
You might not hear a lot about WPI in NC, but it might be a sweet spot for him in that they admit to the school and not major. He could explore both CE and business. Their project based curriculum would let him explore in a hands on environment. Very collaborative rather than competitive. If you’re looking for him to explore engineering a bit more before making a decision, they run summer camps.
You’ve gotten several great suggestions already, but here are a few more options that he may want to research:
Gonzaga (WA): About 5200 undergrads, lots of athletic spirit around basketball
Illinois Institute of Technology: About 3300 undergrads. Being located in Chicago means there are lots of professional sports available for spectators.
Marquette (WI): About 7700 undergrads. Lots of athletic spirit around basketball and Milwaukee has professional sports teams.
North Dakota State: About 9800 undergrads and college sports are big here (ranked #20 of 1332 schools on Niche).
Seattle U. (WA): About 4100 undergrads at this Jesuit college, and Seattle also has a number of professional sports teams.
U. of Portland (OR): About 3100 undergrads and there are professional sports teams here, too.
U. of St. Thomas (MN): About 6k undergrads at this school in Saint Paul, and the Twin Cities have several professional sports teams.
U. of Wyoming: About 8300 undergrads. The school gets an “A” rating from Niche for athletics (ranks #124 of 1,332, so in the top 10%).
Wentworth Institute of Technology (MA): About 3800 undergrads at this Boston school. Wentworth is part of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium which means that not only are professional sports very close-by, but students can also cross-register at other schools in the consortium which are very nearby.
Widener (PA ): About 2800 undergrads at this school in a Philadelphia suburb.
I second the University of Portland. Wonderful city. Nice campus. Very good school. Good engineering and computer science programs. Also very good nursing and solid business school. They give very good merit scholarship. Daughter received $168,000 over four years. Great soccer program. Skiing close by at Mount Hood. Hiking everywhere. Basketball pro team, Trailblazers. There’s a pro soccer team. Possible future baseball. It’s a foodie city. Son attended and loved the school. We visited frequently and love the city. Tempted to actually move to Portland, but now son moved home, so it’s unlikely.
UNC Charlotte is the only NC school he has listed.
NC State is a great school and 20 minutes from home. Engineering is a tough admit there so he’d have to pick a different major. In our experience it’s high school 2.0 as far as friend groups and local high schools. I love his friend group but not sure he will spread his wings and grow. Maybe for grad school!
Hoping he can get into Physics next year.
Are you psychic? Or are you ready for March Madness? Lol
DS has Four of these schools on his list - Gonzaga, Seattle U, U of Portland and Marquette
Unfortunately we can’t afford these colleges without scholarships. Do you know if they offer any merit for average students? I’m also concerned about cost of flights from mid Atlantic to Pacific Northwest as well as second year housing costs/COL. This is a kid who has only been away from home for no more than 3 days. I foresee some homesickness and an adjustment period.
Than you. I’ll review again and look into the others you mentioned.
W Carolina is $20K OOS so less in state and has an engineering degree with a civil concentration but is not ABET accredited.
It’s construction management degree is however - and wondering if that might work.
Engineering has a 50% drop out/non completion rate. It’s hard. It’s high high high level math - and just wondering if that’s going to work for the student. Just another option.
Thank you. You answered my immediate question about Portland …merit. Do you apply separately or is it automatic with application? We would need to bring the cost down significantly - down to about 40k a year or less.
Would you please share more about your son’s experience? Years he attended? Within past three or more than five?
Was housing for second year on campus guaranteed or was off campus affordable?
Not sure about Manhattan but the other schools I mentioned upthread should hit budget.
Marshall, as an example, is about $34k tuition, room, and board. Looks like as TO would be $1500 merit but if he took the ACT and got a 22, it’d be $6k or $8k with a 24.
These type schools I noted are solid (all accredited), budget friendly even without merit, and except Wyoming within range of NC.