So these were all popular possibilities in my S24’s feederish HS (located in the Pittsburgh area, so that makes sense).
My general understanding is for CMU, you would want to get on budget through need aid alone, and they are not known for the most generous need aid. But that is how one of S24’s soccer friends ended up at CMU, he did qualify for enough need aid and then that was a great opportunity for him.
Rochester and Case, however, do have merit. The general consensus seems to be that Case can be the most generous of those two with enough demonstrated interest, and that includes being an athletic recruit who then applies ED. That is how another soccer friend ended up at Case. I don’t know the details but both his parents are doctors, and apparently he ended up with a nice merit offer anyway.
None of this is to suggest you should rule out Rochester, though, or indeed other good engineering privates with merit. Like another poster mentioned Lehigh, and while my understanding is big merit is less common there, it does sometimes happen. RPI is another that engineering kids definitely tend to look at.
Of course there is nothing wrong with going to a place like Maryland and then doing whatever club sport(s) he likes (including Ultimate, they have a very good team which made Nationals this last season). But choice is nice!
FWIW, and knowing that this was for my son who graduated HS in 2022, so all costs have certainly gone up, here’s one person’s merit awards at several of the schools you’ve mentioned. We were very surprised by Lehigh - the coach was recruiting him hard and I know that they don’t tend to give many students merit, but we thought he’d get something. Coming away with nothing meant that it was off his list (it had been his top choice originally). As you can see, of the remaining WPI was the most expensive, but it also was the best fit for him. If your son does end up applying to Pitt, encourage him to get the application in as early as possible - not only because it’s a load off your mind to get an early acceptance, but also to give them the most time (and most available budget) to consider a merit award. If he considers CWRU, make sure you visit if you can, and log in to as many of their virtual sessions as practicable - they track demonstrated interest
UMD is ranked 7th, Princeton 8th.despite an early loss to Duke, I believe they were 3rd going into the NCAA tournament last year.
But if OP is good enough, he should definitely not dismiss it without taking a further look since it appears to be affordable. There are few places that allow you to have such a top engineering education while competing at the highest level and still allowing for a rich social life and exploration of other interests.
Maybe I missed this…but is this student having these discussions with their soccer coaches re: recruitment potential? Does this kid play on a travel team in addition to their HS team?
Have you completed any of the Net Price Calculators for the Ivy schools? Although they are not currently set for 2028 grads, you should be able to see if the financial aid is even in the ballpark of what you’d need to make them a feasible option. If they aren’t close to what you need, you can take those schools off your list.
He has a sibling in college, so I have done a lot of NPC’s. Generally at the schools that are committed to no loans, they come in at an affordable level.
One complicating factor is that we will hopefully have 3 kids in college all 4 years he attends, so FAFSA only vs CSS makes a huge difference.
And obviously it is OK if that ends up being a small list at most, since Maryland for Engineering in-state is a really good cost/academic combination already!
I agree it would make a difference in your FAFSA SAI. Many CSS schools still have number of siblings in their aid formula…you can typically tell if these schools consider siblings by running the NPC with and without siblings.
Just to be clear, in-state UMD is affordable even without merit and/or Banneker Key?
I think there are probably several reasons why he is getting interest from some Ivies but not from Big10 schools. One reason is that he has been emailing Ivy coaches, sending them videos, and inviting them to come see him play. He has not done that with UMD. The other is that while his academic strengths make him more appealing to Princeton because he’d be easy to get through admissions, the fact that he wants engineering, and has a history of doing things like choosing to go to a robotics tournament instead of a soccer one might make him less appealing to a coach who wants a high level of commitment.
This is just speculation. He plays his cards close to his chest.
I would take the time to run the NPCs at each of the Ivies and at MIT if you haven’t already done so. Many people are surprised by the differences even among the more generous schools.
I have run a bunch of Ivies, and a bunch of other high academic schools like MIT and JHU. I haven’t run every Ivy, because there are some that he is pretty sure he wouldn’t pick.
Right? We are super lucky that’s an option. The one downside is that it’s not a safety because their admissions are known for being very unpredictable. But he has a good shot.
Does he happen to do FIRST? University of Rochester offers a pretty generous FIRST scholarship up to 15K which is on top of other merit. I think WPI also has a generous scholarship.
He does, but does it really go on top like that? I thought need based aid came last, and closed the gap between the merit and what the school thinks we can afford.
I apologize as we did not qualify for financial aid, so I’m not sure how University of Rochester stacks merit or not - and some schools do reduce need based on merit. I do know that the FIRST scholarship was separate from general merit aid. I should not have included financial aid in my post as I don’t know how it’s treated, I will edit.
