It's That Time of The Year

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hey, </p>

<p>I’m Lydia and I’m a junior who’s beginning her college search. I am an African-American who goes to a high school in IL. And it seems that my ACT score will be between 26 and 28. My UW GPA is around a 3.5 and I’m in the top 20% of my class.
ECs:
Science Olympiad
Amnesty International
Leadership Book Club
Environmental Club</p>

<p>With a few leadership positions anywhere here and there</p>

<p>Anyway, I’m interested in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in either structural or environmental engineering maybe both</p>

<p>Schools I am looking at are:
-UIUC
-Milwaukee School of Engineering,
-Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
-University of Wisconsin- Platteville
-Illinois Institute of Technology</p>

<p>So if you know any other universities I should look at that would be great!</p>

<p>Oh and my EFC is around $1,500 so I will definitely need some aid</p>

2

<p>Hey Lydia, </p>

<p>I would say Purdue is a good engineering school. </p>

<p>Good luck with your search and apps.</p>

3

<p>If you use the search tool here on CC and plug in your gpa and test scores it will give you some matches. Be sure to select all the options that matter to you and expand the number of results at the top…
[College</a> Admissions, Search, and Financial Aid Help from College Confidential - College Admissions, Search, and Financial Aid Help from College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/index.htm]College”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/index.htm)</p>

4

<p>That looks like a good starter list.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the help so far :)</p>

6

<p>Illinois Institute of Technology is the best choice considering you are from IL and you will have decent financial aid plus the school was ranked by the us news as top programs.</p>

<p>[US</a> Engineering School Rankings 2012](<a href=“http://universityreport.net/us-engineering-school-rankings-2012]US”>http://universityreport.net/us-engineering-school-rankings-2012)</p>

7

<p>UIUC is your best bet followed by Milwaukee or Illinois Institute because these schools will have the best internship programs and employee recruiting. Southern Illinois and Platteville are too small for internship and recruiting.</p>

8

<p>If you’re comfortable in a huge school UIUC, otherwise if you’re more the geek type IIT. Since you’re from IL you are probably familiar with Chicago, as much as I’d want a ‘big school college experience’ Chicago is quite an interesting place. </p>

<p>IIT also has architectural engineering, worth a look if you can stomach some studio.</p>

9

<p>I have added these other schools to my list:</p>

<p>University of Missouri- Columbia
Kansas State University
Marquette University </p>

<p>Also, which of the 8 schools would be reaches/matches/safeties for me with my stats</p>

10

<p>Here are some good engineering schools in mid west ranked</p>

<ol>
<li>University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign(because its in-state)</li>
<li>University of Wisconsin-Madison</li>
<li>University of Minnesota-Twin Cities</li>
<li>Iowa State University</li>
<li>Michigan State University</li>
</ol>

<p>UIUC: high match
Milwaukee School of Engineering: Match
-Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: Safety
-University of Wisconsin- Platteville Safety
-Illinois Institute of Technology High Match</p>

<p>University of Missouri- Columbia
Kansas State University
Marquette University </p>

<p>All safety.</p>

11

<p>Being a black female wanting to go into engineering will be huge as well. School’s love to push diversity and you are a double whammy in engineering. </p>

<p>You could probably try to apply to a few more reach schools and see what happens</p>

12

<h1>10 has a very good list. Might as well include University of Michigan and Purdue as well.</h1>

<h1>11 is right. Your AA female status could be a boost to schools that include diversity in admissions also.</h1>

13

<p>But my only concern applying to some of the schools recommended to me is that they seem to require high ACT scores in the 30s range to get scholarships so that’s why I’m applying to schools where I meet or am above the average with UIUC being my reach. So can you recommend schools that would give me good aid for my scores?</p>

14

<p>U would have to do that research on your own to find what scores give certain aid. Get a list of schools then browse around on financial aid and admissions websites for the schools to see what you can qualify for. Check in state options and apply to all engineering schools. Apply to a few out of state schools ranked say 20-50 that you would be comfortable attending. Use USNews as a guide to pick schools. </p>

<p>Your grades are good enough to attend good schools all over the country. It’s up to you where you want to go. Just don’t sell yourself short.</p>

15

<p>Unfortunately, UIUC is pretty far from meeting financial need for in-state students – check its net price calculator.</p>

<p>With EFC of $1,500, your net price maximum is probably about $10,000 if you contribute about $5,500 in Stafford loan and $3,000 in work earnings per year. So that is what you need to look for as a net price after applying financial aid grants (not loans) and scholarships against the list price.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250&lt;/a&gt; may have something for you. For example, Prairie View A&M full ride with 3.50 GPA and 26 ACT with writing may be a suitable safety school.</p>

<p>Some studying to raise the ACT or SAT may open up more possibilities.</p>

16

<p>Thanks for the advice. I guess we’ll have to see what happens this fall!</p>