Looking for a college

College Search & Selection
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<p>I want to go to a big college with at least a decent engineering school. I'm not exactly sure what type of engineering I want to do so I would prefer for the school to be strong in almost all types of engineering. I live in Tennessee but would prefer to go to an out of state school in the Southeast(Northern perimeter of WV and Western perimeter of Texas). I would like to go to a bigger public school, that has well known and exciting athletics. As far as financial limits, I would need to go for a tuition of somewhere under $8,000, basically meaning I'll need about in-state tuition to any school.</p>

<p>I have currently applied to LSU mainly for Petroleum Engineering, which is by far my top choice currently, and the University of Tennessee for general engineering. If you don't mind, please give me chances of getting hefty scholarships/getting in to both of those schools.</p>

<p>My highest ACT score is a 32(33 English, 34 Math, 29 Reading, 30 Science) with a superscore of 33(33 English, 34 Math, 30 Reading, 34 Science. I have an unweighted GPA of 3.25 and a weighted of 3.56. I have taken many honors and AP courses throughout my time in High School. My freshman year I played on the Freshman basketball team. Sophomore year I played Varsity Tennis. I have worked about 15 hours a week during my Junior and Senior years. Both of my parents are UT engineering graduates. The chances of me getting financial aid based on need is low(both parents make $100,000+ a year, however I recently changed which parent I lived with and neither has had time to save up money for my college.</p>

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<p>bump bump bump</p>

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<p>Bumping after two minutes is quite rude… especially with a question this specific. Most state schools do not give much merit aid to out of state students. Once you have a list of schools, you will want to visit each school’s financial aid website. They should have information on merit aid and a financial aid calculator you can run with some help from your parents. Your test scores are pretty good, so that might help. But for out of state schools, you will mostly want to look at the merit aid section of the websites.</p>

<p>Regarding cost, here are a few thoughts:

  • When you say $8,000 tuition, do you mean total cost (including room & board)? Or truly just tuition?
  • Generally I am not a big fan of taking out many loans, but as an engineering major you will be in a better position than most to pay them back. So you should at least consider taking out some loans.
  • Assuming you can earn a few thousand dollars a year with summer work and a job during school.
  • If your parents both make over $100,000 per year, have you asked them how much they contribute financially each year for you? Even if they have not saved a lot (and saying they have not “had time” probably isn’t accurate… they actually probably have not chosen to, which is a different story), it seems like they should be able to contribute something from current earnings each year. Of course, that all depends on whether you have younger sibs, etc.</p>
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<p>When I say $8,000 tuition I mean just tuition. The change in room and board etc. is not great across state schools in a certain area. My parents divorced about 15 years ago and I lived with my mom, for about 4 years she worked near minimum wage until she found her current high paying job, and has been paying other debts and saving for retirement so could not save. About a year ago I moved in with my father. My father did not save because he did not expect to have to pay since I didn’t live with him. I’d say all together my parents could contribute about $12,000 a year, so I would have to take a small amount out for loans. I have one sister currently enrolled in a community college, she pays very little.</p>

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<p>

You might want to have a serious talk with your geography teacher. ;)</p>

<p>Look at U Alabama and UAB Huntsville. They give good merit aid but I’m not sure if your UW GPA would prevent that. You can also look up ABET accredited engineering programs here: [Accredited</a> Program Search](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx)</p>

<p>Also look at Post #7 in this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1396644-northeast-midwest-engineering-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1396644-northeast-midwest-engineering-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>You should get a full tuition scholarship at LSU based on your stats. There are quite a few other southern universities on this list that would give you large scholarships:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You could also look at Clemson and South Carolina. Their scholarships are not automatic for out-of-state, but with your stats there’s a good chance they would offer enough to get the tuition down to your desired level or less. </p>

<p>Arkansas would waive out of state tuition based on your stats and so would Mississippi State, and they might add additional merit aid after that.</p>

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<p>Your stats look like a full ride at Louisiana Tech (listed in the thread referenced in post #6) as well as full tuition at LSU.</p>

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<p>I’ve considered UA-Tuscaloosa, and I like it due to costs and distance. Clemson and South Carolina both have very good programs but I’m not sure how much help I can get from them. Other schools I’ve looked at include Auburn, Mississippi State, NC State, and a couple others. I also learned today that if I were to go into Petroleum Engineering at LSU I could get in-state tuition. I feel like my ACT could get me a full ride to most state schools but my UW GPA(darn you Freshman year!) is holding me back.</p>

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