I suggest running the NPCs for these three schools then letting us know if they are affordable. That will influence the advice provided.
Best of luck and look forward to following your student’s journey.
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Stupid question: what are NPC’s and how do I run them?
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You need to run the NPCs as others noted. If JHU comes back at $60K, for example, you have to take it off the list. Budget is #1, #2, and #3.
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She’ll need to suss out if she wants to be an engineer - because if she does, applying to schools like W&M make zero sense. You want to put major over school (in my opinion). That’s why I suggested Purdue’s STEP and RHIT Operation Catapult. They will be worth the summer investment - even for bio engineering. You can’t study what they don’t have - and if she’s unsure, she’s better to study in engineering and leave it vs. another major and try to transfer in.
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I know she likes writing but you noted a minor and many are suggesting strong writing programs for majors - but she’ll find strong writing everywhere.
At $30K, you’ll have plenty of options but they might not be 5 hours - but there’s a ton of merit - in places like the south and midwest.
What is your home state - can you define better than mid atlantic please?
Here’s a list of ABET accredited bio engineering from CT to NC. Is there one in your home state. I’m told Lafayette - not on the list - has it as a subject in their ABET program. They meet 100% of need - so run their NPC too.
With great stats brings great costs - and that’s what you need - great costs. So that’s your fallback - a school further than 5 hours because she crushes the student averages and that’s the one willing to “buy” your student in.
| School Name | City | State |
|---|---|---|
| Fairfield University | Fairfield | Connecticut |
| University of Connecticut | Storrs | Connecticut |
| University of Hartford | West Hartford | Connecticut |
| University of Delaware | Newark | Delaware |
| The Catholic University of America | Washington | District of Columbia |
| University of the District of Columbia | Washington | District of Columbia |
| The George Washington University | Washington | District of Columbia |
| The Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore | Maryland |
| University of Maryland College Park | College Park | Maryland |
| The College of New Jersey | Ewing | New Jersey |
| Rowan University | Glassboro | New Jersey |
| Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken | New Jersey |
| Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | New Brunswick | New Jersey |
| New Jersey Institute of Technology | Newark | New Jersey |
| University at Buffalo, The State University of New York | Buffalo | New York |
| Hofstra University | Hempstead | New York |
| Cornell University | Ithaca | New York |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | New York | New York |
| City University of New York, City College | New York | New York |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester | New York |
| University of Rochester | Rochester | New York |
| Union College | Schenectady | New York |
| Stony Brook University | Stony Brook | New York |
| Syracuse University | Syracuse | New York |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Troy | New York |
| State University of New York at Binghamton | Vestal | New York |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill | North Carolina |
| Duke University | Durham | North Carolina |
| North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University | Greensboro | North Carolina |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh | Raleigh | North Carolina |
| Lehigh University | Bethlehem | Pennsylvania |
| Widener University | Chester | Pennsylvania |
| Gannon University | Erie | Pennsylvania |
| Bucknell University | Lewisburg | Pennsylvania |
| Messiah University | Mechanicsburg | Pennsylvania |
| Drexel University | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania |
| Temple University | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania |
| Duquesne University | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania |
| University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania |
| Pennsylvania State University | University Park | Pennsylvania |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Blacksburg | Virginia |
| University of Virginia | Charlottesville | Virginia |
| George Mason University | Fairfax | Virginia |
| Virginia Commonwealth University | Richmond | Virginia |
Net Price Calculator, and they will walk you through the necessary steps.
Here is Princeton’s, which I found by Googling “Princeton NPC”:
https://admission.princeton.edu/cost-aid/financial-aid-estimator
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I see NiceUnparticularMsn answered your question.
Apologies for using the acronym. Whenever someone tells us they are a first timer, I try to remember to spell it out and provide a link. 
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I would use the NPC and eliminate schools that are not in budget…unless they give merit. Even if the merit is very competitive (ie Emory, for example) I would still leave it and consider the school to be a high reach. If Princeton is way out of budget, you may want to eliminate it (unless your budget has flexibility). Keep in mind that Princeton is a reach for almost everybody…but if the NPC shows an affordable cost, I would keep it.
I would include schools…if possible…that might be in budget without merit (possibly your state schools, but I don’t know).
I would research schools where there is a stronger possibility for enough merit. Schools that come to mind might be Delaware, TCNJ, SUNY, etc. SUNY Binghamton might be a good target school, and they are pretty generous with merit to out of state (OOS) kids.
There are also schools with guaranteed merit.
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Net Price Calculators – each school has them. Make sure to use the school’s NPC and not the “intuition” one. If parents are divorced or own a business, the NPC will be less useful.
Note that each school will likely give a different amount of aid with the same inputs, so you have to run each individually. Princeton is known to be among the most generous, so it is often recommended to run them first (even if the student isn’t interested in Princeton) because if Princeton comes out as not providing enough need-based aid, then it is unlikely that any other school will provide more.
Need-based financial aid is based primarily on income from two years ago (ie, for the 25-26 school year, it will be based on 2023 1040) and current assets (as of the day you actually fill out the form). Money in bona fide retirement accounts (401k, IRA etc) is sheltered from the assessment. Home equity may or may not be – it depends on the school. You will need to reapply each year, so if your circumstances change, you may get more or less in future years.
Note that financial aid awards can also be appealed due to special circumstances – higher medical bills, one-time income, things like that. The schools don’t have to honor those special circumstances, but some do. Questions about those items won’t be in the NPC, but is something that is usually addressed after the award is given (ie, after acceptances).
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Thank you all for even more input and clarification! Now I understand NPC and will use that.
To clarify - home state is VA. She doesn’t specifically know she wants to be a bioengineer; her research is in cell biology and applications for creating a prodrug. She doesn’t know yet if she wants to go the MD/PhD route, or get into research or biotech. She does not want to be a practicing clinical MD. The creative writing is a bit of a red herring and I may have emphasized it to much. It’s her hobby and something she’d like to pursue as a minor only. However, she is a unique and creative person, not your typical Uber focused and organized STEM kid.
She may want to look at schools with an open curriculum, which would let her explore her various interests more widely than schools that have a lot of general education requirements. Brown is the most famous, but there are others.
I sent you a DM. To read it, look for the highlighted envelope under your avatar in the upper right part of the screen. Let me know if you have trouble accessing it.
@MMRose gave a great description of the Net Price Calculator and factors to think about.
One other thing to know is that the Net Price Calculator (NPC) will usually talk about Cost of Attendance, which includes things like books, travel, etc. Some schools are much more generous in giving allowances for those extra categories than others. Due to that, many people (myself included) often find it easier to look at the amount that will be billed by the university, i.e. tuition and fees plus room and board in order to have an apples to apples comparison.
One resource you may want to become familiar with is College Navigator which is run by the feds and gives information costs, enrollment, majors offered and the number of students who graduated in that major in the most recent year, etc.
If engineering is something that your daughter is seriously considering, then you will also want to become familiar with ABET-accredited schools. This link will allow you to narrow down to the discipline of interest (i.e. biomedical engineering), which states of interest, etc. For some engineering fields, like civil or mechanical engineering, it is very important to have ABET-accreditation. For others (like computer engineering), it’s not nearly as important. I don’t know how important it is for biomedical engineering, but it is something I suggest your family look into.
The schools in Virginia that are ABET-accredited for biomedical engineering are George Mason, VCU, Virginia Tech, and UVA. There is an additional (significant) fee for engineering at UVA, so make sure you include that when looking at costs (source).
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UVA College of Arts & Sciences: $19,422 tuition first two years and $22,424 for last two years
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UVA School of Engineering & Applied Science: $29,802 for years one-three and $28,742 for the fourth year.
VCU’s sticker is close to $33k, Virginia Tech’s is $31k, George Mason’s is $29k, and UVA’s is about $34k for arts & sciences or $44k for engineering. (I used the on-campus food and housing costs from College Navigator for each school to make an easier apples to apples comparison.) Virginia has excellent public schools, but they are not the most affordable for in-state students (in comparison with other states’ in-state pricing).
I would definitely run the NPC at UVA as well, because it’s one of the few public colleges that says it will meet a family’s financial need (as it calculates it).
Once you let us know whether NPCs are coming back as affordable or not, we can provide more targeted suggestions.
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It’s why you should look at a summer program. It can validate the desire or invalidate.
And if, like my son, it’s validated, then you should attend a school that has the option.
I love W&M. Enjoyed our visit worked for my daughter. My engineer son couldn’t consider it.
If there’s even a possibility, you want a school that offers it. That’s all I’m saying.
One thing about NPC – some schools have very accurate NPC and some don’t. I’ve had some good luck contacting the schools to ask about this. If the NPC number is close but maybe a little high --reach out and ask about the accuracy.
Also -it’s worth looking into safeties --because your daughter is a strong student and may get a fair bit of merit aid at a safety. Safeties often include larger state schools but there are surprising options at some smaller schools as well.
Also -don’t make assumptions about need based aid before running the calculators. SOME schools use FAFSA number (what used to be called Expected Family contribution now SAI - student aid index) – but other schools use CSS which takes into account family assets (or lack thereof). For us, schools that use the FAFSA - like state schools give us worse net price calculator results than those who use CSS (typically private schools) because of our lack of assets. You mileage may vary of course -depending on your family situation.
So just to frame some issues–there are many colleges where she could explore interests in cellular and molecular biology (what I sometimes think of as “red” biology, versus “green” biology), and also a variety of other interests including a side interest in creative writing.
A more limited subset of those would also allow her to explore a four-year engineering degree. More would allow her to explore a five-year dual-degree program in engineering, but the 3-2 dual Bachelors versions of that are usually not highly recommended for various reasons (the 4-1 versions where you get a Masters in Engineering, however, are maybe a little more worth considering).
So as others are suggesting, she does kinda have to figure out at some point if keeping a four-year engineering degree (or possibly 4-1 engineering masters degree) is important. If so, it is going to guide her list in one direction. If not, while there could be overlap, she could consider a broader variety of colleges.
Fortunately as a rising junior, she need not decide any of this yet. But, having some process in places to help make that decision within a year or so from now is a good idea.
And until that decision is made–it is kinda premature to be identifying specific Likelies, Targets, or Reaches, as it really could vary based on that decision.
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I agree with that. The OP’s interests and goals are bound to go through some changes, given that she is a rising Junior in high school. Perhaps, some basic information is in order. First, future MDs don’t necessarily have to major in STEM in order to qualify for admission to med school; they only have to complete a series of “pre-med” courses (one of which - Organic Chemistry - is often a weeding-out course.)
Secondly, deciding on a four-year engineering degree really requires knowing that’s what you want before you even set foot on campus. In fact, many of the best-known programs require that you to apply directly to a separate school; the prerequisites are much more numerous than for an ordinary STEM major.
Finally, if you are still undecided by this time next year - join the club - most liberal arts (and science) students aren’t required to declare a major until the end of their first-year and even until the middle of sophomore year. This gives them plenty of room to explore and self-assess, something many, many of the top colleges and universities value a great deal.
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And because of your second and third points and how they interact, if you have a serious possible Engineering interest, you might want to start off applying as an Engineering student. Because usually, it is easier to then change your mind to some other ST–M major, or indeed a HASS major, rather than to try to go the other way.
Indeed most (although not all) good engineering colleges will be part of good colleges in general. So that’s pretty easy to find. But again, not all good colleges in general have an engineering program.
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But, just, in case, they do arrive late to the table, there are alternatives to the orthodox, ABET accredited, engineering degree. Schools like Dartmouth and Wesleyan University offer B.A. degrees that combine a selection of curated courses from across the curriculum (Dartmouth much more from its Engineering School) that are friendly to liberal arts majors. Wesleyan offers a “linked major”: one track of which happens to cater to Biology majors:
- Biomedical Engineering (linked with Biology)
Core Courses (Recommended)
Course List Code Title
ARST270 Product Design I
IDEA170 Introduction to Mechanical Design and Engineering
IDEA180 Design Studies
IDEA292 Interdisciplinary Project Lab
Range Courses (Recommended)
IDEA175 Introduction to Electrical Design & Engineering
ARST370 Product Design II
Focus Courses (Electives)
BIOL212 Principles and Mechanisms of Cell Biology
BIOL213 Behavioral Neurobiology
BIOL265 Bioinformatics Programming
BIOL267 Engineering Biology: Cells and Tissues
BIOL270 Systems Biology with Programming
BIOL368 Ecological Resilience: The Good, the Bad, and the Mindful
https://www.wesleyan.edu/codes/program/major-tracks.html
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The risk is that the job description says this as many will. This is from a job for Biological Engineer I just pulled from indeed.
Minimum B.S. degree from an ABET accredited school
Yes at Dartmouth you can do an extra year - that’s a year more cost, a year less income.
If there’s a possibility - go ABET. You are likely better at VCU (to use a less selective school) than W&M or Wesleyan and Dartmouth if you don’t get the ABET degree. Note - engineering is a brutal major with a 50% plus drop rate - so forget the school name or selectivity - if the student chose it for study, it will be rigorous no matter where they are and the cohort that lasts will be strong.
Of course at this point we don’t know the ultimate goals and in that case it’s all about flexibility.
Hopefully they’ll define over the next year.
Your daughter still has time, and I echo the suggestion that she might want to investigate options to see if biomedical engineering is something that really appeals (whether through a summer camp or through some other experience(s).
In case you’re starting to freak out at the cost of college and wondering if your high-performing D will have any options (as I might be doing if I was new to this process), I can assure you that she will. I moved forward on the worst-case scenario that your family does not qualify for any need-based aid. I then used her GPA and PSAT score (which is likely lower than her real SAT score would be) on various Net Price Calculators or schools that had a scholarship chart. I mostly tried to stay within 5 hours of Fairfax, VA (random NOVA location), but some might be closer to 6 hours. All of these are ABET-accredited for biomedical engineering.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
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Gannon (PA ): About 3100 undergrads. Sticker price is about $54k but per the NPC, your D would likely receive at least $23k in merit, bringing the price down to about $31k with numerous opportunities to increase the scholarship amount (source). 5h44m from Fairfax.
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North Carolina A & T: About 12k undergrads at this HBCU. Sticker price would be just under $30k, and I suspect your D would be offered some merit aid. 4h42m from Fairfax.
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U. of Hartford (CT): About 4k undergrads. Sticker price is around $62k and according to the NPC, it estimates that your D would receive $33k in merit ($32 in a scholarship and $1k for submitting the FAFSA). That means that the price here would be around $29k/year. 6h45m from Fairfax (oops).
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U. of Mount Union (OH): About 1900 undergrads. Sticker price is around $48k, and your D would receive at least $22k in merit bringing the price to about $26k/year (source). 5h22m from Fairfax.
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West Virginia U.: About 19k undergrads; your D receive at least $17k in merit, bringing the sticker price to a little under $25k (source). 3h26m from Fairfax.
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Widener (PA ): About 2600 undergrads. Sticker price is about $69k, but per the NPC scholarship estimator, your D would receive $40k in merit aid, bringing this school down to $29k (source). 2h43m from Fairfax.
Likely (60-79%)
- The College of New Jersey: About 7k undergrads. Sticker price is about $41k, but they do provide merit scholarships of up to $12k for out-of-state students, and I suspect your D would receive an offer on the higher end of that scale (source). 3h46m from Fairfax.
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
Duquesne, Rowan, and Messiah didn’t have an NPC that automatically brought the price within budget, but could still be options that would have a decent likelihood of doing so. Other schools, like Binghamton, Temple, U. of Delaware, or Ohio State, might give you enough merit to fall in line with the Virginia publics (or more). Additionally, a number of colleges also have full tuition or full ride scholarships that your daughter might be competitive for. There’s no guarantee that she would get one, but it would be a possibility.
Additionally, if your family expands the geographic radius, then that increases the availability of options, as schools in the mid-Atlantic and northeast tend to have higher demand than those in the midwest, so they don’t give as much merit aid as their counterparts a few states to the west.
All of this to say, your D will have options. And depending on what the need-based picture looks like, there are others we can suggest.
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Do you have any first hand experience with biomedical engineering? While it’s well and good to look at some random job posting, the operative language in that Indeed listing is “minimum BS degree from ABET accredited school”. In other words, they are probably looking for someone with an advanced degree. Most of the students I know who majored in BME went on to graduate school of some sort - ME, PhD, MD. I’m sure there are people on CC much more knowledgeable than I am, but my understanding is that it is tough to find a job in the biomedical field with just a bachelor’s. Students coming out of programs like the one @circuitrider mentioned at Wesleyan or who do the bio engineering minor offered by the Applied Science Department at William & Mary have no problem getting into graduate programs.
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