Narrow Down RA Colleges

College Search & Lists
1

<p>For the RA round of applications, I want to focus on top schools and work really hard on their applications. During EA I applied to my safeties/targets: UIUC, Georgia-Tech, and Rose-Hulman, and I just turned in the UC app for UCB, UCLA, UC Davis, and UCSB. I have more colleges on my radar than I want to apply to, and I just want some help narrowing down the list.</p>

<p>Schools I’ll definitely apply to:
MIT
Stanford
Caltech
Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>Other schools I’m considering:
Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, Cornell, U Michigan Ann Arbor, and Harvey-Mudd.</p>

<p>Some info to help you guys out: I’ll be applying to engineering, and I’d like to go to a place with excellent Aerospace, EE, Mechanical, and CS. I’d also like if there was a lot of opportunities for internships and research and a focus on doing engineering than just studying it (this also includes engineering clubs like FRC etc.). Id prefer it if there were quite a few non-engineering clubs on campus like music clubs, arts clubs, MUN, etc. I prefer bigger colleges in cities with strong tech hubs, but if the college is really strong(like MIT) then I’d be willing to sacrifice those for four years. My parents can only contribute $7000-$8000 but we are upper middle class(they have to save for retirement) to my tuition, so I’ll be paying the bulk of full tuition myself and I’d like it if I didn’t sob violently every time I looked at my crushing debt after I graduate. I’ll also most likely be going for a masters, so if there’s a 5 years masters program or something like that(like Berkeley’s EECS 5 year masters) that would be helpful. My life goal is to run my own space exploration start-up, if that helps.</p>

<p>I don’t want to brag, but I feel I can objectively say I’m a strong candidate. I have a 2300 SAT(740 CR, 770 M, 790 W), 790 Chem, 800 Physics, 800 Math II. I’ve taken 7 APs: Euro, Calc BC, Comp Sci, Chem, Physics B, Physics C Mech, Physics C E&M, with 5s in all of them except a 4 in E&M. I have As and A minuses in all my classes except for 1 B because I was busy self studying for the Physics C exams. I also have good ECs: Research Intern at Sandia National Labs, Founder&Captain of the Robotics Team, Intern at a makerspace, over 400 hours of tutoring, editor of the school paper, doing an international robotics competition, organized a book drive for the African Library Project, work as a Tennis Coach(and play tennis obviously). Awards: NMSP semifinalist, AP scholar with distinction, CML, MUN, robotics awards, and I’ve gotten best hack at a hackathon. I think I can write good essays-my teachers say my essays are funny and have depth, and my teacher/counselor recs should be fantastic-my counselor said she cried writing mine, and cried reading my math teachers rec. </p>

<p>So with all of that in mind, considering possible acceptances from EAs and UCs, should I just focus on those 4 schools or is there a school I should also consider?</p>

2

<p>Lots of things to talk about with your post. First, have you run the Net Price Calculators for your school list? You will probably be full pay for the UCs. They have great aid for lower income families, not for those at the other end of the spectrum. UIUC gives out very little merit aid. Do you consider GTech or Rose Hulman your safety? Can you afford them? If not they are not safeties. </p>

<p>You will be full pay at UMich (though they do have a few very competitive scholarships for which you would be in the running). For engineering I wouldn’t consider Harvard, Princeton or Columbia. Have you considered a large public U that gives excellent merit aid like Alabama or Oklahoma?</p>

<p>As far as borrowing for school, YOU are limited to $5500 for your freshman year, topping out at $7500 as a junior and senior. Your Parents would have to borrow any more or co-sign for your loans.</p>

3

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<p>It sounds like you have a very large gap between your parents’ contribution and your Expected Family Contribution. Do run the online net price calculators on some of those schools.
As Erin’s Dad points out, there are limits on what you’ll be able to borrow. That limit may be much less than what you need to close the gap (even for the UCs at in-state rates, and even with many hours of student employment … let alone for schools like MIT and Stanford).</p>

<p>Bottom line: Unless your parents are willing to carry the large debt (which may be unrealistic), you should be focusing on large merit scholarships (most likely from less selective schools such as the University of Alabama.) The deadline to apply for some of them is fast approaching.
<a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>More selective schools with engineering programs that do offer some merit scholarships include Duke and Washington University in St. Louis. Expect the competition to be very strong.</p>

4

<p>I agree with other responses that what you really need are some financial safeties, which is a very different concept than admission safeties. Unless you live in Georgia and are going to have the Hope/Zell scholarship for full tuition to Ga Tech, you don’t have any affordable places on your list right now. Some colleges with up to full tuition or full ride (including tuition, room and board) scholarships for out of state students with your stats that also have ABET accredited aerospace engineering programs include Alabama as already mentioned, plus U Alabama Huntsville, Arizona, Arizona State, Case Western, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, University at Buffalo (SUNY), West Virginia, and Virginia Tech. Amazing how none of these universities made it onto your list. Some of these places will guarantee you a fantastic scholarship if you just apply by the deadline and get admitted. You should especially check out U Alabama Huntsville because it has loads of aerospace internship opportunities right there, and has a full ride guaranteed for students with your stats. You didn’t mention your GPA, but I assume it’s high. Check out UAH links below and read all about the scholarship, and why Huntsville (known as Rocket City) is great for someone with your interests. If you don’t have to have aerospace engineering, then also consider University of Houston – it has a full ride scholarship for NMF, and is right there by NASA-Houston with all the related companies that do business with NASA. I’ve also given you a link to University of Houston’s engineering programs which include the other kinds of engineering majors that you are considering.</p>

<p><a href=“UAH - Admission & Aid - Scholarships”>http://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“UAH - About UAH”>http://www.uah.edu/about&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.egr.uh.edu/”>http://www.egr.uh.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>Well, Rose-Hulman has a big scholarship, but you should give yourself more financial safeties.</p>

6

<p>Alright thanks guys! I’ll look more into these financial safeties.</p>