Intended Major(s)
Mechanical Engineering GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
93 unweighted GPA, 1430 SAT
Unweighted HS GPA: (calculate it yourself if your high school does not calculate it)
*93/100
Weighted HS GPA:
95 weighted GPA +3 for honors courses +5 for AP/SUPA classes
ACT/SAT Scores:
1430 SAT[730,700] List your HS coursework
(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)
SUPA’s are college courses offered by Syracuse University
Science: Honors Physics, Honors Chem, Honors Bio, AP Physics C Mechanics
History and social studies: Honors World Civilization, Honors US1, APUSH, AP Gov
Language other than English: Spanish 1, 2,3
Visual or performing arts: None
Other academic courses: SUPA Economics, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Computer Science A
General education course work:
Major preparation course work:
Awards
Extracurriculars
3 years Varsity Baseball, Working at summer camp, 10 hours community service, National English Honor Society, National Science Honor Society
Essays/LORs/Other
IDK
Schools
Rutgers
Boston University
Northeastern
TCNJ
NJIT
Lehigh
Purdue
Rowan (List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if unsure, leave them unclassified)
I’m not really sure if my list is filled out enough with enough safeties both admissions wise and financially. I’m also really betting on getting into Rutgers but I’m hearing admissions at Rutgers is getting more competitive each year. RETAKING SAT IN AUGUST AS WELL. Can you guys chance me on my current list as well as give suggestions to add to my list?
When you say you are expecting, have you run the NPCs for Lehigh and BU ?
I’d suggest looking at $20k for you tuition, room & board Alabama plus UAH and Miss State - for starters. All will be under budget thanks to auto merit. You need an assured- both admission and in affordability. .
Central Michigan and Memphis anre others and there are more - but these are top of mind.
Slippery Rock is a likely with merit - to be closer to home.
Others, like SUNY may get there - Buff or New Paltz are worth a try. But may not.
So two things - you have a strict budget. And then if BU/Lehigh meet your need, will you get in ???
Purdue won’t get you there - 98% sure. I’d remove. The in state schools show prices over $30k so not sure if they’ll get you there. Rowan, as one example. Is over $30k for tuition, room and board but not sure what type of aid you’d get. You note they’d get you under but be 100% sure. The others above, assuming no gigantic tuition increases or merit drops, get you far under taking away any - will I really get need aid or did I enter the NPC wrong ???
Bottom line with a budget like yours - find the for sure under $30k schools. I showed you some above - and they are cheap enough (with auto merit based on your fine record) to cover books, fun and transport. And then you can try others like the NJ and privates and hope but at least would have a safety net worst case.
So - you asked for chances - I think no to Purdue but even if you get in, you can’t afford. Unlikely NU, Lehigh and BU but you know you need to check affordability. You’ve already said later not - so lose them.
Yes to Rowan, good shot at Rutgers but I’m not sure if it’s affordable - I just don’t know - sounds like you do. NJIT an in too.
My understanding is that these four universities are all ABET accredited for mechanical engineering (you might want to double check this). This gives you four very good choices that are at least very likely. I think that you can do well with a degree from any of them.
For the other schools affordability is most likely a reach, even if you get accepted. How far off were the NPC results from your budget?
I do not see much point in taking on debt to attend an out of state university when compared to your very good and probably more affordable in-state options. However I am not familiar with the southern schools that offer good merit based aid (we live in the northeast of the US and didn’t look that far south for undergrad).
Just noting that if you’re comfortable with Rowan (a really solid university with 100+ ME grads per year) then you can/should apply early and get your acceptance in hand early. They do rolling admissions there, so you’d have a really good safety locked down. It could really shorten your list if you like the school.
So why apply to those? Apply to those you can afford.
For MechE, short of a few schools, the where likely matters little. Accredidation matters.
Apply to schools that are assured to hit cost to have a safety valve - I’m not sure that’s Rowan but that’s bcuz I don’t know what type of aid you’ll get assured. Sticker is over budget.
After assured and I have some up top, apply to schools that could get there. Don’t waste time on those that can’t like BU and Lehigh.
Okay, question about Rutgers. I would prefer to go to a big state school however I’ve been hearing that admissions is getting more competitive. Can someone chance me for Rutgers?
I’d say likely but I don’t know if engineering has higher standards. Not assured.
If you want big, you choose Bama. Will tell you why. You get $30.5k off, it’s over half OOS with 2k kids from the Tri state area, 1500 from Illinois and more than 1k from CA and TX. In other words it’s geographically diverse - not Deep South like you think. They buy smart kids in.
Why there ? You’re in at $20k.
Then you have Rutgers and Rowan. You say you’ll get aid. If you are correct, then great. If not, you have a fantastic school regardless.
Others to try if you want to be in the Ne Might be New Paltz and other SUNYs like Buff, SB….and maybe a URI. And WVU is a good one to try. It could hit. But could is not will. FSU would work if A) you get in (30/70) and B) you get an OOS waiver.
Where you go short of a few schools matters little. My kid turned down Purdue for Bama. I wasn’t happy. He had 19 interviews and 5 offers by Xmas - no offers in the south although he spent 6 months (part of his leadership rotation) on the W Coast of Florida. He works and makes the same as his Michigan and Purdue teammates and the W Michigan and Akron teammates. Where you work is what matters. And he met a Columbia student in Utah and was surprised his starting salary was higher.
I point this out - to show you short of MIT, Stanford, etc - personally I’d focus on budget - you, not your school, will ultimately make your access.
Slipper Rock in P A will hit. There will be more but not necessarily in the NE. NJ doesn’t have reciprocals that I’m aware of - edit Louisville and maybe Maine (per bill marsh)
University of Maine would be an excellent safety. First, it is not as competitive as Rutgers. Second, they offer a “flagship match” program to applicants from a numbers of states including New Jersey. Under this program, you would pay your home state flagship’s (Rutgers’) tuition and fees, but you would pay Maine’s room & board costs which are about $1500 cheaper than Rutgers’ for an overall cost savings at about $31,800. Third, U Maine offers an ABET accredited program in Mechanical Engineering.
In general, any rolling admission school of interest should be applied to early, and any school with early action should be applied before the early action deadline*, because they may become more selective later as early applicant fill up the school or popular majors.
*Except if a school on your list has restrictive early action where you agree not to apply to some class of other schools in early action, but that does not apply to any school on your list.
I wasn’t sure about Maine. Did we figure out the match list? It appears to have disappeared.
Also, Louisville with $16k in the Regional Scholars Program should hit - not sure if there’s certain parts of NJ that qualify - and of course that’s 25-26. Can’t say future years.
Maine is using Rutgers’ tuition & fees but Maine’s room & board. When I posted $31,800, I didn’t include higher fees for engineering students, which is often the case, because I didn’t find them for freshmen. If someone finds them, please post and we can add them on.
Bottom line is that whatever Rutgers’ tuition & fees are, they will be identical at Maine under the flagship match program and there will be a slight savings for room & board. The real benefit as a safety at Maine is that admission is not as competitive at Maine and this poster should have no trouble getting accepted there.
SUNY also has a flagship tuition match program ar some of their campuses, including New Paltz and Polytech in Utica. Both have ABET approved programs in Mechanical engineering, but their room & board is more expensive than Rutgers’ by about $1000 at Polytech and $1300 at New Paltz, making them slightly more expensive that Rutgers and nit offering the flagship experience that he’s looking for. They are, however, academic safeties, being less competitive than Rutgers. However, NJIT, Rowan, and TCNJ would accomplish the same thing at a cheaper price. Of these schools, Maine is the one which offers a flagship experience at a slightly cheaper price and easier admission. Not a major player in basketball & football, but they are defending conference champions in Hockey East and two-time past national champions in this sports with 11 appearances in the Frozen Four.