Private universities with similar vibe to UPitt and UMass Amherst? [mechanical engineering, northeast or mid Atlantic]

Parents Forum
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We are in NY so SUNY would be max 35k in state so that is our budget since we assume we won’t get anything other than loans. But note, this would not be an easy year financially but we would cut expenses and use savings

New Paltz did offer him a merit scholarship (3k a year) but he didn’t like the engineering program. We are hoping Bing admits him

We have run the calculators for all the schools. Merit is the variable. He is going test optional since he was unhappy with his 1350 SAT. He is taking 4 AP classes this year and 2 last year ( got a 4 and 5). School doesn’t rank nor weighs gpa but his gpa is 98 I believe.

Is Bucknell very different than Lafayette? With both schools we are concerned about heavy Greek Life- he is not interested in that at all).

Just want him to find his people and be successful.

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Sorry for the confusion. I usually think only in terms of financial aid.

We don’t qualify for financial aid from most out of state schools ( I think maybe UVM or Delaware offered a small grant ), so for those schools it would come down to merit. And I highly doubt we will get a merit scholarship that will bring down the tuition to close to SUNY levels so I am trying to get ahead of the situation and offer other potentials options. It’s difficult because it’s been hard to get my kid to articulate Why he likes some schools and not others

private schools that require the Profile, we seems to qualify for need based institutional aid but the need aware aspect means maybe he will get rejected because of that. I will look into that Lafayette article mentioned.

We are solidly middle class, in public service, in a high cost area with significant student loan debt myself. My goal is not to have my kids burdened as we were.

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That totally makes sense…and I really like BU for a number of reasons, but I am curious, do they find BU “chill” and “laid back”?

genuine question…

Did you consider URI, It seems very chill, really new engineering building and your kid sounds like they would be up for decent merit there, though not sure exactly how much obviously. I think they have a new STEM scholarship too. I think my OOS kid got 15K (by memory) last year in pure merit, and I would bet your kid has much better stats. Ended up at RIT. chill in different ways.

Also, U of Scranton gave a lot of merit..seems a different vibe, but I got sense they were trying to build up engineering.

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When I had just seen your title and had not yet seen your list, Rochester and Villanova, along with Syracuse, were three that immediately came to mind. I would continue to view those as promising.

People obviously think of GWU first for things like international relations, but I have repeatedly heard good things about some other programs, including SEAS. It isn’t a huge program, but not tiny either. Their Science and Engineering Hall is relatively new, and appears pretty impressive:

And the bottom line is it is ABET accredited, including for Mechanical.

It also has an excellent location in a very fun city for students (not least because so much you can do is free). I can’t speak from personal experience to the vibe among SEAS students, but I would think it is a decent bet to be maybe at least a notch more chill than at some other notable options.

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So I’m reading a few things - we’d like UMASS and Pitt - two fairly different schools - and we likely qualify for need aid - would it be enough?

Then I read I’d love if he landed at BU - which is nothing like UMass and Pitt. Northeastern would be more so but still not.

I think you start with the SUNYs - such as New Paltz which you already mentioned he didn’t love, Bing, Buffalo, and Stony Brook.

I don’t see how schools like Union or Lafayette fit - because he wants bigger. Rochester too. But you want assured private - York College of PA. Very low cost.

Syracuse fits - but - will it get to cost?

I’d imagine the two privates most likely to get to cost are Clarkson (smaller, tech focused - my counterpart is paying $40K for his kid - and Hofstra, which has big aid.

A recent UNH parent posted their student got $20K merit - so that would put you at $36K if it happened. URI could hit with merit. U Maine is known for matching.

One suggestion - and they don’t have ABET mechanical engineering but they do for general engineering - James Madison is $47K but potentially can get to 35. They have a concentration in Electro-Mechanical Systems. Gorgeous campus - more in line with UMASS but the actual campus is smaller…but not the undergrad population. Harrisonburg is a smaller town.

One final sure thing:

Pitt and WVU are 75 miles apart. If you consider Pitt the NE, then WVU is the NE. I don’t know where you are in NY - but I used New Rochelle as a starting point, and both are 6 hours 15 minutes (they were 6 minutes apart).

I bring this up because WVU, which shares aspects of UMASS (smaller city) and Pitt (big time athletics) - is $44K. I don’t know where you fit - but it’s going to cost less than SUNY - potentially substantially.

I’m all about the sure things - because you’re really grasping for something and that something will be vastly different than you want (which is really Syracuse based on what you described).

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Good luck.

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I probably would describe BU as laid back but my daughter had found a diverse group of friends from lots of different schools and has had a great experience there.

They have a great program and Boston is such a vibrant place for students. It feels like he would likely find his people there. Although the lack of a “true” campus would be a loss. Fantastic study abroad options which my son really wants

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Most, if not all schools, have access to great study abroad. It may end up through an affiliate or other school but all have access. My daughter’s school kept canceling, then we signed up for one through Case Western…cancelled. Finally we found the perfect one through U of Nebraska…had my daughter not signed up, it would have cancelled. So they’re never assured but for engineers, it’s even tougher.

So if he wants to study abroad, that’s unlikely to be an issue - but in many cases, engineers may have to be more flexible (like summer) - it’s a harder major to go abroad for although URI has an international program (but it’s 5 years) and he’d have to learn a language.

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We haven’t visited UPitt so I didn’t realize it and Amherst were so different. I just know that based on his research he says he really liked Pitt. He isn’t set on being in a city s small town. We live in the suburbs so he spends time in the city and loves the outdoors as well. He just doesn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere ( took UConn out of the running).

Size isn’t definite either. He thought he didn’t want small but after spending the summer at Tufts, he changed his mind. He can be slow to warm up to people and he wonders if a large school will make it hard for him to make friends. So now he adds smaller schools to the mix but I do worry they will be too small.

BU is on the list because his sister goes there and likes visiting her. It’s a known entity so feels safe for all of us.

My son is a bit of enigma. I didn’t think he would have liked. the NYU Brooklyn campus but it’s on his list now.

Clarkson worries me due to financial stability and location seems too remote. Hofstra gave my daughter a pretty poor package compared to all the other schools she got into so we never considered ot for our son. Will ask him to look more closely at GWU

Thanks for reply.

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Is Buffalo a contender?

@aunt_bea can elaborate on why it should be.

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Pitt is urban - and the campus not overly large. That’s the difference between it and others.

Morgantown (WV) would be smaller town like Amherst but much bigger sports scenes that’s assured cheaper.

UNH has the train that goes directly into Boston. It splits the really large school and small schools - size wise.

One private to look at is UHA. It may hit the price point. Yes, the name isn’t great but for Meche that doesn’t really matter. ABET accreditation does. I noted York of PA b4 - another likely private to hit.

This is from UHA (Hartford).

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I should have clarified that BU makes it really easy for engineering students to study abroad. He could do an entire semester abroad and his financial aid will follow him as the programs are school affiliated. It would be financially feasible for and it’s actively encouraged for engineering students to broaden their global perspective and he would still graduate on time . Seems like so many engineering programs make it difficult to study abroad for an entire semester because of the program regiment.

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Pitt is similar to BU in that it’s integrated into the city - something my son really didn’t like - he did like University of Rochester where he ended up and thrived in engineering. It has a nice, contained campus adjacent to a city, so if the numbers work it might be the chill vibe he’s looking for - my son definitely found it collaborative. Avoiding competitive schools was pretty important to him. People have mentioned University of Maine, my son found it pretty isolated, so if your son likes BU and Pitt, I don’t see it being a great fit. I can’t compare directly to UMass Amherst as we didn’t visit.

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UMaine, Union, Case Western all come to mind and have been mentioned upthread. Pretty different from each other but all share attributes with one’s on your list and may be more affordable.

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What about Quinnipiac, did you see if it is affordable?

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If going abroad is important to him, the International Engineering programs that tsbna mentioned may well be worth considering. These are dual-degree, five-year programs… but really just 4.5 years in terms of academic semesters, as half of the full year abroad is spent in an international internship, and many students end up launching careers with their internship employers. Both URI and UConn have these programs:

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Although not embedded in a city, nor in any way as diverse as BU….climbing rankings quickly but very much NY/NJ/CT people (shockingly so) and very white in comparison - this may not be an issue, but it is a very different vibe to pretty much only have kids from the northeast corridor.

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37

University of Cincinnati would be similar to Pitt. Maybe look at Xavier. I really liked Lexington the last time there so maybe UK?

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Check out University of Dayton. They give a lot of merit and are very upfront about their costs, giving you an “all in” number that is gauranteed for 4 years.

Kids seem to love it (does that count as chill?) and it looks to be hands on and collaborative. It’s not often talked about on CC (hidden gem?), but the outcomes are excellent and they have a very high freshman retention rate.

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This is really good to know about University of Rochester. Its great to hear it was collaborative.

We all really liked the campus, although my son was a bit disappointed about the immediate surrounding neighborhood. Collegetown didn’t seem to have much to do but I noticed they offered buses to take students to downtown.

What moved the school down my son’s list, is that he read online that the enginneering program was not as “hands-on” as other programs. Did your son find that to be the case? My son enjoys project-based learning and he is very into aeronautics and rockets.

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Most schools are theory based. If you want project based, you might look at WPI which touts project based learning. You might also look at Clarkson’s curriculum but you seemed not interested. RPI and RIT would be others to look at but they’re not going to be affordable as you noted. Olin College of Engineering is a very small school you might look at.

But honestly, if he wants more project work, you might be looking at the wrong major. You might look at schools that are ABET accredited in Mechanical Engineering Technology for more project coursework.

These would be schools in your geographic area of interest - UNH and UME continue to come up. Central CT might be another. As UNH shows, there’s “hands on” work. If he goes for a regular MechE degree, it’s going to be hard for him to avoid theory.

Some schools will claim similar: Our programs are project-based, giving students opportunities to engage in real-life workforce experiences throughout the curricula to support design, development, implementation, and troubleshooting. Students in WKU’s SEAS programs learn to adapt and work efficiently in the industry.

That’s Western Kentucky, btw - I know not in your sphere but I liked the statement so I used as an example. But they’re all meeting the standards of ABET accredidation.

U Maine for MechE Technology states " The University of Maine’s Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) program is all about real-world problem solving . When athlete and activist Enock Glidden came to the MET capstone with a unique challenge — to adapt his wheelchair for shooting competitions — students met the task with skill, creativity and an open-mindedness that resulted in a useful finished project, and a lifelong bond ."

At most schools, you’ll have a Senior Design project your last year - in MechE.

Given your student is budget and geographically constrained there will be few options out of state and it doesn’t seem like you are interested in them (UNH, PA schools mentioned above, WVU, etc. so it’s going to be tough to go outside of NY short of getting great need based aid.

School Name City State
Central Connecticut State University New Britain Connecticut
University of Maine Orono Maine
University of Massachusetts Lowell Lowell Massachusetts
University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire
New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark New Jersey
Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology Flushing New York
Alfred State College Alfred New York
Farmingdale State College Farmingdale New York
State University of New York College of Technology at Canton Canton New York
New York City College of Technology Brooklyn New York
SUNY Buffalo State University Buffalo New York
State University of New York, Polytechnic Institute Utica New York
Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester New York
Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College Erie Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, The Capital College Middletown Pennsylvania
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