Texas Resident Aiming for Top Engineering [3.96 UW, 1580 SAT, Industrial Engineering, finance(?)] [top 13% rank, <$34k]

Chance Me / Match Me
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1

Demographics

US Citizen- Texas Resident
Small and very new public college prep school- competitive but no real reputation.
not athlete, legacy, etc. White middle-class male. Not first-gen.

*Cost Constraints / Budget
I need to get enough aid + scholarships so that it costs the same as a public in-state school. Family income ~160k. I don’t expect much from top schools- I will likely not be able to go even if I get in.

Intended Major(s)
Industrial Engineering. I’m also interested in finance/business- A&M has a 3+2 for IE + MS in Finance which I like a lot.
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.96/4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.44/4.0
  • Class Rank: 5/40
  • ACT/SAT Scores:
    1580- 800 Reading, 780 Math

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: 2 years honors/pre-AP, 2 years Dual-Credit thru local College
  • Math: 2 years honors/pre-AP, 1 Dual Credit, 2 AP - Highest AP Calculus B/C, AP Stats
  • Science: Honors Bio, Chem. AP Physics 1, AP Bio
  • History and social studies: AP World, Dual Credit US History, AP Gov, AP Macro (through online HS, since my school doesnt offer it.)
  • Language other than English: Honors Spanish 2
  • Visual or performing arts: AP Studio Art 2D
  • Other academic courses: All available engineering and robotics courses at my school- have CTE certifications in both.

Awards
National Merit Commended, Rural/Small Town Recognition, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, AP Capstone Diploma

  • Chosen by teachers as best Written Communicator (2024), best Collaborator (2025), most accomplished in English (2025)
  • Voted by my peers to be most respectful student (2023)

Extracurriculars
M.U.N. —Co-Founder & Vice President
August 2024 - Present
Co-Founded first chapter in school district, organized it, grew the club to 18 members (~50% of class population).

Prom Committee —President
August 2024 - April 2025
Oversaw and organized several divisions, communicated with team leads, managed scheduling/logistics.

National Honor Society —Secretary
May 2025- May 2026
Oversaw all communications and outreach, helped organize projects, oversaw underclassman training programs.

Drone Defense Tech Startup— HS Intern
May 2025-August 2025
Assisted aerospace engineers in design and development of reconnaissance drones to support US military forces.

WheellyClean Mobile Detailing— Founder
June 2024-Present
Founded and operated the company. Built a small team of 3, and grew the business to over $20,000/yr in profit. Worked on engineering passion project (patent pending) to maximize efficiency of my workflow and save resources/time.

Tutoring Center — Paid Student Tutor
August 2024-May 2025 (Most likely will be again next year)
Helped peers write, edit, and revise research papers/essays and improve communication.

WheellyClean for Warriors— Program Founder
January 2025-Present
Organized program providing free car washes to local veterans. Projected to have helped 60 vets by September.

Mammen Family Public Library— Volunteer
May 2025-August 2025
Helped run events encouraging kids to read, taught community members digital literacy…

San Marcos Marathon— Competitor
October 2025
Independently motivated and training.

Texas Boys State 2025- Participant/Statesman
Chosen to represent school at selective summer program.

Essays/LORs/Other
LORs from teachers will likely be good but not mind-blowing. I should have a decent LOR from my internship mentor who can attest to engineering ability. My essays should be very good to excellent.

Schools

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): Texas State, Texas Tech
  • Extremely Likely: Texas A&M
  • Likely:
  • Toss-up: UT Austin, USAFA, Virginia Tech
  • Lower Probability: Northwestern (ED- They would need to give me a lot of aid for me to go), UM Ann-Arbor, Purdue, UIUC
  • Low Probability: MIT, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Cornell

The main problem with my application that I see is that I am a rising senior and only really started trying recently. My freshman and sophomore years I did little and had little impact. I’m trying to make up for it over the summer as best I can with good ECs and superb essays.

I’m also in the search for affordable colleges that have a good ROI and great Industrial Engineering programs.

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Have you or your parents run the NPC for Northwestern? If so, did the results show it as being affordable?

If you apply ED, then you are agreeing that you will go there if you get in. You should only apply ED if a school is clearly your #1 choice. You also should only apply ED if either you are fine with being full pay, or you have run the NPC and it shows the school as likely to be affordable. Otherwise, do not apply ED anywhere.

You similarly might want to run the NPC, or have your parents run the NPC, for MIT, Stanford, GT, Cornell, Purdue, UM, and UIUC. I would be surprised if the out of state public schools will end up costing the same as your in-state public schools. The private schools are harder to predict, but for most of them you would need a LOT of need based aid for them to come in as affordable. Whether this will happen I do not know but the NPCs will give you a good indication (unless your parents are divorced, separated, or own a small business or rental property, in which case the NPC will probably be too optimistic).

Do you know if you are auto-admit for UT Austin? It is a very good university. Texas A&M is very good also. You are fortunate to have such very good in-state public universities.

You should read the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site. As I understand it, it recommends that for ECs you do what is right for you, and whatever you do you should do it very well. To me it sounds like this is pretty much what you have already done.

And to me it looks like you are doing very well.

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MIT is tuition free for families with income below &200k so that would be great…if you can get in. You have a shot. It’s a Reach for everyone. Stanford is tuition free below $150k income so you should qualify for good aid there too…again if you can get in. Northwestern may not be as generous so definitely run NPC

I think you have a good shot at A&M and Texas even though you are not auto admit.

Good luck!!

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Yes, you should only do a binding ED application if the NPC projects affordability. It’s not cool to apply ED in hopes that they’ll give you more than what’s projected, and a favorable outcome in that scenario is unlikely.

Your list seems like you’re basically shotgunning the top undergrad IE programs as ranked by USNews, minus Berkeley which you probably realize has zero chance of affordability. This is fine as a starting point, but UCB probably isn’t the only one with no path to affordability; run the NPC’s and consider which schools are really worth applying to.

Being from such a small high school makes it tough to hit the auto-admit threshold for UT-Austin; and even auto-admits aren’t guaranteed particular majors. Still worth applying. And I would think you should get into A&M; you just have to go through engineering secondary admissions there, but you certainly seem like you’d be equal to that challenge. And as you say, that 3+2 program seems like a great fit for a great price, and A&M IE is highly-regarded. For that matter, Texas Tech is very solid for both engineering and business, so you should have good in-state options no matter what. U of Houston and UTD are also worth a look.

So, you can get an excellent education in your field at affordable in-state rates. So be ruthless about where else is worth applying. Don’t waste your time on schools that absolutely won’t be affordable, or that you wouldn’t choose over in-state publics that you know you’ll get into.

Maybe consider applying to ASU Barrett - the specific programs are strong there, the Honors College is top-notch, and the merit is pretty generous.

Good luck!

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Have you or your parents used the net price calculator on the web sites of colleges that cost more than in-state Texas public universities?

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What makes you say I’ll need to go through the secondary admissions? Is there a reason I can’t get in to the normal program? The engineering academies seem like a good more affordable option, but if I can work enough I should be able to afford the standard route. I’d like to shoot for the engineering honors college there as well, but that’s pretty selective so we will see.

Thanks!!

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Yes- I don’t remember specifics, but I remember that it was depressing. Reallistically, my top choice is A&M, and only MIT would give me enough aid to make it affordable.

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As far as I know, ED is only binding if the college provides sufficient aid. If I have to appeal the aid and it is still not enough, I am allowed to back out. (Please correct me if there is another condition I’m unaware of)
The projected aid from the NPC would not be enough to make it affordable, and I was kinda planning on hoping for a miracle and having to back out otherwise (assuming I get in at all).
This is mostly because Northwestern’s ED acceptance is much higher than RD, and it would be nice to have an acceptance from a top school, regardless of whether I attend.
That being said, this looks to be a very unpopular plan; if it is really that ill-advised, then I won’t do it.
As for the rest of the schools, I probably won’t apply to a lot of the ones I included; I know they’re not affordable but I was just throwing them on there for the chance me.

Plan A: A&M
Plan B: MIT(Please, O’ noble admission officer)

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There is no miracle pot of money. If the NPC shows a school is unaffordable, don’t waste your time applying. Applications take time and money.

The good news is you have wonderful instate options, especially for your intended major.

FWIW my D’s valedictorian went from the Midwest to TAMU for undergrad. He’s going to grad school now at one of your reach schools with a full stipend.

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Okay, thanks. I think this where I’ll wind up applying:

  1. TAMU
  2. UT Austin
  3. MIT
  4. Stanford
  5. Northwestern (RD)
  6. Texas Tech

Northwestern and Stanford still just bc I want to see if I can get in.

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I like your list. You have a safety, a couple of targets and some reaches. I wonder why you think Stanford won’t be affordable? Have you run NPC? They are pretty generous…if you get in. :crossed_fingers:

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Class rank of 5/40 is not top 5% so would not be auto admit.

Is the OP looking for miracle need based aid, even though a NPC says a school is not affordable?

As long as the OP is happy with their sure thing colleges, the list in the post just above is fine.

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Texas A&M admits to undeclared general engineering. Students must then apply to specific majors later (a process called entry to a major or ETAM). 3.75 college GPA is automatic admission to major, but otherwise admission is competitive.

Industrial engineering is probably not one of the more competitive majors.

See the ETAM threads in the Texas A&M forum section.

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Maybe reconsider Georgia Tech and possibly a few others. It looks like you’re carrying enough AP classes. In theory you could graduate in 3 years. They’re fairly generous with AP/DE/CC credits.

We had similar cost constraints for S20. Max of in-state flagship for 4 years. He mapped out 3 years at GT. The cost was a little more than 4 years at Pitt or PSU. No brainer. We paid it. The ISyE program is excellent.

He was on-campus 4 years with internships and co-op. Good luck.

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What do you plan to apply for at UT, considering they don’t have an IE major? Canfield Business Honors, with supply chain electives?

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The Texas publics with IE are

  • East Texas A&M
  • Houston
  • Lamar
  • Texas A&M
  • UT Arlington
  • UT El Paso
  • Texas State
  • Texas Tech
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They have systems engineering which is pretty similar. I would try to get a business minor or something since UT has such a good business program, but I haven’t figured out the specifics.

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OP, do you have any interest in Rice? They offer Industrial Engineering only at the grad level, so undergrads would likely opt for another engineering discipline, but that’s roughly the same situation as UT. With family income of $160k (assuming no major assets like investment trusts or large family businesses), Rice would likely give enough need-based aid to be competitive with public options - our family has made right around $160k for the last few years, and our total costs at Rice for D22 have been around $25k/yr. It’s obviously a reach for everyone, but rural students with your scores and resume are often desirable candidates.

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As @ucbalumnus explained, having to get into specific engineering majors once there is the normal program. And I don’t think it will be a problem for you, particularly since I agree that IE probably isn’t one of the highest-demand engineering majors. It’s just good to know what to expect and understand that it’s not direct-admit to the major.

As for EDing to Northwestern, sure, they can’t force you to attend if the financial aid isn’t sufficient. But the usual basis for an appeal is either 1) you can document the NPC results you received before applying, and the actual financial aid offer is worse than that for some reason or 2) your family has had a change in financial circumstances that isn’t captured by the standard financial aid formula. If your situation is 3) “My NPC results never showed sufficient aid, and there are no special circumstances or changes-in-circumstances; I’m just hoping for a miracle”… their reaction is going to be that you shouldn’t have applied ED in the first place.

The good news is that TAMU Engineering has an EA cycle:

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So, you should be able to get an answer from them before the holidays. Hopefully you’ll get in and not have to worry, after that, about any place that you wouldn’t choose over A&M.

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I hadn’t looked at this, but you are right, I would probably get enough aid. I’ll look into their programs, thank you!

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