If you have high reaches, Purdue, Buffalo and RPI - you don’t need more.
But you do need those you can afford? Did I miss you said $50K before?
Would he have interest in Purdue peers like Minnesota, Ohio State, U Florida - that could all be under $50K and all three would be acceptances with UF being the toughest of the three. Not sure if you live in NY or CA now - but if in NY, UMass and Delaware would be close to home likely under $50K. U of SC has a top Honors College. If in CA, you have tons of UCs and WUE schools like Oregon State. Plus Arizona State nearby. U of Arizona too and should get under $50K with automerit.
If you are looking at RPI types, that’s where a Missouri Science and Tech is awesome - a safety that delivers and in cost. Clarkson - you dismissed but another - but smaller. Case Western and Rochester would be too more - but the amount of merit may not be enough. Many on here like Case - but apparently they run first year classes very big, but in a way that makes them very productive. Pitt is great all around - and you might have access to some CMU classes - but at the same time, it’s hard to get under $50K. They do have merit aid - but the early bird gets the worm on this one.
Colorado School of Mines would be great but not under $50K. WPI and RIT are two more that would be great - but like Mines, under $50K may be tough. NJIT or Stevens are others.
You mentioned A&M - I don’t think it goes under $50K but @momofboiler1 said they have great merit. Yes, they have ETAM but they also have kids getting their major of choice and the outcomes were impressive. That’s likely a low match.
There’s really many match/safeties that are strong out there.
Honestly, there’s so many great schools out there of different size and environment. That’s what I’m not sure has been identified yet - after top x rank, what would actually be the right fit for the student from weather to urban/suburban to importance of diet, to big sports or religion or whatever else? A rank fulfills no individual day to day requirement.
The parent wrote the above. The kid is a NY resident, and grew up in NY. So it’s not like they never experienced cold weather. This kid is not applying to northeastern colleges coming from California (or any other warm climate)
@salrossi your current list is very top heavy but glad to see Buffalo and RPI on your list as I think both are very likely and will reach your price point easily.
Your son might get accepted to one of the elite schools on his list…or more than one. Or he might not. Either way, you will never know the reason why.
He is a strong student but so are most of the other applicants to elite schools. As long as he is happy with his sure things, you can apply to the rest.
Please make it clear about what you are willing to fund before applications are sent. Let your son know that any school that doesn’t meet your price point will need to be removed from consideration.
Yes, do the net price calculator on each college web site before the student puts a lot of work into the applications.
Unaffordable is effectively an automatic rejection, so no point in spending any time applying.
If unaffordable on need based aid or list price, but there is the possibility of a large enough merit scholarship, the reach / match / likely / safety assessment must be based on the scholarship, not admission.
I’m sorry, but I don’t see the point of formally ranking his top 5 schools right now. He’s applying to all of them, correct? This is an April decision, once all the acceptances are in. His priority right now should be to get all of his EA applications in before the deadlines right around the corner. And just my opinion, but I think he should be adding a few more EA public schools to the list.
GT is on the list…no supplementals. The reason for ranking is there’s not much time…likely to fall short of completing all the essays, so he’d rather prioritize the more compatible schools.
I think we’ll talk more about those factors after EA. I wish we’d started properly researching in the summer but he was taking a class and got lazy.
How’s Case Western for EE? A family friend went there for biomed, which I assume is what they’re primarily known for. S is also conflicted about JHU because of Baltimore and Biomed concentration - 2 Bs he’s not interested in.
In general, where EA is available, and there is not restricted EA in the mix that would cause a restriction against EA, it is best to apply EA. For any colleges with rolling admission, it is best to apply as early as possible for similar reasons.
EA helps at pretty much every school that offers it as long as it’s non-restrictive. Especially for competitive majors like EE. Your son will be disadvantaged by NOT applying EA at highly regarded Engineering schools like UMD, UIUC, Purdue, etc. Most of the spots will be filled in EA.
So I’ll say it again: you are focusing on the wrong thing right now. Whether a school is #1 on his list or #5 is immaterial. He will apply to all of them anyways. And he will have to write excellent supplementals for each one.
Please listen to what everyone here is trying to tell you.
But I would EA everywhere - but definitely the public’s, especially the bigger names you might be considering as other posters mentioned.
I struggle when you ask this. There’s 400+ ABET accredited EE programs in the U.S. so there’s 400+ putting out qualified engineers. Maybe they’re not all equal but all (most all) are likely legitimate.
There are parents on this website that have posted about CWRU. I’d have to look to find but I recall great maker space and very large first year classes but taught in a way that works. There may be a parent reading here than can add. It’s also likely solid for a student who has multiple interests like it sounds yours might be. I believe they are known for double major possibilities and overall flexibility.
UMD says below and while I don’t see it here, I’ve read somewhere (and others have stated) - the bulk of kids are accepted then, thus leaving limited space for others:
Benefits of Applying Early Action
We strongly encourage you to apply early action to receive priority consideration for admission, merit-based scholarships and invitations to special programs. UMD’s November 1 early action deadline is non-binding and students who submit a completed application by this date will receive an admission decision by February 1. By applying for admission to the fall semester, you will also be automatically considered for admission to the spring semester.
Purdue says:
Early Action application deadline
Merit scholarship consideration and John Martinson Honors College deadline
Priority application deadline for these competitive majors:
Engineering in West Lafayette: engineering (first-year)
Not on your list but here’s an article from Ohio State saying similar. Linked below.
And I’ve mentioned Bama - not on your list - they are rolling but to be ensured automerit, “ * December 4 – Priority Deadline
All application materials must be submitted by the priority deadline to ensure consideration for scholarships.”
The last two to show you it’s not even just the biggest names.
Bottom line - at many publics, applying earlier is the way to go. If they have deadlines, it helps with more competitive programs. If your son has interest in Honors programs (he may at some but not others - they all offer different things but common is better housing and early course registration but often require an essay but they typically have the early deadline. And for scholarships - so if it were me, I’d start tomorrow - get two apps in. And at least one each weekday til Nov 1. Or schedule based on the # you plan to do.
Even those with no supplement, they take longer than you think. And you want to ensure the pdf is proofed multiple times, by two people at least, before hitting the submit button.
But any that are RD (the highest end privates), push to the side for now as @Momofthree24 suggested. But check each school as some privates do have EA. But I would prioritize the publics if time runs out. Some, like Case, have low yields and they’ll have to accept RD and throw money. EA is better but feature the publics if you run out of time…at least in my opinion.
As others have said, time is of the essence and it may be unhelpful to split hairs with some of the t20 school options. Perhaps he can look up the kind of research he is interested in and see where it is being done.
But if $50k/ yr is a hard stop limit, have you run NPC’s? That may need to drive your s’s applications moreso than rankings.