<p>I want to study aerospace or mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>Which of these schools will probably be the cheapest for someone from Nebraska to attend?</p>
<p>University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Texas Austin
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Southern California (I know it’s not public, but I’m wondering)</p>
<p>The vitals:
215 PSAT + Residence in Nebraska=College counselor says I have a good chance of National Merit Finalist
2150 SAT (weird…), 33 ACT
3.91 GPA
Family makes $80-100k a year, estimated.
What else do you need to know?
Above average but not amazing extracurriculars…don’t want to list them all out, look for other posts I have written if you really want to know
Played school club lacrosse, school doesn’t have a varsity team.</p>
<p>Those OOS publics are ALL expensive and do not guarantee to meet full need. In my humble opinion, they will all be quite pricey for an out of state student to attend.</p>
<p>USC is a private school which gives fairly decent financial aid to TOP students. They have a scholarship for NM winners. Check their website.</p>
<p>I checked Iowa State and I have to pay out of state there. Haven’t checked Missouri, Kansas, South Dakota or Colorado though.</p>
<p>
USC will use your UNweighted GPA for admissions and scholarship consideration - from looking at your past posts (as you suggested) it appears the 3.91 is a weighted GPA? Here is the Fall 2008 freshman profile: <a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2008v3.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2008v3.pdf</a> The Fall 2009 figures have not yet been released, but they are reported to be a bit higher. </p>
<p>USC does offer an automatic National Merit Scholar scholarship to accepted NMSs (no admissions guarantee for NMS, though) of 1/2 TUITION-only. This year the scholarship is worth about $19,000/year. Bear in mind that the estimated COA is $53,000, so even with the scholarship it may cost about $34,000/year - depending on your financial aid. USC guarantees to meet 100% of **USC-determined **need, but they use the CSS/Profile, the FAFSA and their own formula to come up with your need, so it may be different than your FAFSA EFC. Remember that merit scholarships are considered a resource, and are NOT added to your financial aid. If, for example, you qualified for $40,000 in need-based aid, your $19,000 1/2 Tuition NMS scholarship would reduce your “need” to $21,000.</p>
<p>Good luck in your college search - it is great that you are figuring all this out in advance.</p>
<p>Any reason why you are looking at mostly OOS public schools? There are a lot of private schools that give merit scholarships that might end up costing you less than an OOS public. Check out the “stickied” posts discussing schools that give the most merit aid, and in particular, you might look at Case Western, University of Rochester, RPI, and WPI.</p>
<p>The question is not one that can be answered without research and then it ultimately comes down to chances of aid. I can tell you that the OOS schools were the ones that gave the least amount of merit aid in our situation. However, I do know kids who did catch the eye of admissions officers at various OOS schools and got nice packages from them.</p>
<p>My son applied to Georgia Tech in hopes of getting one of their presidential awards that can be amount up to full costs. He didn’t get one. However, if you do make that very competitive cut, you stand a chance of getting a full ride, I believe. Though GT uses FAFSA only (did when S applied, anyways), it does not guarantee to meet full need. I have not heard anywhere that it is particularly generous in need packages for out of staters. However, there are quite a few states that offer reciprocity with GT for in state tuition if you meet certain requirements. I believe that the major you want has to be unavailable from any state schools in your home state to take advantage of this arrangement. So you have a situation where GT can be a terrific deal, comparable to your own state school, or full OOS sticker price. We fell into the latter category.</p>
<p>So it goes with the other colleges as well. When we visited UMich, we were told outright that the financial aid and merit packages were lean for out of staters. But then I do know a young lady who did get a very nice package from them. It does happen.</p>
<p>To alamemom:</p>
<p>Darn…that the scholarships count as a part of my financial aid.
I also saw the scholarship for Georgia Tech but I don’t think I should count on getting it.</p>
<p>To whoever asked:</p>
<p>The 3.91 GPA is unweighted. My school does not have weighted GPAs.</p>
<p>You will find that is almost always how it is handled - not just at USC, but everywhere.</p>
<p>Look at Auburn in Alabama. The school has solid engineering programs and strong ties to NASA. They offer a full ride to National Merit (tuition, fees, on campus room & board, laptop and travel money after 2nd year). In addition, once the list of semifinalists is distributed to the colleges in September you should start receiving letters from schools all over with full ride offers if you select their school as first with National Merit Corp. A lot of good schools give full rides, which will allow you to save money for grad school. USF in Tampa, FL gives $12,000 per year + a laptop. UCF in Orlando gives $10,000 - $11,000 per year plus a laptop. Univ. of Alabama - full ride and the list goes on and on.</p>