Chemical engineering major? (Pittsburgh, Beaver Falls, Carnegie: appointed, credit, student loan)

[fuzzy]

Could anyone recommend any good and tuition friendly colleges for chemical engineering, talked to a rep from University of Pittsburgh today, asked about full scholarship requirements, he said they require a 4.0 gpa, and also a combined 1450 on the verbal and math requirements from the sat test. My son has the 4.0 gpa, but falls short of the other sat requirement, he had a combined 1800 on his sats. We are hoping that he can get a full academic scholarship somewhere, but after talking with the University of Pitt rep, I am a little disappointed, we are just starting the researching college process, and really do not know that much about it. My son is currently ranked first in his class, and his teachers tell him he should be a good candidate for a good scholarship, Can anyone shed any light on the process, or recommend any good schools? I am also going to call PSU and Drexel. Thank you.

[Rtom45]

When you talk to PSU, look into the Schreyers (sp) honors program.

[toobusytoday]

Look down a tier where your son's stats are above the average. Is your son's 4.0 gpa weighted or unweighted? Private colleges often give the best merit aid. If he's set on engineering, look at colleges like RIT, Drexel, Rensselaer, Case Western, etc. This site - CollegeData: College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, Student Loan, FAFSA Info, Common Application has been helpful for me.

[Steelerfan07]

Originally Posted by fuzzy

Could anyone recommend any good and tuition friendly colleges for chemical engineering, talked to a rep from University of Pittsburgh today, asked about full scholarship requirements, he said they require a 4.0 gpa, and also a combined 1450 on the verbal and math requirements from the sat test. My son has the 4.0 gpa, but falls short of the other sat requirement, he had a combined 1800 on his sats. We are hoping that he can get a full academic scholarship somewhere, but after talking with the University of Pitt rep, I am a little disappointed, we are just starting the researching college process, and really do not know that much about it. My son is currently ranked first in his class, and his teachers tell him he should be a good candidate for a good scholarship, Can anyone shed any light on the process, or recommend any good schools? I am also going to call PSU and Drexel. Thank you.

Both Pitt and PSU have very good chem-e programs (I am a graduate of Pitt's). However, both of these universities are very tight with scholarship money (unless, of course, your son can throw a football 75 yards! ). Admission to these schools has gotten very competitive and they get large numbers of applications every year. Therefore, Pitt and PSU don't have to give out a lot of scholarship money to attract students. There are a number of private schools in PA that have chem-e, such as Lehigh, Carnegie-Mellon, Drexel, Villanova, Bucknell and Lafayette. These schools might offer more scholarship money, but their tuition is also much higher than the public universities. The University of Delaware also has a top-notch program in chem-e, and that is close to PA. Good luck!

P.S. - here is a link to a listing of all of the accredited chemical engineering programs in the U.S. (from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers)

http://www.aiche.org/Students/Career...versities.aspx

[ki0eh]

You might also consider Clarkson - it's way up north, he might want to promote global warming by the time he graduates.

[fuzzy]

Talked to a PSU counselor today, very dissappointed, she came right out and told me that a good gpa and sat scores basically mean nothing, most of it goes on need basis based on the fasha, not sure if I have the spelling of that right or not, but I think you know what I mean, anyway, very sad for the kid that works his butt off. Thanks for all the suggestions, will be looking into all of them.

[Steelerfan07]

Originally Posted by fuzzy

Talked to a PSU counselor today, very dissappointed, she came right out and told me that a good gpa and sat scores basically mean nothing, most of it goes on need basis based on the fasha, not sure if I have the spelling of that right or not, but I think you know what I mean, anyway, very sad for the kid that works his butt off. Thanks for all the suggestions, will be looking into all of them.

The form that the counselor referred to is the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), which uses your family's financial information to determine your expected contribution to your child's education. You must file a FAFSA every year to qualify for Federal loans and grants. I currently have 2 kids in college, so I am familiar with the process. One of my kids attends Penn State, and the only aid we get is in the form of loans.

Sorry about your disappointment, but as I said before, admission to PSU, Pitt and other schools is VERY competitive these days. Your son's GPA and SAT's are excellent, but he is going to be competing with many other applicants who are just as qualified as he is. I am sure that he would be admitted to Pitt or PSU, but it is unlikely that they will offer much scholarship money. Again, they don't need to offer scholarships to attract students because they have many more qualified applicants than they have openings. Basically, it's a matter of supply and demand.

You might have better luck getting scholarship money from a "less popular" school. I don't know which schools those would be for chemical engineering, but you can find out by doing some reasearch. Check with admissions departments at various schools and find how how many applications they received last year and what % were offered admission. Schools like Pitt and PSU typically offer admission to ~50% of all applications. Also, try to find out the % of admissions offers that are accepted by students. The higher the % of offers accepted, the more "popular" the school. Also, find out what the average GPA and SAT scores were for incoming freshmen. If your son is well above the average for a given school, he might have a better chance for a scholarship.

You also might want to consider looking at some out-of-state (OOS) schools because they sometimes offer scholarships to highly qualified OOS students to improve the geographic diversity of their student population. For example, Ohio State offers this type of scholarship because ~95% of their students come from Ohio. You also might want to look at private scholarships as a potential source of funding. Websites like Fastweb.com provide information on private scholarships that you son could apply for. Good luck!

[tmee1409]

I went to Geneva College for electrical engineering. It is a small Christian College in Beaver Falls, PA. The problem is their Chemical Engineering program is not accredited...but it is very good. Their other engineering programs are accredited (electrical, mechanical, civil, computer).

Have you tried CMU or Buchnell?

I have heard different things about YSU (Youngstown State University). From that it is very easy to not very good professors. I think the prof. refers to how much you want to put into the major and learn though.

[ki0eh]

I should also mention WVU - my PA native BIL went there and now has a great job in Rocket Center, WV.

[toobusytoday]

This site can give you a quick picture of fast facts about a college, plus the average amount of financial aid awarded: College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics