I was just back at Purdue last week for the first time in decades, wasn't an engineer, but loved it. I think it's a pain to access as you have to drive the hour plus from Indi (not up to date on other offerings into Lafayette), but the school is huge and there is a ton going on in West Lafayette much less Lafayette. Growth everywhere. It doesn't fit my definition of rural in any way.

My kid is very happy at UW Madison.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the suggestions so far. I should add that we aren’t against privates. He isn’t hugely into greek life, in case that also affects things. I suggested Purdue but he was worried that it was too rural, but we will look again.

I would add that there is rural in the boondocks such as Penn State a Virginia Tech v rural setting and proximity to larger towns, such as Purdue. I only mention excluding privates because most are smaller schools or larger like Syracuse, but with small engineering schools.

This is my DS, too. Has a lot of reach schools but very few targets and likelies that he’d actually attend. VA Tech and Penn State are on the list and while I don’t see him at a giant state school, that may be where he lands.

The other option is RIT, Rensselaer, Harvey- Mudd, etc. I think those are probably strong safeties but we haven’t visited them so don’t know their vibes.

Pitt, Minnesota, Ohio State, GA Tech, Wisconsin or Washington. The University of Cincinnati would also work but I think you could do better.

Emphasis on urban.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are your public state school options?

UMD. But he would rather go further from home!

But that fits what he's looking for as a target.

U of Austin TX
Texas A&M
WI
WA

Other large state schools that come to mind, but that don't meet your requirements:

GA tech - reach
MI - reach
UIUC - rural
Purdue - rural

UT Austin isn't a target because it's engineering is very competitive and because it limits OOS to 10%. UIUC isn't a target as well because it has top engineering. Purdue and Texas A&M are, for your son's stats. How about Penn State - good engineering, far enough yet not too far, rural though. CU Boulder is city-ish in Denver.

VA tech

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the suggestions so far. I should add that we aren’t against privates. He isn’t hugely into greek life, in case that also affects things. I suggested Purdue but he was worried that it was too rural, but we will look again.

Privates are on the smaller side. You said he wanted bigger.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are your public state school options?

UMD. But he would rather go further from home!

But that fits what he's looking for as a target.

U of Austin TX
Texas A&M
WI
WA

Other large state schools that come to mind, but that don't meet your requirements:

GA tech - reach
MI - reach
UIUC - rural
Purdue - rural

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I should add that we aren’t against privates. He isn’t hugely into greek life, in case that also affects things. I suggested Purdue but he was worried that it was too rural, but we will look again.

Most large schools are not going to care about ECs. I would second Minnesota and suggest Purdue as well. Purdue is a bit rural but the college town is pretty big and it’s about an hour from Indy. Ohio State would be another option. Honestly, just look at the US News list of top engineering schools and exclude the privates and schools in geographic areas that you are not interested. I only mention Purdue because it’s not nearly as rural as some would have think.

UW- Madison or University of Minnesota. UMD seems like the best bet and meets your criteria (other than close to home part). Plus in-state tuition.

Anonymous wrote:What are your public state school options?

UMD. But he would rather go further from home!

What are your public state school options?

Where should we consider for a boy with 1520 SAT, good IB predictions (44), and weak extra-curriculars? He prefers decent-sized cities to rural locations, and prefers bigger to smaller schools.
Thanks for any thoughts!