Interested in any thoughts/perspectives on our college search, as well as insight into options that perhaps we haven't considered....
My junior DD is a 4.0 (UW) AP student (Calc, Chem, Physics, English this year) with an ACT of 35. Excels at math and science. Very independent and organized in her studies; but is a bit of an "ostrich with head in sand" with regard to the college search. So, we're gently prodding and going to just go on some college visits over spring break to try to get the ball rolling. Wants to be a vet, but recognizes the reality that getting into vet school is a gamble, so she wants to have a marketable undergrad that gives her other options as well. She's considering engineering ... chemical or biomedical, thinking it might be easier to get the pre-reqs for vet school done via those curricula. She also knows that we only have so much $, so if she doesn't want to take tons of loans for vet school, then she needs to minimize the cost of her undergrad. We live in MD. The options we're collectively investigating so far are:
1) Go to our very good CC for a couple of years to knock out the vet prereqs and some other classes; then transfer to our very good in-state engineering school.
2) If she gets a good scholarship to our in-state school, do that.
3) Apply to other well-known universities out of state (e.g., Virginia Tech, NCSU, UDel, Bucknell), because as a high scoring female in an engineering program you never know what the scholarship $ offers might be, but recognize there might not be enough $ offered to offset the out of state costs to make it more affordable than (1) or (2). So, don't set your heart on any of these unless you're to take loans later.
4) Apply to "lower-ranked" universities (in terms of engineering) out of state who are likely to offer her bigger $ -- U of Alabama, Mississippi State, Auburn, etc.. Trade off here is the much greater distance from home (travel costs, and is she really ready to be that far away?), and the fact that these programs are less well known so might be less challenging (that might be a good thing, as far as maintaining GPA goes) and give her a less marketable degree. Example, MSU only requires a 23 ACT/1060 SAT for admission to engineering. On the other hand, she might be a "big fish" in these programs....
We have also cautioned her that while her desire to "follow the $" is practical, she also does need to seriously consider how good a fit the school is for her, especially if she'll be far from home. $ doesn't make up for a poor fit in which you're living and studying at a place you really don't enjoy.
So, thoughts?
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