My son is a junior in high school, hoping to attend Texas A&M engineering in fall 2025. We homeschool, so he won't be auto-accepted as top 10%, and there are fewer metrics to guarantee admission. That said, he will be at least a national merit semi-finalist, and we understand that should mean he makes finalist as well. Hopefully, he is accepted at A&M and hopefully he gets a significant financial aid package. My question is really about backup schools, in case things don't work out at A&M.

OU and Texas Tech both offer full-ride scholarships to national merit finalists, but both are pretty far from us (San Antonio). UTSA is in our back yard, and Texas A&M San Antonio is a 40 minute drive. I think all four would be at least somewhat viable backup options, but I was curious if anyone had any thoughts or experience regarding those programs.

Thanks in advance for any input!

University of South Florida

Gives a lot of good financial aid and is cheap for out of state students. Also top 100 and AAU member. Also it's in Tampa, much better location than the others.

(But the choice should depend on his desired major and post graduation industry).

Almost all of the SEC schools have very good engineering programs. I would not recommend Ole Miss, but Auburn, Alabama, LSU, and Mississippi State have programs that go way back and have graduates and executives at major companies with big name recognition. OU and TT are also very good engineering schools.

I say this both as an engineer (chemical) and as a former university professor - well established engineering colleges that offer all disciplines are the way to go. My son is also now majoring in engineering, and the two San Antonio schools you mention would never have wven been on our radar.

TX A&M has a great engineering program, but TX A&M San Antonio doesn't even have an engineering college. The only engineering "majors" they offer are cyber engineering technology (they also offer computer sciences but this is not the same as computer engineering) and electronic systems engineering technology (this is NOT electrical engineering)). I would stay away from any degree that presents itself as engineering but has "technology" in the name. Usually these are less rigorous (and not ABET credited).

I've been out of academics for a few years so I was surprised to see that UT San Antonio has a stand alone engineering program. But it looks like it's only been established since about 2018. Why go to such a new school when there are so many good ones with established departments, faculty, reputations, and recruiting for internships and jobs? There are so many benefits to attending an established engineering school with a large alumni base.

UTD is more established, but they don't offer chemical, aerospace, or civil engineering (if he happens to be interested in any of those). The choice of engineering major is VERY important when looking at schools - if a school doesn't offer a degree program, then that's no longer an option (unless you transfer to a different university - but you likely won't have the correct pre-requisites). You didn't mention what engineering major your son is interested in. If he is unsure, then I would recommend he attend a school that offers all of them, to keep his options open.

Now, if the goal is to start out at one of these San Antonio campuses and then transfer to CS or Austin, that's a different story. But, otherwise, I would not consider either as a worthy "back up plan" for a kid who is likely going to be a National Merit Finalist.

If the goal is simply to stay close to home, well, I'll keep my opinions to myself on that since my son chose a school 9 hours away.

Thanks for all the replies!

Double b- thanks. Will be getting you follow-up info soon.

Another Doug- thanks for the UTD recommendation. I had looked at them but not recognized they were rated higher than TT. Glad to hear double b was helpful to you!

bmks270- the Florida schools are very generous on scholarships for national merit, but I'd really like to avoid that far of a distance, if possible.

TXTransplant-

Thanks for the explaining the importance of the program being established and distinguishing the technology majors. My son loves robotics, so he is currently thinking something in the mechanical side as being closest fit.

The main advantage of UTSA as a backup is proximity, so there wouldn't be room/board costs. I also know a couple UTSA Engineering grads who are both doing well. And I suppose I am a bit biased against Texas Tech. But that's part of why I'm asking the question, to get perspective. I knew A&M San Antonio had a program that you could start here as dual credit in high school and end in CS, but I misinterpreted that as them also having engineering classes here. I guess if they had the engineering classes here, they wouldn't set you up to transfer to CS.

I think my son is like I was- good relationship with parents but ready at 17/18 to head out on his own.

I have one son who is targeting A&M. His plan B schools are not in Texas. There are really no like institutions in Texas. We'd be looking at other land grant, ag/engineering schools in the southern states. Therefore, he has Auburn and Clemson in mind as backup schools.

Another thing to keep in mind, if he has strong GPA (outside Top 10) and good test scores, some of the out of state schools can get tuition at or below cost of A&M. Our FR, received and opted for the TEAB route but strongly considered Auburn and UGA.

Auburn is definitely worth a look. I would have been very comfortable with him going that route with or without the A&M offer. Distance is a factor but if your son is coming home more than once or twice a semester he's doing it wrong... my opinion obviously. Auburn (2022/2023) anyway, had scholarship slots listed on website based strictly off of GPA/test scores.

UGA is beautiful as is Clemson. Clemson is shockingly small, at least to us! LSU campus is cool but stepping off campus was not for our kiddo.

Based on our experience, the state schools in states that struggle to find highly qualified in state students offer the best scholarships. Think LA, MS, AL.

Also, all other schools outside of TAMU and LSU were far and away better at communicating.

Best of luck

My son applied to Auburn too, and scholarships are automatic based on test scores and GPA. IIRC, this got tuition down to what would be comparable in-state at TAMU. And I don't think he was offered the max scholarship. Their engineering program is very good.

UGA is another program that didn't exist 10 years ago, and their undergraduate degree programs are limited/incomplete.

Agree about LSU - good program but terrible location.

Another thing to consider is what size school/program your son feels comfortable with. My son opted for Mississippi State, and is on a first-name basis with many of his professors (I graduated from there, so I initiated quite a few introductions). He is also actively involved in his chosen major (chemical engineering) as a freshman.

His friends at TAMU are happy there, but many have said they just feel like a face in a crowd. Also, there is no guarantee you will be accepted to your engineering program of choice, and options are limited if you decide you don't like it and want to change majors.

This was probably the biggest reason why my son didn't choose TAMU (and didn't even apply to UT). He didn't want to be stressed out about making it into a major and then be miserable if he doesn't like it and can't change.

I would look again at the full-ride claim related to OU. When we looked into them with a NMSF child, they had a page that showed the out-of-pocket cost for an out of state student to still be close to $50,000 over four years. While things could have changed, I would double check your understanding of their offer for NMF students.

That being said, the University of Tulsa offers full cost of attendance plus $6,000 per year additional stipend for NMF, at least for the 2024 incoming freshmen. I have seen others say the Tulsa engineering program is pretty good, so you may want to check them out.

Also, if he wants a masters degree (and a lot of the very desired jobs prefer masters degree), then undergrad can just be a stepping stone. Do well in undergrad then go to a top school for masters degree and try and get financial aid in a good research group.

South Florida has a lot of undergrad research opportunities. Something to keep in mind.

The schools in Florida worth consideration for engineering are UF, USF, and UCF.

So if open to it, give those ones a visit.

Florida is a nice state to attend college. Beaches are never more than an hour away. It's always summer time.
Tampa (USF) and Orlando (UCF) are good cities with lots of opportunity for college students, and industry for internships.

USF is a good backup school because it's recently top 100 nationally (top 50 public) and AAU. And it's one of Florida's three "preeminent" universities which is the highest tier of how the state categorizes public universities. (The other two are UF and FSU). There is also an honors college program for top students that gives extra bonuses and financial aid, so check that out.


https://www.usf.edu/admissions/freshmen/admissions-scholarships/national-merit-scholarship/index.aspx

bmks270 said:

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Also, if he wants a masters degree (and a lot of the very desired jobs prefer masters degree), then undergrad can just be a stepping stone. Do well in undergrad then go to a top school for masters degree and try and get financial aid in a good research group.

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To expand on this further - no graduate student in engineering who is working on a legit research project should be paying for school. When profs get external funds for research projects, it includes tuition and a stipend for a specified number of grad students.

Grad students in engineering are still dominated by foreign nationals, and profs compete for the best US students. If he is really good, he can get his own graduate research fellowship (the most prestigious one is from the National Science Foundation), and he can take that to whatever school he wants and work on just about any research project.

Thanks for the continued replies! Opening up some new schools for consideration.

We are doing an official visit at A&M and the engineering school in early April. That may change my son's perspective some as he has never been in the academic buildings and classrooms. I'm not sure how he will feel about how big it is and how you pretty much are just a face in the crowd. Everyone is different in how they respond to such a big setting.

khkman22- you are correct about OU not really being full scholarship. I must have misread something. Thanks for highlighting that!

daniel00 said:

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Thanks for the continued replies! Opening up some new schools for consideration.

We are doing an official visit at A&M and the engineering school in early April. That may change my son's perspective some as he has never been in the academic buildings and classrooms. I'm not sure how he will feel about how big it is and how you pretty much are just a face in the crowd. Everyone is different in how they respond to such a big setting.

khkman22- you are correct about OU not really being full scholarship. I must have misread something. Thanks for highlighting that!

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Congrats on the likely NMF/NMS status. How far would your son be willing to look? My son is a NMF senior now. You'll get tons of stuff in your mailbox. It seems an odd thing in that a lot of the most selective schools don't seem to care all that much or make that much of an offer, while others do. USC (the real one, not South Carolina) offers 50% off of tuition. Still expensive, but that's pretty nice. Vanderbilt offers at least $6,000/year for NFM status. OU, Tulsa, the Mississippi schools and Alabama offer very generous scholarships. For in-state, Florida schools offer essentially full tuition, but I don't know what they do for out-of-state kids, if anything, for NMF status. All the best.

Kool said:

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daniel00 said:

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Thanks for the continued replies! Opening up some new schools for consideration.

We are doing an official visit at A&M and the engineering school in early April. That may change my son's perspective some as he has never been in the academic buildings and classrooms. I'm not sure how he will feel about how big it is and how you pretty much are just a face in the crowd. Everyone is different in how they respond to such a big setting.

khkman22- you are correct about OU not really being full scholarship. I must have misread something. Thanks for highlighting that!

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Congrats on the likely NMF/NMS status. How far would your son be willing to look? My son is a NMF senior now. You'll get tons of stuff in your mailbox. It seems an odd thing in that a lot of the most selective schools don't seem to care all that much or make that much of an offer, while others do. USC (the real one, not South Carolina) offers 50% off of tuition. Still expensive, but that's pretty nice. Vanderbilt offers at least $6,000/year for NFM status. OU, Tulsa, the Mississippi schools and Alabama offer very generous scholarships. For in-state, Florida schools offer essentially full tuition, but I don't know what they do for out-of-state kids, if anything, for NMF status. All the best.

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I would caution parents about what is advertised and what is actually true for private schools. Vanderbilt states $6,000, but they also expect a certain amount to be contributed from each student. I was told my kid would be expected to contribute $2,300, and in doing so, that would reduce the NMF award to $3,700 since they are calculating what the overall family contribution should be. I did not ask any more than that, but if they are the same as Notre Dame, if you receive too much in outside scholarships after your family contribution has been determined, the school will then decrease their contribution to the student so that the family contribution ends up being the same amount.

For instance, Notre Dame presented us with a number broken down into University Aid, an additional University Scholarship, federal loan, and work study. The federal loan and work study total was an estimated $5,400/year. I asked about additional scholarships after reading something on their financial aid page and was told my kid could earn $5,450 in outside scholarships before they would reduce University Aid. So if my kid got a federal loan and did work study in addition to receiving scholarships, then I would still end up paying the same amount out of pocket because Notre Dame would just reduce their aid.

The main thing about this is knowing if there is any point in your kid applying for local/outside scholarships if they are 100% certain they are going to a specific private school. If that is true and known far enough in advance, I would contact the financial aid department the school they plan to attend and ask how much, if any, outside scholarships can be applied without reducing the school's contribution. If any amount earned in scholarships reduces the school's contribution by the same amount, leaving the family's out-of-pocket contribution the same, there is no point in wasting time applying for any scholarships.

daniel00 said:

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Thanks for the continued replies! Opening up some new schools for consideration.

We are doing an official visit at A&M and the engineering school in early April. That may change my son's perspective some as he has never been in the academic buildings and classrooms. I'm not sure how he will feel about how big it is and how you pretty much are just a face in the crowd. Everyone is different in how they respond to such a big setting.

khkman22- you are correct about OU not really being full scholarship. I must have misread something. Thanks for highlighting that!

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One thing I would advise on doing tours is contact the specific department they are looking to study and meet with them directly. The best visits I have done have always been with the department, often with an advisor or a Prof, and they usually bring a student who is a Sr. I've found that so much more enlightening and my sons have as well. You can get a feel for a campus and see the pretty buildings but being able to really talk to someone about what you are studying, what you can do with it, and what the challenges are is really impactful.

For instance we visited UNC and the campus is amazing but in visiting with the folks it was clear it wasn't a fit for my son. For instance while they were showing us around we were looking at all the columns on the buildings and immaculate lawn and all my son wanted to do was see the labs. When he took us we saw they were small and in the basement and not much nicer than what he has in High School. It was very surprising. Then NC State had amazing facilities for Engineering on basically it's own campus. There were things he liked and disliked about them too. Just learned so much more from the Department itself in part because it isn't nearly as scripted. FWIW A&M Engineering is truly impressive and world class facilities wise. People were great too. It's just MASSIVE and you either love that or don't.

I think this depends on why you like A&M in the first place.

One place that I don't think gets enough attention is Oklahoma State. As someone who went to A&M in the 90's, OSU and Stillwater are about as close to replicating College Station back then that I have seen. Tons of kids from Texas, and lots of company ties and recruitment to Texas employers after graduation. Land grant college, small town, very conservative alumni base....all very, very similar to A&M.

Auburn also is a good fit for the reasons above, just further away from home.

Both schools have much more of an active Greek life/aspect, but overall the schools feel very similar to A&M.


(My opinion only...when you're comparing A&M to other Big 12 or SEC schools....it's all just variation of the same ice cream flavor. If you're that hung up on academic reputation, you should be looking elsewhere. These state schools are all very similar.)

With Vanderbilt, keep in mind that they don't do student loans at all. Any costs beyond your expected family contribution are covered through grants. For middle class and below, it tends to make it far more affordable than you'd expect based on the sticker price.

GoldenGun00 said:

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With Vanderbilt, keep in mind that they don't do student loans at all. Any costs beyond your expected family contribution are covered through grants. For middle class and below, it tends to make it far more affordable than you'd expect based on the sticker price.

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Ah, but that "Expected Family Contribution" and "middle class" is key.

For instance if you have 2 parents that are around 50 and working hitting their peak earning years like many people are as they have kids going to college you move just out of the range so you get to pay full tuition as your "contribution" Say both Mom and Dad make low 6 figures so combined they are in the Mid $2's. That's good money for sure but that's not rich. Full sticker for a place like Vandy for a 4 year degree is about $350k. I don't know many families with 2 or 3 kids making that kind of money that can pay that with no loans. With 3 kids you would probably need at least $500k saved just to have a shot assuming your other kids aren't going to school that is that expensive.

For extra fun they also won't qualify for any Federal Student Loans so they get to have more expensive and restrictive private loans that have no ability to be forgiven.

Schools are free to have whatever policies they want but I get so tired of the claims like "no loans" and how "affordable" they are.

Thanks again for the continued feedback. Due to inflation, in the past two years my salary has moved just high enough for the government to think I can make a significant contribution to college, but not high enough to actually make a significant contribution. So I really appreciate those who have highlighted that scholarship dollars can be somewhat contingent on your expected family contribution.

We had generally been thinking of schools within Texas, but this has helped me realize we should probably look a bit beyond the border. We visit A&M in two weeks (Mechanical Engineering visit and honors engineering visit, plus campus tour), so that will give us an initial comparison point. It will be my son's first time to actually interact with the educational side of A&M.

Enjoy the process, that being said A&M engineering + their national merit money is going to be tough to beat.

Another Doug said:

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Enjoy the process, that being said A&M engineering + their national merit money is going to be tough to beat.

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Also, they have the opportunity to be selected as a Brown Scholar, which is typically worth $100k at a minimum