If you were to follow thru on the advice to go to Texas A&M or George Mason or any other state school, you’d be wise to move to that area and work for a year while establishing residency. Tuition is less than half for in-state students.
Hillsdale.......truly independent...... (’64)
You are going to have to be your own boss in college on an ethical and practical level - I’m sure you know this. Stand out from the herd and be who you are and know right from wrong no matter the ethical and mental gymnastics you see and observe around you. You are not a child. Be an adult to and with yourself and help the lost souls when you can.
UT Austin is big, liberal but wonderful. Better than the East and West coast hard core Marxists and the wannabes in the midwest. UT is not so easy to herd. Come to Austin.
Avoid the drugs and drinking. Enjoy the music; Austin launches bands. Be your own man/woman. It’s a big place and you will get lost if you are in need of hand holding. Don’t waste time hanging out in political and dorm social herds. Pray every day; be close to God and don’t let anyone stupid, but who claims to be “smart”, mess with your soul just because they don’t know they have one. If you have extra time, get a job and start building a network and mentors in the real world. Major in something that is employable and useful.
If you can, don’t go into debt. Work and go to school if you must; you are not in a race to finish college. Try to stay free of debt. It’s important to stay independent and free from the beginning; now more than ever. It is cheaper to go to college in your state and even cheaper to do two years in a community college and then transfer to and graduate from UT or another four year college. God bless you.
Anyplace your conservative friends are going. College these days is political group think. Good luck on finding a direction not entirely political toward Marxism.
Hillsdale college.
Liberty university.
1) Too hot
2) Too humid
3) Too many bugs
4) I've eyeballed drive-through liquor stores in Houston. (What's wrong with this picture?)
(Yes, I live in loopy Minnesota by choice: land of 10,000 blondes. But I love the cold weather.)
That being said, from your criteria I'd pick Texas A&M (as mentioned downthread) or UT-Austin (blue plague in a red state).
And just one other point: there are subspecialties within engineering: mechanical, civil, petroleum, electrical, chemical...
different schools top the rankings in each area.
Honorable mention (for conservativeness, not engineering) University of Dallas (Catholic school).
Hillsdale (you *will* learn conservatism)
College of the Ozarks (you work in lieu of tuition)
Grove City (flaky admissions but geographically isolated, good reputation on the East Coast).
Cheers!
Read the book “Choosing The RIght College” by John ZmIrak. It ranks the top schools by openness to diverse (conservative) ideas- its mainly focused on liberal arts but will be helpful generally and is a fun book to read.
There is a website called College Confidential. It is a great source for college related information and if you read through the threads and see people saying a school is “too preppy” they usually are saying its conservative and it’s a college you might like
Texas public schools are very expensive for out of state students. You should call and speak to the financial aid office of colleges you are interested in, and use the expected family contribution calculator on their websites. Sometimes private schools give more aid.. If you like Texas, look at OKlahoma and Oklahoma State and university of Tulsa. All very good. Engineering schools and a little more affordable.
Good luck,
If you are interested in Comp Sci, I would highly recommend you check into going Engineering. At Iowa, Comp Sci was in the Liberal Arts college, which means 1/3 nonsense classes, 1/3 Comp Sci, and 1/3 electives. Engineering students weren’t forced to take 1/3 crap classes. A lot of people in my Comp Sci classes were actually Engineering, they could take all the CS classes I did because they weren’t burdened down with nonsense.