For this interview I had the amazing privilege of interviewing Fawzan from ERAU, he gave me an amazing insight into the college and gave me very helpful insight into ERAU. If you have an interest in aerospace and aeronautics I urge you to read. Again, thank you very much! -Lillian
What makes this school so special to you? Was it your first choice and your dream school?
"Well if you didn’t know this school is one of the few schools around the United States that promotes aviation heavily and the degree programs that they offer are some of the best around the country. This school was indeed my first choice as I am a very big aviation enthusiast and Embry Riddle has some of the finest programs to offer related to aviation. I am an Aerospace Engineering major and I’m in my senior year as well and what I particularly love about this school is how each and every student on campus shares the same interest. Our campus is located on an airport so every-time we hear an airplane take off or land you’ll see everyone pause for a second look at the airplane and make discussions about it. Everything on this campus makes it an aviators paradise."
Were you awarded financial aid? If yes, how would you rate the financial aid package given? Was it able to remove some financial pressure?
"Yes I was offered Financial Aid on the basis of my SAT scores and I’m really satisfied with the Aid I receive. On a scale of 5 I’d say 3/5. They could offer a lot more but just because this is not a state school so it is practically impossible for them to offer aid to each and every student."
On the topic of SATs, what subjects do you recommend students take before applying and what grades should they aim for?
"From what I have observed working at admissions is that the school looks for your achievements in high school and tests like SAT are a bonus to receive financial aid. Now I took the SAT back when it was graded out of 2400 points and what I have observed is that anyone who scored above 1900 points in the older version of the SAT received some amount of financial aid. So if we convert this to the newer version I would say scoring anything above a 1400 would result in some amount of aid. During these unprecedented times I’m sure the policies have changed a lot and it would be best if one rang up the financial Dept. to get more information about Aid."
What opportunities are available to students in terms of research and internships?
"Well our university hosts two career fairs in a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. We have almost around 150 companies visiting us and providing opportunities like internships, research and even full time positions. To name a few companies, our regular visitors are, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and a lot of aerospace related companies. Now regarding international students it is generally tough to get an opportunity. This is because a lot of these companies work on a government contract and this reduces the opportunities for international students. It is tough but not impossible. A lot of my international friends have been working the Co-op program with Delta which certainly shows that it is not impossible for international students to get an opportunity but it is certainly competitive and difficult! But there are so many research opportunities around the school that you don’t need to be worried if you do not receive an internship opportunity. We have a wind tunnel and various rocket clubs around campus that participate in different competitions hosted by NASA and other organizations. These kind of opportunities help boost your resume and also make you a competitive candidate for an internship opportunity."