The Cooper Union

The Cooper Union is the only private college in America which offers full tuition scholarships to every admitted student, to read the fields of architecture, art, and engineering. (Sorry, no natural sciences). Living and miscellaneous expenses are the student's responsibility. One catch though – it’s very selective.

The founder, Peter Cooper, felt “that education of the highest quality should be as ‘free as air and water’ and should be available to all who qualify, independent of race, religion, sex or social status.” The admission rate is generally below 10% each year. In recent years, the application rates had shot up, in no small part due to the recent financial crisis. It doesn’t seem to be very well known in Singapore, but it is one of America’s best known and most prestigious colleges. The four faculties are the School of Architecture, School of Art, School of Engineering, and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Applicants must apply directly to one of these schools.

To apply, one must fill up the form from the Cooper Union’s website – it doesn’t use the Common Application. For freshman applications, the early decision deadline is on December 1 of the senior year, and the regular decision deadline is on February 1 of the following year.

One notable alumni most Singaporeans should have heard is Prof. Jackie Ying, Executive Director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.