<p>First of all my apologies for such a long post! </p>
<p>My s will be applying to colleges in the fall and I am trying to help find information to give him to help narrow down where he applies. He is thinking that he would like to use his aptitude in science and his interest in art/design to go into something along the lines of landscape architecture. (He googled science and art and that is what popped up somewhere along the line!) He has a few schools on his list that offer that discipline as an undergraduate degree. But, if he weren't to get into those (some are oos and may end up being too expensive) we were trying to think of other majors/fields that would tie into LA enough that he could go onto to get a MLA with ease or maybe even be an alternative major in which he could use those skills/talents.</p>
<p>I have been reading through this forum and on some of the university websites and it looks like environmental, geotechnical, or even civil may be possibilities. What do you all think? Here is my other huge concern/question. He has done extremely well in all of his sciences and in English. Math, well, he works his butt off. He has gotten B's/B+s but hasn't been in Honors (he is in Z+ which= Above avg kids but not quite H level) He will take HS Calculus next year. Here is a better picture of him if you like to use those ACT/SAT scores to show strengths/weaknesses: His Math score was a 26, Science 28 and English/ reading 34/31. Composite 30. Would he be in for trouble going for an engineering degree like Environmental engineering, civil, etc. given his math level?</p>
<p>He visited USC (in Columbia, SC) and loved it. They have an Engineering school but not L. Arch. He loved UGA and loved it, they have L.Arch. He also has VT on his list- hasn't seen it yet, but they have both degrees. Whew! Anyway, I would love to hear about what you all think about him and engineering. I have no idea and could really use your help so I can help him learn more. Thanks so much for reading through this mom's longwinded post!</p>
<p>the sat/act scores don't mean jack ****. I know plenty of engineering students like myself who were below 1000/1600 and do amazing compared to the guys who do great on standardized tests.</p>
<p>I can tell you that freshman son is majoring in engineering right now. Finshing his first year, having attended a more liberal arts based private High School. He is an excellent reader, writer and can effortlessly turn out 10 page research papers that flow as if he has been writing for years! But alas, he has dreamed of majoring in aeropace engineering since elem years. Yes, he has had to work very hard in the sciences and even harder in math and physics. But, he has not waivered from changing his major at this point. (We shall see what soph year brings as he begins some hard core aero courses next fall!) His Dad tried desperately to convince him not to make up his mind too quickly about a major as he only looked at and applied to schools that offered an aero major. His intro to eng class started with close to 400 students last fall, and is now down to less than 200. When we moved him in the dorm, everyone he encountered said how difficult engineering can be. But, it has not slowed him at all! The asst headmaster at his high school has said that if he sticks with engineering, he will be one of the more literate engineers working since he has such a natural talent for writing. My point is that if your son is passionate about what he wants to major in, he will find a way to finish, hard work and all. The way I see it, our son wanted a challenge--the liberal arts degree in college just did not seem like a challenge for him. I am proud of him for sticking it out so far--we will see what the future brings!</p>
<p>ND and zorz, Thanks! Both of your posts are encouraging to read. ND mom I can appreciate your husband's feelings about not moving too quickly into a decision, too. We feel the same way, that is why the option of not going to a 5 yr. LArch school/program and maybe taking the grad school route is appealing to our thinking. But we have a headstrong kid. We will see what he thinks next year. One good thing is he is scheduled to take Physics and AP Environmental Science, so maybe that and how he does in that Calculus class will help clear some things up for him. Hard work really is the key isn't it though in many cases? Thanks again and keep the thoughts coming!</p>
<p>My son just finished his 1st year in engineering at Clemson University (SC) and loves it. If your son is looking for engineering schools, he might want to check it out. I think the engineering program is better at Clemson than USC.
One thing they have stressed to him this year is how important communication (written & verbal) is to a career in engineering. I think if your son excels in this area and can get through the math courses (even with a little extra work), he may be quite successful.<br>
My son is planning on majoring in Industrial engineering with a Business Admin minor and then go for an MBA. This major seems to be a little easier in the math. It deals more with people & processes and many industrial engineers go on to management positions.
Good luck!</p>
<p>My2Angels, Thanks for the reply. Clemson could also be a possibility for my son. They have a landscape arch program, too, and we thought we may look at the school sometime this summer. We drove by it on the way back from UGA, but it had been a long three days and was too late to stop. I have heard through other parents at my son's hs that Clemson is pretty stingy with merit money/oos waivers for oos kids; much more so than USC. For him to be fortunate enough to get a waiver/merit scholarship is going to be a factor should he get accepted to any of these oos schools. What was your experience on this or impressions about Clemson's merit aid programs?</p>
<p>Personally, I think that if he wants to do Landscape Architecture he should do that. There is such a very strong design component to it - hours and hours spent in studio - he just won't get that with engineering. (And, yes, he needs to be strong in math to do engineering.)</p>
<p>I don't know where you live, but be sure he looks at SUNY ESF. They have a great program.</p>
<p>If he is interested in anything that involves architecture then it is a good idea to check if your school offers any CADD or design courses. They can really help your son understand if they are really what he wants to do. I say that because Civil/environ. engineeering are very different things compared to landscape or anything architecture related. (There is also something called architectural engineering which is a combination of both things but the focus is really more on the engineering part)</p>
<p>His scores will be fine for plenty of engineering programs. They'll also like that his scores in English and Reading are so high, as that is where a lot of engineering students struggle.</p>
<p>Other schools you should check out for Landscape Architecture:</p>
<p>Cornell University
Iowa State University
Kansas State University
Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge
University of California-Davis
University of Florida
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Wisconsin-Madison</p>
<p>KandKsmom, we found Clemson actually to be quite generous with merit money. We are from NY and Clemson ending up to be around the same price as one of our SUNY schools (with the OOS tuition diff. waiver). If he likes it, I would say apply and see what happens.
Also agree with weenie that SUNY ESF is a good school for Landscape Architecture. Students that go there get to use all the resourses of Syracuse University while paying SUNY prices. But that may not be beneficial unless you are a NY resident.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies. It is going to be interesting to see how this all plays out for him. He has been in a program since his freshman year that is somewhat of a pre-engineering/architecture sequence of classes- Architectural Drawing, Engineering Applications, etc. so he has been using AutoCAD, drafting, etc. He has had the same wonderful teacher throughout the three years (and will go into next year). He has really enjoyed it. We are in Virginia, so he is planning on looking at Virginia Tech this summer. He loves the south, though, and as far as I know is not planning on looking at any schools north of here. I think Syracuse/NY state may be too cold/far north for his tastes. </p>
<p>My2, that info about the OOS waiver/merit money is encouraging to read. I guess all he can do is try! I read somewhere on their website though, that one of the criteria for oos waivers is to be in the top 10% of your hs. He is ranked 40/306 right now (from his last report card). His hs is very tough. He was told that are 30 kids above him with over a 4.0 gpa. (his is 3.9 w- don't know uw) So, I don't know how that is going to work out.......He is taking his SATs for the first time as we speak, took his "lucky seashell" with him this morning! :) Have a nice weekend everyone and thanks again!</p>