<p>My son is a junior. He's taking the SAT shortly. He got 630 (math) and 580 (English) on the PSAT.</p>
<p>His GPA is about 3.6 and he should make 3.7 when all is said and done. His 10th grade was unfortunately a 3.4--pretty low but he does have that 'upward trend' since he's got a 4.0 so far this year. However, I do know that if VA Tech is anything like UVA, grades are king, and then you have to have decent SATs. But grades trump anything else.</p>
<p>His course rigor is mostly there, I guess. A couple of AP classes this year, but just regular pre-calculus as opposed to the honors pre-calculus that was available.</p>
<p>He plays videogames and racquetball, but as I understand it, VA Tech doesn't factor ECs all that much into the equation.</p>
<p>I'd really like to know if it's true that the College of Engineering is the most competitive department to apply to. Since my son is thinking computer engineering or electrical engineering, that would just be too bad if he faces really stiff competition, and I'm wondering if this is so. He's still going to apply, but it helps to be realistic. </p>
<p>Also, is it really true that being in-state doesn't help with regard to admission? I had hoped that it might.</p>
<p>I'd appreciate any info from anyone who has been there.</p>
<p>So first of all, PSATs were very different than SATs, well at least for me. I took the SATs three times but my scores increased mostly (over 100 points) between the first and second times, so encourage your son to keep trying after his first test.</p>
<p>As for GPA, VT doesn’t like looking at GPAs because all schools calculate them differently so you should focus on having as many As and Bs as possible. APs and Honors always look the best though.</p>
<p>As for in-state status, they accept more in-state than out of state statistically so being in state does give you a slight, slight advantage. (But you’re still competing against other in-staters.) However, engineering is by far the most difficult program at VT to be accepted into so I’m not sure how much/if in-state status helps you in that major.
For engineering, I would think you should take advanced math and science classes and/or extra classes in those subjects.</p>
<p>i have a question, i applied for Forestry, is that an easy major to get accepted into? I feel like there aren’t that many applicants who apply to the college of agriculture, my stats are 3.6 GPA weighted, full IB courses, tennis, swim, lacrosse 1120 SAT (Math and Reading) 590 math 530 Reading, lots of EC and community service, im from NOVA, male.</p>