Hi, I’m a current junior and wonder what realistic (but good) schools with engineering programs are in my range. I have a 4.3 weighted, 3.6 unweighted gpa. I play 2 varsity sports, has a job, 20+ volunteer hours, mentor a young kid (constant mentoring and spend a weekend once a month with him). My current probable applications from reach to safe go: University of Michigan, UCLA, Georgia Tech, NC State, NC A&T, UNCC. Are there any other recommendations on colleges and what do you think my chances for those are
I would highly recommended that you look at costs. Unless you are willing and able to spend a lot, some of these will likely be unaffordable.
Not necessarily concerned about costs at the moment. In the position to receive a few sizable scholarships and willing to get financial aid with whatever those scholarships do not cover.
Where do you live?
Take it from all of us who have been down this road, you’ve GOT to be concerned with costs from the very beginning of the process.
If you are OOS for California there is not financial aid at all at UCLA.
You sound very naïve about costs.
if you’re out of state (which i believe you are since you’re looking at NC State schools), UCLA does not give financial aid or scholarships to out of state applicants (if they do, then you have to be at the tippy-top of the applicant pool, and even then, the scholarships are not much at all). GT is extremely competitive for engineering even for in-state applicants, which means out of state admission is even more competitive. UMich has a ~15% acceptance rate for out of state applicants, and they more than likely won’t give you enough financial aid or scholarship money if you need it. i, myself, did not apply to UCLA or UMich because of the cost of both. what are your standardized test scores? your GPA is on the lower side for UCLA, UMich, and GT, and engineering is a competitive major to begin with.
The costs are not what I’m concerned with. When I said financial aid, I was talking about NC state, A&T, and UNCC. Costs are not something I am naive of (brother attends UNC Chapel Hill, but was also accepted into other higher end universities so I have viewed there costs and understand the costs of colleges). My response above was a general statement towards certain but not all of those colleges/universities. I am concerned with the admissions aspect with my current question. I am concerned about costs immediately because student loans, endowments, scholarships and financial aid are all big aspects of college, but I am interested, in this specific question, is the admission processes and if anyone has info towards those specific schools.
I currently have a 33 on the ACT, a retake next week and the one final take in April. Take the SAT in March and then will register again if I feel I must take it again.
Your GPA is low for UMich CoE. Their admission average is 3.9+. ACT 33 is around the average too and their OOS admission rate is in the teens. Glad that you have no financial concern as some of these schools would cost you $65k or more per year and you may only get Federal loan to cover less than 10% of the cost.
UC GPA is also calculated differently for OOS students. Only AP/IB/DE classes taken in 10th and 11th grades are eligible for the extra GPA weighting.