<p>My daughter is looking at two schools, University of Washington & Georgia Tech. Her dream school is MIT but that will probaby have to wait until graduate studies. With her current GPA, SAT scores & academics what schools do any of you recommend she look at. Finances could be an issue.</p>
<p>Overall GPA 3.98 (unweighted) though Jr. yr
Class rank: 9 / 799 last winter
SAT (new): Writing: 570; Math: 650; Writing: 530
she does not test well and does not want to retake this
SAT II: US History 680; Math 2: 690; Physics: 610</p>
<p>Classes she has taken include:
Math Analysis; AP Calculus; Honors Bio; Physics; AP US History (only class she got a B in); Eng CADD; plus all other required classes.
12 grade she will be taking:
AP Sen English; AP Calculus BC; AP Stats; AP Chem; AP Govn; AP Econ.</p>
<p>EC:
Not too much at the school level
JV & Varsity Fastpitch 9th 10th, 11th and expect her to make the team this year as well. The only other school activities were in 9th, Science club & Multi-cultural club.</p>
<p>Outside school she is extremely active with Girl Scouts.
Silver Award in 9th grade and should have her Gold Award in November of this year. Probably has 400+ hours of community service in the past 3.5 years.
Other activities: Co-founder of RatsPacNW Rat Fanciers Club and serves as a judge and show secretary at events. Part owner Rattie Rascals Rattery - breeders of quality pet and show rats....don't laugh, we are quite well known in the rat world.</p>
<p>Well I know Florida Institute of Technology has aerospace engineering, and if she likes tropical weather, she should check it out. I don't know much more about it though... it'd probably be a safety or match.</p>
<p>I know Virginia Tech has an Aeronautic/Aerospace Engineering program - I actually have a friend in it. Your daughter's SAT scores fall right in the middle 50% of their students, but her GPA, class rank, and courseload are very strong. I would say that Virginia is a long way from Washington, but since she's also looking at MIT and Georgia Tech, it seems distance from home isn't an issue (neither with me).</p>
<p>I don't know... she was looking into Embry Riddle in Daytona however, the tropical weather and Hurricanes are not all that thrilling.
We rode out Hurricane Jeanne while out visiting friends last year. She pretty much dropped FL out of states to go to school in. We are pretty luck here -we get rain, a few earthquakes and volcanos ;)</p>
<p>I'd suggest looking into University of Michigan, it is ranked by US News as #3 in undergrad and #4 in graduate aerospace engineering. Excellent academics and if your daughter should change her major it also is one of the top schools in most any field you could imagine.</p>
<p>I highly recommend GaTech for AE. I spent the summer doing research in their AE dept and it was a great experience. Profs were all amazing, they have a lot of new facilities and have an amazing undergrad program (kind of regretting not going there). I don't know much about the other schools but only have good things to say about GaTech</p>
<p>I would recommend that she do double major in ME and AE...AE is very narrow field...doing both would broaden her horizons IMO. In fact, since the courses aren't that much different many schools offer a ME and AE double major. One of my friends is doing that in UCSD.</p>
<p>Eh, applicants like your daughter tend to fall in a tough spot. She looks great academically, but her SAT scores really spoil the package. The beauty of it is your daughter has October, November, and December to retake the tests. In the long run, there is really nothing more important she can do. With better SAT scores, she'll get into much better programs, and will ultimately be able to choose a better college. By repreparing for and retaking her SAT's, she can directly improve her future. </p>
<p>I for one would know, since I was in a very similar situation growing up in Washington state. I improved a 1350 to a 1510 (old test). With my better score, I was able to get into a number of prestigious colleges I otherwise wouldn't have. </p>
<p>But back to your request for recommendations. Consider the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of British Columbia. Both are excellent engineering schools and well within your daughter's reach. I also have friends at both, and they are VERY happy. </p>
<p>But again, instead of trying to find Ho-hum programs like Virginia Tech, convince your daughter to work on improving her test scores. Read the advice posted in the SAT forum, especially the thread titled "Xiggi's advice".</p>
<p>I have a couple of things to add. Is your daughter absolutely sure she wants a career in Aerospace? The reason I say that is that Aero isn't a really hot field right now and I know Aeros that are having a tough time finding emplyment (from Purdue - great school). Not that it's impossible, but Aero jobs really go with the ebb and flow of places like NASA or Boeing. Right now things are tight. But things could improve by the time she graduates.</p>
<p>Many people get Mechanical Engineering degrees and still end up in the Aero industry. And the degree leaves more options after graduation. You could say the same thing about Chemical or Electrical Engineering.</p>
<p>My only other advice kinda goes along with the comment "Her dream school is MIT but that will probaby have to wait until graduate studies". MIT is a dream for graduate studies but really isn't the top place for undergrad. I would recommend smaller schools that focus on teaching and don't look too much at the rankings. I have heard good things about Georgia Tech and perhaps this is an exception. If money is an issue she will probably be better served to do well at a cheaper, in-state school and then go to graduate school.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the very insiteful posts.
I am urging my daughter to sign up for the SAT before the 7 Sept deadline. </p>
<p>She has had her heart set on AE since entering 7th grade. I know that is the career where she intends to eventually end up in but she has thought about other majors and minors (physics & math). I show her this post and let her reminate on ME. Truthfully, I think she would be an excellent teacher as she works with youth so well. Jr High & HS students she has worked with seem to "get it" after she has tutored them.</p>
<p>What can people tell us about the Engineering School at U of WA?
Mid-west probably not an option, too many relatives that are too close (WI, IL, MN, IA).</p>
<p>i dunno too much about the program @ UW. i know its fairly decent and its best program is biomed, but that's probably due to its excellent primary care med school. </p>
<p>i think a major in ME is much better than one in AAE simply because it is a lot broader. a lot of the AAE course ARE ME courses, simply repackaged and i guess the problem sets have to do with things aero in nature, but you really learn the same things. i attend a top 10 engineering school, and they have to take pretty much the same courses. they take all the same core courses (except they have to take partial diff-eq w/ focus on nonlinear dynamics).</p>
<p>otherwise they take </p>
<p>thermo (same as ME's)
aeromechanics (basically an aero equiv to statics/mechanics for ME, but with AAE examples).
aero fluid mechanics (again ME's take fluid mechanics)
they take some form of heat and mass transfer as well.</p>
<p>i believe the only thing that REALLY separates the two fields is the the very upper division classes where they prpobably take three classes that are not shared by ME's. if i were in her position, i would just major in ME and use up my technical electives in AAE.</p>
<p>fei, could you tell me a little bit more about the me/ae combined program your friend is doing at ucsd? i'm starting there this year (in little over a week, actually), and i was under the impression that it wasn't possible to double major under the engineering department. if it's possible to do me/ae, however, i'd be greatly interested.</p>
<p>karthikkito: hmm...it seems you are right..I searched the website of UCSD and found out that they don't allow double majors...but my friend said that he was doing Aerospace and Mechanical. I will ask him and get back to you.</p>
<p>karthikkito: he said that the major he is doing is AE, but he also said that you can double major ME/AE with departmental approval because lot of the classes overlap.</p>
<p>I would recommend she look into the Midwest, especially Michigan-Ann Arbor, Purdue and UIUC. Why would having relatives hundreds of mile away be an hinderance?</p>
<p>I also recommend Maryland-College Park. They are excellent in Aerospace Engineering. </p>
<p>Finally, the two texas leviathans (UT-Austin and Texas A&M) are certainly worth looking into. </p>
<p>I am not sure she is interested in that sort of thing, but the US academies, especially Airforce and Navy, are very good in Aerospace Engineering as is Cal Poly SLO.</p>