Apply to College of Engineering (COE) vs Explore Technology?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Virginia Tech
1

My daughter is a senior with a super scored SAT Math = 720 and Reading = 660 with a weighted GPA of 4.234. She is not doing full IB but all classes are honors and she has a total of 6 AP and IB classes. She is co-captain of color guard and has a good resume in general. We are from Northern VA.

She wants to do science/tech but not sure what she wants to do. She is thinking of COE but intrigued by the idea of the Explore Technology option as a freshman.

We have reviewed the data here and she is above mean for men and women on GPA, Math, and Verbal for acceptance to COE
https://irweb.ir.vt.edu/webtest/admission_data.aspx

I think she is leaning towards applying to COE rather than the Explore Technology option but we also don’t want her to not be accepted at all. Does anyone have insight into how likely it is to be accepted if you are above mean in SAT/grades with a strong IB/AP course load?

We will talk directly to admissions about this as well but I am curious what folks here think.

2

I’m not sure how it’s going to work this year due to the coalition application. Last year though, they would give you a second option when you applied to more selective majors like architecture and engineering. You could apply to engineering while having Explore Technology as a backup. The only time they resort to the backup is when you get denied from your first major.

3

The 2nd choice option for major is no longer offered. @bcmdad if your daughter’s school using Naviance or a similar tool I would recommend you see how her stats stack up to previous applicants from her high school.