My son is Senior in HS and will be graduating in 2018. I did not study here so there were a few things that I probably could not advise him on correctly. And now that he is in his final year of school, I don’t know of what options there are
First. a few things about him academically
He has a combined SAT of 1437 and has a weighted GPA of 4.2 in HS so far (He does plan on taking the SAT again to see if he could improve it further)
He is taking mostly Honors courses and the only AP he has is in Statistics which I was told wouldn't count towards anything in engineering
He got mostly preassigned Math courses and he is taking Pre Calc in his Senior year
How critical are subject tests?
He wants to pursue a career in Engineering, but having visited a few colleges, everyone makes it sound like AP is kind of mandatory. I understand that for most part we will never know what a college looks for, based on the experiences people have had here, I would like to know what is it that he could do to improve his chances
For Math, they offer 2 courses - AP Stat (11/12 grades) and AP Calculus(grade 12)
They do have AP for English as well for grades 11/12 - but not sure they would help in Engineering
He cannot take AP Calc now since he is taking the pre Calc this year.
Many state flagships are very good for engineering, and his stats look very good for most state flagships (California would be an exception, but there are many UCs and CSUs and should be several good fits if this is your state).
Once you get some schools to think about, you also should run the NPC and see how the finances seem to work out.
Universities want to see HS course rigor overall, not just in Engineering related classes so taking AP’s in other subjects just makes him more competitive. So if his HS offers 10 AP classes and he only takes 1-2, then his HS course rigor will be lacking in comparison to his fellow classmates and competing applicants.
Since he is a Senior this year, I highly suggest he takes some SAT subject tests to showcase his science abilities. Math 2 and either Biology/Chemistry or Physics are recommended for Engineering applicants. He should start studying now and aim for the October or November sittings.
Again, all this will be dependent upon what colleges he is targeting. The more selective the college, the more competitive an applicant needs to be.
@DadTwoGirls@Gumbymom We are in RI. For URI, I think he should be good. However personally looking at and researching various colleges, I think it is going to be a little difficult for him. Based on his SAT scores so far, he is targeting Northeastern, BU, BC to start with. Still looking into other colleges.
In terms of what his school offers there are quite a few but quite a few on History/Art/Music/English/Economics
For Engineering related AP Calc (AB)/AP Stat / AP Computer Science A/ AP Chem
I wish I was a little better informed instead of leaving it to him. He can change some of the subjects at this time but AP Calc is obviously out of the picture.
I am not really familiar with the schools listed so hopefully other posters can chime in on his chances. He has a competitive GPA and SAT scores so that is definitely in his favor. Look up the SAT subject test requirements for all those schools to make sure he meets them.
How about UCONN? My D’s stats are very similar to your son’s and she will most likely start as a chemical engineering major. We are in state for UCONN & consider it her safety ( for financial purposes) - she hopes to get her SATs up a bit to make her a stronger candidate for their honors program. We have visited a few PA schools and I think as long as your son takes physics… my D is taking APcalc this year but I think it’s ok to take for the first time in college. Best wishes with this crazy journey!
@knn9413 We live in RI. My husband and I are both engineers and have a son in the International Engineering Program at URI. In two years, the new engineering facilities at URI will be complete. We’ve spent 150 million dollars on it, so unless money is of no concern, I would have your student strongly consider URI. We’ve done the analysis and there is no ROI for attending those other schools. What is your student’s SAT breakdown and unweighted GPA? The fact that he has not taken Calculus is a little concerning. He MAY possibly get into the Boston schools. UConn is easier to get into than UMass Amherst for engineering. Also if he is just looking to get away from the state, UNH and value options UMass Lowell and UMaine could be possibilities. I might pay more for WPI but I don’t know why you’d pay more for another state’s flagship. Go to RPI or WPI for grad school. URI is nothing like high school. He won’t often see people he knows. And the key to getting accepted is applying early October/November.
@knn9413 And with AP Calculus not an option the most useful class for him is AP Chemistry. Don’t bother with AP Physics AB which provides no benefit for engineering majors. But not having to take Chemistry in college is a plus.
^ I have the same question, unless it was from the average of 3 tests. AP is not mandatory as many high schools do not even have that. Nevertheless, it would help placement and may accelerate graduation in some cases. My D got 33 credits before starting freshmen in engineering. It was quite challenging for her to jump into Calc3 and Organic Chem as a freshmen as those are considered weeding classes. So it may be not a bad thing to start with Calc1 and General Chem in college.
It is not required to have calculus in high school to major in engineering in college (though it can be advantageous to have advanced placement). However, it is necessary to have a strong knowledge of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry from high school math through precalculus in order to succeed in calculus 1 as a first semester frosh in college.
Many colleges have advisory or mandatory math placement tests. If the result is a recommended placement in a course lower than calculus 1, the student should expect to need more than 8 semesters to complete a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
Regarding other high school course work, he should be sure to complete physics and chemistry in high school (does not need to be AP, though AP chemistry may help place out of chemistry) in order to be ready for the college versions. He should also have good reading and writing skills in order to be ready for college writing courses and not need to take remedial writing courses in college. All ABET-accredited engineering bachelor’s degree programs require some humanities and social studies general education, so he should not ignore those subjects.
Regarding college targets, does BC (assuming you mean Boston College) even have any engineering majors?
@gearmom Was away and couldn’t respond sooner. Thanks for your input. My preference is URI and he is inclined as well thankfully. He does intend to apply early. I realized a little late on my typo - he has a score of 1430 with the split being 700 in English and 730 in Math. His unweighted GPA is 4.12. I am not too inclined on him attending the out of state flagship schools. And this is just him, he has a problem studying for the SAT’s. However in school, he is exactly the opposite. Does his work earnestly and works hard. Not sure why the difference in approaches.
@ucbalumnus Thanks for the details. He will be taking Pre Calculus his senior year. He has done pretty well so far in Math including Algebra, Trig and Geometry with mostly A+'s. He works extremely hard in school and pretty sure will be able to complete anything given. It is just the entry into the colleges that concern me. He has mostly Honors level courses in school including English and Italian. He has a Chemistry Honors class this year.
BC doesn’t have engineering majors, but he loves Physics and hence he has a small inclination towards that. Hopefully he decides in due course.