Helping my D with application to Cal Poly. She’s interested in building structures so looking at ArchE or CivE. Background:
CSU gpa: 3.88 (with 9-11th grade gpa: 3.87-unless CP give some kind of credit for honors Geo)
ACT: 32C with 30 E, 29M (planning to retake to up those 2 scores)
MCA: 4460?
Which major has an easier bar for admission? She’s taken 1 year of arch rendering classes, so arch design classes won’t phase her too much. Though I’ve seen discussions that perhaps CivE is better because the FE test is more CivE based and that the major is more broad than ArchE.
Also is General Engineer major an easier admit? Seen some people were denied ME but was admitted to GenE as a second major choice.
According to projections; Arch Engineering 49% acceptance rate vs Civil Engineering 35% acceptance rate. General Engineering is around 60%. My advice is have her pick the Engineering discipline that fits her best, not the easier admit. These are projections so there are no guarantees.
And to further @Gumbymom’s point, percentages leave out a huge factor. You don’t know who applied. Aero is a classic example. It’s percentage suggests it is an easier admit than quite a few others, but it gets fewer applicants and they are typically very strong. I agree wholeheartedly…pick the one she likes. The caveat is this. If she doesn’t know if Arch E or Civil is the better fit, the general is not a bad option. Generals are expected to switch.