<p>Im a upcoming senior that wants to do some CAD designs to show to SAT optional colleges such as WPI. Does anyone know how I can get started.</p>
<p>It might be hard to pickup CAD while not in school since you won't have access to the industry software (AutoCAD, Solidworks, Inventor, ProE) and you most likely don't want to pay the thousands of dollars for commercial classes.</p>
<p>Your best options are to try to obtain a license, perhaps through a school or student purchase and then buying/borrowing a book. </p>
<p>Amazon.com:</a> Graphics for Engineers with AutoCAD 2002 (6th Edition): James H. Earle: Books</p>
<p>This was the book that I used in college--it'll teach you the basics of drafting and might give you an idea about CAD.</p>
<p>In lieu of CAD, you can try drafting. All you really need is an architect/engineer's scale, a T-square, and a few mechanical pencils with varying thicknesses of lead. It's more time consuming to do, but less to learn.</p>
<p>I know Autodesk gives out free versions of AutoCAD to students and educators (<a href="http://students.autodesk.com)%5B/url%5D">http://students.autodesk.com)</a>. The only catch is that it has an "Educational Use Only" stamp on the borders of printouts, and a popup in the program. However, I'm not sure if this offer extends to high school students as well.</p>