Calc Advice for Potential Engineering Student

Kids come into college engineering with all kinds of prior math preparation. Older kid had BC Calc , younger kid was supposed to take Calc in HS but just didn’t want to! Both did very well once they got to college, regardless of the different preparation they came in with.

I’d visit three or four midwestern schools close to home, one small, one medium and one large, possibly one giant. It doesn’t even matter if they have engineering. It’s about campus feel. So, let’s say you’re from Ohio, go to Kenyon, Case, Miami and OSU. Most students will get an idea if they can thrive at either extreme. If he says there’s no way he could go to a school as big as OSU, then there’s no reason to look at Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA, UCB, etc. The same is true for small schools. If Kenyon would feel oppressively small, then there’s no reason to consider HMC, Olin, Rose, or maybe even Tufts. Sophomore Spring Break is a great time to do that visit and it’s an important early filter to establish.

We haven’t posted this link for a while - it includes some interesting engineering schools (many that our family had found in other/harder research methods year ago) - http://www.theaitu.org/

awesome, thanks everyone!

Also, it helps to get an idea of budget and how much you are willing to spend. You mention UC Berkeley , for instance , but I don’t think there is any aid for OOS students (hopefully, someone will correct me if I am wrong on that). If you are prepared to pay full pay at any school though , that kind of thing is less of an issue.

All colleges offer Calc 1 and 2, so apparently they admit students who haven’t taken them. I’d go with AB if it feels right. You’d only be 1 semester behind where you would be with BC.

Since he does not need to decide on AB or BC calculus now, could he just take the hardest precalculus course next year, then decide on AB or BC later? Regardless of whether and when he takes calculus, he will want the strongest precalculus background to be ready for it.

Hello–I recommend the PreCalc class that would land your s in BC Calc if at all possible. However, he should take the class he feels is most appropriate for him. Can he speak to his current math teacher for a recommendation?

As for engineering schools, considered these in the NE U.S.: Northeastern, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) , Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Drexel, Penn State

Thanks again everyone. He was recommended for Honors, so he will take it to preserve BC option. I really appreciate all of the assistance and insight and recommendations for school ideas. Anyone have feedback on Rice?

It’s a cool little enclave campus, with a neat housing program (think Hogwarts), and a decent engineering program. Unfortunately, it’s in Houston. If you’ve never lived there, it’s really hard to understand the brutality of the humidity.