Currently in my senior year, I’ve got a 4.1 GPA and a 1350 SAT(First time) that I plan on taking in October. My class rank is about 35 out of 510. I feel like I could barely get in or get rejected. My ECs aren’t stellar but I’ve taken a lot of APs passed all my exams and got an AP scholar with distinction award. How are my chances for CoE? And if I get denied to CoE will I get deferred to another study or just flat out not admitted to the school at all? I attend a Nova school and am a low income African American male if that matters.
Work on getting a high score in the math section of the SAT. Another option to consider is the BIT major which is in the business school. (Business Information Technology) I know that lots of recruiters come to VT to hire BIT graduates.
You mentioned that you took a lot of AP classes so that is a good thing and being a VA resident should help you.
Perform well in your math and science classes so that you are able to show that you would be able to handle the engineering classes.
I am assuming you are applying Regular Decision so perform well in your classes since they will look at your midyear transcript.
AP Scholar with distinction? I’m going to go out on a limb and bet you get in. A lot of hopeful engineering majors list “University Studies” as a second choice and transfer into engineering later. As @raclut suggested google the BIT program. My son realized it appealed to him and is a very happy sophomore. Write all the optional essays. Good luck!
My own senior daughter applied and got accepted to engineering with university studies as a backup. We hadn’t known about the BIT major then but it is worth considering. It really depends on what type of career the student is interested in. She graduated high school with an IB diploma, had above 700 in math on the SAT and had worked on some engineering research projects at other colleges over the summer that got published with one patent pending. (instate) No AP classes were offered at her high school.
Each year it just gets more competitive and the bar seems to get raised even higher. Still I think you have a good shot of getting accepted to Engineering.
Write good essays that show your interests and how you would be an asset to the school.
This chart is not up to date but might be useful. I picked 2015 as the cohort since that was the latest data available.
https://irweb.ir.vt.edu/webtest/retention_gpasat.aspx
Feel like a broken record on this but the process for transferring majors into CoE has changed and is no longer a given. It is now on a space available basis once you have taken the required classes. Those students who apply and have the requirements are ranked by VT GPA. If there’s room in their specific engineering major (ME, CE, etc) by the time they get to their name on the list, they are are offered the transfer. Given that this year’s freshman class is much larger than expected, it’s possible that there will be less spots available in CoE for transfer in 18+ months. If you are going to VT with the intent to transfer into CoE at some point, you’d be smart to have a solid Plan B.
“And if I get denied to CoE will I get deferred to another study or just flat out not admitted to the school at all?”
We were just there for a college visit. If you don’t get into the CoE, they will look at you for your second choice. I would think you have a decent shot, but like the others, need to know specifically your Math SAT score.
My SAT math is a 690 but I’m taking it again in about a week and a half and am aiming for above a 700. I looked at the BIT program and it seems pretty interesting so I might put that as a second choice, is it competitive like the engineering program?