Housing issues at UCB and UCSB are definitely an issue. Shockingly so.
Want to give UofW more than a quick glance but same crowding issues, as with most larger institutions.
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Just to clarify, it isnât hard to switch majors at Cal Poly. About 30% of students do. Itâs very hard to switch into majors you wouldnât have been admitted into and impossible to switch into SE or SE unless you started in the other or CPE.
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This is the important part. Unlike most colleges, CPSLO has a look back to your frosh admission score. If your frosh admission score would not have admitted you then to your desired new major, you cannot change into that major.
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As I look to refine this list, differentiating between getting into your program, and having to apply for it, would be an important data point.
This information editing is hard. Back in the day, I applied to 1.5 schools. My program was the best in the field in my country at the time, and I knew Iâd get in simply because my marks aligned with admissions. This is an entirely different ballgame.
I think youâre overcomplicating.
There are programs youâll get into - and even get paid - thatâs your Alabama, Arizonas mentioned.
Then there are programs that donât have specific standards - and those you apply to. Those are the targets and reaches and even safeties that donât have specific #s (but are safeties for other reasons).
My daughter applied to 21 and I thought sheâd get into 16 and she got into 17. Itâs really not that hard to predict in most cases but so many get to a point of paralysis by analysis.
PS - no more typewriters and white out!!
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I agree 100%.
As parents we want the âbest,â when at least for engineering, there is no best. In spite of what the rankings want us to believe, graduates of the top ranked posters out here routinely say they work with engineers that were educated all over the place. If one undergraduate program was the best, the elite jobs would have a disproportionate representation of their graduates. They donât.
My son has been fortunate to work on two VERY strong teams. The engineers heâs worked with have been educated all over the planet, literally.
Long story short, donât agonize over it. Itâs far more about what the student does with their opportunities than it is about the name on the paper.
Good luck!
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No, maybe I am wrong, but I think OP means they need to consider whether there is a second application two years down the road to get into a major after admission to the school.
I donât think that is overcomplicating at all â it doesnât matter if you can get into a school if you cannot ultimately get into the major you want. Or if your student doesnât want the stress of the possibility of not getting into a major or being able to switch majors into a constrained program.
So it is important to do more than just pick affordable schools with programs/majors you like. You also should consider the process for getting admitted to and completing the major at each school. Sometimes getting in is just the first step.
I think the extra layer of competition that exists at some schools AFTER admission is what lands some schools on this list:
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I read it again. I donât see it this way. But if it is this way, they simply need to make a column of who has secondary admissions and what those requirements are.
And yes, they can factor that into the decision - even deciding if they want to apply to schools like that at all. I wouldnât - unless it was an easy hill to climb vs. a high level GPA, etc.
But the strategy would still be to have those definite admissions and direct admit schools.
They are most important so if thatâs all that works out, life is good.
thanks for the claification.
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These were certainly things my son took into account. There are simply plenty of great programs that arenât a grind, or donât require astronomical GPAs for secondary admission, that he just eliminated those.
EDIT: Iâm calling BS on that list linked.
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Yes, my meaning was separating any schools that have secondary admissions to the program a student wants. Thatâs not how my schooling went, nor did it go that way for my spouse, and we both went through selective schools/programs.
I do want to differentiate with regards to secondary admissions, so that my kid can evaluate the ramifications of that.
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They had those when I was in school. I think itâs either the major you were in or just the school. But there does seem to be more today.
One could argue that if you donât make the cut, itâs likely a signal to try something else anyway - depending on the school. .
But you can easily find fine schools without a second level.
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Except that the cut varies at different schools based on capacity limitations. Would a student with a 3.7 college GPA denied major X at college A be less worthy for major X than a student with a 2.1 college GPA in major X at college B?
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Yea I know
My child elected not to attend schools with a competitive admission to major componentâ not because she didnât think she could achieve it, but because she didnât want the extra layer of stress and hassle on top of applying for internships and jobs and club participation. She also got the sense on visits that it often made students less collegial and more intense/threatened by classmates vying for the same spots.
But it is often hard for a high school student to judge how comfortable they are with that kind of set-up this early in the process, before finishing applications or visiting. Good luck with the process.
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I think my kid could roll that way, too, as a person. But because the training environment theyâve been through sports was/is an extreme one, that type of environment might not be a deal-breaker if thereâs other considerations.
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I may have missed it, but have you visited any of these schools? The list is very diverse in what the experience will be like. I canât really see Olin or HMC with big schools like Cal and UCLA on the final list.
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Or even in the same school. Would the student who was denied CS declaration with a 3.2 at Cal be worse than a student who was allowed to declare with a 3.0 in weeder courses during prior years?
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Another wrinkle: some schools admit a certain percentage of students directly to the major as freshmen and the rest get in through successful application a year or two later. (Thatâs another data point to include on your list, OP.)
But I note that the result is some students directly admitted to the major may ultimately have a lower GPA than students denied entry to the major as college sophomores.
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Agreed with the value of visiting, especially when such disparate schools are on the table.
We toured Olin and MIT on successive days this summer while we were in the area visiting family, and while I can easily see each appealing to a particular kind of student, I canât imagine one student being drawn to both once theyâve actually seen them in person.
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We did the same. Neither received an application from our son. As you said, both would appeal to the right students, but probably not the same students. The big, multi-major schools are yet another type of experience.
I can see having different sized schools on a list if there are factors that unify them.
Our sonâs list looked a little weird with WPI (4000 undergrads) and Utah (30,000) undergrads. Every school on his list was known for going above and beyond to teach practical application of theory, and save one, Cal Poly, the school he actually chose, was near skiing.
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