W GPA : 3.73
Sat : 1410
3 aps passed junior year (bio, chem, stats)
4 aps senior year (physics, psychology, calc ab, cs a)
Major : Computer Science
Instate Student
Nervous about my chance to be admitted to OSU, which my top choice college, due to my low gpa. What are my chances for admission.
Getting into OSU shouldn’t be too hard. You’ve got the grades/stats for that. Getting into the full CS program is a whole different battle and it’s extremely competitive. You’d need to take the prerequisite courses and apply sometime during your sophmore year.
You might want to consider a few back-up schools. It would suck if you spend almost 2 years at OSU only to get rejected and have to lose credits transferring somewhere else. Ohio U and Cincinnati are also solid schools that aren’t nearly as competitive.
As a tech professional myself, with computers, prestige makes no difference. CS is ridiculously employable and Ohio has a strong tech market.
@coolguy40 Thank you for replying, I really appreciate the advice!
So does that mean that it is unlikely for me to study cs at OSU? Will I end up being admitted to the school but not the engineering college?
Also, if it is not possible for me to get into my program of choice at OSU, then what other major would be a good option if I want to become a software engineer or data scientist at a top tech company.
You can work your way into the College of Engineering if not directly admitted. All freshman engineering students come in as “pre-majors” either with a specific major in mind or undeclared.
The requirements for applying to the major (or the College of Engineering if not admitted directly) is extensively covered in your freshman survey/orientation class - for engineering students it’s ENGR 1100.xx.
Current students (Summer 2019 - Spring 2020 Major Admits) must have a 3.2 CPHR and 2.0 EPHR1 OR a 3.0 CPHR and 3.2 EPHR2, but only the grade for the most recent attempt of the class is included. Note that: CSE does not admit students below the guaranteed admission criteria.
For CSE at tOSU you’d apply to your major after completing "ENGR 1100, 1181, 1182; MATH 1151; PHYSICS 1250; ENGLISH 1110; 15 graded hours at OSU and CS2221 (for EPHR1) or (CSE 2221, 2231, 2321 and any higher-level CSE courses in
major for EPHR2)
https://advising.engineering.osu.edu/sites/advising.engineering.osu.edu/files/uploads/Admission_To_Major/engineering_major_application_information_su2019-sp2020.pdf
If you don’t like the engineering classes, but love CS you could switch to BS CIS, “The Computer Science portion of these two programs are identical to each other.”
https://cse.osu.edu/current-students/undergraduate/majors
What is your unweighted gpa? And what is your class rank - would you say you are in the top 10% of your class or top 25%?
@BuckeyeMWDSG I don’t know my unweighted gpa since my school only does weighted but I’m pretty sure it is between a 3.4-3.5. Although my school doesn’t rank, I recently asked my counselor since they are the only one who have access to it. He said I’m not in the to 25% but I am in the top 33% in my class. This is why I am so concerned about whether I will be accepted or not.
“3.4-3.5” that’s pretty good (there are some schools with 6.0 weighted scales so I’m always worried when I only see W) It seems like you are mostly a B+/A- student with rigorous coursework.
The average composite SAT for incoming engineering freshman in 2018 was 1390, so your SAT is above that, but nearly all of them were in the top 25%.
One EA admission decision may be getting deferred to RD. So assume you’ll know by the end of March and that finding out anything earlier is a bonus. I know that’s going to get really hard as others share their decisions.
Since you’ve taken calculus you should be able to place into a high enough math level that you would be able to register for the necessary classes to stay on track even if not directly admitted to CoE. Work closely with advising staff to register for the classes you need to stay on track and get into the CoE. Current “Students need a 2.5 minimum GPA, a C- or better in Math 1151, and a C- or better in Chem 1210 or Physics 1250 to declare the pre-major” in Engineering. http://exploration.osu.edu/current-students/declare-a-major-or-pre-major
If you aren’t admitted directly to main campus it would probably be because they do try to admit students from across the state (which is why class rank is very important) and you are in a particularly talented pool locally with lots of applicants. Not because you aren’t prepared to do well, so if that happens try your best not to take it too personally. As an instate student starting at a regional campus is always an option.
The Marion campus offers most of the engineering classes you’d need for the first year or two. And other regional campuses are expanding their introductory engineering courses as well. Marion in particular has a lot of merit aid opportunities. https://osumarion.osu.edu/students/financial-aid/marion-scholarship-information.html
Newark offers an Engineering Learning Community https://newark.osu.edu/future-students/learning-communities/engineering-learning-community.html
One of the benefits of starting at a regional campus is that you can start building rapport with OSU professors in smaller classroom settings. Often the class labs and recitations are run by the professors themselves.
@BuckeyeMWDSG Great post. Informative, detailed…well-done!