Chance me for EnvEngineering - UF, UCF, Hopkins, NC State

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey everyone, I am a rising senior in hs here about to apply for colleges in less than a month. I’m still trying to finalize my college choices and seeing where my best options are based on my stats. Can everyone please direct me to where the best colleges are for an undergraduate environmental engineering program specifically?
I am aware that some of these colleges (USC and Hopkins) are reaches, but my parents really want me to apply & “see what happens.”

Stats:
OOS Student (PA)
From a small, competitive Catholic college prep school with a student body of 450. (130 in my class)
Asian (female)
Major: Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering
PSAT: 1280
SAT: 1300 (retaking on August 25, 2018)
ACT: 27 (retaking TBD)
** Would it be recommended to take the SAT Subject tests?
GPA: 3.6 (as of beginning of Junior Year - will receive GPA in September)
Junior schedule: Religion, American Cultures (Honors), English 11, Music Theory I, Biology II, Precalculus (Honors), Spanish III (honors), Physics I (Honors)
Senior schedule: AP English Lit, AP US Gov, AP Micro, Spanish V (honors), Physics II (Honors), Calculus I (Honors)
** Note: My school is a very small school which only offers a few advanced classes. No IB classes, and only 5 AP classes available. APUSH was offered junior year but only selected 20 students for the class. I qualified for APUSH (80 students qualified overall) but was not selected.

Extracurriculars:
National Honors Society - Service Committee member (11) and Character Committee Chairperson (12)
Drama Department - (9-12) Stage Manager (11-12)
Interact Club (a community service club) - (9-12) Secretary (11-12)
Piano—(11 years)
Science Club - Secretary (11) and Vice President (12)
Student Ambassador - (9-12)
Work—(11-12)
JV Tennis—(9-11) Varsity Tennis (12)

Volunteering: ~250 Hours + an Internship at an Aquarium

Current College List: UF, UCF, VTech, WVU, Hopkins, USC, NC State, and I’m currently looking at Ohio State and CalPolySLO.

Please let me know your input and suggestions towards this list, as well as any recommendations for good environmental engineering school!

2

Are they all affordable? Out-of-state public schools tend to have no or little financial aid (check net price calculators).

3

I am currently applying for scholarships and will file for financial aid when the applications open. Considering my parents are making me apply at Hopkins and USC, cost is not a HUGE factor, but I still want to keep cost in mind.

4

Hopkins is totally out of reach with your current stats. Not sure why your parents are making you apply. What is your home state?

5

My family wants me to apply because of traditional reasons - my grandparents, 2 aunts, and an uncle all went and graduated from Johns Hopkins med school. We all know it’s a long shot, but everyone would like me to try and apply anyway lol.
My home state is Pennsylvania, but I’d rather not go to Penn State because I have visited the school (Mont Alto, University Park, Altoona and Berks’ campuses) many times for events and even for college visits and I felt that it was not a good fit for me personally. I did also look at Elizabethtown College for Environmental Engineering but I didn’t really like it due to location and its small population.

6

Have you looked at U. of Pittsburgh? Your ACT is on the low end for them but if you can get it above a 30 it would be a good match.

7

No I haven’t, but I’ll look into U. of Pittsburgh.

8

Your list is pretty reach-heavy, though there are definitely some realistic options on there.

Yes, definitely look at Pitt. They have great enviro engineering, and it’s a wonderful student experience and a great in-state deal.

If you’re going to apply to a reach school, U of Miami seems like a fit. It is especially well-suited to enviro students with marine interests, plus they have a music conservatory (Frost). If you can increase your test scores it could be a realistic reach. (Unlike JHU and USC which you already know are not realistic.) http://bulletin.miami.edu/undergraduate-academic-programs/engineering/civil-architectural-environmental-engineering/environmental-engineering-bs/

In the FL public U’s, USF in Tampa has significant marine facilities. http://www.usf.edu/engineering/cee/research/environmental-engineering.aspx

Also consider Eckerd, which is terrific for environmental sciences (especially marine) and has a 3:2 program if you want to get the engineering degree. https://www.eckerd.edu/engineering-applied-science/ Think in general about whether you’d like to apply to a few LAC’s that appeal to you, that have 3:2 programs. It’s a trade-off - it’s a gentler entry into engineering, but a higher chance that you’ll just decide to stick with your original non-engineering major. Come next spring, it might not be a bad thing to have a couple of LAC’s on the menu when you’re making your final decision.

Check out:

UVM (smaller, majority OOS public flagship which is outstanding for all things environmental) https://www.uvm.edu/cems/cee/undergraduate_programs/environmental_engineering_bs
SUNY ESF (environmental specialty school, affordable for OOS, but closely connected to Syracuse University - ESF students can cross-register, use SU facilities, and participate in SU EC’s as well as ESF’s) http://www.esf.edu/ere/undergraduate/ and also http://www.esf.edu/environmentalscience/envhealth/
Clarkson https://www.clarkson.edu/undergraduate/environmental-engineering (Also has great health-oriented programs, including an enviro health major; they have PT, OT, and PA grad programs so there are a lot of health-oriented students.)
Colorado-Boulder https://www.colorado.edu/even/ and/or Colorado-Denver (also consider their unique Program in Environmental Design https://www.colorado.edu/envd/ )
Rose-Hulman https://www.rose-hulman.edu/academics/academic-departments/civil-and-environmental-engineering/index.html
CO School of Mines https://cee.mines.edu/bs-environmental-engineering/

(Those last two may be too exclusively-STEM for you - not sure what your backup major would be there if you decided engineering wasn’t for you. It’s good for any engineering student to have at least one Plan B in mind at any given school. But if you are 100% sure about STEM focus, those could be great programs to apply to.)

If you’re doing the CSU application for Cal Poly SLO, consider adding Humboldt https://engineering.humboldt.edu/ and Cal Poly Pomona https://catalog.cpp.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=4&poid=872 Your stats are not likely to be competitive for SLO - their formula is all about GPA+scores+rigor, and OOS honors classes don’t add rigor. I think San Diego State is also too much of a reach for engineering, but it’s all one application so it wouldn’t hurt to check that box too. http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/admissions/majors/envirengineering.htm

Portland State would be a great west coast safety that has rolling admissions, so you could have an acceptance in the bag before Thanksgiving https://www.pdx.edu/cee/bsenve Oregon State would also be a possibility http://cbee.oregonstate.edu/enve-undergraduate-program

Hope that helps!

9

Thanks so much! Your post is super helpful and I’ll definitely check out the list provided.
I’m hoping to increase my test scores next month and my GPA from the end of junior year will be released in September so I’m crossing my fingers that it is a lot higher than the given GPA from last year.
My backup plans are concentrated in either marine biology or computer science (cybersecurity) depending on what college I end up in (again, still working on backups but those are the top 2)

Two questions: I have researched Eckerd’s 3-2 engineering program in the past and while it is promising, I’m unsure how a dual engineering program will impact job prospects and other factors after graduation. I’m just nervous that because it is not the traditional route towards obtaining an engineering degree + certification (even though all the classes are there), would that be a problem for employers later on?
And, realistically, would I have a chance at UCF? I know UF has gotten very competitive and my GPA is a reach for UF but I wasn’t sure about UCF.

10

That is not the issue with 3+2 programs. The more usual issue is that few frosh intending 3+2 transfer to the “2” school to complete the engineering degree. Some possible reasons:

a. Not admitted to the “2” school as a 3+2 transfer (e.g. Columbia requires a 3.5 college GPA).
b. Not enough financial aid at the “2” school (e.g. Columbia does not promise to “meet need” for 3+2 transfers as it does for frosh and other transfers).
c. Extra year of costs.
d. Fewer opportunities to do engineering courses and extracurriculars, resulting in loss of interest.
e. Often chose a small LAC as the “3” school because of non-academic fit factors that the “2” school does not match well.
f. Does not want to leave the “3” school and friends that s/he is comfortable with.

11

I don’t think job prospects post-graduation are the issue with 3:2 programs - if you graduate with the engineering degree, you’re fine - in fact, you might be in better shape in some ways than your 4-year engineering-only peers who would not have had the extra year to deepen their liberal arts background. The issues with 3:2 are 1) the high percentage of students who decide they don’t want to leave their LAC and either let the engineering plan go, or pursue a grad program post-graduation instead and 2) the potentially rough entry into a rigorous engineering program in year four, depending on the rigor of preparation in years 1-3. But, if you really love marine bio and want to combine that background with enviro engineering, starting out at a strong marine bio school like Eckerd could be worth considering. And depending on how your stats turn out, sometimes a 3:2 can ultimately get you into an engineering program that would have been too competitive on the first pass.

I’d suggest posting your questions about admissions to the FL publics on the Florida forum. There are people with really deep state-specific knowledge over there who could help you gauge your competitiveness for specific programs. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/florida-colleges/

U of Tampa has both marine bio and cybersecurity, but not engineering, FWIW

Oregon State is strong in Marine Bio as well as in engineering, so that could be worth a closer look. It has a great Honors College for which you just barely meet the minimum criteria with your current scores (not a guarantee of admission, but allows you to apply). https://honors.oregonstate.edu/ There’s cybersecurity stuff in the EE department, and an interesting minor in Humanitarian Engineering https://humanitarian.engineering.oregonstate.edu/node/7 They provide a merit calculator, and it looks like you’d get some merit $ based on your current stats, and presumably more if your scores and GPA improve http://oregonstate.edu/admissions/static/scholarships/calculator.php

Among the New England flagships, both UNH and Maine-Orono have strong marine bio as well as civil/environmental engineering and CS, so check those out too.

12

The earlier you apply to UCF the better chance you have of getting in. I know someone who did not apply until March with a 28 on the ACT and got denied but then I know someone who applied in October with a 24 and got it. They have rolling admissions so typically a month after you apply you’ll find out.

13

UCF and USF are matches. Both use rolling admissions. It’s best to apply earlier, while merit based scholarships funding is available. At both schools OOS merit can be substantial.