ACT/SAT Scores: 1490 SAT (English: 760, Math: 730)
Coursework
Junior: 4 APs (Physics 1, Comp Sci A, Eng Lang, Calc BC) - all B grade and expect 4 or 5 in AP.
Junior: Engineering Technology
Summer community college: Math Probability & Statistics
Senior: AP Physics C, Multivariable honors and Engineering Technology Advanced
Awards
None
Extracurriculars
4 years JV & Varsity Water Polo
Essays/LORs/Other
Essays: Working on it, no major/difficult life events to write about
LORs: Expect good LORs from STEM teachers
Cost Constraints / Budget
Will not qualify for any aid. Budget $50K/year.
Schools
Applying EA where applicable, no ED.
Safety: Arizona State University, UC Irvine, Auburn
Likely: UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz
Match: UC Davis, UC San Diego, North Carolina State
Reach: Cal Poly SLO, Purdue, RPI, WPI, Texas A&M, Boston University
Assuming a UC recalculated weighted-capped GPA of 4.00, your chance estimates for UCs are optimistic. More realistic (considering that engineering majors tend to be more selective than the campus overall):
These are for the whole campus. Different divisions or majors may have different levels selectivity (usually, engineering and computer science majors are more selective).
Arizona State University should be a safety, given that you meet its automatic admission criteria for the campus and the EE and ME majors (follow the links to the major pages), and its scholarship calculator indicates affordability for you.
I’m guessing you just listed the STEM courses your kid is taking. Hoping she also has her arts requirement for CA schools fulfilled, and has taken four years of core courses by the time she graduates (English, social studies, math, science, foreign language).
Could you please clarify this.
I’m not sure you will be able to get RPI, WPI, BU, Mudd, GTech to your price point of $50,000.
I think you underrate the UCs and NC State. If budget matters, Bama will be cheaper than Auburn. NC state is also right at $50k oos which means more (it costs more than they say) and there’s inflation and the likelihood of merit, even if you did get in which is unlikely, is slim to none. Also, NC State engineering is a 20 min plus walk or short bus to another campus - just making sure you are aware.
If RHIT the dream - it’s small, isolated, and tech focused. It’s also 75% male. It’s a bit hard to find another. Maybe a WPI as you list but also cost an issue.
Much of your list is very large. Which do you want ? Large or tiny ? If you don’t really want large, check out UAH, Missouri Science and Tech, SD School of Mines.
I’d replace NC State with schools like Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Ms State or at least add as a safety. These are all easy admits, great schools, and in budget. There are more too if you give us more info. You might also check WUE. This is what @DadOfJerseyGirl just said - chase merit.
As long as a school is ABET accredited, it’ll be great. Engineering - the where generally matters less. Most everywhere is solid.
You may also want to look at Washington State and Oregon State. They are part of the WUE tuition program, so your COA should be within budget, and both are relatively strong for engineering.
If your D wants a smaller program like Rose or Mudd, look at Clarkson in Potsdam, NY as a safety. Your D should see enough merit to bring it into budget. They have a very good engineering program and wonderful outcomes. Not the easiest to get to from CA but you have listed schools all over the country so I’m assuming that location isn’t a consideration.
I’ll second Clarkson as a good safer choice with very good merit. I think your D would have a decent chance of being admitted to WPI, but I don’t think their merit typically gets you to $50k. I think the UCs are not as likely as you have listed - especially since your daughter’s strong SAT score will not be considered.
Agree with others that your UC estimates seem highly optimistic for engineering. Stats are somewhat comparable to my S23 (3.7UW/4.0W/1530 SAT/5APs incl Calc BC/Phys C and NM Commended) who was applying for physics/astronomy which is a much easier admit than engineering (his ECs were also pretty limited).
He eventually got into UCSC in late May off the waitlist (and is attending) but was waitlisted at UCSD and CPSLO and rejected at UCSB and SDSU. Only instate admits were CPP and SJSU (plus a UC Merced offer due to being statewide eligible).
We had a similar budget and focused mainly on Arizona, Arizona State and Utah which were all good options, Utah was the cheapest of these with WUE and we love it there (D18 attended) though he eventually chose Arizona for its astronomy program. Oregon State is now making WUE more accessible and is also worth considering. Washington State is pretty isolated, many find it less desirable for that reason.
Yes, I would take a look at the Cal States. They will be affordable and your chances of acceptance are higher than the UCs (especially given the lack of ECs which the CSUs don’t care much about, but the UCs typically do). The GPA is on the low end for Cal Poly SLO, but what about a Cal Poly Humboldt or Pomona? I don’t know off hand what majors they offer, you can easily check this online, but personally I think the CSUs are really your best bet, given both financial and academic situation.
Agree with the other posters that the UC’s are far more competitive for Engineering than you think and UCI is definitely not a safety school.
@ucbalumnus has done a good job of re-categorizing of her chances at the UC’s.
I have complied some 2022 admit rates if available by UC campus. For some UC’s, the admit rates are extrapolated based on the # of enrolled students and their yield rate.
Engineering 2022 admit rates
Campus
Mechanical Eng
Electrical Eng
UC Berkeley
7.3%
4.1% (EECS)
UC Davis
Extrapolated <40%
Extrapolated <50%
UC Irvine
15%
25%
UCLA
5.5%
13.2%
UC Merced
90%
No data new major 2023
UC Riverside
56%
79%
UC San Diego
Extrapolated <20%
Extrapolated <25%
UC Santa Barbara
Extrapolated <25%
29%
UC Santa Cruz
N/A
42.5%
As a CA resident, she might want to consider other Cal States than just Cal Poly SLO for Engineering.
Here are some admit rates for some popular Cal States:
Some Cal States admit rates:
Campus
Mechanical Eng
Electrical Eng
Cal Poly SLO
21%
49%
Cal State Long Beach
50%
44%
San Diego State
50%
45%
San Jose State
61%
82%
What the data does not show for most of the schools is the average admitted GPA and student overall profile.
**SLO”s admitted Freshman Engineering for 2022 had a SLO GPA range of 4.17 – 4.25. SLO does take 9th grades into consideration for their GPA calculation while the UC’s and the rest of the CSU’s do not. SLO’s estimated admit rates are based on a 33% yield rate so they are estimates.
UCSB states for the College of Engineering that the average Fully weighted UC GPA for admitted students in 2022 was 4.52.
Cal State Long Beach College of Engineering had an average CSU weighted GPA of 4.05 for admitted students in 2022.
She will need to apply widely and many of the Cal states are great options in meeting the budget and the academic challenges for an Engineering degree.
UCI is not a safety for engineering. UCSB’s engineering department is very small and would not be a likely. UCSD engineering is a reach for everyone.
Most of the UCs ask for students to list a non-engineering (or non impacted) major as an alternate. Does she have something else that might interest her? Math, Data Science, Physics?
The majority of students are fortunate enough to not have major/difficult life events. For the UC application, there are 8 PIQ. Avoid writing about PIQ 4 and 5 if they don’t apply to your student.
I would strongly encourage you to have your daughter look at the UC Activities and Awards section. Look back through your calendar and her agenda book and make a list things that she participated in since starting HS. There is space for 20 and only listing water polo will not help her application. They don’t want an activity listed by name only. They want a description of what she did and possibly how it impacted her. Why is she choosing engineering? Did she participate in anything that spurred this interest? What did she do during the pandemic? Was she involved in any virtual activities?
I’m not sure if Northern Arizona University is of interest as a safety. If it is, their application is $25. They have rolling admissions and don’t ask for essays. If she applies today, she will likely hear within the week. If nothing else, it will give her one admission in hand and take off some of the pressure in the upcoming months.
Yes, she has all of the other high school graduation requirements. Just listed the AP/Honors courses.
$50K without taking a loan. May go for a loan if needed and can’t get into a desired UC or Cal State.
Georgia Tech is right under $50k. With enough AP/DE credits it’s doable in less than 4 years. Study abroad pays in-state rate. Still a reach. I think OOS acceptance rate was 13% last cycle.
Slight correction: 1 A and 3 Bs. A in Physics 1.
All the Bs are in the high 80s. Should know in a month, but assuming that AP scores don’t impact admissions either way.