Chances/should I do essays?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Virginia Tech
1

I’m applying RD to the VT school of Engineering for Aerospace.

I’m an in-state (NOVA), white male at a nationally ranked high school. I’ve been accepted into Purdue and deferred from Michigan (which angered me a bit, although I then realized that it’s just become a lottery nowadays).

Stats: ACT 34 (35R, 33M, 34E, 35S)
GPA: 4.0UW/4.26W
Extracurriculars:
-lots of music stuff; top trumpet in a large school
-Was in a fairly popular local band
-work for my church
-tutor math, chemistry, and trumpet
-write for an online soccer blog
-work for a community philanthropy organization
-do a couple more things

Recommendations are good.

My questions are:

  1. Will I get in?
  2. With my stats, can I get in while writing 2 mediocre essays?
  3. Are the essays necessary at all?

Thanks!

2

EDIT: I’ve also taken 4 APs and 4 two year (HL) IB Classes - meaning, I will have taken around 13 AP/IB classes

3

in terms of ranking isn’t purdue higher that VT?
1.In my opinion you’ll prob get in
2.although your stats are good you should ALWAYS go for 3 essays
3.yes they are necessary

4

Were the AP/IB Classes that you have taken/are taking in AB/BC Calculus, Physics, and/or Chemistry? Those are discriminator classes. How many difficult classes have you taken? Tech looks at the difficulty of your classes and you have not addressed that in your posting. Also, I would not rank Purdue higher than VT. Definitely submit all 3 essay questions and make sure your responses are solid. When possible, make sure the reader knows that you visited the campus. While you have a strong GPA, I would not consider you a “shoe-in” especially since you are from NOVA. Good luck. It’s a wonderful school and the Engineering Department is excellent.

5

I’m taking BC Calc and AP Phys; took AP Chem last year and got an A/4 on the exam. Currently have all As.

Thanks for the input!

6

Excellent! With those 3 classes and your grades/scores, you should be a very strong candidate. Best of luck.

7

I’m surprised at your deferral from Michigan. You have excellent stats and a good shot at the College of Engineering. The essays are necessary, but if you don’t have time, two well written/thought out essays are better than 3 mediocre ones.

8

Thanks! Submitted yesterday.

Regarding Michigan - apparently they got so many early apps this year that they didn’t have enough time to read all of them. My counselor sent in one of my recommendations late so hopefully that’s why I got deferred…