<p>S is in grade 11 and has been talking about pursuing ChemE, specifically alternative fuels. Am wondering if anyone has good suggestions on schools he might consider? He's currently taking AP Chem, physics, honors precalc; next year will likely take AP physics and Calc AB. Wants to go to college where it snows. Has not yet taken SAT. I say non-genius because although he's bright, he's not MIT or Cal Tech material. So... any suggestions? Thanks.</p>
<p>ChemE is a very difficult and demanding major no matter which school. </p>
<p>Are you asking for less-cut-throat schools for this major? Well, I’d avoid any of the more popularly mentioned ChemE schools here on CC…like Cal, UMinn, UDel, etc. and look at the schools with eng’g programs ranked “well” but not high…such as those ranked beyond the 60s or so. </p>
<p>But, again, that major is a toughie. It’s got many of the pre-med pre-reqs so it’s got weeder classes in there. A good number of ChemE majors are pre-med as well. Does your son have any interest in medical school? </p>
<p>What is your budget? That may also determine where he should apply. OOS publics are often awful with need-based aid, but some give generous merit scholarships for strong stats.</p>
<p>Since you’re a Calif resident, how about Cal Poly Pomona (SLO doesn’t have ChemE).</p>
<p>What else does your son want in a school outside of academics? CPP can be somewhat a commuter school.</p>
<p>Previous discussion here for reference:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1441334-need-engineering-program-suggestions-please.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1441334-need-engineering-program-suggestions-please.html</a></p>
<p>There are a ton of schools with strong Chem engineering programs that aren’t MIT like. Your son can think about what size school he wants and if he prefers a geographic area. Also, private versus public. I had a problem with paying OOS tuition for a huge state school when DD could go to an instate option. We went for private schools that give good merit aid and instate school options. DD was looking for Chem engineering and Biomedical engineering as well as straight chemistry in case she decided enginnering wasn’t what she thought it was. We looked for chem engineering school that had well ranked grad chem engineering schools. </p>
<p>Privates: </p>
<p>U of Rochester
Vanderbilt
Boston U
Rice
RPI
Tulane (maybe only biomedical?)
Lehigh
Bucknell
Lafayette</p>
<p>Publics:</p>
<p>U of MD
U of Del
Penn State
UT Austin</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Adding Northwestern here too. With good course management and some non-science and non-math AP credits, it’s possible to do a BS/MS in chemE in 4 years.</p>
<p>U Dayton. [University</a> of Dayton : News : Alternative Fuels Research Advances at the University of Dayton](<a href=“http://www.udayton.edu/news/articles/2013/01/heinz_robota_fuels_research_update.php]University”>http://www.udayton.edu/news/articles/2013/01/heinz_robota_fuels_research_update.php)
They also offer merit aid.</p>
<p>I think a few of those ChemE depts in post #4 are going to be as tough or nearly as tough as MIT. </p>
<p>I think the OP is using MIT as in “MIT-like”. Vandy, Rice and a few others will be MIT-like in the type of students attending those schools in that major. My nephew is ChemE at Vandy and it is brutal. </p>
<p>The parent is assuming a 3.3 GPA and a 1900 SAT. If that’s where the student is at, and hopes to survive in ChemE, then he needs to go down to lower mid-tiers or below. </p>
<p>I think UDayton is a good suggestion.</p>
<p>I didn’t see 3.3 GPA and 1900 SAT, are you getting that from previous post? The student is in honors/AP classes and seems to be a strong student. He hasn’t even taken the SAT yet. However, 1900 is a bit low for Chem E.</p>
<p>Try using the college search tool here on CC with all of your data.
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/[/url]”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/</a>
Be sure to expand the number of results at the top (20 by default) and be sure to select “must have” for any important criteria like major, location and GPA, otherwise it may come up with some odd matches.
What’s good about this site is that it compares your GPA and test scores against the reported ones for the schools and tries to guess the “fit”. It represents the fit as percentage and when you click on the “why?” underneath the fit number it shows you how you compare.</p>
<p>I didn’t see 3.3 GPA and 1900 SAT, are you getting that from previous post? The student is in honors/AP classes and seems to be a strong student. He hasn’t even taken the SAT yet. However, 1900 is a bit low for Chem E.</p>
<p>It’s in the link. I think the mom is basing the SAT on the PSAT results. </p>
<p>*However, I’m noticing that his interest in studying and prepping for tests is waning. He seems more interested in socializing than schoolwork, and my fear is that his GPA will drop from here on out. *</p>
<p>The problem that I see is that the first couple of years of ChemE includes a whole bunch of classes shared with those taking pre-med pre-reqs (Gen Chem I and II, Physics I and II, Bio, and Cal I). On most campuses, those are “weeder classes”. They don’t have grade inflation. The number of A’s awarded is limited. </p>
<p>If this student’s classmates are mostly a bunch of 3.8+ students with 2050+ SATs, then he may find himself getting a whole lot of C’s.</p>
<p>if you are interested in schools in the northeast, you might also look at schools like Northeastern and Drexel which have strong co-op programs and can provide great “hands on” experience!</p>
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<p>Actually, the chemical engineering majors often take physics, math, and chemistry courses that are not shared with the bulk of the pre-meds. But the problem for a “slacker” student is that the physics, math, and chemistry courses are more rigorous courses shared with chemistry, physics, and other engineering majors, rather than somewhat less rigorous courses for biology majors and pre-meds.</p>
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[quote]
I didn’t see 3.3 GPA and 1900 SAT, are you getting that from previous post? The student is in honors/AP classes and seems to be a strong student. He hasn’t even taken the SAT yet. However, 1900 is a bit low for Chem E.
[quote]
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<p>Just gonna say I don’t think a 1900 is low for any engineering field. It all depends on where the points were lost. When I took the SAT it was still with the writing section on the SAT IIs, but only made it above the current 1900 score by a little bit. Plenty of my friends that went on to engineering at “big name private schools” didn’t. We were just very asymmetric in our scoring.</p>
<p>Texas A&M would be a fit I’d think. Probably need to get the scores up a bit though.</p>
<p>Well, from the OP’s screen name I’m going to assume they are in Buffalo NY. So, how 'bout UB, U Binghamton (both moving up rapidly in engineering school rankings), RIT, Clarkson . All good engineering schools and not the most expensive - obviously the NY State SUNY schools being the least expensive. </p>
<p>OOS : Deleware, Many state flagships (although the best are not easy to get into), Dayton.</p>
<p>Lots of others also - it will depend on GPA and SAT/ACT numbers, etc. as to which are reaches, fits and safeties. For alternative fuels specifically, you’d have to find out more about what sort of research the schools are involved in and what specific courses they offer in that field. It certainly a timely topic and one worth studying and more importantly researching!</p>