I am currently a Junior almost at the end of the year before I become a Senior and start applying for colleges. I was wondering what would be a good engineering degree.I live in Indiana. I currently have a rising gpa going from 2.29 to 2.5 and will keep on rising and should have around 2.7 before I start applying. I also am planning to have around a 900 or higher on the new SAT that is coming out. For the PSAT I got a 1200, but that was for the old version of the SAT. Please give me suggestions and thank you.
@SeanAguillon what sort of engineering? Electrical engineering, mechanical, computer, industrial, biological, …?
Unfortunately, your HS GPA and projected SAT scores are not very good for most 4-year universities. You should research universities with the major/program you are seeking and the average GPA/SAT of admitted students (this by no means determines your admission). Another viable option is the community college -> university route.
@MITer94 I’ve been thinking about electrical, computer, or aerospace. I am actually projecting actually a bigger score on the SAT around 1200 - 1400 on the new SAT that is out of 1600. I still haven’t really decided on anything specific in engineering yet.
@SeanAguillon There’s a big difference between saying “900 or higher” and “1200-1400.”
Generally speaking, you’ll probably want at least a 3.0 cumulative UW GPA for somewhat selective schools; you may get into some lesser selective 4-year universities with a 2.7 GPA, but it’s a bit risky. The following might explain it better: http://blog.prepscholar.com/college-gpa-requirements
Be sure to talk to your parents about what cost limitations you are working with, and try the net price calculators on the web sites of schools that you are interested in.
@MITer94 So to be even considered by the decent schools for engineering I’ll have to have around a 3.0 cumulative UW GPA. I read the article and understand everything better now. Also, yes I realize it’s a big jump but I accidentally put down the wrong numbers. The 900 wasn’t suppose to be there. Sorry about that.
Clarkson might be a good school to look into.
@ucbalumnus They said they’re willing to pay up to $45,000
@merc81 Can you give more details of why it would be a good school for me please?
Put Manhattan College on your list. It’s grads do extremely well.
I did a quick search on college match and Indiana Tech seems like it made be a fit for you.
Clarkson appears in a USA Today article, “The top 10 engineering colleges in the U.S.,” and would possibly be accessible to you from an admission standpoint. Clarkson could be a particularly good choice if you would like a school with a strong focus on engineering.
I would target a community college to knock out your prerequisite courses. Nail great grades. Then target instate engineering at your state flagship.
I think the bigger question to ask is can you handle engineering? You do realize it’s the most difficult major of them all, right? You’re a C+ student so far, hoping for a good SAT score. How are you in math, and do you really enjoy it? Have you had any exposure to engineering, or are you just following the hot major? Are you prepared for the massive workload that comes with the major?
@OnTheBubble Are there any other colleges you suggest? I’ll look into that college though.
@sensation723 I’ve been looking at Indiana Tech and have been wondering if I should go there and I also have been looking at Indiana State University.
@merc81 I’ll look into Clarkson to see if I’ll like it and see how it fits for me.But when I looked their GPA average is around 3.71 and don’t think I’ll make it.
@ClarinetDad16 Any suggestion for community colleges for engineering in general?
Also this is to everyone in general, I heard Ferris state university is a good college for engineering should I look into that college?
University of Scranton might be an option for electrical engineering. 70%+ acceptance rate university-wide. Average GPA for admitted students is 3.3, so you are not that far away.
@SeanAguillon It’s going to be rough wherever you apply. Many schools will give you a break for bad freshman year grades. If you do really well on your tests maybe you have a shot.
Does anything else interest you?
Schools with engineering that are not that selective and are relatively low cost:
South Dakota Mines:
http://www.sdsmt.edu/Admissions/Apply/Admissions-Requirements/
http://www.sdsmt.edu/Admissions/Financial-Aid-and-Scholarships/ECOA/ECOA—Undergraduate/
South Dakota State:
https://www.sdstate.edu/admissions/undergrad/freshmen/index.cfm
https://www.sdstate.edu/admissions/financing/undergrad/cost/
Mississippi:
http://admissions.olemiss.edu/applying-to-ole-miss/freshmen/
http://finaid.olemiss.edu/cost-of-attendance/
Mississippi State:
http://www.admissions.msstate.edu/freshmen/apply/#admission-requirements
http://www.admissions.msstate.edu/freshmen/money-matters/#tuition
Arkansas Tech:
https://www.atu.edu/admissions/requirements.php
http://www.atu.edu/imsso/costs.php
However, you should be aware that any ABET-accredited engineering major at any school will be academically rigorous; you need to up your game when it comes to school work in order to succeed as an engineering major anywhere.
Ferris State has only surveying engineering and a few engineering technology degree programs.
For starting at community colleges, look up the transfer credit pages of target four year schools like Purdue and IUPUI (and perhaps others like those listed in #16) to see which courses at which community colleges are accepted for subject credit against frosh/soph level requirements at the four year schools.
https://selfservice.mypurdue.purdue.edu/prod/bzwtxcrd.p_select_info
http://enroll.iupui.edu/admissions/undergraduate/credit/
Obviously, you need to do well enough in community college in order to be admitted to transfer to the four year school.
Save Ferris!
@Chardo Yes, I’m willing to now since before I never really knew what I was interested in until just this past year and started to study more and get better grades because I’m now motivated and really want to do engineering. I am pretty good with math having it my top class so far and it’s my favorite class. Also, I will save Ferris thanks.
@ucbalumnus Okay, I’ll make sure to look into that just in case I don’t find a school I really like. I’ll also look at all the colleges you posted and I’ll see how they are and if I like them. Thanks for the help!
@OnTheBubble I just like math in general and have been deciding between engineering or a teacher for mathematics. But I like engineering the most right now by fr.
@STEM2017 I’ll look into the college and see how it is. I’ll put it on my list to see have it as an option. Thanks for the help!