That was what we were told when my D was a freshman in '18 for in coming CoE class.
I just looked up the COE FAQ site and it was updated for the class of '22 and you are correct. For this year’s incoming class it is a 3.8/32 ACT/1440 SAT. Frequently Asked Questions - Office of Future Engineers - Purdue University
Rigor and grades in math, science, and English are looked at closely.
Some schools have A+ as 4.3. That is still technically an unweighted GPA.
We talked about this one last night and he was intrigued. I’m thinking he should take Nothwestern and Carnegie Mellon off the list. They seem like wasted applications to me. He’s not likely to get in, not likely to get merit aid, and probably little to no need-based aid. What gives me hesitation is that we had surprises with S21 who beat the odds (admission and merit money at UChicago with a 3.6 GPA, but he had other unique attributes and it wasn’t engineering).
I’m simply a bit partial to Pitt as my husband and I are alumni. We both loved our time there. He’s graduated before it was named Swanson though. Had an excellent experience with his co-op.
My S25’s HS caps the number of applications. We need to be conscious of not wasting any applications. Your S23 appears to be a strong applicant! But, I hear you on the changing landscape and the need to be a bit more strategic in where you apply and don’t.
Outlier for a TX kid. But the university of Cincinnati has a nice MSE department. Co op school, you go 1.5 years and then co op interspersed with schooling.
When my son applied, they front loaded merit because they assumed that once you co op, the need for money will be done via co op earnings.
It would be a definite safety to chase significant merit.
I’m not familiar with west coast/Texas schools only Midwest ones. Not sure how helpful I’m being
I think you can co op today from most any school so when I hear the NEU, Drexel, Cincy thing - I wouldn’t limit to that.
I can’t think of a school, in fact, that doesn’t push co op. It’s more the kids don’t want them.
While I agree that there are plenty of schools that are co-op optional, some schools make going back and forth between campus and co-op much more seamless than others.
OP - If co-op is important, I’d look at programs where there is a healthy number of students participating and there is a designated co-op advisor.
That’s fair. I’m simply saying investigate and don’t select or eliminate a school based on a possible false assumption.
The reason I mentioned the co op at Cincinnati is that it’s mandatory and a tenant of that school. They emphasize the co op a lot. My kids went to other schools and while there were co ops, you could also summer intern. Just different
We learned this when we visited Drexel. My son was all excited about their co-op program and I gave him the same message as @tsbna44 - he can co-op anywhere. But then we visited and I understood the difference. Since all the students co-op at the same time, you stay on the same track with your classmates. And housing is easier. They provide apartment leases for the quarters they’re on campus so the student can more easily come and go for the co-op terms if the co-op isn’t local. If he was going to co-op, I think that’s the way to do it.
Thank you for the recommendation! He applied, we visited, he was accepted, and he got an $80k university scholarship. This one is definitely near the top of the list!
Data point - he applied to TAMU engineering on 9/26 and was accepted on 10/13. I think we were correct to call this a safety for him.
Results are in! He ended up applying to 9 schools and was admitted to all 9. He’s decided to attend Purdue.
UNT - $6,000/year scholarship
Texas A&M - no scholarship but was admitted shortly after submitting his application in October
Pitt - $20,000/year scholarship
Ohio State - admitted with a scholarship that included OOS tuition waiver
Purdue - admitted, no scholarship
Colorado School of Mines - $12,000/year scholarship
Virginia tech - $3,000/year scholarship
Drexel - $25,500/year scholarship
Case Western Reserve - $28,000/year scholarship
So overall he had a really good run. I believe that his interest in materials, a program that every single university seems to want to grow, was a factor in his successful applications. He’s also a pretty neat kid. Looking forward to starting to shop for the dorm room and making plans for the summer!
Best of luck to him!
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