I’m transferring out of my university because I want to study mechanical engineering. My gpa is too low (2.6) to get into my current university’s engineering program. Also, my unit cap would prevent this (I have 176 units).
Does anyone have any schools to recommend? I want to pick a school with an ABET mechanical engineering program. The school has to have a relatively high acceptance rate. . I really want to live in a beautiful natural setting as well (preferably with snow). I think it will help me stay sane during the program.
Here is my current list of prospective schools:
Montana State University
University of Wyoming, Laramie
University of Wisconsin, Madison
University of Idaho
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Try these…
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (in the Black Hills region)
U of Nevado-Reno (Lake Tahoe)
SDSM&T might be the strongest engineering university in the Mountain West. Of course the folks at Colorado School of Mines, U of Colorado-Boulder, U of Idaho, Montanta State U and the U of Utah may disagree.
Northern Arizona University
Michigan Technological University
Boise State University
Brigham Young
Colorado State
Colorado School of Mines
Lake Superior State University
Oregon Institute of Technology
Oregon State U
U of Colorado (Boulder and Colorado Springs)
U of Minnesota-Duluth
Utah State U
Washington State U
Thanks for the recommendations. To further the discussion, I’ll say a little more:
I’m looking for a program that has a late application due date. I hope to enroll this fall.
I’m kind of weird, and appreciate weird people. I really don’t like the “frat” vibe at my current institution. So for what I’m looking for, think more UC Santa Cruz instead of UCLA.
Merc81, I’m going to check out Clarkson. What do you mean “make it work for you”? Why do you recommend this school? Do you know what the vibe is like?
Lake Washington, you’re right about Wisconsin Madison; they just emailed me back saying they don’t accept applicants with more than 80 units. What do you know about SDSM&T? What is the vibe like? And, also, Lake Tahoe sounds very appealing…
mommyrocks, thanks for the list. That’s a lot of material to research.
woogzmama, what are your impressions of west virginia? what makes you recommend it?
176 quarter units? How many lower division, how many upper division, and what course work applicable to the mechanical engineering major have you completed?
Clarkson is somewhat more selective than a couple of those on your own list, so making it work in terms of getting in could perhaps provide a challenge, though it wouldn’t appear a firm barrier. Other than that, their location between the Adirondacks (think Lake Placid and the winter Olympics) and the St. Lawrence River seems perfect for you. Fourteen percent are in frats, a modest number. Academically, they should have exactly what you are looking for.
Yes, 176 quarter units.
CA
All lower division chem, math, physics; upper division linear algebra.
All likely humanities requirements completed.
Cost constraints: I have used 3 1/3 years of financial aid. I am not sure when it will run out. The rest will need to be covered with loans (Question for those of you who have used private loans for an out of state education: Was it a simple matter?)
You have 176 quarter units? right? not semester units? right?
Are you in Calif? since you used the word units and not credits or hours, it sounds like you’re at a Calif public.
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Cost constraints: I have used 3 1/3 years of financial aid. I am not sure when it will run out. The rest will need to be covered with loans (Question for those of you who have used private loans for an out of state education: Was it a simple matter?)
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Are you saying that you’ve used nearly 4 years of a Cal Grant?
Unless you have a qualified co-signer, you get a private loan.
Your plan probably won’t work because you’d be borrowing too much and needing a cosigner.
You need to finish your degree with your current major. What is your current major?
Folks, unless this student can get funding from somewhere, none of these schools are going to work.
ya I am trying to not get my hopes up. I think University of Wyoming - Laramie is my best “backup” (i put backup in quotes because I understand that, given my situation, there is no surefire backup). Laramie’s acceptance rate is 97.7%. I have yet to ask them if they would accept me with all of my units.
FULL DISCLOSURE:
My current major is a humanities major. I was undeclared for my first two years. I declared a science major the summer before my junior year. After a good summer and a decent quarter, I lost interest in school and failed two classes (I lost interest because my degree, even though it was a science degree, was “experimental,” unproven, and impractical). I was kicked out of that major. I switched to another science major and retook the classes I had failed; I passed. After half a quarter I left school. I took a year off. I took a year off to think about life and my place in the world. This past fall, I came back with my humanities major. After one quarter of passed classes, I am in good standing at my current university and I know what I want to do: to find a mech e program and graduate from it. I hope this is possible; I hope it can be done in a beautiful natural setting.
Perhaps the greater concern may be finding ways to pay for whatever school you transfer to. Student loans beyond the federal direct loan limit tend to be risky in terms of limiting your future life decisions (including career decisions, where you may be forced to chase the short term money instead of choosing the job that is better for career development). Also, student loans beyond the federal direct loan limit tend to require a cosigner, which is not a good idea for either the borrower or cosigner.
@yodawgsgup: I’m weak when it comes to financial advice regarding colleges, but the other posters on this thread are very strong, so you are fortunate in that sense. I’ll encourage you by saying, however, that you seem to have comfortably completed many of your prerequisites, so you may not have to be concerned about typical intellectual obstacles with respect to reaching your goals.