Hey guys, asking here as I'm a Junior, soon to be applying to colleges, from Texas. I am aspiring to be a Mechanical Engineer, with a specialization in Aerospace. Sadly, my Freshman year of high school went horribly, as I had a hard time acclimating to high school, and my grades suffered from it. Although Sophomore and Junior years have been very good so far (All B's and A's), I'm afraid my Freshman year grades will affect my chances drastically.
My GPA is 5.6857 out of 6.5714 (my school uses a weird scale), which equates roughly to 3.46, weighted GPA, only factoring in core classes. I am at the edge of the third quartile out of 627 students, and have taken 3 AP courses this year, and will be taking 5, possibly 6, next year. My SAT scores are decent, but I know for a fact I can do better, and will be taking it again over the summer. Not sure if it is worth taking the ACT.
TEST 1: READING: 700 MATH: 580 WRITING: 650
TEST 2: READING: 700 MATH: 620 WRITING: 620
Not sure if this matters, but I have also participated in several leadership programs over the past summer’s (People to People, Envision, ID Tech) and have started 2 clubs at my school (Car Club and Aerospace/Aeronautical Club), while also participating in multiple other clubs/community service. I am applying to NTHS next year, and possibly NHS, though I doubt I will be accepted, as the cutoff GPA is 5.9000 (3.59), although there have been exceptions to this rule in the past.
I also will most likely be taking Chem II AP next year, rather than Physics C or Physics II AP; I hope this does not lessen my chances of admission.
I do apologize for the wall of text, but I hope to hear back from someone on here, you guys seem so knowledgeable. I just hope I didn’t jeopardize my college chances due to my below-par freshman year, and I’m hoping my hard work posterior to that year will pay off.
No idea, all I know is that I am at the edge of the third quartile, almost in the second. So almost in the top 50 percent, which I can definately bump up if I can keep my grades up this year and next.
It will be an uphill battle but I think you realize that. Getting to the second quartile certainly will help but I would prepare yourself for all possibilities, including a back up school. It is holistic review - so you will get a chance to explain your situation( if you so choose) in your essay. Keep trying to climb up the rankings - the one that counts is end of junior year if you’re looking to go Fall 2017. Other options if you’re close to the 50% & think you’ll make it senior year, you could also apply to start one semester later (Spring 2018) or the following Fall2018 so you could use that higher rank to apply. However, you lose freshman status if you take any courses after HS graduation, and become a transfer with different admission process & required units. Keep in mind most of the engineering applicants are top 10% or academic admits, so the competition is stiff for the few remaining review slots. I would cast a wide net when you apply to colleges, meaning a variety of reach and safety schools - I’d put A&M in the reach category. If it is your ultimate choice, there are many pathways leading to A&M other than just direct admit but again for engineering (and a few other majors) it is going to involve lots of hard work. Good luck!
Right now my fallback is SMU, I am 100% sure I can get in there. Is there a way for engineering students to go through Blinn and then join the main school?
Follow-up Question: Would you guys recommend taking Calculus AB or BC next year? And also, how would it affect my chances of getting in with Taking AB vs BC? My middle school taught math very poorly, so I have taken advanced level math instead of the offered Pre-AP course, and I am confident I can accel in AB, but am nervous if I would take BC. Looking for opinions.
Additionally, I have the opportunity to move to another high school in my district where I would be top 10%, maybe even top 5%. It is not as good of a school, but I don’t know if it would help me, since my rankings would go way up.
Take all the advanced math and science classes as you can. Though you have a good reading SAT score, I would try and boost the math score since you are wanting to do engineering.
One thing I love mentioning is that if you’re stronger in Algebra than Geometry, the ACT might come more naturally to you. I took the SAT twice and wasn’t really satisfied with what my scores reflected. I took the ACT on a whim and ended up getting a higher score on the random “comparing scores” lists online.
You still have a chance. I was admitted holistically with 33% class rank, 30 ACT. A&M is also expanding the engineering program, called 25 by 25, so their acceptance rates should be increasing a bit, even with an increased number of applicants. Just work hard on the class rank and try to get 30+ on the ACT.
I don’t know if acceptance rates for engineering will rise. I believe it will actually be more competitive. What A&M is doing is that they are building engineering academy programs and creating partnerships with other colleges. They are making more programs that are affiliated with the College of Engineering. From a student perspective classes are becoming very cluttered. Registration for classes are filing up very fast. There are too many students on the College Station campus. From the presentations they have given and all the arguments for and against 25 by 25 it seems they are creating programs associated with the College of Engineering. Not necessarily increasing enrollment on the main campus.
The new policy is somewhat of a challenge for 2017 graduates and adds another layer of uncertainty into the process for those applying into the class of 2021.
Does anyone have a feel for how this will impact top 10% and those that meet the academic admit standards? Any thoughts on what would cause a top 10% or academic admit student to NOT be accepted into engineering?
I think it would definitely be worth taking the ACT. Look online and find some ACT prep questions and look on Youtube for strategies (the science section is really all strategy). My son also used The Real ACT Prep Guide (the big red book), but you can find other threads on CC about which prep guides are the best.
We were there today and the numbers seemed grim with the new holistic review. Maybe it was because it was also a rainy day but ugh:
14-15K apply. They will admit a little under 5K directly to engineering. Another 5 K are admitted to the university but not their first choice of engineering and then have the monstrous task (“highly unlikely” in her words) of trying to transfer in to engineering. A few thousand are admitted to a Blinn bridge type program; Texas A&M Galveston (“where you are JUST the same as being an Aggie in College Station”) etc.
And then you get to duke it out to get into the engineering major of your choice. “A 3.5 should make you competitive.”