Greetings,
I am from NYC and I’ve graduated from a community college a few years ago with a low GPA of 2.6 in Business Administration. The reason why my GPA has suffered was because I placed my work and fun ahead of my education. I’ve had to retake courses because of a few F/WU grades due to my attendance. Since then I’ve went to New York City College of Technology and taken math and science courses related to engineering and I’ve done a lot better. This college only offers an ABET accredited ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY degree.
My GPA with this college is 3.1 and these are some of the courses I have taken:
Calculus 1 B
Calculus 2 A-
Calculus 3 B-
Differential Equations A-
Physics 1 Calculus based B
Physics 2 Calculus based B+
Chemistry 1 B+
There are other courses I’ve taken but they’re related to architecture and m.eng technology like machining and drafting/autocad.
I’ve been denied to the CCNY Grove School of Engineering because my OVERALL GPA is too low. CUNY UAPC calculated everything to be a 2.59 gpa which is below the 2.7 minimum that CCNY requires.
Now before you guys tell me that the 2.6 and 3.1 don’t average out to 2.59, its because of the courses I’ve had to retake during my stint at a community college. Apparently the CUNY UAPC calculates every single grade I’ve received even if I retook a course and got it changed from a F/WU to an A.
My faux GPA of 3.1 at NYCCT made me believe that I had a shot at the engineering school at CCNY. Since that’s no longer an option, I’m at a loss of what to do. CCNY is about $13k a year in tuition. My other local offerings are over $30k.
I’m looking into NYIT at $33k (GPA requirement of 2.3) and possibly NYU-Polytechnic at $45k (once I find out NYU’s requirements and if I qualify. I doubt my grades are enough but so far I’d like to include the option). They are both ABET accredited in mechanical engineering.
As you can see the difference in tuition from CCNY to the other two private institutions are enormous. I would like to know what you guys think about my current situation and if there’s any hope for me. I’d also like to know what you guys think about these two colleges and the opportunities that they can afford me in the future. Maybe an ABET in M.Eng Technology is worth something. I don’t want to be stuck with a huge debt because of this PE dream for naught.
Thank you!
Yes, there are more and more schools that factor in all attempts into your GPA calculation, not just your most recent attempt or your best attempt. Therefore, sometimes your school’s GPA calculation will be higher than that used by admissions offices at a school you are applying to. Most graduate and professional schools do it this way. Have you already left NYCCT? If not yet, your best bet is to talk to your advisor and maybe consider taking additional coursework until you can satisfy the CCNY GPA requirement.
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Yes, are there some additional courses you could take at NYCCT to raise your GPA? Obviously getting As would work best.
The problem is that I’m about 110 credits deep including about 70 business and finance courses. It’s going to take a long time to get my GPA up and I’m not even sure if they would accept me the second time around. The program at CCNY is quite competitive. I’m still currently at NYCCT with no classes enrolled. I’m 26 years old now and I’m not sure if I want to take a few extra semesters to raise my GPA. I can try to ask my advisor for help but they never really offer me anything solid. I could probably also try to ask the advisors in the other institutions and see if they can offer me any advice.
Are you a NY state resident? Instate Tuition is ~$6.5K per year! Is it possible to apply to a non-engineering major at CCNY and then transfer into the ME Program after a semester at CCNY? If you are NY Resident, what about SUNY-Stony Brook/Binghamton University? Manhattan College (with good financial aid)? Rutgers University (if NJ resident)?
With 110 credits, you are close to the 120 (131 for ME Degree at CCNY) degree threshold. I not sure CUNY or SUNY schools penalize students for excess credits beyond a certain percentage of the degree requirement, but I think you should at least attempt an appeal, possibly meeting with key individuals at CCCY Grove School of Engineering.
Why did you abandon your business/finance degree? Maybe that route might be your best option, especially if you minor in computer science or Computational Finance/Financial Modeling.
Excuse my mistake on the tuition. I am a NY resident. The reason why I haven’t looked at the other schools is because my situation requires me to stay relatively local to Brooklyn, NY. Stony Brook and Binghamton are too far for me to commute.
I have an appointment tomorrow to talk to people at CCNY. Hopefully they can give me some viable options. I recall that their policy on transferring from non-engineering to engineering is pretty strict. They want to see an individual taking a semester with a high level math and science class together. Something to do with being able to cope with the workload in one semester.
I gave up on finance because I didn’t like what I was going to get into. I pretty much picked the major on the blind. I only realized that I didn’t want to continue when I was close to attaining my associates degree at a community college. By then I had roughly 50 credits and I figured that I should at least complete the degree and find something else afterwards.
You said it already; CCNY-Grove Engineering admissions is quite competitive. That being the case, you are confronted with options that are cumbersome;1) pay more to attend another NYC-area engineering school (if you win admission; 2) consider affordable engineering schools in other parts of the country.
Additional Community College credits may not be useful to you. Your strong grades in your foundational mathematics and physics courses should/may convince some engineering schools that you can handle their program. Engineering departments at most state universities would cost you at least $30,000 (probably more). There are some relatively low-cost state schools where you have a reasonable chance of admission;
New Mexico School of Mining and Technology
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Louisiana Tech University
U of Wyoming
Boise State University
U of Idaho
South Dakota State University
The joint Florida A&M University-Florida State University School of Engineering is a possibility, as is the potential to gain state residency in Florida if you relocate there 12 MONTHS prior to matriculating at FSU.
Also, while SUNY New Paltz does not have an Mechanical Engineering department, it recently established an Electrical Engineering major. For many employers, ME and EE overlap, therefore a B.S.E.E. could be a solid base for a career with a large industrial firm like an automaker or computer technology firm (think United Technologies, Intel, Google, etc.). Of course, for any good first job at a premier corporation, excellent grades are a must. Don’t forget about SUNY Maritime College either. The Engineering at SUNY Maritime is tough, as it is at most engineering schools. Keep in mind that students are not required to enroll in the student military corps at SUNY Maritime. There are plenty of civilian students at the college.
Good luck.
While I am not a NY resident, I would say that is quite unreasonably low. Also keep in mind many universities have a different tuition based on what school you are in. For example, at umich there is a pretty large tuition difference between what students in LSA and students in engineering pay. $6.5K is actually less than what an in state engineering student may be expected to pay here per semester.
@umcoe16: Not sure you are disputing the figure I posted or you are alarmed by the extremely low annual tuition. Up until the late sixties/early seventies, CCNY was completely free. When I went to CCNY SOE, the tuition was $1,200 for the year (100% covered by TAP).
FYI, CUNY tuition is about the same as all the Florida Public Universities.
https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/financialaid/main-faq#question 3
http://www.cuny.edu/admissions/tuition-fees.html