Accepted general studies but not Engineering:
GPA Weighted 4.3
ACT 33 34/35
SAT 2080 690/690
class rank 49/517
APs 7
Good extra curricular, community, varsity sports, recommendations
He’s been accepted to two excellent engineering schools out of state with good financial aid incentives. Very frustrating. Is there an appeal process or anything? Hate to go out of state but he has his heart set on Engineering and rolling the dice by entering into general studies is risky. Any advice?
I feel your pain. My son was waitlisted. Applied Engineering with University Studies second choice.
GPA 4.2 Weighted
SAT 1970 (670/680)
rank 19/220
Varsity Sports, Eagle Scout, etc…
I agree it is very frustrating. My son applied to 5 schools, and VT and NC State were in the top three. Waitlisted at Tech and initially deferred at NCSU (waiting for a response). Alabama is climbing up the list rapidly for him with huge merit aid offered.
In trying to balance affordability of education, with them getting a good education it is really challenging. The other schools he is in are nowhere near as good reputation wise and were easy ins for him.
I wrote response under other post. Search prior threads. Think you can do eng foundations at local community college. There are others who have done the same and graduated with engineering degree from Tech. Can’t believe it since all of your scores are so high.
@geoff1212 - As a fellow parent you have my deepest sympathies. That must feel so wrong. I have read other responses and I share their views: your son should have been an easy acceptance to VT, college of eng. Our family has experienced similar setbacks (wait listed to 3 schools) but for us an acceptance to VT school of engineering (with lower grades/scores) felt like a lifeline - a wonderful gift after so many disappointments. Here are my thoughts /suggestions.
- I agree with a previous poster. Your son’s guidance counselor should call and respectfully question their decision. Did they receive all the materials? Was their a lingering doubt/confusion about the application? Was the pool of applicants from DS’s school unusually strong? Could they check sons application again to be sure they didn’t make a mistake?
2). Ask if he can receive first refusal to Gen Eng is there are any openings after May 1st.
- Seriously consider Universal studies. It is wrong, I agree to settle for that, but being bitter and rancorous is not going to help. This could be a major character building opportunity to your son and could be presented as such. Transferring from US is possible and well documented on previous threads. When you feel so mad /upset you could scream, remember you son NOT rejected or waitlisted. This could be portrayed (when the dust settles!) as a minor setback only.
4). Review all fin. Aid packages carefully. You may be surprised that OOS is affordable or even a cheaper option.
Again, I feel for you. You are not alone. Be strong for your very disappointed son. Tell him (and yourself) to look on the bright side. The shock/frustration/anger will pass and everyone will feel better soon, I promise.
One more thought - I have heard University of Alabama school of engineering has a good reputation that is on the rise. Could be the kind of program that is impossible to get into 10 years from now.
My son just went through US to GE transition last semester. I usually won’t recommend this route to other students because it was stressful enough for my son to worry about survival of his first semester in college and add another stress for get himself into GE at the same time. However, looking at your son’s academic HS record, if he can get CHEM 1035 & 1045 credits from his HS, I think risk of him falling below 3.0 is minimal. Last semester, students from this CHEM class were splited between one who passed with C or D vs failed with F or withdraw. This were shocking to kids both from GE and US who never got anything below B in their life.
He may wants to take Calculus I to boost his grade even though he probaly can get credit from his AP. To add his assurance, he can take ENGE1215 equivalent class from Virginia cc during summer prior to fall, he can then apply into GE by end of his fall semester if he fullfilled other requirements.
http://www.enge.vt.edu/_files/undergraduate/pdf_COM_Requirements_Policies.pdf
As tou can see, if students bombed their grades during first year, it doesn’t matter if you are in IS nor GE anyway.
So if your son decides to try US at VT. I say he can do this well with careful plan in advance.
Good luck!
That’s great advice. He will look into it. Thanks!
Is taking ENGE1215 during the summer prior to freshman fall classes the only way he could potentially stay on track and graduate spring 2019 with a ME degree? Could he also take it Summer between freshman and sophomore years and then (assuming accepted) catch up with the track sophomore year?
@geoff1212 Here is the link for all the information and requirements for transferring to Gen Engineering from other majors (including US) Each year they seem to change it slightly so be sure to review these guidelines for the upcoming Fall to ensure you have the most up to date understanding. Best of luck.
http://www.enge.vt.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-changing-majors/undergrad-into-engineering.html
If these annual “why didn’t my high-stats self get into engineering!” threads are true, then it seems that Tech likes to select random high stats kids to deny for giggles every year. It’s possible I guess.
http://www.enge.vt.edu/_files/undergraduate/pdf_EMP_AverageGPA.pdf
the bigger issue is getting into a degree granting major after first year. I think only difference between coming from GE or other department is that you can still apply for a degree major below 3.0 (probaly not so much) as space available basis but you must be over 3.0 to apply into any engineering major for non majors.
for some majors like Mechanical Engineering, they didn’t accept any applications below 3.0 even from GE department.
bboop is correct. engineering college changes its policies once awhile and it seems like bot every counslors from departments are not aware of all these changes. It is very important that each students are keeping top of these changes. I think it is too much to ask to these 18 year old kids who are just out of their parents’ nests but it is a bug state school. They will learn fast to survive.
sorry about my typos, it is hard using iphone…
@navien Agree about counselors. They are not the best resource many times and expect the student to pretty much figure it out on their own. VT is making it much hard to simply start in GE and transfer to Engineering given the demand. That is why I recommend looking at the link given a lot of advice on CC is based on prior years which may be out of date. (My DS1 started GE in 2011 and it was so easy to transfer then) You are right also right about ME. My son graduates this year in ME and the class size is quite large / the biggest in Engineering and that VT has ever had. Best of luck to all…
@bboop42 I just read their new change of major policy. wow it looks to me that it is virtually impossible to transfer into GE after first semester under this plan. It may be better for US students to try to get into STEP program over the summer. That is if VT engineering department offers us students to apply their STEP program over the summer like they did last year.
or ENGE1215 over summer at cc prior to fall and take at least 12 credits from the engineering index classes at VT during fall semester, will this work?
@Navien Not sure given the ENGE class taken at a CC does not appear count toward the 12 credit hours from index course requirement nor would any AP credit. So, I think it would be hard to transfer to Engineering after the 1st semester. I think the hardest classes to add as a non-Engr student are Chem / Chem Lab and the Enge class give space limitations (Yes, you could get lucky, but it is not guaranteed). As an example, after they reserve spots for the 1,400 Engineering students and the 1,100 BioSci students you are definitely fighting for space (approx. 1,700) even after many of this group may come in with credit. I think more realistically is being able to transfer after the first year and then attend summer school to “catch up”. Here is a link to VT’s suggested schedule for these situations:
http://www.enge.vt.edu/_files/undergraduate/pdf_IntoEngineeringFlowChart.pdf
Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer into GE from US after your first semester? This may require ENGE1215 to be taken this summer and I’m not even sure if that is possible or practical. I do not want to risk not being accepted into ME major even with a high GPA but coming from US after the spring. Coming from GE it would be a guarantee above 3.0 GPA.
To be able to apply to GE after you 1st semester you would need to:
- Have completed Chem 1035/1034, Enge 1215, Engl 1105, Math 1225
- Have a min 3.0 Engineering Index GPA
- Have completed 12 credit hours at VT of engineering index classes.
http://www.enge.vt.edu/_files/undergraduate/pdf_COM_Requirements_Policies.pdf
Doable, depending on the ability to get the above classes on a availability basis or other “index” classes if you have credit for the above from somewhere else. … but they have made it much more challenging than in the past. At least the way I read the policy. You should read all the materials yourself and call VT directly with anything you are unsure about however.
Credits that will count towards that #3 “12 credit hour” policy have to be TAKEN AT VT, cannot count any courses taken at community college, AP credit, dual enrollment from high school, etc. This makes the transfer after your freshman semester very difficult. So many students who were very strong academically in high school will most likely be bringing in credits from one source or another (I think my son had the very least - two freshman semesters of English from dual enrollment, so he did not take English at VT).