<p>I was wondering what my shot was at the college of engineering. Im a junior, will take the SAT in May. (didn't want to take it before an SAT prep course) My stats are pretty bad compared to the ones on here. 3.45 weighted/3.11 unweighted, class rank approx. 327/550. (not in lower 50%) I'm really trying hard to bump that up, but Im running out of time. On my PSAT I got a 1660, but my SAT score will be higher. (On a practice SAT I got a 580 on the math-still have to work on that) Also, I work anywhere from 10 to 25 hrs a week. Anything I can do to improve my chances?</p>
<p>First off, get your SAT way up... and the class rank looks way too low. I'd say if you could get closer to the top 25% and score around a 1900 on SAT you'd have a shot. Remember though, the college of engineering is highly selective and very competitive... you might wana consider taking a few SAT subject tests, having great recommendations next year, and filling out all the optional sections of the application.</p>
<p>Your personal statement has to be FLAWLESS... tell them who you are (not what you think they want to hear) and do it in a matured style of writing... This is your one chance to separate yourself from other great applicants</p>
<p>If you wanna go there you should definitely apply; just understand that your chances aren't favoring you until you change your stats... Honestly, I think the college of engineering may be a stretch. If your in love with NCSU, then maybe you should consider applying to a lest prestigious college at NCSU (just a suggestion)</p>
<p>best of luck (don’t give up hope),</p>
<p>Josh</p>
<p>What courses are you taking right now and planning to take in your senior year? You're stats were similar to mine when I was a junior (3.7 w gpa, and 2.67 uw gpa ,1610 on the PSAT -710 math though). Just study your head off for the SAT, take lots of practice math sections to bring it up. Join a NCSU sponsored camp to show you're interest in the school. And get your weighted gpa up to a 3.7. and PrideSurfer is right, you might want to apply to an easier college in NCSU, and then transfer to the College of engineering after a year.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, and I've been reading your threads NGuyen.</p>
<p>Before I saw these boards I didn't even know how much colleges cared what courses you took, just the GPA. So in my HS career I never doubled up on any classes. (before HS I didn't even know you COULD double up) Anyways, right now I'm taking:</p>
<p>Chemistry (H) currently-B
US History (H) currently-B
SAT Prep- est. C its killing me
Vietnam War Studies (H) currently-A
Precalculus (H)- C
Team Sports- A
Weight Training- A</p>
<p>Senior I plan to take-
Weight Training
AP Calculus- should I take if I got a C in precalc?
AP Government
AP Physics
(What other APs should I look at?)</p>
<p>I'm taking all the PE classes because I plan to do ROTC for NCSU.</p>
<p>Also, would you guys know of any other college that offer engineering AND ROTC that would be good for my stats if NCSU doesn't work out?</p>
<p>Also, again, would military service before college help my chances?</p>
<p>I got a C in pre-calc. and I ended up failing AP Calculus AB, I didn't slack off or anything, I actually tried. So I don't know, you might want to study pre-calc over the summer or something before taking AP Calc. What State do you live in? If you live near NC State you can actually do dual enrollment there. I recommend doing dual enrollment during the summer, take CH 101/102 (the first half of AP Chem). Its an easy class, if you do well, that might show how well you can do in their classes despite your high school grades. You should take AP Environmental Science and AP Psychology. My school doesn't offer AP Psychology, but my friends took the AP Psychology exam anyways and got a 4 or 5, they said it was common sense. I don't know any other good engineering schools besides NCSU. I actually considered doing AF ROTC, but I reconsidered because it takes up a large chunk of your college time, and I'm not in the greatest shape.</p>
<p>Calculus is not hard to pass as long as you have the time to put in a few study hours... my friend had a C in precalc and now has a C AP Calc... I think is pretty consistent to your work ethic and how naturally good you are at math. I got a 99 in precalc but have been lazy this year (not turned in a few homework assignments) and barely have an A, flirting with a B possibly, in AP Calc. Trust me Animalmother, if you put in the effort, Calculus is not as bad as it sounds... </p>
<p>My only question is will you be able to put forth the effort in Calc and your other AP classes... I'll be honest though, it all goes back to how bad you want to achieve. I've designated almost all of my time this year to school, soccer (captain), National Honor Society (president), and community service. I've had to sacrifice on some good social events to achieve so try not to spread yourself too thin...</p>
<p>I really do wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>Yea, thats whats keeping me on the fence on whether I should take calc. Some weeks I work 26 hours, which is just school, then work until 9:30. When I get home I can't bring myself to work right away, but I guess I'll have to suck it up.</p>
<p>Also, my only extracurriculars are 1 year of city rec basketball, part time work at quiznos, and possibly international club, although Im not sure if I'm entirely in that club. So, I guess I'll have to get into some more Ec's huh?</p>
<p>yeah, that would be a great idea.... (as many as you can - as long as you can be dedicated to those clubs)</p>
<p>I know the feeling about the jobs; i justed started working again and am back up to about 22 hours a week... its horrible but i promise you there will be a silver lining/ reward for all of your effort.</p>
<p>take it easy
Josh</p>
<p>Hi Animalmother, if you really want engineering, you definitely need to take AP Calc. Have you looked at the engineering curriculum on NCSU's website? Any engineering program at any school will require Calc. 1,2,3 plus 2 semesters of Calculus based Physics for engineering. Engineering is a really tough curriculum (H is an NCSU engineering grad).</p>
<p>My S is a soph. at NCSU. He took Honors Physics (made an A) andAP Calc. AB(made a B) as a jr., made a 4 on the AP exam and worked his *** off to get a B- in Calc. 2 at NCSU. He is also finding the second semster of Physics to be really tough. So I would advise you to get all the background in these you can. </p>
<p>S is also in ROTC at State. If you are trying to get a ROTC scholarship, you should begin the process as soon as school gets out this year. </p>
<p>Are you in NC? If State doesn't work out for you, you might want to look into the new engineering program at East Carolina Univ. I believe I read on their website that the minimum SAT verbal/math score was 1200 to get in their program. They have AFROTC and AROTC at ECU.</p>
<p>Really? I didn't see any engineering programs in the ECU website so I took it off my list, but I'll definitely check it out again. And yea I live in NC.</p>
<p>My school really hates me. For one thing, its very competitive (ranked 328/550 with a 3.45) and they don't offer ROTC. Then they decided this year that they will no longer give out waivers for unrecommended classes. So I have to go up to each teacher and ask for a recommendation to each AP class. This is going to be pretty akward asking my PreCalc teacher from last semester for a recommendation to AP Calc when I had a D in her class for most of the year. They need to stop playing around with our lives like we're little lab rats...</p>
<p>If things don't work out, I'm also looking at VMI.</p>
<p>Animalmother, To find the info. on engineering at ECU, go to their website, click on prospective students and then on colleges and schools. Scroll down the page to technology and computer science heading and you'll find the engineering info. </p>
<p>VMI is a tough school. Have you considered Va. Tech? Did you know that they have a Corps of Cadets? It's like a military school with all the benefits of a big civilian university. They have all the ROTC service branches.</p>
<p>UNC Charlotte also has engineering and AFROTC and AROTC.</p>
<p>No ROTC but Western Carolina offers a BS in Electrical engineering and also a BS in Engineering Technology. </p>
<p>Are you trying for a ROTC scholarship? Which branch are you interested in? </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>Sorry I havent been on, yes I'm going for an ROTC scholarship, does that affect the admissions any? As for the branches, its between naval and army ROTC. For next year, I signed up for AP Calc AB, AP Physics, AP Comparative gov, H psychology, Marine/Astronomy, Weight training, H sociology, and H English 4. Sound good? Any recommended changes?</p>
<p>Sounds like a challenging schedule. I know the NROTC scholarship does not affect admissions at all. Don't know about AROTC schoalrships except I have heard that they are easier to get than NROTC and AFROTC. You will find many more schools have Army than the other two.</p>
<p>I just realized I made a mistake in my first post. I am not in the top half of my class right now. How bad does that hurt me?</p>
<p>Your scores are pretty low for engineering. You would need to really boost your math score especially. Are you in-state?</p>
<p>Yeah Im in state, but assuming I apply to general college and get 600+ math scores, would I have a reasonable chance of acceptance?</p>
<p>Yes, you would have a much better chance of acceptance if you chose a college other than College of Engineering. I would say the easiest one to get accepted into would probably be The College of Natural Resources.</p>
<p>So you think I have a reasonable shot at general college? I really have no interest in any other colleges lol.</p>