I am no expert and all of this is anecdotal- but one of my sons applied ED to engineering a few years ago and it did not help. Also had 1360 SAT with really no prep ( they did not look at writing-) But 3. 5 something weighted GPA . Excellent EC’s . They deferred him, then waitlisted him in the regular round. He brought his GPA some by the time of the regular round and graduated with around a 3.7. They took him off the waitlist but placed him in University Studies , not Engineering. Even a few years ago, the average GPA of admitted students was over 3.9. We felt lucky that he was admitted. I believe the average GPA may be even over 4.0 at this point. Admissions seems to care more about GPA than SAT. A higher SAT will only get you so far. At least, that has been my observation. But of course, I could be wrong. Good luck.
Your son’s schedule looks fine. Has he already taken AP Physics? I think Virginia Tech’s admission rate (usually 68-70 % type rates) can be misleading. It still is not an easy admit and there is some self selection involved in applying. Guidance counselors seem to have an idea also of who has a good chance of admission . . What is your son’s guidance counselor advising.? If kids have gotten in before with the GPA your son has from his school, he may be okay, depending on where he falls among his fellow classmates.
ThreeRedheads, has your son already taken AP Chemistry and/or AP Physics? I don’t see either course on your post. Either or both of those classes would improve your son’s chances. Also, Sevmom is correct about the average GPA. The average GPA for the entering Engineering students for at least the past 5 years has been over 4.0. Best of luck to you and your son.
Thanks for the responses. He has not taken AP Chem or AP Physics. The average GPA does concern him. I think he’s a little discouraged and he has a new guidance counselor. She just graduated from college! I met her at the Senior night event and while I’m sure she’s knowledgeable, there’s no substitute for someone with years of experience at the same school.
He also likes VCU, but not as much. His concern is if he applies ED at Tech and is denied Engineering, but is accepted for BIT, then he is bound to BIT. It gets more complicated if he’s accepted for Engineering at another school, but is bound to BIT at Tech.
I guess his question is will he have a better chance with ED or RD. If there’s no discernible benefit to ED, then he should wait for RD.
Frankly, my guess is he would be deferred or rejected in ED at Virginia Tech, based on what you are saying. (but you never know). VCU seems more likely but I believe it is a small program. Also ODU. GMU is smaller than VT but their program seems to have some good connections with DC employers .
If he really wants engineering, he may be better off putting university studies as his second choice. There is a clear path from university studies to engineering. But, talk to his guidance department or VT admissions or VT engineering about the best way to go about it.
You are more than welcome. My older son was a very strong student all the way around. But my younger guy could have done a lot better with his grades in high school . But he turned it around his senior year in high school and he carried that upward trend through at Virginia Tech. Your son also sounds like he is on an upward trend and that is a good sign. Some boys just seem to take a little longer to figure it out. But once they do, look out! Best of luck to you and your son.
If your son does get into BIT, rather than engineering, there seem to be good opportunities there. Career services has a good post grad survey on their website. One of my son’s friends (roommate) was a BIT major .
Thanks, @sevmom ! I sent him this link. He’s working on rewriting his common app essay and working on the Tech essay prompts this weekend. I hope he stays positive. There’s a school for everyone
Starting salaries for BIT are very good. The attached link shows Engineering slightly higher; however, I recall seeing another table in the last 3 years where the starting salary for Engineering and BIT was the same. http://www.bit.vt.edu/startingsalaries.html
Also, previous posts about ED have stated that if you’re son applies ED, he is only bound by his first choice. Thus, if he lists Eng as his first choice and BIT as his second choice and does not get accepted into Eng, he will not be bound to BIT.
