CWRU
is my gpa too low compared to the average for RPI to get accepted? @gardenstategal
I would think it’s fine, especially backed up with your scores.
I would give serious thought before I passed up the opportunities at Pitt for Texas A&M. At A&M, you are admitted to engineering and then have to re-apply to your specific major. TAMU engineering has some major problems right now with their new growth initiative called “25 by 25” in which they are trying to cram 25,000 undergrads into the school of engineering by the year 2025. They are building a new engineering building but it it is not ready yet. They have also not kept up with the hiring of profs and there are lots of issues with the quality of the classes, the complete indifference of the profs and the sub-par advising. Go on reddit and read the strings of posts under the TAMU forum.
University of Texas is a great school but you need to understand up front how admissions to engineering. You are admitted to your specific major and the ability to switch to another one is really limited. We personally know two students who wanted to switch to another branch of engineering before the first year was even up and they were denied. So they graduated with a degree in a field they didn’t even want. Also, admissions to UT engineering is crazy competitive with very few OOS spots given.
Pitt admits you to general engineering and they sincerely spend a year making you learn about all of the different types of engineering, the details of what that field looks like, etc. Then you get to choose your major. That is a huge difference from the scenarios I typed out above.
@collegehelp —credentials “too good” for Pitt and Penn state? Pitt’s engineering department is full of 1500/33+ kids. Seriously…i would say the OPs stats put him/her right in the middle of the pack there for engineering.
And I was a 4.0 UW / 4.5 W / 2330 old SAT kid and ended up at Penn State. High stats people go to all kinds of places.
When you say that your SAT cr + w = 710, do you mean that they are each 710 or that they total 710?
@collegehelp The new SAT merged CR and W. They are one section out of 800.
Yes, its combined for 710 and 800 math so 1510 total.
Applying to Pitt would sound attractive to me if I was able to get a good deal on it with merit aid and in-state tuition. I am not sure how hiring works, but if I had to get a job near PA after living there, I wouldn’t want to go to Pitt, because even though it is a good school, I would rather go somewhere else if you can understand what I’m trying to say.
What characteristics of “somewhere else” are you looking for?
One thing that has not been mentioned yet is that you may want to check if any of your schools has a secondary admission process to get into your desired major, and how competitive that secondary admission process is. For example, Purdue, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and Penn State all admit to first year pre-engineering; declaration of major later depends on college GPA and may be competitive for more popular majors.
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/Academics/FirstYear/T2M
https://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/advisors-procedures/entry-to-a-major
https://enge.vt.edu/undergraduate/Undergraduate_changing_major.html
https://advising.psu.edu/entrance-major-requirements-college-engineering
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, allows pre-engineering students to declare an engineering major with a 2.0 GPA:
http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/First-Year/First-Year/Advising/Choosing-a-Major/
At some schools, like UIUC, you apply to the major. Some of these schools may offer some applicants admission to the school but not the major, but changing into the major after enrolling as an undeclared student may be very difficult or competitive.
I’ve always lived in a relatively quiet part of PA, so I’d be looking to go somewhere more urban or close to more attractions. I’ve seen these secondary admissions processes, and if there is more competition after being admitted to pre-engineering it sounds less desirable, but if no one wanted to do it then no one would ever get accepted. That being said, the programs with lots of competition for majors even after being accepted might have to be reconsidered.
You may want to investigate the locations of the various schools on your list, since the size and attractions of the city or town that they are in can vary considerably.
If you want locations in or near big cities, perhaps consider the following:
Arizona State
Maryland
Minnesota (has pre-engineering method, but EE is not competitive: https://www.advising.cse.umn.edu/cgi-bin/courses/noauth/apply-major-statistics )
UCLA and USC (USC is private; both are highly selective and reachy for engineering, but your profile with test score strength makes you more likely to be admitted to USC than UCLA, since UCLA favors GPA strength)
Note that Northeastern is focused on co-ops. However, co-ops are optionally available at many other schools.
I’ve been interested in UMTC for some time, I also really like the area it’s in. I know that the UCLA average admits for OOS students in like 3.94 or something very high, opposed to USC. USC is close to LA so it would be nice to go there too.
@carachel2
I’ve read good things about a&m but don’t know after reading your post. I’m assuming you are from Pitt based on your picture. All bias aside, if you had to pick either pitt or penn state, where would you go? I’ve also read that the a&m students have very good job opportunities opposed to other colleges.
Another thing, I really like ASU too, would it be worth going there over Penn State though?
Here is draft #2, again suggestions would be appreciated. Do I need to add another safety, remove/replace schools, or maybe still apply to schools I removed (Gtech because my Gtech gpa is a good amount under the average, UofA)?
Cornell University
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Illinois—Urbana Champaign
University of Texas—Austin
Purdue University—West Lafayette
University of Maryland—College Park
University of Minnesota—Twin Cities
University of Notre Dame
Penn State University—University Park
Virginia Tech
@Engineer551 — Penn State wasn’t on my student’s list ever so I don’t feel qualified to comment at all.
She was admitted to University of Texas for engineering but being admitted straight to your major with no room explore (which is how they do it at UT) was off putting and she declined quickly. She has a friend whose sibling was pretty much forced to finish four years in an engineering major he decided after first semester was not what he wanted and not allowed to change engineering majors.
You are competing with the tippy top of the state for entry to UT and you will be full pay OOS if you are admitted. Your stats are solid but honestly are not anything special for UT engineering. You won’t get any scholarships more than likely.
Purdue was on the list for sure but felt a lot like Texas A&M to her in size and with the fact that you have to re-apply to your major even after being admitted.
None of the other schools were on her list because of our high EFC and our refusal to pay our EFC.
Penn State is not really urban that you want, and has secondary admission later. Do you still prefer it over Pittsburgh and Arizona State, at least in terms of non reach schools?
WPI for robotics and you will get merit.
In terms of non reach, I prefer Arizona over Pitt and Penn State, just wondering if there is a difference because penn state has a higher rank than Arizona (#20 overall vs. #40 overall USNEWS)
One more thing, I’ve also read/heard that it is better to do good in a decent school than struggle in a better school. Is this true? Should I be looking at less competitive schools to ease the competition?