That’s fair - we’ve had this discussion before.
There’s definitely a blind spot from many of us to HBCUs. If there’s interest in an HBCU, they are ABET for Mechanical. That said, I would check out the quality of campuses and services as HBCUs have historically been underfunded and while I don’t know, infrasture and resources may not be at top level, etc.
But it’s a fair addition. And they list NASA on their engineering page.
Thanks
I would guess that, with a 4.33 weighted-capped GPA, all CSUs with ME or AE other than CPSLO would be highly likely or safety for ME or AE, and UCM and UCR would be highly likely.
When applying to CPSLO, be sure to include high school level math and foreign language courses taken while in middle school on the application, because CPSLO adds bonus points based on semesters completed and apparently does not use CSU validation of lower level courses for this purpose.
Sounds like OP can shoot for the moon then (MIT, Cal Tech), apply heavily in state and have maybe 1-2 OOS financial safeties (like an Airzona), and almost be assured of a great option - either prestigious or very affordable!!
Thank you all so much! You’ve given us a lot of useful info and tips, and will be exploring all the links. We hadn’t considered many of the places you’ve recommended so we definitely have some more homework to do. And we have to figure out budget, especially taking into consideration our approach with all 3 kids. We’ve been thinking if our first somehow gets into MIT, we’ll find a way. As of right now, the other two may not even have MIT on their list. They’re leaning more towards medicine.
The bigger issue - forgetting the school name is -
If you spend on one, we’ve seen countless chats that the parent feels competlled to spend equally on #2 (and #3) and often isn’t able. I’m sure not all families do - but some try to keep it even - so are you going to tell your kid pre med is pre med and go somewhere cheap? They may anyway - if you get lucky - but paying heavy up front could put you in a pickle if they want to go to say Stanford or Northwestern.
What if you wipe out the ablity of them to go anywhere?
Nothing worse than hearing stories about families being ripped apart because mom and dad didn’t treat #2 or #3 equally - and we’ve read them. I honestyl think some parents get relieved when certain schools reject their kids!!
You will find outcomes amazingly similar at most engineering programs regardless of pedigree.
Best of luck to your family.
I’m going to give you a very different, realistic perspective. Your child’s stats are wonderful. But quite frankly, I’m not sure outside of CA they’re all that different. My suggestions based on what I’ve seen of my daughter’s acceptances this year and of her friends: do not apply as an engineering student or a computer science major. Look for a major that the top schools need philosophy, architecture, geology, etc. As long as your kid can transfer to a different major
once they’re admitted in the school. Regardless of what admissions officers say, don’t believe them. There is nothing “holistic” in their approach. And quite frankly, there is discrimination for Asian students Your child’s stats and extra curricular are fantastic - but there are tons of kids with similar statistics and Ec’s. For example, a young man in my daughter’s high school started a Ukraine specific program and even went to Ukraine over his winter break and was still denied ED from an Ivy League school (similar SAT’s and school rank as your child).
Again, I can only speak for what kids coming out of a highly ranked public school in NJ are experiencing. But i would strongly recommend any parent who’s kid is interested in engineering or computer science DO NOT apply with these majors but rather look into what the schools they’re looking at need.
Uhhh, that’s a verrrry risky strategy. I would not recommend that at all.
This student can put together an excellent application. As long as he applies to a balanced list of schools (and there are many great suggestions on this thread), he should have several very nice options to choose from where he will receive a strong education and good job placement.
Call it risky or realistic. I’ve seen a ton of kids who applied as engineering, with top of the line credentials, get rejected or waitlisted from schools they were 100% qualified for. I’m speaking from experience having gone through it just this year. But please… go for it and do what you think is the best. Excellent applications are a dime a dozen.
At colleges where admission to certain majors (e.g. engineering or CS majors) is more difficult, changing into those majors after enrolling generally requires a high college GPA and/or competitive admission. This is because those majors are at or over capacity, so some means of rationing entry to the majors needs to be done, whether students are trying to get in as frosh or changing into them later.
At the top CS and engineering schools (most of which are public flagships) it’s very hard to impossible to transfer in to CS/engineering if you aren’t initially admitted directly.
Well my own kid, who is not as strong as OPs, applied for engineering to several of the schools on this thread. He has been accepted at all of them (except one waitlist), most with significant merit.
They all have solid programs, and produce graduates that do well in their careers. If the goal is elite or bust, I guess you could take the risk of studying a major in which you’re totally uninterested. But that seems utterly silly when there’s so many good ABET-accredited programs that will admit this student outright.
Most schools don’t require students to declare majors until sophomore year.
Again, I can’t speak for CA schools. I can only speak of the schools my daughter and her friends have been accepted to. Tulane, BC, WashU, Wake Forest, UMich, Dartmouth, UPenn, Cornell, UVA, Duke, UF. The list of qualified kids who were waitlisted/rejected from these schools from a top 30 high school in NJ is longevity .
But where the major is at or over capacity, declaring that major may require a high college GPA or competitive admission.
The point isn’t to study those majors it’s to apply as one, then declare another major once you get in. . It depends if you just want to get into those schools. My daughter statistically beats her friend who’s an architecture student. Yet architecture
student has been accepted into every school she applied to (all T30). And she has no intention of studying architexture - she’s decided to go into communications.
The majority of the schools on the Op’s list don’t allow for that strategy.
We are discussing over achieving kids, like the OP. These kids won’t have a hard time doing that.
Yes, I understand the stunt here. It’s just likely to backfire. Nothing says they’ll even have the option of transferring into their preferred major once they’ve started. That’s where you might get stuck studying something you don’t like.
There aren’t a ton of schools that allow students to freely change majors like that. Many of the schools on this thread don’t allow that.
Name one. I’ll wait. Bc I’m talking about UMich, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, WashU, BC, and morw
Really? Bc my friend’s daughter got into the architecture program at top 30 schools and can switch to communications without batting an eye. And that’s what she’s doing. Again, please list the school that won’t let you do it.