We went on a Villanova tour in late spring, and it was gridlock with parents and kids. Probably 300 in the info session and over 30 in the tour group. It was really off-putting. I realize these schools are getting very popular but there has to be a better way. The one thing I appreciated was the AO being very forthright with qualifications to apply to certain programs (for example, you must have taken physics in high school to apply for engineering)
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Crazy. That actually makes sense about needing calculus to apply for engineering, I would imagine that would be the case for most schools for stem kids but I honestly donât know! With TO, the application numbers have just gotten nutso. My D23 had all 5s on her AP exams, Chem, Bio, Calc AB and I thought her ACT score of 34 was fairly high. BUT, the competition must have been fierce last year. Again, it doesnât matter as we could NEVER have afforded Villanova.
Unlike your son who is Southern wanting to head North, my Northern daughter is super excited to fly south for the winter at UF 
Has he considered University of Pittsburgh? My eldest went to Pitt and itâs an awesome school and has a great CS department. Might be too big?
My daughter got in honors with a 34 (9 APâs, 1 B in English freshman year), but it was 2019 and totally unaffordable.
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My concern here is she put school ahead of major. If you want to be a nurse, shouldnât you only apply for nursing? I personally think major comes ahead of school.
Iâm not a nursing guy - maybe biochem has some way to slide inâŠ
Anyway, I wish her the best of luck in pursuing whichever path she is.
First-Year Applicants | Villanova University says that âa Physics course is required for all engineering applicants. Calculus is strongly encouraged (beyond Pre-Calculus), if Calculus is offered at your school.â Not required, but probably means that not taking it (especially if by choice) is disadvantageous.
It means that a parent who thinks that their middle school student may want to attend Villanova for engineering may want to lobby for math placement into the +1 or higher track.
However, the course plans for Villanova engineering majors start in calculus 1: Mechanical Engineering, B.S. | Villanova University
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Honestly, she might have applied nursing, I just canât remember. She was really up in the air as to wanting to be a nurse. She got into Case Western as biochem but they said she could switch to nursing if she wanted. Now, sheâs decided itâs not for her, so itâs all of the best!
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You are right, it was physics was 100% required but strongly encouraged a student to take calc. He said the application if you note âno physicsâ the application cannot be submitted for engineering. I will correct my original post.
Also for business school they said (which is reiterated on website)
- Villanova School of Business: past successful applicants have had at least one year/one unit of high school Calculus (beyond Pre-Calculus), if Calculus is offered at their school. If given the choice, we advise students to take Calculus over Statistics if only one can be taken.
And I cannot imagine taking college calculus without taking at least AB in high school. We have plenty of kids at our high school who take precalc senior year then roll into state flagship in engineering or cs and take college calculus and it is too much and they drop engineering all together.
So whatâs the unweighted GPA range?
Is an âAâ a 5.0 or a 4.x?
Obviously, his 4.0 on a 1-4 scale would be drastically different than on a 1-5 scale!
Otherwise, even with weighting, a 4-year âstraight Aâ student, even with a 20% boost for 12 AP classes, would have a hard time approaching almost a 6 GPA?
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Unweighted he has a 4.0 out of a 4.0.
Our weighted is out of a 6.0 (which would be impossible to achieve).
+2 for AP Class
+1.6 for an advanced designated class
+1.2 for an honors designated class
All kids have a PE and maybe one or two others which give no weighted boost.
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The beauty with the 4.0 is if Nova is overpriced/over budget, you can go to great schools in the mid 20s and up with a little flexibility in choice. A 4.0, for those who want it to be, can reward you handsomely from a financial POV.
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