Not the greatest stats but chance me for Rutgers,Purdue,NYU Stern,etc

I want to start by saying I am sorry you find yourself in this position. A lot of students don’t realize until later in high school that they missed the boat in terms of getting the grades they needed to get into the colleges they want.

I think your best bet is going to be focusing on finishing this year as strong as you can. Your grades are borderline for a competitive major like engineering and I wouldn’t be surprised if any acceptance you get end up being conditional based on your final grades. If I were you, I would seriously consider attending a year of community college and focus on kicking your schoolwork into overdrive. Your biggest issue will be convincing admissions staff to take you seriously, to give you a spot instead of someone else. Engineering is a tough road! I think you need to demonstrate that you can do it at the college level and I think you need the opportunity to get your feet wet and see what level of work you need to produce.

When are you retaking the SAT? Next week? That is pretty much the last opportunity, isn’t it?

According to the ASU First-year Student Scholarship Estimator, getting a 1570 would get you Presidents scholarship, i.e. half tuition despites your low GPA. 1480 will only get you the Provost scholarship.

You still haven’t explained what “No budget as of now” means…

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I see that more info was posted at Chance me for Engineering at Purdue/Rutgers/Mass/Georgia Tech? - College Admissions - College Confidential Forums and that your SAT score is now 1540. Congrats! Probably unlike what most people think, I believe that retaking it next week makes sense. 1570+ can make a difference for merit scholarships.

Your counselor is right to tell you that you are aiming a bit too high. The probability of you getting into Georgia Tech is undeniably 0.

The other thread that @momprof9904 linked to in post #17 is a very good source of information as you are in a similar situation.

Again, assuming you are a NJ resident, you must apply to NJIT and Rowan on top of Rutgers!

If you want to go out-of-state, make sure you can afford it. Going out-of-state typically means no need-based financial help.

That said, merit scholarships are possible out-of-state, provided you settle for schools that are not in the top 20.

I recommend that you look at this list of engineering schools that are known to value high SAT scores (so they can go up the rankings) and are likely to overlook a not-so-great GPA:
College Board National Recognition Program (includes former National Hispanic Recognition Program) Class of 2022 - Specialty College Admissions Topics / Hispanic Students - College Confidential Forums. All the ones in the top 100 have very good engineering programs, and some of them will offer merit based on the SAT score.

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SAT could help - but it’s not going to account for a GPA.

The other thing is - engineering is rigorous and depending on the study 50-60% drop the major. I can see this through my son - he almost dropped and he said they were dropping like flies the first two years.

There are many schools that will take you - and I wasn’t talking about merit - I was talking about getting in - and that’s the list I gave you - UAH, Missouri S&T, Alabama, Miss State, Arkansas, Arizona State, Hofstra, Bradley, and more.

You’ll have no issue getting into solid schools - I don’t see you getting into these - for engineering. For business, it’s different.

Also, someone said you showed a 1540 SAT in another post - which is it?

It wouldn’t change my opinion but please make sure you’re showing actual #s.

Are you saying I dont have a shot at any of the schools I listed? For example, if I applied early for all those schools what is the likleyhood they will ask and wait for my Senior year grades.

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Are you saying I dont have a shot at any of the schools I listed? For example, if I applied early for all those schools what is the likleyhood they will ask and wait for my Senior year grades?

I am saying that you do not have a shot at Georgia Tech. You probably have a shot at Rutgers, Purdue and UMass but it is very likely that they will ask you for your mid-year senior grades before making a decision if they don’t outright decline admission.

You need some real safeties. You need to be clear about your budget. I think that everybody that has taken the time to reply to you fundamentally agrees with where you stand and what you should do. It is not clear that you are getting the message. It would be nice if you answered all our questions.

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Several schools I visited with D20 had info sessions and the folks doing the presentations said they were often asked if the office was on fire and they could only grab one thing from each file to use to make decisions, what they would take. The overwhelming response is transcripts because they paint the broadest picture of what to expect from a student by showing progress along a continuum. SAT scores are a snapshot - literally what happens on one day - and doesn’t show what you can do on a daily basis.

The two points to make are: 1) other students can get a 1500+ test score AND a 4.0 GPA and 2) the discrepancy between what you are capable of doing on test day and what you do on a daily basis in the classroom will be a red flag. In other words, “This student got 750-800 on the EBRW section but gets a 71, 85, and 82 in English classes, but not AP. Is he lazy? Does he not do the readings? Does he not care? Why should we choose him over someone who gets a 720 but has 95s in AP Lang/Lit?”

This question has been answered multiple times by multiple people - you need to find other schools (but can still apply to the schools you listed). You may be blanked at those schools - you may squeeze into UMASS or Rutgers but doubtful.

I would not count on anyone asking for your mid-year grades. You can hope but you have no control.

You asked the question. You don’t like the answers.

But they are the answers - so either embrace them - or play the lottery with your list.

Good luck.

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To add to your message to the OP, the Georgia Tech Common Data Set states in Section C7 that GPA is given more weight in admissions decisions than standardized test scores. So the fact that the OP’s SAT score has increased is likely going to have little relevance to the Georgia Tech admissions office when his GPA is relatively low.

Most of the OOS admittees to Georgia Tech over the past few years whom I know were either valedictorians or salutatorians of their respective high school classes.

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If I’m being honest I don’t think you have any chance at the colleges listed. You need to get your stuff together senior year and apply to some safeties because that is your only option at this point.

I feel sorry for you and your current miserable situation and I hope you will be able to find some sort of education some day.

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