<p>@Mom2CollegeKids That is the way to best use AP credits. Fill with enjoyable classes and bump your GPA. I’m not sure I would recommend it for Calculus though. So important to get off on the right foot for math.</p>
<p>Older s got great summer internships with big companies during college, which required GPAs of, IIRC at least 3.3. Younger s got his summer internships through personal contacts, (though I believe his GPA was around 3.3 anyway). So internships are approachable ind different ways, but would strongly suggests working hard ( e.g. reduce courseload) to get the GPA up. Why have a potential roadblock that doesnt need to be there?</p>
<p>@jym626 I totally agree to raise your GPA and with OP should not have too much grade inertia if he only has a year and a half.</p>
<p>Most of the major engineering schools require a 3.0 anyway so that adds alot of pressure. One tanked class can tank the overall GPA. On another thread i mentioned that my son’s engineering school tells parents to county on 4 1/2 years, but that is precisely because many of the kids, when they have a super difficult semester do drop to 12 credits. My son has done 14 credits, 16 credits and 12 credits at the end of sophomore fall semester and has 15 credits scheduled for spring. He picked up 4 credits taking one class this past summer while at home at a local uni and will see if there is a DiffyQ class he can pick up this summer during his internship that will transfer in. It doesn’t always follow the path, but a smart kid can figure it out over time if the family can’t afford that final extra semester. In engineering school you have to always look ahead and be mapping the progress to make it work. </p>
<p>"Doing this can be risky…This adds another semester or year, which may not be affordable. Many colleges will not give aid for that 9th+ semester and many parents can’t/won’t pay for extra semesters</p>
<p>Also… Many eng’g classes are sequenced and only offered in summer OR fall (not both). If a student skips XXX Eng class in the spring, he may find that it’s not offered in the Fall, and waiting til the following spring can put other classes in jeopardy. I think this is why we see some kids taking 5-6 years to get thru eng’g. That is fine AS LONG AS a student doesn’t get to the end of 4th year and have NO FUNDING…and no degree. "</p>
<p>I think it depends on the school and how many AP credits they come in with. At DS’s school they have the schedule for which classes are going to be offered in the summer for the next 2 years and ALL required engineering classes are offered both fall and spring and most are offered in the summer. So the kids can plan ahead. For in state students it can work really well . If you are out of state and paying top dollar then may not… But you have to weigh the GPA difference and if the GPA is above 3.0 they should be able to get an Internship or co-op which can offset the extra semester cost.</p>
<p>And if you take a summer class at another college, be sure it will be accepted by your home school. Both of my s’s changed their majors sophomore year INTO engineering. DS#2’s school wanted him to take another physics because he’d taken AP physics B and not C (I think). He arranged to take it at the Flagship tech school where we live while simultaneously doing his summer internship. The amusing part was his home school having to review the syllabus and approve the class from a tech school that has a very highly rated program. Also be sure that you get the grade required for credit for the class. I guess that’s a “duh”, but worth mentioning…</p>
<p><<<
Most of the major engineering schools require a 3.0 anyway so that adds alot of pressure. </p>
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<p>I wonder if that is still true. Before H retired a few months ago, he often saw resumes from good eng’g schools with sub 3.0 GPAs. If the applicant was a URM, then HR would tell him and others to overlook the GPA (and don’t even mention it!). </p>
<p>Many job listings will say minimum GPA in the job description. Doesn’t stop anyone from applying. DS@#1’s first internship, with a large well-known company was the summer after sophomore year. They listed on the application that they wanted rising seniors (he was a rising junior). They took him anyway.</p>
<p>4 year overall graduation rate at top CA public universities are at most 72%. Engineering graduation rate is lower because it’s harder. 5 year graduation in engineering is a good rate.</p>
<p>UC Berkelely - 72%</p>
<p>UCLA - around 72%</p>
<p>UCSD - 56%</p>
<p>Purdue University 4 year graduation is about 45%.</p>
<p><a href=“http://opa.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/GradRatesBriefJan2013.pdf[/url]”>http://opa.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/GradRatesBriefJan2013.pdf</a></p>
<p><a href=“Undergraduate Statistics”>Undergraduate Statistics;
<p><a href=“http://www.aim.ucla.edu/progress.aspx[/url]”>http://www.aim.ucla.edu/progress.aspx</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.purdue.edu/enrollmentmanagement/documents1/emnewsletterjune12.pdf[/url]”>http://www.purdue.edu/enrollmentmanagement/documents1/emnewsletterjune12.pdf</a></p>
<p>2.7 GPA at the beginning of sophomore year is not a disqualification for engineering majors but it should be a concern.
2.8 GPA was the requirement for upper division admittance (end of sophomore year) to EE major, 3.2 GPA to CE/CS majors at my UC campus during my time.</p>
<p>Times have certainly changed. Back in the day, 2.7 gpa in engineering at my U was probably not all that far below average! A friend of mine scraped through the program, barely passing, on probation twice. He still got a job after graduation,Maybe not the pick of the litter,the ones that explicitly required GPA greater than X to interview, but a job. And he’s had a successful career. His college experience was obviously rather stressful though.</p>
<p>But that was then, I don’t know about now.</p>
<p>Interview GPA thresholds may depend on the school (and the employer of course). For example an Investment bank I know of established a high min GPA threshold at some not-tippy top MBA programs they interviewed at, vs. no threshold whatsoever at some other schools.</p>
<p>Also FWIW at my U differential equations was a co-requisite for the sophomore engineering courses, not a prereq. I saw nothing to assume S wasn’t taking the right courses, in the right order.</p>
<p>And of course if he cuts back a little he must be mindful of doing it in a way that did not screw his course sequence up. He would be doing this in conjunction with his advisor, presumably,. If they have those…</p>
<p>@monydad He may be on schedule. OP had said S was looking at UCs and lookingforward posted course schedule for UCSD. However, reading back over posts, it looks like S is at UCLA and these are intro courses with the coreq of Diffy Qs as you suggested. Maybe OP should consider transferring to a less rigorous school. He seems bright enough for engineering just needs to be at the right place.</p>
<p>OP I hope you can report back,maybe three years from now, and let everyobne know what S did and how it worked out for him. It could be a data point for others in his shoes.</p>
<p>Every engineering student is struggling. I encourage you to be extremely supportive and to not let him quit. I’m confident he’ll be fine and he’ll appreciate the holiday break with your family. Best of luck.</p>
<p>It’s hard to guess what are the correct course sequences to take if we don’t know the college the OP’s son is attending.
Some colleges require prerequisites, some require concurrent enrollement. A strong student can also take a required class concurrently. Prerequisites are just guidelines.</p>
<p>monydad brought up UCLA and I found UCLA ME course plan here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/curric-14-15/32curmech-14.html[/url]”>http://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/curric-14-15/32curmech-14.html</a></p>
<p>If the OP’s son is taking Electrical Engineering 100, a required course for ME then Math 33B - differential equations class is the prerequisite.</p>
<p><a href=“https://eeweb.ee.ucla.edu/course_objectives.php?class=ee100[/url]”>https://eeweb.ee.ucla.edu/course_objectives.php?class=ee100</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.math.ucla.edu/ugrad/courses[/url]”>Undergraduate Program | UCLA Department of Mathematics;
<p>"monydad brought up UCLA "</p>
<p>No I didn’t. I said at my school diff eq was a co-requisite, not a pre-requisite.
My school was not UCLA.</p>
<p>I don’t know where OPs son is attending. However OP did not give any information to suggest S was out of sequence, and based on my experience (and that of someone else who posted likewise on this thread earlier) I have no reason to think he is out of sequence. </p>
<p>Though of course it’s possible,. Since apparently schools differ in the sequencing, Which I didn’t know, actually, prior to this thread.</p>
<p>^ Sorry, I misread. gearmom brought up UCLA in post #50.</p>
<p>I think the first priority for the OP’s son is not letting this quarter GPA drop below 2.0, the threshold for probation (not sure about policy of the OP’s son school). 2 consecutive probations will lead to disqualification and dismissal. If the school allows to withdraw the worst class then he should consider that option.</p>
<p>@coolweather OPs mom said UCLA in other threads.</p>
<p>*I mean OP brought up UCLA</p>