“Of course.”
OK then… I think I won’t bother suggesting UW. It’s going to be hard selling another application. It does seems to be very popular school from DS H.S. almost as many plot points in Naviance as the local UC & Cal State schools.
Honestly I really thought OSU was a great fit, and a good match for DS when we went there. So S17 just needs to get in and decide to go there and I’ll be happy. 
(for the short term anyway.)
@curiositycat333, I believe that at OSU a student can go in as a pre-engineering major, but then must apply to a specific professional program (electrical, mechanical, etc.) after core courses are satisfactorily passed (I think they said after sophomore year). I don’t know how competitive each major is. I really liked OSU when we visited and I could see my son there. The honors college looked great, and high test scores were enough to allow a student to apply (either GPA or test scores). S17 wants to keep OSU on his list (thinks it may be too rural for him).
@Hankster1361 We visited OSU in this past spring and went on the Engineering tour. You do have to get good grades your first two years. It’s not a walk in the park. I got the impression the minimum college GPA was somewhere around 3.5. But they mentioned it was recalculated every year.
We aren’t not considering the honors college, partly because they didn’t sell it very well on the general tour IMO. All they talked about was the “thesis” and this didn’t hold much appeal to DS. Plus though S17 does meet minimum criteria based on test scores but not on GPA, I have heard it’s very competitive to get in and I doubt they would take him as a freshman. (I have heard that you can transfer into the program.) Plus if he is interested in Engineering, he needs to focus on taking basic pre-engineering classes and do well on them.
@Hankster1361 and @curiositycat333. Hankster is correct. You go in as a pre-engineering major and choose either a 2 or 3 year path based on the specific major. Certain classes in that path count as pre-core classes and you have to maintain a certain gpa in those for admission into the actual engineering major. GPA varies by major. Highest required GPA in the core classes is 2.90. But it appears that if you meet the minimum, for your major, in those pre-core classes you are actually guaranteed admission to your engineering major.
I’ve actually reached out for them to confirm what AP scores mean for this as some of the scores count as the Pre-Core classes but count as a P and it’s unclear what that does to the pre-core gpa.
http://engineering.oregonstate.edu/apply-engineering-professional-program-summer15-later
We are not looking at honors, not S17’s kind of thing at all.
Not sure if any of these are on anyone else’s list but just in case, I received via email, confirmation that the all of following schools superscore the ACT. None of them state this on their website however all are test optional.
University of Puget Sound
Beloit
Allegheny
Ursinus
A few other school updates that may be of interest to some.
Allegheny also confirmed they will offer EA this year, with a deadline of 12/1 and UPS “may” and to keep watching of updates.
Temple seems to have updated their scholarship page which now simply provides a range of $500 - full tuition. However, the other page in the admissions specific site still shows a mid july update.
UVM has confirmed that you must have taken both chemistry and physics in HS to apply as an engineering major. While you may be able to transfer in later, the chances of graduating on time are greatly reduced according to admissions. I realize that isn’t an issue for most (as in most kids seem to have taken both) but in our case it is as S17 is taking APES instead of Chem. As APES is a potential major, overall, this seems like the best choice for him but it does mean that UVM is off the list for engineering, though still on for overall Environmental.
if I wait for S to ask the question, we will miss EA deadlines on sending scores and figuring out which scores to send. That would imply that S is using ANY email to contact colleges. I of course enter his email in to request info but so far, that’s about it. I do need to update the spreadsheet to show which schools care about demonstrated interest. S does NOT believe me that the schools care at all, at least about things like emailing questions, filling out surveys etc and that interviews and visits should be showing enough. Which, if you can do that is great but if you can’t, need to find other mechanisms. I believe he will if he likes a school enough and I can prove interest matters but we are aways away from that. I am happy to do this research now while he works on his essay!
At the moment we have similar results, 7-8 offer EA, 5-6 Superscore. I am awaiting confirmation on one for each category.
@Hankster1361 did your S like the school based on location or ? OSU, WWU, Seattle U, U of Portland and Gonzaga are all solid engineering options for the 3.2 35 ACT kid but I do think there is a shot at UW. I just wouldn’t take it unless he got direct admit to engineering, the odds are lousy and there are more favorable odds options out there.
Only about 10% of the enrolled students who applied for engineering at UW are given direct admission to engineering majors as freshmen. The others apply to their majors at various points during their freshman, sophomore or junior years. Whether a student’s odds are “lousy” or “favorable” will largely depend on the specific major (as some are more competitive than others) and the student’s performance in the major’s prerequisites relative to his or her classmates.
^ It varies by major and not all share their stats. However most that share admit up to 20% directly.
Generally one only needs a 2.45 to be “considered” or apply to UW engineering from pre-engineering, but the actual average admissions are significantly higher than that. So, IF a student can pull off a 3.3 or better freshman year they may have a chance, the higher the better and even better if it is a less competitive major. That can be very difficult in the pre-engineering courses for many. Odds are just that and in my opinion (especially for the kids on this particular thread) there are other schools where the chances of success are greater. So yes, to me, without direct admit and knowing how hard that first year can be, I think they are relatively lousy. What the UW does not publish is how many are admitted to pre-engineering and then gain admission into engineering. That would be the real number to crunch if you ask me.
Three types of admission. Direct (freshman), Early (end of freshman year) and Upper Division or Regular, (timing varies)
Chemical Engineering
Direct Freshman Admission: up to 20 percent of its incoming class directly from high school
Early Admission: Admission is competitive; those earning individual prerequisite grades of 3.5 and above are most competitive for admission.
Upper-division Admission: Admission is competitive; for the most recent admission cycle the average GPA was 3.7 with most applicants admitted in a GPA range of 3.3 – 4.0.
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Direct Admission: up to 20 percent of its incoming class directly from high school
Early Admission. The average GPA of admitted students is around 3.5.
The Department of Computer Science & Engineering
CSE department admits up to 20% of our students directly out of high school. In total admits approximately 200 students per year. We typically have space for approximately 40% of students who apply. Cumulative GPAs of admitted students generally range from 3.4-4.0.
Electrical Engineering
The EE department does not publish the amount of direct admits versus regular and upper division admits. Fall Admissions - Approximately 130 to 180 students during this admission cycle. Spring Admissions -Approximately 55 to 70 students during this admission cycle. The average admission prerequisite GPA usually varies between 3.4 and 3.6.
Human Centered Design & Engineering
Students interested in Human Centered Design & Engineering typically apply to the department at the end of their sophomore year, after completing department prerequisites and general university requirements.
HCDE accepts applications for spring quarter (due February 1) and autumn quarter (due July 1). Admission is competitive with approximately 90 students admitted per academic year. The average cumulative GPA for admitted students for the last two admissions cycles (AUT14 and SPR15) was about 3.5. For the academic year 2014-2015, HCDE offered admission to approximately 27% of applicants.
Industrial & Systems Engineering
The average GPA of entering students has been around a 3.3 over the last couple of years.
Materials Science & Engineering
In the last few years, the average prerequisite GPA has been about a 3.3 for Upper Admission students and about a 3.5 for Early Admission students.
Mechanical Engineering
The average GPA for students accepted to the program has been approximately 3.6. Students with GPAs less than about 3.0 are generally not accepted.
Bioresource Science & Engineering
Students must have the majority of prerequisites met with generally a 3.0 GPA overall.
@eandesmom, UW publishes the number of students per class in each engineering major and the number of students per class with “pre-engineering” status.
For example, in 2015, 159 out of 1,344 freshmen were in an engineering major (1,185 had pre-engineering status; 11.8% were enrolled in engineering majors as freshmen), and 1,410 out of 1,419 seniors were in an engineering major (9 had pre-engineering status; 99.4% were enrolled in engineering majors as seniors).
However, it is hard to tell from these figures exactly how many students originally admitted to pre-engineering status later gained admission to an engineering major. The reported figures are affected by many factors, including attrition, change of interest, frequency of admission cycles for each major, double majors, transfers into and out of UW, engineering majors who never had “pre-engineering” status, and so forth.
I agree that students who are not among the top half or perhaps top quarter of the entering class statistically will likely have much more difficulty getting into an engineering major. If @Hankster1361’s son is admitted and develops the potential shown by his outstanding 35 ACT, he should be able to make it, but each student should undergo an honest self-assessment. Different students have different capacities to succeed in a competitive environment. As the UW CSE Department states on its website, “Our best advice is that if you are admitted directly into another computer science program and would be extremely stressed by not being coded into your major directly as a freshman, it may be best to accept the other offer.”
^ right, but the 11.8% is misleading as not all programs offer direct admission. I agree, the real number is how many in pre-engineering successfully gain admission at some point and that is not shown. The 35 ACT is impressive, however there is a 3.2 GPA to consider and I don’t know if that 3.2 is core classes only, or all, which can make a difference and be an indicator. Only Hankster and his son know whether the likelihood of a 3.0 gpa or greater is there for freshman year pre-engineering course load. I have a child with similar characteristics and it would not be the route I would choose for him if I had other options, at least at his current state. He is an amazing test taker (not S17 lol) but the actual classwork…is another story entirely.
^ Ha, I hear ya!
P.S. I’m not sure “misleading” is a fair characterization of the 11.8% figure. It is simply the number of freshmen who were enrolled in engineering majors over the total number of such freshmen plus freshmen who had “pre-engineering” status in 2015. Maybe “small” would be a fairer characterization.
Mnn by misleading I meant that you’ve got some majors with no freshman and some with up to 20% so while it averages out to 11.8, it is not indicative of the specific difficulty or ease of any one engineering major or chances of getting in via direct admit or not. In general, engineering anywhere is very competitive but it may be less so at other places is all. I would suspect though that you could contact a department directly for those numbers.
In fact we will see if that works as I just did for an engineering department at another school…we will see what kind of specific answers I get. LOL! Different question but not public data.
Maybe look at the number of graduates from each program and compare that to the direct admits. If graduates far outnumber direct admits, they must admit a lot of sophs and jrs. Also, you could just ask how many got in this year, how many apps, etc.
@Hankster1361 - not sure what you mean by “too rural” (in a relative sense) but OSU is in the heart of Columbus - the capital and 3rd largest city in Ohio (btw- Columbus will say they are the biggest b/c all of Franklin county is the city of Columbus- but I digress. I hate Columbus- but it’s not rural 
)
@eandesmom, actually, it looks like all majors directly admitted some freshmen in 2015. Here are the numbers for freshmen and seniors in each engineering major in 2015 (pertinent to @twoinanddone’s comment):
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering: 9 F/78 S
Bioengineering: 17/98
Chemical Engineering: 7/91
Civil Engineering: 27/148
Computer Engineering: 6/76
Computer Science: 40/257
Electrical Engineering: 18/267
Human Centered Design and Engineering: 13/76
Industrial Engineering: 5/70
Materials Science and Engineering: 5/66
Mechanical Engineering: 12/183
PreEngineering: 1185/9
Totals: 1344 F/1419 S
@toowonderful wrong OSU. The “rural” one many of us on this thread are looking at is Oregon State, in Corvallis.
Well that makes total sense then- sorry!!! 
I was also join going to say we mean Oregon. And it’s because it’s rural that my DS likes it, honestly it’s not rural enough for S17. But that’s a trade off he is going to have to make, big schools offering Engineering & marching band don’t happened completely in the middle of nowhere.
Just got off the phone with him, he just spend 2 weeks in the wilderness & will go back Wed for two more weeks. He’s been lamenting how suburban things are around his grandparents. How he’s not sure how he is going to survive in suburban S. Calif for another year.
He is really itching to get out of a big suburban area. I think UCSC will be fine even with it’s proximity to Silicon Valley because the University is right on the edge of a very lovely park filled with coastal redwoods. We discussed possibility of a gap year as another possibility, need to check out if there is anything similar to the conservation corps for teen’s just out of H.S.
@curiositycat333 he’s got look at CSU and U of Wyoming. Wyo is far more rural, it ought be perfect if he can handle the wind! I really think it’s a hidden gem, we had a fabulous meeting with the MB director.
Has he considered Montana State? I can’t recall if that one has come up of not.