Parents of the HS Class of 2020 (Part 1)

@MAmom111 for mathy majors they might look at the math scores specifically. I know most schools report one on the ASEE website along with composites for engineering schools.

What math score would be the minimum for engineering and CS majors? My d20 got her target composite score but her math score is somewhat lower than her English/Reading scores.

@janiemiranda it would vary by school but check the ASEE.org website school profiles for the ranges by school. http://profiles.asee.org/

@janiemiranda A rule of thumb we used was that you wanted your scores in the top 75% for a school, and since Engineering major’s stats tend to be higher than the typical major, you can look at the CDS for the school in question, section C9, and check the 75th percentile for Math on either the SAT or ACT. That should give you good target.

Thanks @Cheeringsection and @bigmacbeth!

@janiemiranda I attended an info session and tour of U Michigan last week. We toured a number of schools but I’m pretty sure it was them (if not, it was one of the schools we toured!) that said you need at least a 28 in math to be considered for engineering. We were surprised it wasn’t higher than that. Michigan also said for engineering you should have taken 4 years of English, one in each year of high school, and 4 years of math and science including Chemistry, Physics and Calculus. They also said their middle 50% ACT composite scores are 31-34 and average GPA is 3.88 unweighted on 4.0 scale. Those were not specific to engineering.

@makemesmart we were at UVA yesterday and had a very similar experience! My daughter loved it. Gorgeous day and the campus was lively and kids seem happy and friendly. We also toured McIntire. My DD likes that you apply during 2nd year but it does add a little stress to the process. She likes it enough that we are adding UNC to our week since I think what she likes about it will be somewhat similar. Did you also visit UNC? How did they compare? We also had DeanJ as our presenter - she’s a CC poster on the UVA page.

@CAtransplant Thank you. Very helpful.

@MAmom111 My D20 just got very similar scores on the April ACT - 34 English, 33 reading, but 27 science and 26 math, for a 30 composite. It was her first official test and I was pretty happy with the scores. She took the test under less than ideal circumstances and could have prepped more but was tied up with ECs that are wrapping up. She will take the SAT in May for the first time and then we’ll decide where to go from there. She said she definitely wants to give the ACT another try and was happy to find out about superscoring.

She is no STEM kid but thinks she can raise the math and science scores. I hope she is right.

@musicmom1215
We are pretty much done with touring, so won’t be going to UNC, I won’t be surprised if your DD likes UNC too. Interested to hear your feedbacks on UNC.
Re. UVA commerce school, I can see the pros and cons of second year application process, yes it adds uncertainty, but it also gives kids time to identify their “true interests”. We met two kids on campus, one came into the school thinking of going to commerce school but after taking the prerequisites changed her mind and now happily pursuing a pre-law track, while another was on pre-med track then changed her mind and is now a very happy third year McIntire student.

@Musicmom2015 and @makemesmart my D20 is applying to both UVA and UNC. We toured UNC last week and UVA last summer. She loves both and we do feel they are similar. UNC has the bonus of in state tuition. I’m a UNC grad and I love it there. We do have a large number of family members that are UVA alums too though. They are both having beautiful weather right now!

@MAmom111 Well, “low” is relative – for the schools you listed earlier, a 30 ACT is in the 75th percentile, which means many people had “lower” scores (either in math or english or some combination thereof). Since your daughter will be applying as an English major to those schools, she’s calling out her strengths. Depending on specific school requirements, she may never need to take another math class.

I also think if an applicant has hit the 75th percentile of their chosen school, then their acceptance or rejection will hinge on other things (essays, recommendations, EC’s), and so putting time there makes more sense than continuing to study/retake the ACT that may or may not yield better scores, which in turn may or may not matter.

For those of you with kids applying to UNC from OOS, that is truly Ivy-level from an admissions standpoint (13%)! Good luck, and may the admissions officers be with you!

@MAmom111 Also, the schools you listed have acceptance rates from 40 - 57 percent. I would wager they are higher for an applicant in the 75th percentile of their application pool.

Visited ASU Barrett and Pomona College and what a contrast.

Barrett will only cover tuition for National Merit, unlike UCF, UNM, and Alabama, which offer full rides. The dorms were nice and had their own bathrooms. No communal trek down the hall. The thesis topics seemed rather peculiar.

Pomona’s tour only entered the newer physics building. The campus was quiet despite classes being in session. No dorm room looks. The Claremont Consortium allows for a variety of classes. Up to 40% can be taken in the neighboring schools. Only 2 AP classes are accepted. Will likely return to visit CMC and Mudd.

@onthewestfence What does Pomona give for NMFs? ASU is a bit more highly rated than those other schools, especially when you take Barrett Honors into account. So, that should explain the diminishing merit.

@bigmacbeth Pomona gives no merit. It’s need-blind. We simply went to Barrett to check it out since we were in the area. Wasn’t a good fit but does appeal to others.

Per Pomona’s website: Our financial aid package for each student is comprised of grants, scholarships, and a small work stipend. While loans are available, Pomona does not use loans to meet a student’s financial need.

@bigmacbeth and @onthewestfence I’m a parent from the Class of 2019 thread and stumbled across this when doing a “Pomona” search. I have a senior at Pomona and am local for ASU Barrett. My D19 was accepted at Barrett and we are quite familiar with it being local. PM me if you have any questions about either Barrett or Pomona. By the way my D15 was NMF and she got zero in merit from Pomona. They give out a couple NMF awards of about $1000 but most NMF’s get nothing. Great school though!

Hi all, I am new to the boards and loving all the information I am finding! My oldest daughter is graduating 2020, and I am getting so confused on gpas. She has a great weighted gpa on 5.0 scale but very interested in Florida schools (we are from IL), which we’ve toured, but they seem to use core weighted which brings her GPA down and I can never figure out which gpa is being looked at when you see what the gpa ranges are for schools. Anyway, any information will be helpful!

@DLP824 So yes schools like UF and FSU require you to self report your classes and grades into SSAR https://admissions.ufl.edu/apply/freshman/ssar-faq

Your weighted GPA in SSAR will typically be lower because you exclude certain classes (certain electives such as the arts and I’m not sure what others). So when these schools report their ranges, I believe they are reporting the SSAR converted GPAs.