<p>Why is it so hard to get into engineering schools? I have always wondered. And would SAT scores overcome low GPA? </p>
<p>Engineering is very hard. You have to actually master everything - you can’t sorta know how to build a bridge people will walk on, for instance, or sorta design a frame or sorta link chips. Either it’s perfect and it works, or… it doesn’t work. There’s no middle ground. TO get you to that level, your professors have to be very demanding and you have to be very demanding of yourself.
The farther away from mastery you are, the lower your grades. Even with the selection to engineering schools, a large number of students give up. So if whoever who wanted to get in, got in, there would be too many failures. There’s a control at entrance and a control along the way.
The first year classes “weed out” the weakest students, those who aren’t used to doing 6 hours of homework every day and whose math and science background is weaker (you really need to have A’s as much as possible in high school, in all your math courses, plus physics and chemistry).
There’s an accreditation agency called ABET that makes sure that all engineers in the country have the same training and have a high-quality education. It means engineering classes can’t be watered down for weaker students and those who can’t keep up have to change majors to something else. But this ensures all American-educated engineers have an excellent technical background in their field and are able to do the work.
SAT scores can’t totally overcome a low GPA, especially for engineering where they want to see A’s in math&science (and at least a B in English - you need to complete English Composition because as an engineer, you’ll need to write and communicate well, and you can’t afford to be a total doofus in terms of general knowledge.)
However if your GPA is pulled down because you did poorly in foreign language and history, and you can get 650-700 in math (and no lower than 550-600 in CR) your SAT score may help compensate for a low GPA.
Colleges outside New Jersey where you may have a shot at admission include Ball State (IN), East Carolina, CUNY-CSI, Frostburg State (MD), Penn State Altoona (perhaps Behrend if you raise that GPA to a 3.0 and have good SAT scores), Marshall (WV), Montana Tech, SUNY Canton, SUNY Delhi, NYIT, UMass Lowell, Wentworth…<br>
Run the NET PRICE CALCULATORS and bring the results to your parents: what universities can they afford? Once you have your list both within NJ and outside of NJ, focus on these universities, fill out the “request information” form, read the school of engineering’s requirement carefully and meet them.</p>
<p>How good is WVU engineering? what are my chances? and I heard that the people in WV are racist. Is that true? Thank you!!!</p>
<p>1° you can’t characterize an entire state with a blanket statement like “people in WV are racists” and in any case, you will be on a college campus, which typically will be about as open-minded as anywhere.
2° read - it seems you’d qualify for the “general engineering” track, and if you get to precalculus senior year with a B or more you could get into the Engineering and CS track.
<a href=“http://www.statler.wvu.edu/admissionscriteria.php”>http://www.statler.wvu.edu/admissionscriteria.php</a>
<a href=“http://www.statler.wvu.edu/freshman/”>http://www.statler.wvu.edu/freshman/</a></p>
<p>What kind of question is that @theonionrings ? lol. </p>
<p>Sorry, I didn’t know if it was true or not </p>
<p>MYOS1634 I am taking precalc and I have a 85 currently. So looks I am on track. </p>
<p>absolutely! So, that’s one school to add to your college list. :)</p>
<p><if you=“” want=“” to=“” attend=“” college=“” out=“” of=“” state,=“” either=“” your=“” parents=“” have=“” $45,000=“” set=“” aside=“” for=“” each=“” year=“” education,=“” or=“” are=“” better=“” off=“” applying=“” private=“” universities.=“” unfortunately,=“” there=“” aren’t=“” many=“” universities=“” within=“” stats=“” range.=“”></if></p>
<p>Is the 2.65GPA your cumulative or this semester’s? IF you can pull your cumulative GPA to above a 3.0, there are some private universities within your range, but they will not be famous first-tier ones. </p>
<p>Are you willing to fly further to college than Illinois? You would be adding geographic diversity if you were willing to head farther from home. In the Northwest, look at University of Portland, Gonzaga University and Seattle University. From looking at College Board.org , above a 3.0 would be within the GPAs of accepted students. (You do need to explore what an acceptable GPA is for engineering admission at these; College Board did not give me that level of detail.) </p>
<p>Generally, Catholic universities, particularly Jesuit ones, focus more on teaching than research, which may help you to be successful. Still, do not think any engineering program will be easy.</p>
<p>Catholic universities also will be interested in community service hours and any leadership. </p>
<p>Actually my GPA (based off the way it is looking this year) is going to be raised to a 2.85 (trying to push it to 2.95) and this is all unweighted. The 2.65 is my freshman year GPA. I hoping to get my SAT scores to above a 1900. What else should I do to stand out in my application for engineering schools (other than raising GPA lol, I am working on that).
Picapole: I think up to Illinois is the boundary being set by my parents. They don’t want me to go too far.</p>
<p>Thank you all!! So helpful! 
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