Yes I should have been more clear. A few top students get direct admit for the capacity-limited majors at Utah, while most are given pre-major status and must then achieve a specific GPA in pre-requisites. It’s expected that those top students will easily meet the GPA threshold anyway (not least because a 3.5 GPA is required to keep the non-WUE scholarships - though that’s not hard given the generous grading).
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Wow your D does sound like mine! And the Honors College sounds amazing, thank you for sharing details of how it works and the merit aid. Love the flexibility of the Engineering School, especially that they allow exploration, double majoring, minoring, etc in other disciplines! So glad your D found a great school close to your home.
I’m sharing with my D as I bet she’d love the program too. But she’ll probably be concerned with what looks like Corvalis’s small size and lack of diversity? Previously she said anything other than rural, but now says 75,000+ is better. Do you have a sense of what town life is like in that regard – is it a small rural town of 50k only, or are there bordering towns to make it a bigger area overall, with a good mix of restaurants, shops etc? And are there good opportunities for internships etc if it’s not near a big city?
She’s also concerned about the lack of diversity in the cities and/or campuses of some of the other state schools that have been recommended (Arizona, Utah, Colorado). I don’t think that completely takes them out of consideration but it is definitely a concern. Looks like the OSU campus is more diverse than the town, which helps. I see Early Admissions deadline is Nov. 1 so she’ll have to decide soon if she wants to apply!
Thank you so much for your help!
All sounds great for my D! I asked Mountain22 above, but would you know if the internships are accessible during school, ie relatively close to the campus, or if these programs are for summers or time away from campus classes? Thanks!
Very helpful thank you!
Internships and Co-ops are available. There would be some close to campus, but most students at most schools don’t want to limit their potential. Thus, there’s a high likelihood they intern/co-op somewhere far enough away that they have to secure alternate housing. It’s not difficult. Many companies will help with the process.
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I don’t know the Corvallis area well, since this is my daughter’s first year on campus. (She was virtual all last year.) But it is definitely in a rural area, with only small towns around it. It has a good mix of shops and restaurants, but Portland is really the closest big city, and that’s 90 minutes away. My daughter really likes the environment there, but she’s never been a big city person.
And yes, Oregon in general is not very diverse compared to California. I grew up in Oregon but went to college and grad school in LA and the Bay Area, and California’s diversity is one of the things I miss most. Also, my daughter’s engineering classes have been predominantly male, which isn’t uncommon, but there are a few colleges that are doing better with that, if that matters to your daughter. On the positive side, she has had many female professors, at least half. One term last year she had a female engineering prof, math prof, and physics prof!
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But note that earning a 3.5 GPA in college is generally significantly more difficult than earning a 3.5 GPA in high school. A college may get students from the 3.0-4.0 or 3.5-4.0 GPA range from high school and then spread them across the 2.0-4.0 GPA in college.
University of Utah does seem to be generous with A grades, though. You can look at https://www.obia.utah.edu/data-dashboard/course-grade-summary/ , but it would be best to filter by course subject and course level (1000-1999, 2000-2999 for frosh, soph level courses) to get a better idea about specific courses that may be needed as prerequisites to capacity-limited majors (e.g. math, physics, chemistry for engineering majors).
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Yes I think this is the key point to look at. Unlike say Purdue, 3.5 is about the 50th percentile GPA for Utah graduates, so shouldn’t be hard for a talented student to maintain unless they spend the entire time skiing (merit is top ~5% of the class). D has >3.9 GPA despite taking 20+ credits per semester and has plenty of time for other activities, including an off-campus part-time job.
There’s no question that Utah is much less diverse than CA. But Asian students are (not unexpectedly) over-represented in the Honors college, relative to the rest of the university. And we’ve found Utahns to be pretty aware of the rest of the world, given how many of them have been on overseas missions. For example there’s been a very active program to resettle refugees, and I’ve seen several pre-med students get involved in helping with that community.
SLC has more of a big city feeling than Tucson or Boulder, though nothing like LA or SF, more like Portland or Denver. But you don’t go to SLC for the city, you go for the outdoor activities. I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who doesn’t love being outdoors.
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Graduation GPAs are generally higher than frosh/soph GPAs that are more relevant if there is concern about being weeded out of a major or losing a scholarship, since those who leave without graduating are more likely to have low GPAs (flunked out, transferred away due to being weeded out of a major or losing a scholarship).
That said, it looks like Utah’s grade distributions for 1000-1999 and 2000-2999 classes are still fairly high. OP should look into the details at the Utah grade distribution web page if that is a concern.
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Why did she rule out WashU? I am considering taking my d to visit though it breaks our no red states rule… but seems close to Chicago and students I know there are liberal. Not sure if it is too intense/competitive to consider though.
Thank you so much, it’s so hard to gauge an area just from reading online. Yes, we are lucky to have so much diversity in California, though that makes it tough to find anything remotely similar in my D’s college search especially as we look out of state. The town looks really cute and I see won a lot of “best college town” awards. 
But it may be too rural/remote and non-diverse for my D plus i don’t see some of the majors she’s interested in (astronomy, neuroscience). I’m not sure if she will add to her list, but your info has been so helpful, if not my D I hope it will help others who have the patience to read this thread. 
Thanks again!
Thank you, helps to imagine what the environment is like. I can see how kids would want to explore outside the college town for an internship, sort of like a study abroad. Though opportunities close by while they’re still attending classes would be nice too. Thanks again!
Our son did this while at Cal Poly, but that is very much the exception to the rule. If she wants to do something on or near campus, to round out her resume and show she “plays well with others,” there are plenty of part time jobs. Our son did that too. It was actually instrumental in landing his job.
As for OSU, or any other school for that matter, your really need to develop a list of schools she wants to visit. Then based on those results, narrow to the schools she applies to. The latter really doesn’t need to be an exhaustive list like so many students have these days.
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Yes, unfortunately it was due to its location. It’s also a reach so she preferred to keep other reach schools on her list instead. Good luck with your D!
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That’s true, but it is nice if she can try out some internships or otherwise get opportunities to check out the industries she might want to work in later. But that can happen over summers too so not critical they are right near campus.
I guess we’re doing it backwards since we’re not comfortable traveling now with Covid. So we were hoping to help her narrow her list to those she’s strongly interested in then, based on acceptances, narrow down to a few visits in the spring. So trying to cull the application list without visiting. 
Thank you so much for all the info. I talked with D more and she’s thinking she wouldn’t be a good fit for SLC, Tucson, or Boulder. I think she (and I) would love to visit each of these towns but for college she’d prefer more diversity, and a slightly larger Asian population so she doesn’t stick out so much, plus less conservative states. Plus Arizona is too hot for her. 
I still think the programs sound great so I’m going to keep reading up on them, so appreciate all the info. Thank you!
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This would be ideal, and might happen, based on opportunity policies practiced by a few companies (In general, it’s easier for underrepresented groups to land these early opportunities). It is however very uncommon. Most companies don’t look for interns until the summer between 3rd and 4th year. There are two reasons. First, students really don’t have anything to offer before that. Second, for many companies, it’s an extended job interview.
As for only visiting after applications, people do that, but it isn’t the best way. By visiting first, the list gets narrowed to schools that your student knows they will attend, even the safeties. I understand the reluctance with COVID. Had we to do it though during COVID, we wouldn’t have changed anything. We flew east and then did a 10 day drive to the campuses he wanted to visit and did the same in SoCal/Central Coast. With N95s, the HEPA filters on planes, and driving most of the time, you should be safe if you are all vaccinated.
Agree regarding Az and Utah - but is Colorado really so bad?
Before D definitely decides against adding to her list, just want to see if you (or others here) know: Being in their Honors Program doesn’t give students any boost in getting accepted into a capacity-constrained major later, right? From what I’ve read, she might be able to get admitted directly to a constrained major when first applying to the university, but if she wants to switch majors later, being in the Honors program won’t give her any “in” to these constrained majors. Does that sound right?
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If COVID-19 is a concern, pay attention to:
- College policies and practices.
- Local policies and practices.
- State policies and practices.
The above would be in terms of vaccination rates, community spread, mask requirements and use, quarantine requirements if tested positive, etc…
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