The good news is - if he wants to venture out and if decides GT isn’t for him, there’s still great options out there such as Auburn, Alabama, UAH, Arizona for smaller. My son chose Bama over Purdue and merit. At the time I disagreed but he’ll be working in aero at graduation (Meche major), had 5 offers including two in aero and at strong salaries.
I think GT is an awesome get. Can’t get a better name. CU is as well.
But one still has to like where they are as they will be there day after day for four years and in engineering, he will have options if he’s a go getter.
If you hit Atlanta, you may want to add an Auburn, Bama, or UAH since you are close in case he decides it’s a better fit for him.
This has been an interesting thread to follow. My son was also accepted to Georgia tech for aerospace engineering, and Purdue, CU Boulder, UIUC, UA Huntsville, and Iowa State (go Cyclones!!). But he’s the opposite of yours—he prefers GT because it’s in a big city! Which surprised me. We’re from Anchorage, AK and my kids always have felt out of place in big cities. I really thought the midwest would be a draw to him (and the southern heat a turn off!). But the GT campus must give off that small school vibe that many have talked about here (I didn’t visit the campus with him). He got offered great merit aid from Purdue so he hasn’t made a decision yet, but he is definitely leaning towards Atlanta. Good luck to you and your son making this decision!
Good thing with GaTech is that it offered direct admission to Aero. While Purdue offered Presidential Scholarship to my OOS son, he is leaning towards GaTech (OOS) as well.
I guess its too early to decide and worth waiting until we get FAN.
Yes not submitting was an option for OOS but in Indiana it is (or will be a requirement ) for high school graduation so the pilot class is this incoming class and the application stated if have taken in and Indiana and not submitted must explain why not submitting scores . Interestingly enough we still don’t know what the “cut” scores for SAT to be used to deem “eligible for high school graduation “ for the benchmark for the state. Purdue accepts 45-50% OOS or international and I see in the future Indiana families will need to legislate like other states for different ratios.
Even though West Lafayette is small Purdue is huge and after Tim’s of college visits I would say Purdue has a very urban feel to it with growth and size .
Hope you enjoy! We just took our senior GT kid out to dinner last night when we went to Atlanta to drop off ski clothes for a date weekend next weekend (believe it or not Atlanta is a couple of hours from some pretty terrible skiing😂) and drove thru campus after with our admitted applicant. Really fun for him to see it for the first time knowing he was going there. The stadium was all lit up for some reason, and they had a new big sign out front saying Welcome to the flats. We are hoping for a better football season🤪
One other great thing to me that I remembered as I drove around it was that Georgia Tech is super walkable. You can walk from one end of campus to the other in about 20 minutes. My current GT Senior has never set foot on the bus.
One seminar class that only meets 8 weeks each semester for one hour a week (students can choose from several topics), plus one class taken at the honors level (can be a gen ed requirement or a class required for one’s major and can be taken either semester). It comes out to about 6 honors credits a year.
Has that changed recently? My D only had one seminar class first semester freshman year. She did other things to get there rest of her honors credits (study abroad, research, and mentoring).
My son was denied from GT, which honestly he was fine eith. It was his least favorite school he applied to. He has gotten into Purdue, University of Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado Boulder and a few others (not as prominent for engineering). Still waiting on Texas Austin, Virginia Tech and UVA. GT is either loved or disliked for its college vibe.
Question regarding LOCI, is the college looking for just a letter from the student re-expressing how much they like and want Purdue? Also, does LOCI truly make a difference or have any students in the past who did not submit any LOCI get-in? Just trying to understand if the college has already made a decision or will make a decision on different parameters (# of spots open and so on) irrespective of any further material from the student.
I don’t know what the requirements were, but daughter is required to do an honors seminar each semester. It is literally only 8 hours in the whole semester, so she’s not complaining. I would have to check the website. She took an honors math class first semester, which would have satisfied this years honors requirement, but she decided to take an honors technical writing class she needs for her major, which will pre-bank some honors credits for the future.
I honestly don’t know, Topgolf. However, if your student was deferred, my guess is that Purdue is afraid of over-enrolling again, so they are waiting to get an idea of how many EA candidates accept their offers. I will say that there’s a lot of movement in and out of Purdue each semester (a huge number graduate in December, plus kids drop out, take time off, switch to online learning, etc.). So if Purdue is your first choice, do send a LOCI, but mention you would like to be considered for a spring or summer start. I dare guess - just guess - if you offer to live off campus, that might slightly increase your chances, but there’s both upside and downside to that decision, so I wouldn’t do it without considerable research. By research I mean checking availability of suitable apartments (most within walking distance are full for the fall), but also understanding that means no meal plan and about zero chance of being able to get back on campus later.
I’m not aware of a first year Honors class requirement other than the HONR199 - 8 weeks each semester. The program requirement is "Take at least one honors course per academic year ", which I believe the seminar satisfies first year, and then a number of total credits over the 4 years (plus GPA, research, etc. requirements).
My daughter took an honors math course first semester, but that was lightly enrolled so at most 5% of HC students took it, and I never heard of a need for a first year course outside of 199.
Typically, not bothering to express an interest makes deferred acceptance difficult (as a broad generality based on non-Purdue AO discussions). I don’t think the content of the message is especially meaningful, if completed.
Thank you both. That’s helpful to know. This whole deferral process seems to make an already stressful process even more stressful but it is what it is. Thanks again.
With our UMich decision postponed, I sat down and reviewed the Purdue electrical and computer engineering program today. Looks top notch! Also loving that their upper level humanities classes include really great options even for those going into technical professions.
A couple of local parents said something about CE students not being allowed to take CS classes because that major is in college of sciences, but I’m not really seeing why students would? CE classes are a superset of CS classes anyways. Seems like an observation that’s more about registration mechanics than actual course content. Anyone wanna weigh in on this?
The thing that was most worrying the kid was whether he would flunk out of FYE before he even got his major. After reviewing FYE, it looks like he can AP out of more than half of the required classes. The question is…should he? I think the coursework at a rigorous college might have more to offer on the subject than his high school, but then again, it’s nice to save some time and $ too. Would be cool to hear how others dealt with their APs and what impact it had.
I can only speak to the AP part of the question as I have a chem E.
D used AP credits for everything but calc II. In retrospect, she says she should have started in calc III. Purdue posts all the old finals so students can take them and see how they do. They can then talk to their advisors about what to place out of.
Using her AP credits opened up room to take courses for certifications, concentrations, and now as a senior even grad level courses. It was one of the things that appealed to her about Purdue.
My only caution is that your student will then need to meet the engineering index to transition to major with higher level math, physics, cs classes. Their grades in the AP courses don’t count in their Purdue GPA.