I am going to be a senior in high school next year and I would like to major in MechE.
Got my June Math 2 score and got 680…
How much does that test count for?
I plan to take Physics in Oct, should I retake math too?
Given that I have…
SAT I Stats: 680 Reading, 720 Math, 740 Writing. 2140. (superscored over 2 sittings)
GPA uw: 3.8 (Geometry: B, Alg2: A, Precalc: A [all honors]) (H Bio: A, H Chem: A-, AP Physics: A-, Java: A)
year round school sports and volunteering extracurriculars
Would I be introuble for admissions for these schools now because of my SAT 2 Math? I know its hard to predict in general and its even harder bc it is based on such few things, but just a rough estimate would be appreciated. I’d be willing to retake, but only if it is really needed, because then I could just devote more time to physics instead.
Johns Hopkins
University of Maryland
Cornell
Virginia Tech
Rennselaer
Stevens
Rutgers
Lehigh
Carnegie Mellon
Penn State
I don’t know how hard it is to get into engineering at Penn State, VT, Maryland or Rutgers. They all have good reputations though, so I’d guess they are at least somewhat selective. If that is indeed the case, you need a safety school, one you absolutely know you’ll get into with your current test scores and grades, one you will be able to afford without unrealistic aid, and ideally, one you don’t see as settling, a school that should be in the running for the top spot. What state are you from?
@colorado_mom Sure (if you ignore the people who are applying to schools that require them on a whim, or because they want to make money as an engineer), but if you’re applying to schools for strong math students (Johns Hopkins, CMU, Cornell) wouldn’t you not want to be in the bottom half of your competition, at least??
ETA: I’d imagine it doesn’t matter so much for the others. PSU doesn’t superscore, but assuming the two individual SATs are similar to the superscore, I’d say that’s a safety and the subject tests have no bearing on that.
@eyemgh Im from New Jersey. I know that UMD Eng has 28% acceptance rate(visited there). PSU doesnt release acceptance info for eng, but petersons says 21%. VT didnt have eng acceptance, but university wide was 70%.
Rutgers I could not find.
You need a slam dunk. Right now, you don’t have one. You may very well get into many or all on the list, but there isn’t a sure thing among them. You need one.
I think you’re missing my point. When you get into the realm of less than 25% admission, it means they are rejecting qualified students. If the planets align just wrong, you could end up not getting in anywhere. Certainly study and do the best you possibly can, but make sure you include a school that you know you’ll be happy at and you know with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY that you’ll get in. That might be Rutgers. I’m not sure. Find one and apply. Don’t be part of that small group of kids who every year end up with no acceptances.
EDIT: Rutgers engineering admits just over 50% of its applicants, so that looks like a decent option. Also, why isn’t Rowan on the list? Their honors program has a great reputation and they had a massive facilities upgrade in the STEM section not to long ago.
I agree that your score is lower than you’d like to see for engineering. You can retake it, but as other posters have wisely advised, you may want to add some safety schools to your list.
For most families, financial factors are important too. Has your family run NPC (Net Price Calculators)? That helps determine whether to chase schools with merit-based scholarship or need-based FA (Financial Aid). … or in rare cases neither if $60/year is easily affordable.
@Happysteve, it’s hard to suggest schools without knowing a bit more of what you’re looking for. There’s lots more than just the reputation. Location? Size? Non-academics? How do they actually educate undergrads? Large classes? Project based learning? Without knowing what YOU want, I can only suggest what I like.
With that said, I’d look at WPI. They have a very innovative curriculum and a reputation for producing good engineers. Also, Northeastern. Their co-op program is well regarded.
Again, the point about safeties IS NOT to say that you will not get into the schools on your list. It is to let you know that schools that are extremely selective get more qualified applicants that they have space for. You could get rejected EVEN IF YOU ARE IN THE TOP 25% OF THEIR ADMISSION PROFILE. In that realm there is an amount of randomness that you must be aware of. Admissions ARE NOT objective. You could fall victim and thus should have a contingency.
Ditto what @colorado_mom said. You also need to be sure your schools are affordable. Let’s take Cornell for instance. They offer no merit aid to anyone. So, if you can’t afford the bill with what you can expect with need based aid, there’s not a very compelling reason to apply.
Finally, back to your original question, you need to know who requires the SAT 2. Many schools on your list don’t. That’s an easy Google search “Which Schoolr Require SAT 2.” The rest of your scores are pretty solid. Ideally your reading would be in the 700s too, but it’s important to know that there are really minimal differences between scores in that range even though schools use them as some sort of magical predictor. You probably only missed or skipped 5 or 6 questions on the whole thing to drop you to 680. The 720 in math was likely 2 missed answers…on the whole thing! It’s really sort of silly actually. We pretend like there are massive differences between 680 and 780 and there isn’t.
Actually, a school’s admission process could be completely objective, but the admission profile can be misleading, since many schools have different (and often unpublished) admission thresholds for each major, due to different levels of application demand compared to capacity in each major. So students in the top 25% of the admission profile who apply to a popular major may still be rejected because the major has to have a higher threshold than most others at the school.
It is best to start your list with a safety with assured admission and assured affordability.
@ucbalumnus, Yea, I must have been tired when I wrote that sentence. My son goes to a school that uses an algorithm (objective based admission) and I know the calculation well. The point I was trying to make and that you made so well is that when schools are highly competitive, very well qualified students, ones that are highly capable of matriculating there and who may fall into the top 25% of the school’s profile, get rejected sometimes.
Interestingly, even at objective admission schools you can end up on the out. As you said, individual majors have different levels of competition. What many don’t realize though is that just because it’s objective doesn’t mean it’s 100% based on academic statistics. Yet another reason to have a safety.