no clue if I can get in engineering. but I still want to go to tech. should i risk it with general engineering (computer science) or play it safe and apply as a math major?
demo: southeast asian male (lol), low income, first gen
gpa: 3.59uw/4.18w (top 25% of class)
sat: 730 math, 690 r/w (1420)
classes: 12 ap class + multivariable calc (honors, lol)
ecs: average/below average (co-founder of a club and 1900 USCF rating)
https://enge.vt.edu/content/dam/enge_vt_edu/undergraduate/coe_com.pdf
If you enter in general engineering, you need a 3.0 college GPA to be assured of declaring a specific major. But if you enter outside of the engineering division, there is no such assurance at any college GPA.
You are definitely in the ballpark for engineering. And as the prior poster said, if you want to study engineering, you should attend a school that accepts you directly into their program since transferring in is often more difficult than direct admissions.
Fall 2019 first-year student profile:
Average high school GPA is 4.14
Average SAT Math score is 707
Average SAT Reading score is 652
Total SAT average is 1351
I’m more concerned I won’t get in at all… Does tech accept you into the school even if you get denied for engineering?
I know for a fact my GPA is well below that average (even though it might not look like it). A lot of kids at Tech are from NoVa which has a .5 weighted bonus for AP classes (whereas my my county does a +1 bonus). My weighted GPA with the NoVa schools’ system would only be 3.99.
I wouldn’t be extremely worried about your admissions chance if I were you. You are well within the range of getting into their College of Engineering. My advice is to just apply as an engineering major. With your stats, the difference between the chances of you getting in for engineering or math is very small. Therefore, apply to the program you would be happiest in. Transferring into engineering can sometimes make your life much more difficult in college.
I would speak to your high school councilor as to trends in admission in your high school. If not in top 15% of class I myself would be a little concerned on engineering chances. But not knowing your high school history its just a guess.
@idkevenimsobadd 100% check with your guidance office. Any data they keep (do they use Naviance for instance?) is going to be your best guide as to your chances for admission. Your initial competition is vs. students from your own school, then school system, then region, etc. As others have stated, transferring into engineering is a tough task these days, and to your other question - no, you do not have a 2nd option for admission (that was removed several years ago). Good luck!
Weighted GPAs are rather worthless for comparison purposes, unless it is students at your own high school. People commonly report and comment on weighted GPAs in these forums, but there are huge discrepancies in how high schools do the weighting. Some are extremely generous with extra points and some are stingy. I have no idea why colleges even report those numbers, since so often they recalculate them for admissions so they are more apples to apples. That said, I’m going to disagree with a previous comment that said there’s not much difference between applying engineering or math. Admission for engineering is handled differently than most other majors, and can be much more competitive. If your primary goal is engineering, go for it. If your primary goal is admission to Virginia Tech, you might want to think through those choices a bit more.
All counties in NOVA give +1 for AP courses. You received incorrect info.