thanks all. wise words…
I know this rowing thing is an issue…and I DO know he needs to pick a school where he will be able to graduate and get a job…as you say, twoinanddone, academically he doesn’t even belong at an MIT GaTech, so finding a school that has the option of rowing, but is right academically is the goal. RIT sounds very interesting, although a long way from Texas…he is game though.
Also am looking at Kansas and Kansas State…both have crew, and engineering and are not top end academically. University of Wisconsin is in there too.
I would like to put together a list too, of appropriate engineering schools without the rowing factor weighing them.
At this point, and being in Texas so geographic bias…U Arkansas, Oklahoma State and University, Texas Tech are what I am looking at…need to expand that.
I will jump on the Engineering forum and learn more there. Lots of great options…
I think you’ll be surprised just how hard it is for your son to get into Wisconsin and on the rowing team. Both very top level. Kansas and K State also tough admits and tough to make the team.
If his rowing stats put him in the elite group (I don’t know what he needs) then I’d certainly try to use them in get into a higher ranked school, as that seems important to you. If his rowing isn’t going to get him in, then if he wants to row he’s got to drop his expectations because I don’t think the stats you posted are screaming ‘top tier engineering school’.
My daughter could have used her sport to get into a higher ranked school, but she didn’t want that for two reasons. First, she didn’t want to be a bench player at a D1 school where they have 40-45 on the team and only 12 on the field (and the scholarship would have been lower too). Second, she didn’t want the pressure of a big engineering school where she got in on her athletic ability but her academics were a step below most of the others (she had good grades and scores, just not 4.0/33 ACT). She likes being one of the better players at a smaller school, and loves the academic fit. I think she could have done fine at a top engineering school like MIT or GaTech, but she didn’t want the pressure.
twoinanddone, i appreciate what you are saying. I think he needs to drop the crew idea. He is a strong player, but not 6’4" and “elite” in any sense. He is not the kid that can swing that into getting into an elite school, and it is no fun being at the bottom and struggling. I am really revising my ideas to an appropriate school for him to get a good education. He doesn’t need the academic pressure, and even though I know his intelligence to be high, it is not going to be shown in the academic arena. Any ideas for schools? I am moving over to the engineering forum to learn more there, but i do think, for him, an engineering degree from Texas Tech or U Arkansas will be worth more than a liberal art/random degree from a higher ranked school. Thanks for your input!
It still sounds like WPI would be a good fit.
I think you’ve received a ton of good school suggestions for engineering. If you want one of the tech schools, RPI, WPI, Illinois Tech are all great. The southwest has New Mexico schools, the Arizona schools. In the ‘cold belt’ there is North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana. All those schools have very good engineering programs (especially in petroleum or hard rock), and most are smaller than the big Texas schools. If he still wants rowing, there are plenty of schools that would allow him both the engineering and the rowing - Embry Riddle in Daytona and Florida Tech are two, but just go up and down the coasts and you’ll find them.
Has your son only been doing Erg rowing? He’d find it much different to go to the NW or NE and be at the boathouse at 5 am (when it’s freezing). My daughter has to be at practice at 6, and she’s always wishing she could sleep just one hour more. Loves it, but it is hard to be on an athlete’s schedule, especially living in the dorms when others aren’t on that up-before-dawn schedule. I’m not suggesting he can’t do rowing and engineering, he can and many do, just that if you want an elite program at an elite school, he’s going to have to be superior in one or the other, or perhaps both, and the stats you posted for academics probably aren’t high enough for admission to the elite schools on grades alone.
On the athletic board, it is often suggested to want to attend the school without the athletics when picking. We’ve certainly found that’s important. My daughter has had a lot of friends recruited and then not like playing. If they don’t also like the school, there is nothing to keep them there. She’s also had friends recruited, quit the team, but still stay at the school.