Yesterday we got a letter with the following info explaining why S was not directly admitted to COE:
-they look at ACT scores, with an emphasis on math (S had a 35C and a 36 in math)); strong college prep curriculum (11 APs, including calc and computer science, plus several college classes in CS), and class rank or GPA (S’s issue–had a lot of Bs as a sophomore, so despite a 4.8 wgpa junior year, only 37% with a 4.02 W).
The middle 50% of COE enrolled students is a 28-32, and 96% were in the top 10% of their class.
Just thought I’d pass this along in case people are trying to figure out chances–strong test scores and upward trends apparently do not make the cut. They are really emphasizing grades and rank, so those with less than perfect scores but strong grades should be fine, vice versa not so much.
Good luck everyone!
I guess I’m lucky then, only in the top 25th percentile of my class, 1370 (CR+M) SAT. I’m also OOS and first gen if that helps at all. Did this letter come in the mail or via Buckeye mail?
Physical mail. He was accepted for exploration in the first wave, so this come 6 weeks after his acceptance. He’s OOS too.
@s16s18s21s25,
If your son wants to do a Computer and Information Sciences (CIS), there is absolutely zero downside of being in the explorations program. CIS has identical computer science coursework as the CSE degree (for which being in explorations can make things challenging). Please feel free to PM me if you want to find out more.
It seems like your son would go great in computer science at Ohio State – it is just that the whole admission process is very mechanical (and has zero involvement of the specific department).
@osuprof
He really only wants CS in a COE–He might ask for reconsideration since he took all APs this fall and got straight As again. We are waiting to see how much his GPA and rank rise. I figured it was all a numbers game, just depends on what the school values. He was accepted quickly at a few other good schools which apparently care less about rank. Lessons learned for S18, S21, and S25…
I got in last Friday with a 29 act,
3.7 weighted GPA. 4 APs including senior year, and three honors classes. First gen college student, living in Silicon Valley. I had a college class for cs on my transcript so I have some experience. I don’t know my rank but I go to one of the top public schools in California. CSE major
My son is OOS as well (Mass) and accepted into the Exploration Program (Science and Technology). He applied for Computer Science and Engineering. 3.93 unweighted, 5 AP’s with all the rest as honors classes. NHS, varsity captaincies (and 4 years in each) in basketball, soccer and tennis. Student Council, Social Committee. Chosen as the only student in out town to represent the town at a state government volunteer day (Project 351), volunteer for the JDRF (his 14 year old sister has Type 1 Diabetes) and the American Cancer Society. Only thing missing was that he didn’t kill his ACT’s. Only got a 27 and an 1880 on his SAT’s.
Got into the Computer Science and Engineering programs at Penn State, UMass Amherst, UNH (Computer Engineering), Providence College and UMaine. Waiting on UConn (no early action at the school). OSU his first choice so looks like that will be the one he attends, as we already gave the acceptance deposit, though we understand it’s non binding of the money doesn’t shake out. Hopefully he can get into the CSE program after his first year.
My ds was admitted in December, and was also admitted to the Honors program. He has a 34 ACT, a 750 on the SAT II Math 2 subject test, 750 on Chem subject test, and 710 on the physics subject test. He also has 10 APs, including all of the science and math AP courses, and is a National Merit Semi-Finalist. We homeschool, so we have have no class rank. He has been a varsity swimmer x 4 years (and captain), has been involved in debate for 4 years, and had various volunteer activities.
I just want to remind people that OSU does not offer a direct admission to the College of Engineering. Students are only admitted to the pre-engineering program. From what I have read, the only benefit of being admitted to the pre-engineering department is that you get an adviser in the engineering department. I don’t want to completely downplay the importance of being admitted “pre-engineering”, but what will really count as far as admission into the College of Engineering is the student’s GPA at Ohio State. Good luck!!
@BlessedMom,
Congratulations on your son’s accomplishment.
I think the disadvantage of being in exploration as opposed a pre-engineering major is that getting into certain classes (especially the freshmen engineering sequence) can be extremely hard. These classes are often in the list to classes to be completed before applying to be in the major.
This is not an issue for those who want computer science, because the computer and information science major (offered by art and science anyways) does not create any issues for those starting in explorations. But I think it can be problematic for other majors, though there might be workarounds.