SAT: 1470 (June scores were supposed to be better but I think everyone knows what happened with those)
GPA: 3.7 unweighted, 4.1 weighted
Extras:
President of French club
Varsity Quiz Bowl
Brought together a team for our state science league chemistry division
Volunteer at library, animal shelter ~25 hours
Started a small organization with my friend to teach English to newly arrived immigrants ~50 hours so far
AP Scholar with distinction. I’ve taken 5 AP exams so far, 5s in macro, french, and apush and 4s in bio and micro. My total number of AP classes and exams for all of high school would be 9. Total honors classes: 6. I also finished french a year early for my grade level.
My senior year course load:
AP Stat, Chem, Gov Pol, and Lit
Honors iSTEM
CP Calculus
I will also be taking the AP Calc AB exam.
I’m worried about 2 of my grades in particular. Last year in honors math (junior year) I was hoping to end with a B but things got messed up due to some reasons and it came down to a 78. Freshman year honors physics was worse (72) because I had no idea how high school worked because I moved from a different country. I didn’t have many friends either, and it took me until mid sophomore year to understand what college applications were like. In my country, they only look at this one important test score and not much else matters. I found out later that the test I was waiting for didn’t exist here, and that colleges look for a wholesome application with extracurriculars and volunteering and stuff.
However I don’t think I will end up explaining these grades to colleges since they would only look like excuses. Besides, my school is extremely competitive and is also notorious for its difficult required freshman physics program.
I do not find math difficult when applied to science; this is why I feel that chemical engineering will not be exceeding difficult for me. However I know that the engineering program at UMD is extremely competitive and they will probably not appreciate this downward grade trend for math.
So, as a parent of an engineer (graduated) I’m not going to respond to any question of “chance of admission” but I will tell you that at Maryland, you can be admitted to the University itself, but not (directly) admitted to engineering…initially. However, as long as you pass what they call “gateway” classes with the minimum grade required, you can absolutely be admitted to engineering later. So, if Maryland is your number one choice, you only first need admission to the University itself. I know many students that have graduated in 4 years with engineering degrees without any problems even though they didn’t initially get direct admission to engineering as incoming freshman. (The process of applying after matriculation is officially referred to as an “internal transfer.”)
However, what I do want to comment on is your statement that “I do not find math difficult when applied to science; this is why I feel that chemical engineering will not be exceeding difficult for me.”
I personally wouldn’t be overly concerned about a high school freshman grade in physics as much as whether or not physics in general is problematic for you since chemical engineering requires 3 semesters of physics.
As for math, I can tell you that even the best students can have bad teachers/circumstances that affect their grades. However, engineering is not just “math when applied to science.” Math is foundational to all engineering concepts, so while engineering courses utilize math, you still will need to take 4 math courses (or if you score a 4 or 5 on the Calc AB exam, you can skip the first class and only take 3 math courses). Take a look at the coursework for chemical engineering using this link:
My kid is a freshman at the Clark School of Engineering. I recall my kid was asked to identify/indicate up to three (I could be wrong) potential/preferred majors in the Coalition App (Engineering was her first choice, major undecided at the time). I don’t know if this would carry any weight into the admission process especially to Engineering, but if you are very sure to major in engineering, it seems logical to select School of Engineering as your top advising school during your application. I also found this from UMD website: “Prospective Maryland students should indicate their preferred major when completing their online application for admission. However, your preferred major does not affect your admissibility to the university.” https://www.admissions.umd.edu/explore/limited-enrollment-programs under prospective UMD students. Good luck.
To add to the above comment, I can tell you that when you select engineering as a major, your application goes through a separate review only AFTER the university itself makes the decision to admit you. The criteria and review for engineering admissions is an entirely different evaluation. Over the years, many students have been admitted to the university and even to honors college, but not admitted to engineering. Direct admission as a freshman is extremely competitive, BUT as explained in my first comment, the internal transfer process is guaranteed admission to engineering if you pass all the required classes with the grade they state is the minimum needed for engineering admissions. They do not have a set number of students per discipline, but total number of engineers they will admit, regardless of how many are mechE, EE, chemical, undecided, etc. @FindAName For more detailed information on engineering, here is a thread I started to put all the info in one place http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1732708-everything-you-want-to-know-about-engineering-at-maryland-p1.html
@LotcaJH Your son should definitely go to the information sessions for QUEST Honors Program. It is a 3 year cross-disciplinary program for engineers, business and CMNS students that is really fabulous and unique. Please share this link with him (https://go.umd.edu/questps)
My apologies…I should not have specified son…but regardless of my goof, I’m glad you shared it with your daughter! I hope she’s connected to WIE? It’s really top notch from all I have heard about it. If you have any questions about that, QUEST or anything in engineering, please feel free to PM me! My son did MechE. I also highly recommend for your daughter to get involved in research. My son regrets not having gotten involved in research sooner (yes, it’s open to freshmen!) because he said that it’s where all the hands on fun is…nothing like his impression of research from high school…
Thank you, Maryversity. Yes, she is in both Scholars and Flexus (formerly known WIE) programs. I will certainly reach out to you for anything engineering. She is currently in CE of ECE department.
That’s perfect. Flexus is an amazing program and served as the inspiration for Virtus (for guys)!!! They really do a great job supporting engineering students to ensure success.
@maryversity thank you for your insight! Will being an international student with 4 years of high school in the US impact my chances in either a positive or negative way?
I don’t think there will be any negative impact whatsoever! Just make sure you apply by Nov 1 deadline. Honestly, I would try to submit it by Oct 30th or 31st at the latest because technology is always a tricky thing and if the internet is down or servers get jammed from all of the last-minute submissions, you could have an unanticipated problem…Best of luck in the admissions process!