<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I have just entered the summer going into my senior year of High School. I have not been focused on school very much and my GPA thus is not very high. I got serious when it was kind of too late. In terms of location, I'm from the LA Area coming out of a humanities magnet program with a good track record for berkley. Through this program, my ability to take AP classes has been limited because i have to take the magnet english/history classes. I've only taken two APs thus far, in 11th grade, physics and US. I'll be taking Lit and Calc AB next year to make a grand total of 4. my HS gpa is 3.497 and my UC GPA is 3.55 up to 11th grade 1st semester. i took the sat 2x, 1st score was an 1880 and second was 1930. i plan to take this again and score above 2000. in terms of extracirriculars i've volunteered in various places, played football for one year only for my HS, and during this summer will be volunteering at the WH hospital.</p>
<p>in terms of majors...i want to be an engineer.</p>
<p>this is my dilemma, engineering is extremely competitive and i don't have very good grades...i can't do much to improve my GPA but I know I can raise my SAT score.</p>
<p>in terms of private universities, i don't apply for financial aid and probably don't qualify for many merit based scholarships. my parents dont have the money to send me to expensive private universities like Syracuse for example. </p>
<p>what do I do? what kind of schools do I focus on? Do I even have any shot at a UC at this point?</p>
<p>There are lots of decent state universities in the country that seem to accept a majority of their applicants. Many are in the Midwest and South. Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Colorado State, Michigan State, Auburn, LSU, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State, Clemson, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Miami of Ohio, Ohio U., Texas Tech.</p>
<p>Here is a list of your instates that offer engineering:</p>
<p>[University</a> of California - Academic Programs - Engineering and Computer Science - Information on University of California academic programs in the arts, humanities and sciences, extension classes and professional schools](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/academics/engcs.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/academics/engcs.html)</p>
<p>Take some time to research these and find the ones your stats will fit into. If your family doesn’t have a lot of money, and your grades are not stellar, you probably need to stay instate. Probably not Berkeley, but what about Riverside or Davis? </p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Wait, so why won’t you apply for financial aid?</p>
<p>Definitely look at Clemson! Out of state tuition is expensive, but a little cheaper than the expensive private universities. You can definitely get into the engineering program though with those grades or at the least compete for a spot (I got in with a 3.06 GPA at a top HS in Massachusetts).</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any questions!!</p>
<p>wow guys I really appreciate the responses.</p>
<p>I’ll look into the listed schools</p>
<p>in terms of engineering, everyone is telling me that it is a nearly impossible degree…</p>
<p>i mean if you really work hard it at it and your pretty good at physics/math then it shouldnt be impossible right?</p>
<p>how is UC Davis’ engineering program…i’ve heard in general engineering programs at UC’s are ridiculously competitive</p>
<p>also, if anyone could give me quick advice about university of washington? i heard they have good engineering schools and the tuition is not too expensive compared to a school like USC Or syracuse. i’ve also heard this about Bimmington <–spell check haha</p>
<p>my parents make too much money for financial aid but because of the economy we’ve hit a very rough patch in terms of debt and thats why scholarships would be ideal for me at this point</p>
<p>Engineering is not an impossible degree, you are absolutely right, if you are good at it and enjoy solving problems, are good at science/math and have a genuine interest in the subject, anything is possible. Don’t listen to the people who try and knock you down.</p>
<p>UC-Berkeley and UCLA are obviously the best engineering programs but I don’t think you can get into them. UC-Davis, UC-Irvine and UC-San Diego have good engineering programs as well. University Of Washington is very good for engineering as well as USC. Syracuse and Binghamton? not so much.</p>
<p>Also, when August comes around, pick up a copy of US News’ college rankings and there will be a ranking of engineering colleges. Don’t take the exact order of schools too serious but it will help you to see what general group of schools are regarded highly in the engineering field.</p>
<p>Take a look at this list of the best value colleges:
Public - [Best</a> Values in Public Colleges, 2010-11](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges/]Best”>Best College Values, 2019 | Kiplinger)
Private - [Best</a> Values in Private Colleges, 2010-11](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/privatecolleges/]Best”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts)</p>
<p>Edit: Here’s the US News ranking for engineering from last year: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/981759-us-news-undergrad-engineering-rankings-2011-a.html?highlight=us+news[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/981759-us-news-undergrad-engineering-rankings-2011-a.html?highlight=us+news</a></p>
<p>PS: Take a look at Purdue, they are in the top 10 for engineering every year and I think like 65% of students who apply get in. Engineering is very tough though at Purdue and it sounds like a lot of people drop out but if you can get your foot in the door and work hard, you can succeed!</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I was told Binghamton has a very good engineering school so i’m not sure…I know they have one of the fastest growing engineering schools in the nation.</p>
<p>Also, do you think I have a shot at getting into Davis/San Diego/Irvine/Univ. of Washington Seattle engineering schools if I increase my SAT scores?</p>
<p>There are schools of all levels of selectivity that offer engineering, including [University</a> of California](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu%5DUniversity”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu) and [California</a> State University<a href=“including%20the%20Cal%20Polys”>/url</a> schools. Your stats indicate likely admission to some UC and CSU schools.</p>
<p>Choose a school that has an [url=<a href=“http://www.abet.org/AccredProgramSearch/AccreditationSearch.aspx]ABET”>http://www.abet.org/AccredProgramSearch/AccreditationSearch.aspx]ABET</a> accredited](<a href=“http://www.csumentor.edu%5DCalifornia”>http://www.csumentor.edu) engineering degree program in the desired engineering major.</p>
<p>If you go out of state, some schools like Washington and Virginia Tech are relatively inexpensive for out of state costs.</p>
<p>melokid, I think you’ve been misled, as you can see in the US News rankings, Binghamton is 110th for engineering. The best engineering school in New York is SUNY-Buffalo or SUNY-Stony Brook.</p>
<p>By the way, you might want to post something in the engineering forum as well and see what people there think (talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-colleges)</p>