I am currently a Junior in a texas High School, and want to know about my chances for a university.
PSAT 1460/1520 (just came out today)
SAT-Not taken yet but I predict around the same as PSAT
Weighted GPA: 9th-3.76 10th-3.76 11th-4.23(Currently)
UW GPA: ~3.3
My class ranking was 336/704 (so quite bad) however, this year I am at a different(and much easier) school so I predict perhaps ~25%
I wasn’t in any clubs for 9th and 10th grade but right now I am in a club and also a part of NHS.
I also do Taekwondo and various other non-school related extracurriculars. I also plan on joining the civil air patrol (I will probably make at least Senior Airman in a year).
Classes:
History
World Geography(H)
World History(H)
European History(AP)
US History(AP)
Art History(AP)
English
English I(H)
English II(H)
English III(AP)
Math
Pre-Algebra(H)
Algebra(H)
Geometry(H)
Algebra II(H)
Pre-Cal(H)
Science
Biology(H/R)
Chemistry(H)
Physics(H)
Spanish
Spanish I®
Spanish II(H)
Engineering(PLTW)
Gateway®
Introduction to Engineering®
Principles of Engineering®
Other
Computer Science I(AP)
Psychology(AP)
Politics(AP)
Note-Ironically enough, my worst grades are in math and science while my best grades are in History and English (I routinely max those classes with little effort-however my parent’s are extremely insistent that I do engineering)
What are my chances, and what can I do to improve my chances?
"Note-Ironically enough, my worst grades are in math and science while my best grades are in History and English "
This would greatly concern me for someone who wants to go into engineering. When you say worse grades what kind of grades are we talking about. I ask because any engineering school is going to have weed out classes.
I have no AP math and the only A I had was from 8th grade. I get mostly Bs and Cs.
Compared to History and English (where I have 4 AP and the rest honors), I always get between 95-100. I don’t even study at all for those classes (while I do study for math and science). In fact, the only reason my GPA isn’t 6 feet under the ground is because of all my AP english/history classes that are keeping me afloat while I have Bs and Cs in Math/Science.
However, engineering is pretty much my only option. My only concern is getting into the college. I feel like I will worry about my college GPA later (which will mostly suck since I will be taking mostly STEM related classes and the only reason my high school GPA isn’t down the drain is due to English and History).
In the end, I am not in the position to really choose something other than engineering because I am an immigrant without access to student loans etc. and the only way my parents will give me money is for STEM.
Being an immigrant, are you a resident of the state of Texas? If you are not, applying to the top 2 competitive schools for admissions for out of state applicants is very limited and out of state applicants that do get admitted have very high credentials. That is not to say that it is impossible.
UT is probably serious reach .Even though you PSAT is good, your rank is much to low and may hinder you quite a bit for regular admission, Even if you make national merit commended. Being an immigrant, only if you are an underrepresented minority (Indian and Asian do not count as URM) it might give you a hook. If you are Hispanic, and are a designated Hispanic Scholar, that might help you but not a guarantee. If your rank does not get up into the top 25%, that will be a ding against you also for Texas A&M.
With Texas A&M, if your SAT is over 1360 with at least a 620 in Math and 660 in EBRW, AND are also in top 25% of your class, you would qualify as an academic admit into the university. You would not be directly admitted to engineering. Your application would undergo review for admission into the college of engineering.
With no AP math (especially calculus) and no AP physics,that might make it a reach for you. A&M implimented the review process this year, much like UT does, to make sure you are qualified to handle the courses going in. They don’t have much if any room for you to take classes to get up to speed.
Which university you choose depends on which major you actually are looking for. Some Universities admit directly to major and some have you apply to major after a set time/set curriculum is met. Some hit the ground running with Engineering Calculus and some offer classes to get you up to speed. There are way too many schools and different engineering majors to tell you which ones you would have a chance at. That is for you to take the time to investigate.
Look into University of Texas at Arlington. You also might get merit aid with high SAT. My son was a national Merit Commended (and had the PLTW classes) and they offered him a generous merit aid package. They admit directly to major and you can take courses to get you up to speed. They have a very large diverse population of immigrants and URM. UT Dallas and Texas Tech are other engineering colleges, as is UT Dallas and TCU but you would have to look into them, as they all don’t offer every engineering major. I think you might find the Arlington, Dallas/Fort Worth area much to your liking.
I am getting my greencard in a couple months and have lived in Texas for about 11 years on a visa.
Yea, I realize that UT and A&M are a reach and if not I might have to settle of UTD or something. However, if I get accepted to either of them, I certainly won’t go to a place like UTD especially since I don’t need any financial aid(my parents are covering the cost). I actually lived a few blocks from UTD for a couple years before moving elsewhere in Texas and went to the campus of few times, it doesn’t seem that good.
However, if I can’t get into either A&M or UT then I will probably have to go to UTD then transfer to UT.