So Im starting to look in to colleges for engineeeing and I’m considering UIC and Bradley but what other schools would I be able to get into. I want to go into to industrial or civil engineering. My weighted GPA is a 3.5 and my unweighted is a 3.4 I think as my SAT is 1160.I’ve taken a lot of honors classes and AP classes and plan to take a lot of AP classes my senior year to. I’ll make a list of my classes below. Also I’ve voulunteered and I have a job. I’ve also done track my freshmen year and played highschool basketball my sophomore year and Im very involved through my church organization as well.
These are a list of my honors/ AP classes only.
Freshman:
Honors pltw(engineering course)
Honors geometry
Honors English
Sophomore:
Honors English
Honors algebra
Honors chemistry
Junior:
Honors POE(engineering course)
Honors physics
AP English
Senior:
AP calculus
AP physics
AP gov/macro
Honors CIM( engineering course)
I’ve also only taken two years of foreign language which was German. Will that hurt my application. I’ve really wanted to do engineering and I know I have to improve my SAT score but with the scores I have now where can I go? Thank you for the help
What is your SAT math score? Your SAT is lowish for an eng’g major. What grades are you getting in math this year? What math are you taking this year?
Are you an IL resident?
Have you asked your parents how much they’ll pay for college? If not, do so.
I am an IL resident and my SAT math score is a 600. I know I have to improve so I’m taking the SAT again in June then again until I get a score I’m satisfied with. Also Im taking regular pre calc this and have a B but I can probably raise to an A by the end of the semester. Also my parents said they would pay as much as they can for my college and the rest I’d have to take a student loan
This unfortunately gets you no closer to understanding your financial constraints.
Have your parents fill out a free FAFSA estimator to see what colleges are going to expect them to contribute. See if that number is less than or equal to what they think they can pay. Understand, too, that the loans you can take out on just your own signature are relatively small, about $6K/yr or so. Anything above that your parents need to cosign or take out themselves. Will they do that?
I think you need a much more in-depth financial discussion with your parents than what you have so far. There is no sense wasting money applying to schools you can’t afford or time looking into them.
On a different note your SAT and gpa are on the low side for those accepted to engineering.Factors related to learning under your control include how much time you study, and whether you use good study techniques. Nobody ever gets taught how to study in school for some strange reason, you’re just supposed to figure it out yourself.
Good approaches are known. Examples of bad approaches are rereading the book before a test and studying for it the day or two before the exam. There is a recent book that explains the how and why of best practices called “Make it Stick”. I suggest getting a copy and reading it over the summer
Pending financial considerations, Clarkson offers breadth and depth in engineering and would be within reach for you. RIT might require a somewhat higher SAT score, but could eventually be an option.
Several colleges and universities in neighboring states offer ABET accredited. They aren’t often mentioned here because, well, they’re not that selective on admissions.
IL participates in the Midwest Student Exchange Program (search engine this), and as I recall several colleges in MI, WI, and KS at least ought to be more financially possible than Bradley, as well as a little less daunting admissions wise.
Civil E requires a strong background in math and physics. Without that, it will be tough to get through the major. You will want to be in the A or high B range in those courses in HS or you’ll be starting behind at even a mid level engineering program.
Your grades and test scores are very low for UICU engineering. It would be a real reach for you unless something significantly changes. Suggest you cast your net wider and look for schools that align more closely with your current academic profile for match and safety schools.
I know I can’t get into university of Illinois at Urbana unless I higher my scores but would university of Illinois at Chicago possibly workout for me in engineering. I know they have a higher acceptance rate then other colleges but I’m still not sure
Is English not your first language, or are you an int’l applicant?
Look into the University of Toledo. It’s a suburban campus that’s actually pretty attractive. It has a rather Gothic vibe to it. It has a very good engineering program and a mandatory co-op requirement that will help defray costs. It would be OOS but is not too expensive as an OOS school. I think your GPA and test scores might be a bit below average for their engineering program but still competitive.
My D applied to the U of Toledo back in 2012 for the 13/14 school year. We were in Ohio and I required that she apply to at least 1 in state school as a safety. She could have chosen U of Cincinnati or Ohio State but after visiting U of Toledo and going through their Engineering Program presentation she chose UT and neither of the others. In the end she had choices such as Case Western, Purdue and of course UT and some others. Purdue was always her 1st choice and they (along with CWRU) made it affordable for her to attend. However, she would have chosen UT over CWRU she felt that good about their engineering program. Much of it due to the fact that she saw co-oping as mandatory and while she could have done that at Case it wasn’t a priority there.
I think UT might be a good fit for you. Given your HS records you seem reasonably well prepared to study engineering. I’m including some URLs for you to look at. Good luck this next year.
http://www.utoledo.edu/engineering/
https://eng.utoledo.edu/coop/
http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/coe/admissions/prospective_students/ Pay attention to the admission requirements here.
http://www.utoledo.edu/admission/freshman/tuition/2017-tuition.html
http://www.utoledo.edu/admission/freshman/scholarships/2017/
http://www.utoledo.edu/admission/freshman/scholarships/out-of-state.html
It’s a of information but I think UT might be an good and affordable option for you.