<p>My son is interested in applying to the College of Engineering and likes both the Computer Science and the Computer Engineering programs. But his SAT Math score is low, 640. Does anyone know which of these two programs is more selective/harder to get into?</p>
<p>The same. From the umich engineering website: “For EECS degree programs a grade of C or better is required in all the Engineering core courses.”.</p>
<p>Aside from that requirement, a 2.0 GPA (good academic standing) is required to declare.
The hardest aspect is just getting accepted to the CoE.</p>
<p>you apply to COE first, then declare whichever major you want to pursue. At this point, I’d worry about raising the 640 because it’s going to ruin your son’s chances at COE.</p>
<p>He could apply to LSA to study Computer Science then transfer into the Engineering after first semester.</p>
<p>^^ that’s what I’m trying to do even though I’m going into lsa as a transfer. I THINK that he would have quite a few chances to transfer into coe from cs at lsa also, because he’ll be taking the same classes in lsa as they do at coe. (as opposed to majoring in pol sci then trying to transfer into coe for bio med eng.) Though I may be wrong with that point.</p>
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<p>^I don’t know that your son’s chances are “ruined” by the 640, but that accords with an ACT of 28, which IS kind of the bare minimum for the COE nine times out of ten. It would really really be worth a rewrite with more prep. Does your son have advanced/AP/IB courses with very high marks in math (calc)??? That would help offset or show that not everyone does as well on timed tests. Alternately, you may wish to have him take the ACT to see if the “more straightforward” approach suits him better/nets a higher score.</p>
<p>^ with a 640, even if he gets in, he’s going to need some luck to do well, or else he’ll be in the bottom pile. Now I dont know if OP’s son is unable to achieve a higher score or he just had a bad day. But as it stands, tough luck.</p>
<p>This presumes that LSA is more lenient with low math scores than CoE - is that true? Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a high AP score either - got a 3 on the AP in CS.</p>
<p>Typically, COE looks very closely at Math/Sci scores and less closely at verbal/writing scores. LSA looks at total scores overall – which is not to say it actually accepts a much lower score, but in which case a lower score offset by a higher verbal would then not be as difficult to overcome. These days I would not refer to any aspect of the UMich admissions spectrum as “lenient” under normal circumstances (and I know you meant comparatively.)</p>
<p>Both schools place the heavier emphasis on the GPA, provided the course load is rigorous and the school is known for rigor or NOT for grade inflation – so it is a holistic process. But may students are not exactly “calibrated” for the level of rigor in the COE, where the average GPA performance is 2.9, and where people who’ve never failed a course in their life <em>can</em> fail or pull a D, because everything is graded on a curve. So, when you have, for example, a lot of math superstars with perfect 800s on SAT Math or 35/36 in ACT…guess what happens to the curve ;)</p>
<p>cumings1 – that is correct; CoE looks specifically at math subscores for the ACT/SAT. There are many cases where CoE applicants get in when they have relatively low composite ACT/SAT scores, but near perfect math subscores. </p>
<p>In all honesty, I don’t think your son would fair very well in CS or CE if he only got a 3 on the Comp Sci AP – that is a very low score for an easy test. From what I remember, that AP only tested fundamental concepts and the ability to apply those concepts to basic situations. Unless your son really just didn’t have a programming background, a 3 on the AP test suggests that comp sci isn’t the right subject for him.</p>
<p>Now, if your son is actually serious about pursuing CS/CE, I see nothing barring him from performing at least decently given he drastically improves academically. However, at his current rate, I would predict that even if he got into CoE, he would fail out of CS/CE.</p>