<p>Sounds to me like UW may be UW-Seattle, which is also a good choice.</p>
<p>I think it would not hurt at a bit to try for engineering schools such as Harvey Mudd and Olin that try maintain equal gender ratios. The admit rate for females at these selective engineering schools is <em>much</em> higher than for males – on the order of 40% admit rate for females vs 15% for males – and this has to be the case every year in order for the schools to maintain gender balance, since only a small minority of applicants are female. Engineering schools with male-dominated cohorts, OTOH, are not as biased towards female applicants, which is clear because the ratio of admitted female/male is close (or closer) to the ratio of female/male in the applicant pool. </p>
<p>Also, since OP’s DD took the most advanced math and science offered and has a solid SAT, I think she has a shot at these selective schools, particularly if she has A’s in math and science and the B’s are in other subjects. The rigor of coursework is going to be much more important than the raw GPA. Harvey Mudd even says on its CDS that “GPA is not an admissions factor.” They care much more about the rigor of the math/science coursework and how she did in these specific classes than about the overall GPA number, which as a raw number is pretty meaningless when comparing one school to another, or even dissimilar coursework at the same school.</p>
<p>Fishbone - The UW does not look at gender or race so your daughter would not have an advantage there (at least that’s what they said in their computer science info. session and my daughter was the only female in the session).</p>
<p>I have never understood the knee jerk reaction that a student should attend his/her state school if it has a good program. For many families finances are not the primary concern and college is viewed as an opportunity to experience life in a different place where they can meet people who have different backgrounds. (I say this as the product of a Big 10 school with a child who attended another.) </p>
<p>My niece, a high achieving student from CA, is an engineering student at CWRU, with merit aid that makes the cost similar to the UCs. She likes the smaller size, the opportunity to continue her sport and is even enjoying the snow. :)</p>
<p>Any suggestions for the student who neglected to apply herself and now has below a 3.0? Extremely talented at CADD but too caught up in the high school drama and her sports so now not doing so well but getting better. Has a B in AP Chem, her only honors class. SAT were not good so taking that again as well as ACT. She really wants to major in mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>Has she thought about becoming a CADD operator? Being good at CADD doesn’t have anything to do with engineering potential. I got my master’s degree in engineering, but enjoy CADD work much more! It worked out well in my case, because DH and I started our own engineering firm, and I can do all of the CADD drawings instead of hiring someone else.</p>
<p>If she really wants to major in ME would she be willing to attend a community college for two years, work hard to get her grades up and then apply as a transfer to a four year college? Alternately she could apply undecided to a school with engineering, work hard there and then apply to the engineering school later. Her first two years would probably not include specific ME courses either way. (She might also be able to take an ME freshman seminar and see if that truly is what she wants to do.)</p>
<p>My son started working part time in high school doing CADD work for a local design firm and then did CADD work for the university when he was a student. Holding down a “serious” job is a nice thing to be able to put on an application or resum</p>
<p>fishbone, these stats are fine for general UW admission, but probably not good enough for direct admission to an engineering major. However, the vast majority of engineering students at UW are admitted to their majors after one or two years of pre-engineering coursework. If your DD has done well in math and science, that is what the engineering depts at UW are looking for – 3.5 or above in UW pre-engineering core coursework (calculus, chemistry, physics).</p>
<p>The “rank” of engineering varies by dept, and UW is top-ten in CS and top-twenty in many others. But as many others have said on this forum, rankings are not as important in engineering as in some other disciplines. ABET accreditation and industry connections (for internship opportunities) are important for students planning to go directly to industry, and research opportunities are important for those intending to pursue graduate school. UW has plenty of opportunities in both areas.</p>
<p>"Any suggestions for the student who neglected to apply herself and now has below a 3.0? Extremely talented at CADD but too caught up in the high school drama and her sports so now not doing so well but getting better. Has a B in AP Chem, her only honors class. SAT were not good so taking that again as well as ACT. She really wants to major in mechanical engineering. "</p>
<p>That, minus the drama and SAT score, could have been my son as a high school sophomore, and he is now a college sophomore in mechanical engineering. He did manage a 3.0 and a semi-decent SAT by graduation. Whenever I read a post like this, I want to remind folks, it is not just about getting in; it is also about getting out!</p>
<p>Ok, here’s the latest in our farce of education in our city. My daughter is currently a junior and is taking Pre calculus non honors. It is traditionally a very difficult class to take in honors as evidenced by my son having gotten a B in it while earning an A in the AP Calc 1 the following year and an A in the Calc 2 at Bama. On top of it all, the teacher stinks and it’s her first time tracing this. Well, my D signed up to take Calc 1 non honors as a senior. We were just told that there are not enough kids to fill the class so they won’t have it. They only have Calc 1 AP which she wouldn’t get into. Now she only has Stat and Probability for math. She didn’t choose a science because she wanted 2 maths. How can she go into mechanical engineering without taking Calculus in high school???</p>
<p>Proud, the calculus thing wouldn’t disqualify your D from the major (Calc I is listed on the basic engr curriculums at my kids univs.), but she could probably take it at a local community college while still in high school. My D took two classes at the CC during the summer between her Jr and Sr years, which later transferred to her Univ. Your D could probably could arrange to take calc at the CC during the school year as well.</p>
<p>@Coloradomom - My DD is taking 7 courses in her Jr year, instead of 5. She is taking AP Calc AB, AP Stats, Hnrs English, Hnrs US History, French, Chamber Choir, Hnrs Advanced Lab Science (highest science course offered in her school). Her GPA is unweighted with some A’s and some B’s (mostly in rigorous Math, Stat and Science). She is also doing NASA program.</p>