<p>My stats are a little incongruous. A 3.4 unweighted GPA (cumulative after first semester junior year), paired with a 234 PSAT last fall. A 2350+ is likely on the real thing, based on practice tests.</p>
<p>I love to find out how things work, solve problems, and for fun read nonfiction most people my age find very boring. Yesterday I spent an hour doing [url="<a href="http://drunkmenworkhere.org/170%22%5Dthis%5B/url">http://drunkmenworkhere.org/170"]this[/url</a>]. I've wanted to be an engineer for years (going back to when my peers wanted to be firemen), and think I really could succeed at a strong engineering program like those offered at MIT or Stanford, but my GPA will preclude me from getting there. Can't talk about the reasons for my old grades (big upward trend), so adcoms will think what they will and there will be no sob story in my application.</p>
<p>It is difficult to be admitted into the engineering colleges within top universities, and I'm not in it the for the money. Given those facts, is it really a good idea to pursue engineering? I don't even know if I really want to be one anymore. I might be just as happy studying mathematics or a pure science.</p>
<p>Should I apply to a major that isn't "impacted", in order to get into a better school (one that I really want to go to)? Aforementioned dream schools MIT and Stanford are probably out of the question (don't want to turn this into a chances thread), but the likes of Berkeley, Cornell, or CMU might not be if I apply to the liberal arts college instead of engineering. Given that I've become ambivalent about exactly what sort of science/math, should I settle for the in-state flagship that I don't really want to go to? It might be the best place that would accept me into its engineering program, and with that major it wouldn't be a safety.</p>
<p>Have any thoughts? Sorry the post went a little long, my idea of what I'll spend my life doing is changing as I write.</p>
<p>Don’t get caught up with feeling the need to got MIT or Stanford or some other big name school. Once you graduate it is really just a brand name to help you get your first job. The things you learn across engineering programs will the the same from school to school. There are plenty of good schools across the country for engineering, state and private, that don’t get attention on these forums.</p>
<p>Even if you apply to an impacted major or engineering school and get rejected, you still may be accepted to the school. That way there’s no downside, so you might as well apply to what you want to do. This is the way it works at my school. I don’t know if this is how it works everywhere.</p>
<p>Not being in engineering for the money is probably more common than you think. I don’t care about the money. So don’t worry that you’ll be out of place for liking science for the sake of science. On the other hand, you can still have fun doing science in a pure science, such as physics.</p>
<p>You might consider a 3/2 program (there are various names for this).
You go to a LAC for 3 years , then transfer to an affiliated engineering program for two.</p>
<p>Quote from Sewanee’s website; “The University of the South has such programs in association with the following institutions: Columbia University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Vanderbilt University, and Washington University in St. Louis.”</p>
<p>There are many LAC’s that offer this with transfer to good engineering schools a frequently realized opportunity. We love Sewanee! Go Tigers!!!</p>
<p>Of course you can spend a year or two at a LAC, grow up, make great grades, and then transfer to a great engineering program.</p>
<p>If money is not an object, think about a post-graduate year in prep school.</p>
<p>You can do an undergraduate engineering program at a solid state school and then try for the big name graduate program.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how common this policy is? That remove one dilemma from the application process.</p>
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<p>Sorry if I was unclear when I said the “liberal arts college”. I meant the “College of Letters and Science” or “Arts and Science,” or whatever they are called at various universities. </p>
<p>I don’t really want to go to a small Liberal Arts school - nothing to do with prestige (wouldn’t go to Swarthmore if they somehow wanted me) - it just doesn’t seem like an environment I’d do well in.</p>
<p>Do engineering if you want to work in an industry using math and physics skills. Oil, aerospace, computer tech, gaming, whatever. If you just want to focus on reasearch in a particular field like math or physics and that is what excites and motivates you then do that. You’ll probably have a hard time finding a job outside of academia without internship or co-op experience in engineering.</p>
This keeps sounding better. Go to the regular school and have the option of easily switching majors like everyone else does.</p>
<p>But I’m still wondering about applying to both the engineering college and the science & arts college at the same school - does anyone know whether this is possible everywhere? Do I actually create multiple applications or just check some extra boxes?</p>
<p>you would have to check with your schools regulations some schools can get very particular about you registering for going into two different majors in different senior colleges. For example, some might be able to be in the engineering school and basic sciences, while others won’t let you do engineering and the arts. You might have to get approval from the dean. Some places can make this a pain.</p>
<p>If the upward trend includes A’s in AP math and science courses and you really do score north of 2300 (or 1500 Math and CR) and have high SAT 2’s in math and physics then you should try for the top engineering schools. If you are certain about engineering, do not overlook GaTech, which ranks near the top but is an easier admit than MIT or Stanford and will not admit and exclude you from some programs like CMU. If you are from Texas, Illinois or Michigan, your flagship public has outstanding engineering.</p>