Son has good grades but middling SAT - wants engineering

[Anonymous]

He has a 4.1 average, but cannot break 1360 on the SAT. I'm not sure what schools with engineering may be realistic for him for his desired major besides Clarkson, Rose, WPI, VCU, and VA Tech as a reach. My concern with Clarkson is that it will be very tough for him to get home.
Any other suggestions? We considered RIT, but our neighbor's son goes there and had a horrible time getting his required coops.

[Anonymous]

Almost every state has a public engineering school and I'm certain your DS could find one. Look to those.

Delaware, Penn State, Ohio State, Rutgers, Michigan State, and so on.

[Anonymous]

I went to Clarkson. He'll want a car (at least after freshman year) and will just drive the trip. It’s a big drive, but he'll likely find someone to carpool with and may also make friends so he can stop overnight at a home along the way (e.g., in Albany, Syracuse or Pittsburgh). It ends up not being a big deal. Everyone who goes to school there has a long drive.

[Anonymous]

U Rochester Test Optional. You don't even have to apply directly to engineering.

[Anonymous]

Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. offers engineering.

[Anonymous]

Auburn or Alabama are good options if he wants to head south.

[Anonymous]

CU Boulder

[Anonymous]

The 2 biggest factors for success studying engineering are diligence and desire. Motivated students who are diligent are likely to graduate with an engineering degree. Sometimes it takes 5-yr for the undergrad degree, and most employers are fine with that.

[Anonymous]

There are many decent engineering TO schools with a good chance of admission...UMass, Michigan, WPI, Penn State.

[Anonymous]

what is his math score?

[Anonymous]

Look at CNU, GMU, and ODU also. First check is whether a college offers the specific engineering degree DC wants.

ODU has a reputation for being a "sink or swim" engineering program - not super supportive.

GMU engineering is solid and GMU has been primarily residential (not primarily commuter) for 10+ years now.

CNU engineering is smaller and lower ranked, but rank matters a lot less for engineering (because ABET means all programs have rigor). Their engineering graduates are fully competent and able to find jobs without difficulty. CNU by reputation has a more supportive environment than ODU.

[Anonymous]

URI and UME both have invested heavily in nice facilities in recent years and seem up and coming. Both should offer merit even with that SAT. They do tend to fail a lot of students out of said programs though as the admit is the easy part!

[Anonymous]

what is his math score?

720

[Anonymous]

I think he should be able to get into Tennessee with a 1360, esp. if the SAT is split so he is 700 math, 660 verbal. (I'm just guessing here.)

My kid is a senior in engineering at Tennessee and loves the program.

[Anonymous]

I think he should be able to get into Tennessee with a 1360, esp. if the SAT is split so he is 700 math, 660 verbal. (I'm just guessing here.)

Thanks, this is a great suggestion. My cousin lives in Knoxville, and so it would be also great for him to be able to be near him and his kids.