Sophomore bent on service academy won't pass PFT - college alternatives?

[Anonymous]

I’d think about what size school to barrow it down, and maybe how set she is on engineering.

That said Harvey Mudd might be worth a look although it’s in CA and a higher SAT score would help.

VA Tech is an obvious place to start if you are in state. Have heard good things about UIUC too.

[Anonymous]

My daughter looked at Harvey Mudd (west coast), Case Western, and Carnegie Mellon when she said that she didn’t want a big flagship experience.
She decided not to apply to engineering programs this year, but I thought all three were impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been a dream of hers since late elementary, but now that we're staring down application season, she's finally accepting that she isn't going to meet the fitness requirements. Which means a 180 on college options.

She has a 1420 PSAT, 3.9 uw, 4.4 w. Looking for engineering. Mechanical? But she and we don't even have a clue where to start looking beyond the academies and major engineering colleges that she would have settled for for NROTC but isn't a fan of on their own. Cost isn't a huge issue since she has my GI Bill.

Where do we even start?

Geez DCUM. 2 pages and no one actually answers OP’s question.

Starting point for all engineering will be your state’s flagship, then the next in-state public offering engineering that is a target/safety (>40% acceptances). These two schools are your comparison schools for finances and travel. If she’s not that interested in the big state flagships, don’t bother applying to any out of state ones. At the end, they won’t end up beating your in state one financially.

A few smaller schools we toured and liked were:
RIT
Case Western
U Cincinnati

Use USNews to find mid-sized, mid ranking schools. There are plenty that offer great mechanical engineering degrees. I would have your DC think more about location fit (both setting of school, geography/climate of region, and nearby cities for internship/employment opportunities.

[Anonymous]

I feel like nobody should be panicking about having to pivot when their kid is a high stats sophomore. Let them be a high school student and revisit future college plans in a year and a half at the end of junior year. There will be plenty of options!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she interested in military-adjacent schools like the Citadel? Or ROTC?

To put it bluntly, she's a terrible runner. So, no.

That might not be a deal breaker for Air Force or Space Force.

Wow, hilarious.

We in the real branches don't call them the "Chair Force" for nothing.

LOL....I'm the long-winded PP with the DD who tapped out of the AFROTC....who mumbled that phrase a lot. We'd jokingly heard it here locally (not DC, not near a military complex) but, dang, it was the truth, at least at that battalion/company (I don't remember what they called it).

Kidding aside, each of the branches have their focus and place amongst our defense forces. And, certainly, to each their own.

Our family sincerely thanks them and their families for their dedicated service to our Country.

[Anonymous]

There’s a thread now on engineering schools that won’t make my kid miserable or something you might want to check. Think Rose Hulman gets mentioned a couple times.

[Anonymous]

There’s the obvious engineering schools: WPI, RIT, RPI, etc and flagships or well-known public polytechnics

So, out-of-the-box suggestions:

—SUNY-Maritime

You can study mechanical or marine engineering (or others) & they have traditional/non-cadet pathway. It’d be an easy admit for her I’d think as well.

— U Alabama-Huntsville, if her mechanical leans aerospace

They have partnerships with NASA & I’ve heard great things about their program. Another easier admit I think.

There are lots of options out there. I’m not a heavy AI user but I have found inputting detailed info (size of town, geographic location, stats or admit %, existence of club or distance to outdoor rec, etc) has given some good starting points

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she interested in military-adjacent schools like the Citadel? Or ROTC?

To put it bluntly, she's a terrible runner. So, no.

She can do it. The minimum standard is something ANYONE can meet with a little time and effort. I didn’t even become interested in ROTC until first semester of freshman year in college. I was also a “terrible runner.” As in, never ran a complete mile nonstop in my life. I’d always have to walk for some portion of the one-mile run on the Presidential fitness test in gym class. Now I find out, in order to qualify for the ROTC scholarship I desperately needed, I would have to run not one, but TWO miles. So I got to work. I went to the student fitness center about 4 days per week and would run on the indoor track. I started with run one lap, walk two- until I made it two miles. I would do that for 2 weeks, then I’d run one lap, walk one lap for 2 miles for another two weeks. Then I’d run 2 laps, walk one for another couple weeks. Slowly I would increase the running, decrease the walking until I was able to fully run 2 miles. Interval sprints help tremendously as well. In about 6 months time, I went from being able to run only 1/2 mile to running to 2 miles in 18 min for my scholarship qualification test- which was well within the required max time of I think 18:30. I did get faster during my time in service, even though I didn’t like running and was never the fastest of the women. If i could do it, so can your DD. But she ultimately had to want to do it and put in the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been a dream of hers since late elementary, but now that we're staring down application season, she's finally accepting that she isn't going to meet the fitness requirements. Which means a 180 on college options.

She has a 1420 PSAT, 3.9 uw, 4.4 w. Looking for engineering. Mechanical? But she and we don't even have a clue where to start looking beyond the academies and major engineering colleges that she would have settled for for NROTC but isn't a fan of on their own. Cost isn't a huge issue since she has my GI Bill.

Where do we even start?

Geez DCUM. 2 pages and no one actually answers OP’s question.

Starting point for all engineering will be your state’s flagship, then the next in-state public offering engineering that is a target/safety (>40% acceptances). These two schools are your comparison schools for finances and travel. If she’s not that interested in the big state flagships, don’t bother applying to any out of state ones. At the end, they won’t end up beating your in state one financially.

A few smaller schools we toured and liked were:
RIT
Case Western
U Cincinnati

Use USNews to find mid-sized, mid ranking schools. There are plenty that offer great mechanical engineering degrees. I would have your DC think more about location fit (both setting of school, geography/climate of region, and nearby cities for internship/employment opportunities.

So what’s the question? Why even mention ROTC? There are are 2-3 active threads right now on “where to go for engineering”

The academies are the only (or the best) schools for engineering. OP can surely figure out what colleges offer engineering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been a dream of hers since late elementary, but now that we're staring down application season, she's finally accepting that she isn't going to meet the fitness requirements. Which means a 180 on college options.

She has a 1420 PSAT, 3.9 uw, 4.4 w. Looking for engineering. Mechanical? But she and we don't even have a clue where to start looking beyond the academies and major engineering colleges that she would have settled for for NROTC but isn't a fan of on their own. Cost isn't a huge issue since she has my GI Bill.

Where do we even start?

For one you need to to explain the US to your kid and that women are no longer welcome in our military you raised an idiot.

Two she’s not ready for college if she did not know this already

What’s wrong with you?

Amy engineering school is fine age will fail out anyway

[Anonymous]

What attracted her to service academies in the first place? Start there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been a dream of hers since late elementary, but now that we're staring down application season, she's finally accepting that she isn't going to meet the fitness requirements. Which means a 180 on college options.

She has a 1420 PSAT, 3.9 uw, 4.4 w. Looking for engineering. Mechanical? But she and we don't even have a clue where to start looking beyond the academies and major engineering colleges that she would have settled for for NROTC but isn't a fan of on their own. Cost isn't a huge issue since she has my GI Bill.

Where do we even start?

For one you need to to explain the US to your kid and that women are no longer welcome in our military you raised an idiot.

Two she’s not ready for college if she did not know this already

What’s wrong with you?

Amy engineering school is fine age will fail out anyway

You sound borderline illiterate, and I'm not great at interpreting Redneck, so help me out here. What makes her not ready for college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she interested in military-adjacent schools like the Citadel? Or ROTC?

To put it bluntly, she's a terrible runner. So, no.

Then she needs to learn and work on it. There is no such thing as a terrible runner, just someone who is out of shape and has never been shown how and trained.

Totally agree. I have a goalie but she will have to pass the run test. We have her training regularly with a speed and agility coach. She's not going to become fast (and she's already very quick).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she interested in military-adjacent schools like the Citadel? Or ROTC?

To put it bluntly, she's a terrible runner. So, no.

Then she needs to learn and work on it. There is no such thing as a terrible runner, just someone who is out of shape and has never been shown how and trained.

She is not out of shape. She's a good athlete with multiple state appearances in another sport, but even after private lessons and coaching, her running is just not good. We've worked on this for years thinking we had time, but she's decided it's not something she wants to pursue any longer. We're just trying to settle the college issue now.

In reality, a lack of cardiovascular fitness makes ROTC impossible, even for Air Force. As a parent, I'd get some medical tests done. If a 15 year old is training and not getting anywhere - when it's typically super easy to gain improvement - I'd be concerned there's something going on.

The academies and ROTC programs aren't like a club sport activity. It's an enormous commitment on so many levels - and fitness is a big part of it.

So the better question is where does a student with this GPA and this PSAT who's interested in mechanical engineering look? Wants a tight-knit environment and a sense of community.

Cardio is just getting out there and doing it. Start running and in 3-4 weeks you will experience easier breathing, less fatigue. After 6-12 weeks faster pace, more stamina. 2-3 months you will beat those minimum time with no problems. Happens every day in basic training.

[Anonymous]

Washington and Lee