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

[Anonymous]

OP--if you haven't read this thread yet, it's a good discussion on the US colleges that offer engineering.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1305243.page

[Anonymous]

She should look at schools in Boston. You said Northeast, she could take up rowing on the Charles, Boston has a TON of colleges - there's one for everybody.

[Anonymous]

Since you mention using your GI Bill, I would look at schools that offer the yellow ribbon program. Some are very generous and she could go to a private school for completely free

[Anonymous]

Case Western. Has engineering, campus near a city/airport, gives very generous merit aid. And, no supplemental essays!!!

[Anonymous]

Look at Pitt and Penn State. When my DD was applying they both offered in state tuition for children of military veterans and you wouldn't have to use your GI Bill.

[Anonymous]

Go visit the schools close to you as a starting point. You're not looking for the perfect fit, you're looking for the things she likes/dislikes about each one. Try for a variety - small, medium, large, religious, secular, I don't know go visit alot of them.

Then start sifting through what you know after visiting those - she likes X size school, Y type of student body (sports focused? greek life? there's alot out there), then look for schools similar to that size that have the program she wants - go visit. See what happens.

Just visit a few schools and you'll start to get an idea pretty quick probably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Big difference in kids who wanted an academy but couldn't hack the PFT vs. regular engineering nerds. These students won't have the same needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

For real.

It's not rocket science. You just need to put in the time.

I'm not sure why the OP put this into some kind of academy or ROTC context. Because there is heaps of advice about that world. And that world is very different from normal, average students looking for a good engineering programming.

Cardio is a thing for the academies and ROTC. Do or don't do. But it has nothing to do with a good engineering program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Big difference in kids who wanted an academy but couldn't hack the PFT vs. regular engineering nerds. These students won't have the same needs.

How so? I’m admittedly not familiar with this world so genuinely curious about what the particular needs would be for students with this profile and interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She should look at schools in Boston. You said Northeast, she could take up rowing on the Charles, Boston has a TON of colleges - there's one for everybody.

Crew has an insane fitness culture, which includes a LOT of running. So, maybe not.

[Anonymous]

So she just doesn’t want to train to run?

Agree with state flagships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Big difference in kids who wanted an academy but couldn't hack the PFT vs. regular engineering nerds. These students won't have the same needs.

She is looking for an engineering school. Whether she “wanted” an academy doesn’t make a difference. If she can’t manage to run a mile and has no will to train, she isn’t the type of kid to go to an academy, regardless of that type she thinks she is

[Anonymous]

There is a thread right now (Dec 2025) on "Engineering programs that are not soul crushing". Read that as a starting point.

[Anonymous]

Given her situation, she will not be able to serve in uniform.

The military, and the uniformed services more generally, have many civil service (non-uniformed) scientists and engineers who do good work enabling warfighters. Locally, this includes examples like the Army Research Lab in Adelphi, Naval Surface Warfare Center at Carderock, and the Naval Research Lab. There also are local IC examples with civil service scientific and engineering jobs, like CIA, DIA, NGA, NRO, and NSA.

[Anonymous]

Rose-Hulman?