Anonymous wrote:I agree with what the engineers have said.
Consider Rensselaer and consider schools that have all different types of engineering.
Don’t worry about robotics. It’s playing house.
The fancy schools give a different ambiance if that’s what he’s into.

Friend's kid just graduated WPI with a major in Robotics. I believe there are only a handful of colleges that offer this major. He received numerous attractive job offers.

OP, what was the math score?

I would also look beyond admission to getting through the major, to completion of the degree. Engineering is hard everywhere and may be harder to get through at top schools. Attending a top school is not necessary for success in engineering as a field of work.

Have some reaches on the list, but I would suggest focusing on not super-selective schools. Many of the suggestions above are good - if your kid wants a large public, there are many at various levels of selectivity that offer engineering. Same for mid-size privates - several lower-ranked ones offer engineering are a bit easier for admission than top schools - I'd look to these if the particular kid wants small class sizes.

1450 is likely above the average for 80%+ of the 363 accredited engineering programs in the US. You will have many desirable options.

He may really like on of the many small engineering focused colleges like RIT, WPI, RPI, Olin, Hulman, Stevens, Mines, etc.

I agree with what the engineers have said.
Consider Rensselaer and consider schools that have all different types of engineering.
Don’t worry about robotics. It’s playing house.
The fancy schools give a different ambiance if that’s what he’s into.

In Virginia, there are several public universities with solid engineering programs (at least CNU, GMU, ODU, UVA, VCU, & VPI). These vary in “prestige”.

In Maryland, at least UMCP and UMBC both have solid engineering programs. Cybersecurity is a particular strength at both of those E schools.

Both sets above have E Schools with different “rank” and different “prestige”. As a hiring manager, I do not care at all about prestige, but DCUM is obsessed with prestige.

I am an engineer. Almost all Engineering Schools in the US are ABET accredited. (MIT and Caltech do not bot her with ABET, but obviously they also are academically top.). ABET means the curricula will be similar between one E School and another.

As a SAT score that is sufficient. A better score is helpful, as for any HS student,

Step 1 is to decide which kind of engineering DC wants. Not all E schools will offer all engineering degrees. Then look at the various E Schools which offer DC’s desired degree.

More critical is high school coursework. Anyone applying to E School should have at least 1 year of Calculus in HS. Ordinary HS Calculus is sufficient. Honors Calculus would be better. AP Calc AB is better than Honors, and AP Calc BC is better than AB. Try not to take a course which is so advanced that DC cannot get a good grade.

It is also important for DC to take science classes in HS, particularly Physics. As with math, Honors is preferable to regular, AP is preferable to Honors. AP scores of 3 and higher give E Schools more confidence that a student actually learned (most, all) the material.

Contrary to what some think, most E Schools also will prefer a HS student who also is solid in English reading and writing (particularly true at UVa Engineering).

Opinions may vary, but I believe the math score is often more critical than the composite score, especially for engineering programs. That said, a 1450 is a solid score and should be competitive unless you're targeting highly rejective colleges.

My child is currently applying to engineering programs without any STEM-related extracurriculars—no robotics clubs, no science fairs, nothing specific to engineering. With a similar test score and good but not outstanding grades, he has already been admitted to a couple of top 20 engineering programs.

For top-tier engineering schools (e.g., top 20), you likely need strong STEM extracurriculars and a 1500+ test score. However, once you look beyond these elite programs, admissions tend to focus more on grades and test scores. Many of the best engineering programs are at large state universities, and these schools typically don't weigh extracurriculars as heavily as people might think.

Try for VT & UMD as well as the ones listed above, especially if he increases his SAT score. If also doing HL Physics, it shows high academic rigor.

VT gives lots of credit for IB in comparison to other universities.

Anonymous wrote:What are “good grades”? What weighted gpa in what school system? How are their math class grades? Hard they taking honors or AP maths?

He is doing IB so no honors/APs. Doing HL math. IB predicted is 43, we don’t have a weighted GPA.

Anonymous wrote:University of Dayton has a good engineering program and gives good merit aid.

+1 was also going to say this

University of Dayton has a good engineering program and gives good merit aid.

University of Delaware, University of Pittsburgh, Case Western, Clemson, University of Vermont - just a few that came to mind

What are “good grades”? What weighted gpa in what school system? How are their math class grades? Hard they taking honors or AP maths?

My son has a 1450 SAT (though will retake) and weak ECs. Good grades and will take rigorous courses in the IB.

What sort of colleges should we be looking at? I am a foreigner so don’t understand the system here well. Thanks for any advice!