Anonymous wrote:Ask your high school's college counselor to show you how to read the Naviance or Scoir acceptance graphs. Then you won't have to ask strangers who may or may not know something about the matter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Thanks for all the thoughts so far.

700 math. We were surprised as we thought he would do better.

I am not worried about him completing the degree. He has always had straight As in school and is completely self-motivated, we have never pushed him at all.

He is doing HL physics too and is predicted 7s in math and physics.

We can afford full pay if necessary (though merit aid would be nice).

He would prefer to be in a town or city rather than the middle of nowhere.

He has talked about doing aeronautical engineering- no idea why though. I haven’t noticed any particular interest in airplanes otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Where?
Are you saying "Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University?" I have never seen it referred to as VPI before. "Virginia Tech" "Tech" (if you are clear you are referring to Virginia schools) or "VT" are common names for it.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

WPI is an amazing school! Much better (IMO) than RPI. RIT is also a good safety choice

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Anonymous wrote:Just popping in to say that the workload is typically on a whole other level than other college majors. Take that seriously.

Anonymous wrote: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.