Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your child show extra curricular that supported interest in engineering or science? Something other than good grades in science & math classes?

My DC who was admitted to Va Tech engineering had a 3.97 after his senior year and a 3.79 at the end of his junior year. (Weighted) The APs he took (and received mostly 4s and a few 5s) were AP Stats, BC Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C (E&M only), AP World, AP US, AP Gov. He took Gen ed English and Spanish for three years. His HS was at one of the top 5 DCUM Fairfax County High Schools. No C’s- this seems to be important, there is a feeling from people in our HS that Tech does not admit kids with any C’s- even if it is one In an elective or that they tried to stretch themselves in a higher level core class. I will say that DC received two B-s in classes that were very challenging for him. One was in Honor English in his sophomore year and was way out of his league- same for third year Spanish. The Spanish was mainly due to getting the easy teacher for Spanish 2 and the really hard stickler teacher for SPanish 3- it would have been better if they had been reversed (or that he had one or the other for both years). His grades in the math and science classes were excellent.

He was in orchestra all four years going through the three levels of orchestras. He earned his Eagle Scout award in the spring of his sophomore year. He was active in our Congregation’s youth group and held a leadership position in our denomination’s mid-Atlantic HS group. That was basically it.

I am an alumni that had donated a few hundred a year since graduation.

My gut is that his Eagle Scout and subsequent large number of volunteer hours is what pushed him over the line as wel as taking the hard STEM AP classes and doing well in them. His AP Chem teacher wrote his recommendation.

Thank you to everyone for posting. This thread has been very helpful especially this one above since we are also in FCPS. The details you provide are really helpful. Did your dc go to Va Tech for engineering and if so, how is he finding or did he find the academics? I'm asking because I hear so many switch out, fail out...

He did not. He went to Purdue and is doing better than he did in HS. We found that he was exceptionally well prepared. He is in the electrical computer engineering department.

Yes, Purdue has an excellent engineering program! But being in VA, I wasn't sure if it would be worth the out of state tuition especially since they seem to be similar types of school--similarly ranked large public univ with excellent engineering schools.

Anonymous wrote:Uh oh. Will a "C" in PreCalc for one semester in 9th grade be a big issue?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn't directly answer your question, but hopefully it will still be helpful. I have a nephew who much to our shock, did NOT get into Tech Engineering, despite getting into UVA, W&M, and much higher ranked private schools. This kid had over a 4.8 GPA, was 5th in his class, and had a 1440 on the SAT's. He took math through BC Calc, took AP BIO and AP Chem, he did not take physics, because the physics teacher quit the year before and they could not find a replacement. The only reason we could think of for not getting in is that he had absolutely no activities in math/STEM. All of his extra curriculars were in the arts and sports. So yes, I would say that Tech Engineering definitely wants to see a demonstrated interest in math and science.

Is he White or Asian? I'm serious.

Anonymous wrote:Equally qualified students at our FCPS HS are often admitted to Va Tech or JMU, but not both. The student wants to have the choice but it doesn't work out that way. I would target, and express interest for one over the other - - to your HS counselor and perhaps saying so on the application.

Anonymous wrote:This doesn't directly answer your question, but hopefully it will still be helpful. I have a nephew who much to our shock, did NOT get into Tech Engineering, despite getting into UVA, W&M, and much higher ranked private schools. This kid had over a 4.8 GPA, was 5th in his class, and had a 1440 on the SAT's. He took math through BC Calc, took AP BIO and AP Chem, he did not take physics, because the physics teacher quit the year before and they could not find a replacement. The only reason we could think of for not getting in is that he had absolutely no activities in math/STEM. All of his extra curriculars were in the arts and sports. So yes, I would say that Tech Engineering definitely wants to see a demonstrated interest in math and science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your child show extra curricular that supported interest in engineering or science? Something other than good grades in science & math classes?

My DC who was admitted to Va Tech engineering had a 3.97 after his senior year and a 3.79 at the end of his junior year. (Weighted) The APs he took (and received mostly 4s and a few 5s) were AP Stats, BC Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C (E&M only), AP World, AP US, AP Gov. He took Gen ed English and Spanish for three years. His HS was at one of the top 5 DCUM Fairfax County High Schools. No C’s- this seems to be important, there is a feeling from people in our HS that Tech does not admit kids with any C’s- even if it is one In an elective or that they tried to stretch themselves in a higher level core class. I will say that DC received two B-s in classes that were very challenging for him. One was in Honor English in his sophomore year and was way out of his league- same for third year Spanish. The Spanish was mainly due to getting the easy teacher for Spanish 2 and the really hard stickler teacher for SPanish 3- it would have been better if they had been reversed (or that he had one or the other for both years). His grades in the math and science classes were excellent.

He was in orchestra all four years going through the three levels of orchestras. He earned his Eagle Scout award in the spring of his sophomore year. He was active in our Congregation’s youth group and held a leadership position in our denomination’s mid-Atlantic HS group. That was basically it.

I am an alumni that had donated a few hundred a year since graduation.

My gut is that his Eagle Scout and subsequent large number of volunteer hours is what pushed him over the line as wel as taking the hard STEM AP classes and doing well in them. His AP Chem teacher wrote his recommendation.

Thank you to everyone for posting. This thread has been very helpful especially this one above since we are also in FCPS. The details you provide are really helpful. Did your dc go to Va Tech for engineering and if so, how is he finding or did he find the academics? I'm asking because I hear so many switch out, fail out...

He did not. He went to Purdue and is doing better than he did in HS. We found that he was exceptionally well prepared. He is in the electrical computer engineering department.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your child show extra curricular that supported interest in engineering or science? Something other than good grades in science & math classes?

My DC who was admitted to Va Tech engineering had a 3.97 after his senior year and a 3.79 at the end of his junior year. (Weighted) The APs he took (and received mostly 4s and a few 5s) were AP Stats, BC Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C (E&M only), AP World, AP US, AP Gov. He took Gen ed English and Spanish for three years. His HS was at one of the top 5 DCUM Fairfax County High Schools. No C’s- this seems to be important, there is a feeling from people in our HS that Tech does not admit kids with any C’s- even if it is one In an elective or that they tried to stretch themselves in a higher level core class. I will say that DC received two B-s in classes that were very challenging for him. One was in Honor English in his sophomore year and was way out of his league- same for third year Spanish. The Spanish was mainly due to getting the easy teacher for Spanish 2 and the really hard stickler teacher for SPanish 3- it would have been better if they had been reversed (or that he had one or the other for both years). His grades in the math and science classes were excellent.

He was in orchestra all four years going through the three levels of orchestras. He earned his Eagle Scout award in the spring of his sophomore year. He was active in our Congregation’s youth group and held a leadership position in our denomination’s mid-Atlantic HS group. That was basically it.

I am an alumni that had donated a few hundred a year since graduation.

My gut is that his Eagle Scout and subsequent large number of volunteer hours is what pushed him over the line as wel as taking the hard STEM AP classes and doing well in them. His AP Chem teacher wrote his recommendation.

OP here. Thank you to everyone for posting. This thread has been very helpful especially this one above since we are also in FCPS. The details you provide are really helpful. Did your dc go to Va Tech for engineering and if so, how is he finding or did he find the academics? I'm asking because I hear so many switch out, fail out...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your child show extra curricular that supported interest in engineering or science? Something other than good grades in science & math classes?

My DC who was admitted to Va Tech engineering had a 3.97 after his senior year and a 3.79 at the end of his junior year. (Weighted) The APs he took (and received mostly 4s and a few 5s) were AP Stats, BC Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C (E&M only), AP World, AP US, AP Gov. He took Gen ed English and Spanish for three years. His HS was at one of the top 5 DCUM Fairfax County High Schools. No C’s- this seems to be important, there is a feeling from people in our HS that Tech does not admit kids with any C’s- even if it is one In an elective or that they tried to stretch themselves in a higher level core class. I will say that DC received two B-s in classes that were very challenging for him. One was in Honor English in his sophomore year and was way out of his league- same for third year Spanish. The Spanish was mainly due to getting the easy teacher for Spanish 2 and the really hard stickler teacher for SPanish 3- it would have been better if they had been reversed (or that he had one or the other for both years). His grades in the math and science classes were excellent.

He was in orchestra all four years going through the three levels of orchestras. He earned his Eagle Scout award in the spring of his sophomore year. He was active in our Congregation’s youth group and held a leadership position in our denomination’s mid-Atlantic HS group. That was basically it.

I am an alumni that had donated a few hundred a year since graduation.

My gut is that his Eagle Scout and subsequent large number of volunteer hours is what pushed him over the line as wel as taking the hard STEM AP classes and doing well in them. His AP Chem teacher wrote his recommendation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're probably better off having your DC pose the question to an admissions rep rather than looking for anecdotal evidence here.

One of DD's friends was accepted to VA Tech and other engineering programs and had no STEM-related ECs. I'm not sure she even took any AP science classes.

My DC might apply to VA tech engineering next year. All of his ECs are music related and he's not interested in the academic math/science teams. If he doesn't get in to VA Tech, he'll just go somewhere else.

Musical aptitude is a highly prized asset in engineering recruiting. I know that sounds dumb, but it's true.

OP here. This is interesting because all of my dc's activities are related to music. I started this thread because I was worried that he had no science related ec's but maybe it's ok.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your child show extra curricular that supported interest in engineering or science? Something other than good grades in science & math classes?

My DC who was admitted to Va Tech engineering had a 3.97 after his senior year and a 3.79 at the end of his junior year. (Weighted) The APs he took (and received mostly 4s and a few 5s) were AP Stats, BC Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C (E&M only), AP World, AP US, AP Gov. He took Gen ed English and Spanish for three years. His HS was at one of the top 5 DCUM Fairfax County High Schools. No C’s- this seems to be important, there is a feeling from people in our HS that Tech does not admit kids with any C’s- even if it is one In an elective or that they tried to stretch themselves in a higher level core class. I will say that DC received two B-s in classes that were very challenging for him. One was in Honor English in his sophomore year and was way out of his league- same for third year Spanish. The Spanish was mainly due to getting the easy teacher for Spanish 2 and the really hard stickler teacher for SPanish 3- it would have been better if they had been reversed (or that he had one or the other for both years). His grades in the math and science classes were excellent.


My gut is that his Eagle Scout and subsequent large number of volunteer hours is what pushed him over the line as wel as taking the hard STEM AP classes and doing well in them. His AP Chem teacher wrote his recommendation.