Engineering vs. Arts and Sciences College

[Dad'o'2]

UVA doesn't have EA or rolling (as far as I know) and is probably not a "safety" though easier since you are in-state.

possible "safer/safety" (most are not small!)

Case
Maryland
Virginia Tech (may be too "techie"?)
Delaware (no BME)
JMU (no engineering)
Pitt (?)

By the way, Case has non-binding EA that was one of my S's stress-relievers that mafool talks about.

[jmmom]

As to safe and safe-match schools, my son had very similar criteria to your D (mid-sized U, around 6000, with A&S in case of change from Engineering; although he was more open geographically). So some suggestions I might make for safe and safe-match -
Villanova
Trinity (CT)
Fairfield (CT)
Lehigh
Miami (Oh)
UMiami
Bucknell.

Not all are in metro areas, I suppose, but several are. Lehigh and others are reputed to be "Tufts syndrome" schools, and I believe that, so demonstrated interest is important - visits, etc. I'm not sure if they all have the BME, so you would need to check that; but all have respected Engineering programs.

Uber-safe would include Hofstra and Fairleigh Dickinson and some of the above, maybe, depending on her exact stats.

I don't think you've posted her stats, which is fine, so I am going by the statement that she is competitive for the very most selective schools. If I missed the stats, my apologies. I would call these schools safe/safe-match for a student with at least 1300+/1600 SAT, solid A average GPA, "most challenging" courseload for her hs, at or very near top 10% of class. With recs and essays to match.

Being a female and applying Engineering should be a plus, as would geography if she wanted to spread a bit toward Southern/mid-West/western schools. But will leave them out for now. If you think she might consider those, I'll come back with other ideas.

As to having known "forever" that they would go Engineering, I think that, while that may apply for some, it's important to remember that kids have typically not been exposed directly to this discipline in high school. Mine had real talent in creative writing and for some odd reason his history prof considered him a "prodigy" in that field (whatever that is ), but he had always liked math and science. DH is an Engineer and open-mindedly believed that his son should "major in whatever he wants; whatever form of Engineering that is" (lol). S loved Physics and decided Engineering was for him. Job-shadowed in two Engineering firms in senior year which confirmed his interest in EE/ECE/AE vs. Mech/Civil/bio/chemEs. But he knew that a lot of kids changed their minds so respected and adopted our suggestion that he go to a full U, not a tech institute.

[mafool]

Thanks for the info, Dad'o'2.

Yes, any type of early or earlyish non-binding admission is a wonderful thing!

[gcnorth]

I second U-Michigan as a non-binding early admission - get the app in as quickly as possible. U - Wisconsin Madison also has early non binding admission, very strong engineering dept.

[mafool]

^^^I would agree, except that the OP's daughter is looking at E and SE US. Strong as those programs are (add Purdue), they are definely midwest!

[sabaray]

Sizewise I think Michigan and Wisconsin would be overwhelming for her. Distance, winter weather and travel are also factors! I am liking Case more and more- in spite of the winter weather in Cleveland! Dad'o'2, you're doing a great job promoting it- particularly the non-binding EA. That's the kind of stress reliever that's needed. I think she's competitive for more selective schools- she has strong ECs, SAT is 1480/2240, should have really good recommendations. Definitely top 10% in her class. I don't want to put too much more about her out there. I guess the one thing I wonder about is if she should retake the SAT. I have seen students on here with higher scores wondering about a retake. She's only taken it once in HS. I guess I think there are better ways to spend her time.

[mafool]

Has she taken the ACT? Some students do much better on one test than the other. When asked (!) I recommend that students retake these tests, as familiarity and comfort can both help raise the scores.

[mominva]

I know your geographic restrictions, but if your D becomes more adventurous I would recommend looking at the engineering programs at Trinity University in San Antonio and at Santa Clara University in San Jose. Both are easily reachable from the nearby airports (at Santa Clara there is a shuttle to the CalTrain which is across the street from the main entrance.) They are smaller school looking to increase geographic diversity.

[PackMom]

Would she consider NC State? It is known for engineering and would be a safety for her. It offers almost any kind of engineering degree you can think of (including Biomedical and Biological) along with lots of other great majors if engineering turns out to be not her thing. It is in a city (Raleigh) not too far from home. The weather's good and there's lots of school spirit. State has EA admissions. If you apply by Oct. 15, you get your decision by Dec. 15. It's an easy online application.

[sabaray]

Yes, NC State is on the radar- they've sent her a lot of info and (don't laugh) a flash drive that she got very excited about. Kids love toys. Their info (at least what we received) was very targeted to her interests. We thought we would take a driving tour to visit Vanderbilt, Duke, UNC and NC State - UVA and VT are a short distance from us and we're pretty familiar with them already- then head up North. Get a feel for the campuses. Just need to narrow down that list!

mafool- hadn't really thought about the ACT- but good idea. Don't know that retaking the SAT is really in the cards. Her scores are very close- she's not significantly stronger in any one area and I think she is happy with them.

[Dad'o'2]

sarabay--at the risk of boring everybody else on the thread, let me tell you my Case story.

After the acceptances (and rejections) came in, I thought my techie son had pretty much decided on RPI. But he wouldn't rule out Case without a visit, so up to Cleveland we go (a 75-minute flight from BWI, $99 roundtrip!).

My wife and I were sitting on a bench Saturday morning waiting for him after his overnight. I told her that a part of me was hoping he would pick Case over RPI. She knew where I was coming form. We liked the fact that it was more 'well-rounded' and the atmosphere reminded us both of Hopkins (where we went). I said that I knew that RPI is a good match for him and he would have a blast there, but maybe keep it in mind for his little sister. She isn't quite as techie, and probably won’t be as certain about what she wants to do....

So he drags himself out of the dorm at nine o’clock and we ask him if he wants to stop for some breakfast before we head to the airport. No, he says with a goofy grin, he wants to go to the bookstore and buy a hoodie. In case you haven’t done any college visits, you buy a twelve-dollar T-shirt at each college you visit, but at fifty bucks, the hooded sweatshirts are reserved for your final choice.

Anyway, I still hope my daughter (a sophomore) considers Case….

[bookworm]

dad-o-2

When do you buy the "Case dad" mug? Do you wait for drop-off day?

[mominva]

In our family, parents (grandparents, godparents, aunts and uncles) get the mugs as Christmas gifts during freshman year

[pafather]

I am not sure if this is relevant, but when I applied to college 30 years ago, I filled out all application materials and made all decisions on my own (my father only has a 10th grade education, and my mother only finished high school, and neither knew much about college). When I applied to UVa, I checked the box for Engineering and Applied Science, not realizing that it would affect anything (I thought it was just a preference that could easily be changed later). Anyway, even though I got started in engineering by accident, it ends up that I loved engineering and stayed in it through my PhD at MIT.

My daughter also wanted to major in Biomedical Engineering and was thinking of future med school. She was accepted at Princeton and CalTech but decided to attend Case. We narrowed it down to Tulane, Pittsburgh, and Case (all with generous merit $$). I visited Princeton with my daughter and concluded that any of those three schools had better bioengineering programs and local hospitals. My daughter finally ruled out CalTech because she wants to go to med school and we have finite resources (I told her I cannot pay for both undergrad + med school). Fortunately, she is doing extremely well at Case (finishing her sophomore year), will be doing junior year abroad next year in England (paid with scholarship), and has a GPA high enough for med school. She is still deciding which grad school to attend (for PhD and/or MD).

For bioengineering, I liked Pitt, Tulane and Case about equally well. I visited all three schools with my daughter, and I am a fairly knowledgeable judge, in that I was formerly a bioengineering faculty member at Michigan. I would advise applying to Pitt, because with rolling admissions and generous merit $$, you may be able to relieve some pressure early in the game.

[mafool]

^^^^what he said!

Isn't CC great? If only I had discovered this resource before DS applied to college (it all turned out fine, but there would have been less "educated guessing").