Any good options for 3.3 prep school kid who spends time designing and building drones?

Parents Forum
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Very much appreciate all the good feedback and schools, thought I would update w/SAT scores and bump since I’m still searching for info about schools w/engineering that accept portfolios of work as part of the admissions process. I know MIT and Wash U do (both out of reach due to GPA, I’d wager), have heard mixed messages re: Carnegie Mellon (same issue).

***EDIT: 03/16 test date SAT score: 760 R&W 780 Math, 1540/1600 
3.3 GPA
1470 PSAT (99.xx% sounds like he has a small chance to qualify National Merit Recognition in CA)
NEW SAT scores not back for another week, but he said it was "incredibly easy", assuming he'll do as well as he did on PSAT (first sitting, no studying)
Boy Scout, 11 years of scouting
1 AP Computer Science (senior year)
11 years Soccer, 2 years JV and 2 years Varsity
decent amount of volunteer work (through scouts and another org)
Tech Club leader at school
Hobbies: archery, building & design
Freshman and Sophomore summer: Built drones
Junior year summer: 3 week, well-regarded engineering camp
Junior Year summer: internship at construction/engineering firm

Bright son at a very, very competitive prep school (think just barely below boarding school level) Always a builder-maker-type kid. Moved him from public where he was top of class to private as a freshman so he could be challenged and "let his nerd out". There has been some "If I'm not the smart(est) kid who am I?" angst, but he has found his passion: he designs and builds drones (complex, large, unique designs, taught himself all of the programs and electrical, does some fabrication on 3D printers). He spends a lot of time on these passions during free time both at school and at home (like up all night amounts of time) to the detriment of his grades. He wants to build things for a living, and we are trying to figure out schools that would be a good fit. He has documentation of his builds through the years, so schools that accept a portfolio (to help offset his GPA) might be a plus. He would love a school that has a curriculum that would allow him to spend a decent portion of his time focused on what he wants to do for a living... so maybe a flexible curriculum? Seems like the obvious engineering schools are out of reach from a GPA standpoint. His school offers some APs, but very few, they feel their curriculum is sufficiently challenging. We are in southern california, if that makes a difference. Any suggestions appreciated. Passionate, smart kid who has basically refused to jump on the admissions treadmill (we tried, believe me) and just did his own thing. Any hope? Also, thoughts on working on his GPA, applying after senior year and taking a gap year? (not my first preference). Thanks in advance.
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Talk to your school GCs. If he attends a competitive prep school barely below boarding school they have good data on where kids like him fit. Look at their Naviance data.

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@“Erin’s Dad”, I remember you had some wonderful reviews when we were researching for our class of 2014…wondering if you still have or can direct me to your post on University of Dayton…someone recently mentioned that my DD18 should check it out! Nice to be back in the mix!! :slight_smile:

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“Rose-Hulman, Michigan Tech, RPI, WPI.”

Outstanding suggestions.

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University of North Dakota – this has been suggested earlier on this post.

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If you haven’t already, do an on-site campus visit at Santa Clara U.

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Was this the UD info you were looking for @tpcrd66 ? https://www.udayton.edu/apply/undergraduate/affordability.php

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You have some great suggestions. Not sure if anyone has mentioned RIT yet. They have a strong co-op program and are more predictable for admissions than Northeastern seems to be lately. Your son may really enjoy the project based curriculum along with shorter terms at WPI.

Edited to add:
@sunshineallday I just realized that this thread is from May. How did your son enjoy his program at Rose Hulman over the summer? Does he have any favorite schools at this point?

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@“Erin’s Dad” …thank you! This is very helpful. I thought you had done a visit report from there in the past? Had you visited with your DD?

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It’s local and we hire students from there as interns pretty much annually. I like the school and they have a good engineering program.

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@sunshineallday I heard that UK schools such as Cambridge puts great store in interviews for STEM applicants. Such as hours long interviews with multiple professors to test the depth of knowledge at the major you are applying. After admission, such kids are highly specialized in the subject, unlike US schools that puts more weight on genED and major prereq, instead of just doing lots of major.

It sounds like your kid is smart, talented and passionate in his one subject but doesn’t want do a lot of other subjects. If you can afford, that might be something to consider. I know someone’s kid who did it for Math major, and is said to be very happy for just “reading math” all day everyday there.