<p>Check each school on the difficulty or ease of changing majors. Some schools (particularly public universities) are enrolled to their maximum capacity in popular majors, so it may require a competitive admission process to change into a popular major.</p>
<p>Also, an engineering student typically has to be sure of his/her major by the second year, because the course plan after that can diverge far enough that changing major after then can delay graduation (although it does depend on how different the different majors’ course plans are).</p>
<p>If you are visiting Olin, try to stop by WPI. It is only an hour or so from Olin. My D attends and loves it. WPI offers mechanical, civil, electrical and computer, aerospace,environmental, materials science, chemical, industrial, biomedical, and robotics engineering programs. They cover most all engineering types. All are ABET accredited.</p>
<p>Less than 5000 undergrads, at least 15% Engineering graduates
Alfred University
Bucknell University
California Institute of Technology
California Maritime Academy
Case Western Reserve University
Christian Brothers University
Clarkson University
Colorado School of Mines
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott
Florida Institute of Technology
Harvey Mudd College
Illinois Institute of Technology
Kettering University
Lafayette College
Lawrence Technological University
Lehigh University
Maine Maritime Academy
Manhattan College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Milwaukee School of Engineering
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Montana Tech of the University of Montana
New Jersey Institute of Technology
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Ohio Northern University
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg
Polytechnic Institute of New York University
Rice University
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College
SUNY Maritime College
Trine University
United States Air Force Academy
United States Coast Guard Academy
United States Merchant Marine Academy
United States Military Academy
United States Naval Academy
University of Alabama in Huntsville
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Tulsa
Virginia Military Institute
West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Worcester Polytechnic Institute</p>
<p>An earlier poster implied that Rose-Hulman was a very tough admit, comparable to Olin and Cooper Union. Looking at their stats, that’s really not true, which might make it more plausible for your D. I’ve heard good things about it, but it is only 20% female, which is perhaps something for your D to consider. On the other hand, that probably ups your D’s chances of getting in substantially.</p>
<p>My D is strongly considering Olin at this very moment. It’s an extraordinary place, but it is indeed very selective, and they seem to place an especially high emphasis on grades in their admissions process (I think over half of their last class was in the top 3% of their high school class and 100% were in the top 10%).</p>
<p>Someone mentioned Harvey Mudd (also a wonderful school), and I thought I’d add that it also belongs in the super-selective group. At all of these schools, however, your odds are better as a female.</p>
<p>Some of the schools on the above list will be too selective for your GPA. </p>
<p>You might try PMing davidthefat, who was looking for small engineering colleges, and had a lowish GPA but good test scores, and ask where he applied. He had posted that he will attend NM Tech, from among several good choices where he was accepted.</p>
<p>Yes, see what he has to say. He also had a limited budget, so you may be able to get insights from him about that aspect (NMT for him was cheap despite being out of state; he got WUE (regional tuition discount) plus some aid/scholarship or something like that).</p>
<p>Great list above. Very helpful. Here’s an addition: Western New England University. About 2500 students. From their website:</p>
<p>Q: What does Admissions look for in a student?</p>
<p>A: Students with a C+ average or better are encouraged to apply. Emphasis is placed on the grades in the primary college-prep courses (English, math, sciences, etc.) not on the high school GPA which includes chorus, art, gym, health, etc. The SAT/ACT scores and the letter of recommendation from a guidance counselor or teacher are also important. Additionally, school or community activities as well as work experience are also considered. The average SAT score (Critical Reading and Math) for freshmen who enrolled in September 2011 was 1066, and the average high school GPA was 3.25 (“B+”). The averages for Engineering and Pre-pharmacy students were significantly higher.</p>
<p>Here’s the link to their engineering school.</p>
<p>We may consider it as a safety for my DS. Will let you know if we visit.</p>
<p>Another approx. 5,000 student school for engineering is RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Troy, NY. Tough admit, but I know they are generous with girls (a friend’s daughter is a junior there now). We went last summer. Very impressive.</p>
<p>Another possibility if she likes the idea of a woman’s college is Sweet Briar. [The</a> Margaret Jones Wyllie '45 Engineering Program | Sweet Briar College](<a href=“http://sbc.edu/engineering]The”>Sweet Briar College)</p>
<p>I’d consider Harvey Mudd and Olin highly unlikely neither my son nor a girl even higher ranked in the class (both top 1%, stellar SAT scores) were accepted four years ago.</p>
<p>One nice thing about being female is that you can be on the lower end of the average admissions range still have a better than average chance of acceptance.</p>
<p>Surprised you didn’t mention Trinity in San Antonio. I love that place! Engineering ranked about the same as Lafayette. Lots of bang for the buck at that school.</p>
<p>"‘Engineering’ is a broad category. You need to pay attention to exactly what type of engineering she’s interested in" - Yes and No. Let’s face it. Many students that express interest in Engineering are not really even sure if they are 100% interested (especially if they only have not taken advanced math/science courses yet). It’s a stretch to think they’ll know which type they want. Better to strive for a school with variety of engineering/STEM options, ideally with shared core Freshman classes. </p>
<p>OP - Yes, Olin (and Mudd and MIT) are tough admits! DS is a freshman at Olin, and it is grueling workload too. But it’s an exciting place - if your D likes the Olin visit, discuss with her what factors were most interesting. That can help you refine “the list”. (Note - Your D will need to be organized in order to survive the rigors of any engineering program. It’s good that she has time to work on that.)</p>
<p>Some of these colleges run summer programs your D might want to try if she has a strong interest in a given school. For instance, Rose-Hulman has a summer program for after HS junior year called Operation Catapult. My D has applied for this summer, although she has some applications in at other non-engineering programs as well.</p>
<p>I hear Operation Catapult is terrific! Somewhere on CC there is a thread on summer engineering programs, including lots of links and feedback. Sorry, can’t remember which category.</p>
<p>My daughter had a great time at Operation Catapult, but OP’s daughter can’t apply until 2013. There are quite a few other summer engineering programs targeted to females, though, and I agree that they are beneficial in helping to confirm an interest in engineering.</p>
<p>I was thinking more that it could help the D check out a specific school she has a high interest in, since she already knows she is interested in engineering. I have heard rumors that Rose-Hulman used to give some merit scholarships to attendees of Operation Catapult who enrolled in the college, but don’t think there is any official confirmation of this on the school’s web site.</p>
<p>^^^ Agreed. My kids used summer engineering programs to look at different engineering disciplines as well as schools. At the concluding banquet for Catapult last year, Rose announced that 2011 attendees who enrolled at Rose for college would get scholarships. I believe it was $2,000/year.</p>
<p>My DD used FIRST Robotics to help her decide on engineering as a major. She is planning on Mechanical as her field but is going to keep an open mind on other areas. FIRST was a great experience for her.</p>
<p>As far as small engineering schools, DD just got back from admitted Students visit at Case Western Reserve University. I was not thrilled with thought of DD living in Cleveland, but after our visit I must say it seems like a great fit for her. Small school with about 4000 undergrad and 5000 grad students. Campus is very pretty and integrated really well with city and it’s resources. We visited 9 colleges and CWRU really was impressive in comparison.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the advice. D and I just got home after visiting 4 schools-
West Virginia Tech
Capitol college
Wilkes univ
Olin college</p>
<p>She liked Wilkes and WV Tech the best.</p>
<p>I will look into the summer camp idea…that will probably help a bit. Right now she seems interested in the building side of things. She’s on the FIRST Robotics club at her school, she’s a builder for that so we’ll see. Luckily we have a little time to get this figured out.</p>