My daughter recently decided to apply to Michigan. She is wanting to study mechanical engineering. I’m not sure where it’s best to apply for her.
She’s a senior.
In-state.
uw GPA is 3.98
w GPA is 4.176 (0.5 added for AP/IB)
SAT 1430 (750 English, 680 Math)
IB diploma candidate with HL English, History, Physics and Math AI. We chose Math AI before she had an interest in engineering. SL in Chinese (5) and Spanish.
AP World (4), Lang (4) and Stats (3) all taken in 10th grade after a 2+ month school closure, which caused a lot of missed material (this is in the school profile).
She’s not really set up as an engineering kid, although I do think she will be successful if she sticks with it.
Science classes: 9th - biology, 10th - chemistry, 11th and 12th - IB physics HL
Math classes: 9th - Algebra 2, 10th - AP Statistics, 11th and 12th - IB Math AI HL
Two years ago, I would have said she would want a degree in languages or history or something. With IB, there is not much room for electives, so she decided to not take pre-calc and to take AP stats as an elective and then IB Math AI HL. In hindsight, it was a reasonable choice because she enjoyed Stats and likes Math AI. Not the best choice for engineering though.
So she’s in an IB program. That shows rigor in itself. Your are compared to your own school. So do the kids that get into Michigan for engineering specifically have pre Calc or Calc?
Most engineering schools want you to be ready to take Calc 1 as a freshman. At Michigan they still have a pre Calc equivalent. She will take a test in test and she will see where she falls.
The sat is fine for instate.
My son applied about 6 years ago LSA since he was considering Actuarial Science. But within months really wanted engineering. He started Michigan in LSA and switched out Feb 1 to engineering. Technically he was engineering in that next fall (sophomore year fall), as long as he did well in the prereqs. He graduated in Industrial engineering and is working in Sweden now for an international company that came specially to Michigan to get some students.
Saying this the math score is low. Plus the 3 in stats is low. AP stats is a known “easy” AP.
What do her current teachers /math teachers think? AI math has its uses.
This has become really in demand at Michigan and if she likes AI math she might like this. Nice starting salary also. Might not be as mathy as engineering and there is overlap (but not with mechanical)…
So she’s right there GPA /Statwise.
So LSA and engineering stats BTW are almost the same with the sat /act avg being higher
Michigan makes it pretty easy. Nothing is guaranteed but it’s not bad.
The only difference is a different English class and some engineering class. It wasn’t a big deal when he did it.
If she applies to engineering I am afraid she might not be competitive enough but… Talk to her counselor first. If kids with her profile are getting into Michigan engineering like your a feeder school that can change that perspective. If questions ask or pm me. Good luck.
I’m a fan of - if you want the major, apply for it. Has she gotten into other engineering programs ? I believe program above school. I’d rather go Mich State etc to study what I want vs Michigan and not.
That said, @Knowsstuff makes sense and here’s the exact same thread from a few years back that might be helpful. Featuring @knowstuff by the way - whose son, per the thread, made this move.
The lack of calc may be a limiter - the student may ultimately decide engineering isn’t for them. There will be calc, calc, and more calc.
Michigan state has a great program plus she would get into the honors program with some advantages.
Back in the day… Like 8 years ago, lol, there was maybe a slight advantage to apply LSA and switch to engineering. The stats were lower for LSA. That has basically changed since the stats for LSA and engineering are almost exact.
Michigan is also a very, very hard mathy school. They pride themselves on it.
I agree to apply where you want to go. I helped a student that thought she wanted engineering and she is loving and thriving in the school of information in data analytics. She has a Price Waterhouse internship this summer.
I think her math score was low because it had been too long since algebra 2. She’s really a good math student in general and very logical.
The stats score is low too but she really only had 3 months of the class. The missed a ton of school that year. We’d only report AP scores if going test optional I think.
Yes, full IB. Math AI does cover precalc and most of calc AB. The kids who get in are generally in Math AA or have taken Calc AB. Our school only has BC as an online option. Not ideal. So some engineering get in with AB in 11th and stats in 12th.
She is ranked 8/398. It’s a very average high school really. The top kids tend to be the few in IB.
Then she should be OK. Nice rank. Only send 4/5s for AP. Honestly many won’t really count for engineering anyway. It might help her take a few more breadth electives for engineering.
While Michigan doesn’t give credit for Math AI HL, other schools do. MSU gives credit for a score of 5+ and counts for calc 1 and calc 2. RIT gives credit for calc 1. It’s really hit or miss.
Comparing the 2 HL Maths, AA has 55 hours of calculus instruction and AI has 41 hours. Not as much, but it covers 75% of the teaching time. It won’t be an unknown to her.
I’ll see if she can talk to her counselor. She hasn’t met her yet. It’s the 5th counselor for high school and 2nd this year. We have very little college prep discussions. They met with seniors for 10 minutes each in October/November this year. It’s not a great situation.