Chance for me getting into any college? [NJ resident, 3.463 GPA, 23 ACT, 1170 SAT, aerospace engineering]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: NJ
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public school
  • Other special factors:

Cost Constraints / Budget
My mom is a single mother of both me and my sister, and I think she qualifies for a lot of things for people who don’t earn as much?

Intended Major(s): Aerospace Engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.463
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.150
  • College GPA: none
  • Class Rank: Top 10%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: ACT 23, SAT 1170

List your HS coursework (from 9 to 11 since I am a junior)

  • English: Honors English I and II, AP Literature and Composition
  • Math: Honors Geometry, Honors Algebra II, AP Precalculus
  • Science: Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, AP Chemistry
  • History and social studies: AP World History (3), Honors US History I, AP US History
  • Language other than English: French I and II
  • Visual or performing arts: Art I
  • Other academic courses: AP Seminar (3)

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
(Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.)

  • General education course work: no
  • Major preparation course work: no

Awards

Extracurriculars
Peer Leadership Club (no leading role) since 7th grade

Soccer (benched) only in 10th grade

Tried learning some java script with a free mooc course (beginner)

I wrote a short story (unfinished) in like 8th grade

my ecs are not good i dont really have anything

Essays/LORs/Other
no

Schools

I have no idea but these are some that I like but prob cant get into.

MIT

Stanford

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide

Penn State

Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology

Im a junior and I’m really scared that I wont be able to go anywhere good, I wanna study aerospace engineering so I chose those specific schools so far but idk what my odds even are.

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There’s many hundreds of very good schools and you will certainly get into some. Affordability may be another issue.

But to answer the title - yes 100%. That doesn’t mean you have to start at a four year of a two year can save you money.

But you can get into many - not MIT most likely but many fine schools. We can help you when you’re ready - maybe come back after the semester.

Good luck

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Do you plan to retake the SAT? Have you tried the ACT. Some students find the ACT to be a better test for them. At this point, your SAT score is really too low for Stanford or MIT. They would be reaches anyway even with a great score. These two schools attract a lot of excellent applicants…and the acceptance rate is low.

Yes, you can get accepted to college. You should research some of your NJ colleges…I think they would be attainable…Stockton, Rowen, for example.

Look at the Colleges That Change Lives list. Some of those colleges could be attainable as well, and they are great schools.

Please discuss your college options with your school counselor. They likely have some idea where students with your academic profile have gotten accepted in the past.

There are many college options for every student.

In your case, you will need to keep a watchful eye on costs.

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Do you mean lower income?

You or your mother should try the net price calculator on the web site of each college of interest.

Also, some colleges like MIT, Stanford, and WPI on your list require both parents’ finances for financial aid. If a college requires the non-custodial parent finances, be sure to include them when using the net price calculator for those colleges.

At some colleges, aerospace engineering is not its own major, but there are aerospace electives within another department or major (usually mechanical engineering).

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But do any of them have aerospace (or any) engineering?

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So yes, you’ll get into a college.

Engineering has a large drop out rate and given your math SAT, it might be hard to keep up. Engineering is math, math and more math.

But you noted aerospace. Many schools will have aero as a subset of mechanical. But if we looked at aero accredited schools, I believe you’d get into these - but again, money is another issue:

U of Akron

UAH

Buffalo

Clarkson

ERAU

FIT

Hartford

Iowa State

Kansas

Kent State

Miss State

West Virginia

Western Michigan

Wichita State

There’s more but these might be some - but again, we’d need a budget. In the NE, there’s not many but a Rowan has MechE and would be in-state for you.

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Ok, I will remove ones like MIT and Stanford since they would be a waste of money. I asked my mom and she wont tell me her salary but she works for a private equity firm as a consultant? I think she probably has a salary from 40-70k since I cant get a proper amount. I also added some more colleges that I was considering but probably cant get into (maybe at least some of them): Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, Syracuse University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide, California State Polytechnic University - Pomona, Penn State (University Park Campus), Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology. Also, I really need help with my extracurriculars since they are so bad, but I don’t have any friends and the people at my school are really not that nice so I don’t like school extracurriculars. But it’s my junior year so idk what to do since its too late and I’m not really special at anything

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My gpa might be a little higher since I have 2 classes that don’t currently count towards my grade since they have incomplete grades or aren’t inputted until the end of the year. Also, I asked my mom and she will let me retake the SAT, but also I’m in a program where I will be able to take the ACT again for free in June and maybe July too so I will retake those maybe in the summer.

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You need to do each schools net price calculator. You need a formal budget. Penn State, as an example, will cost more than mom makes in a year.

She needs to tell you how much per year she can pay. That’s step one b4 building a list.

It may be you need to attend in state - like Rowan - on a program for low income students.

You need a lot more info b4 making a list and most every one of these will not be admissible and/or affordable.

So get the #s from mom - or have her fill the net price calculator below. If there’s another parent, even if not involved, their info may be needed.

But for now, you need to slow down. Having a list is premature.

https://rowan.clearcostcalculator.com/student/default/netpricecalculator/survey

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Who is advising you about college and extracurriculars? The best extracurricular for you, at this point, is to find a summer job so that you start earning funding for your expenses. Colleges DO respect part-time jobs as extracurriculars. When you apply you need to include extracurricular activities that have been conducted in high school.

You appear to be pulling names out of a hat.
If you really want to attend a college, you need to be academically prepared and find an affordable college.

If you want to study any kind of engineering you need strong math and physics grades.

There are about 4000 colleges and universities in the United States. They all tend to have similar basic academic requirements. Some are public colleges and some are private colleges.

Many of these public colleges are funded by their state taxpayers. That means that if you don’t live in that state, and your parents don’t pay taxes there, it’s not going to be affordable for you because they will charge out of state (OOS) fees for you to attend.

Some schools, like the UCs, cannot afford to provide scholarships for people who live out of the state. Your first task is to start finding colleges in your state, where your mother already pays taxes to support. Look at your in-state options and see if they’re affordable. These may be your safeties.

Aerospace engineering is a subject within the field of mechanical engineering. It involves a strong history of physics and math. My husband and my daughter work in aerospace engineering. It involves understanding contracts . Because there is a lot of contractual work involved, there also needs to be a good strong history of English writing and analysis.

It is a tough major. Students in this field need to at least maintain at 3.3 college GPA to get interviews.

Find out your budget from your mom. Most of these colleges are not affordable for you. Work with your school counselor and find out where you could go with your statistics. Come back here if you have questions.

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I’ll also add to OP that many colleges don’t look at ECs at all.

Penn State, as an example. It will be too much for you but ECs aren’t considered for admission. Focus on school and your test score. They are most important.

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IMO, you should focus more on increasing your SAT/ACT score than on improving your extracurriculars. Can you share your scores for each section of the SAT and ACT?

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Can you pay the full price of attendance at Cal Poly Pomona? If not…remove it. The CA colleges do not give need based aid to OOS students, and I don’t think you would get (the small amount of) merit they sometimes offer.

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Welcome to College Confidential, @collegesearch149 ! To answer the implied question in your thread title, yes, there will be colleges that would be happy to accept you as a student!

As others have mentioned, getting a budget from your family is a critical step. Many parents don’t feel comfortable sharing their income with their children, but being able to let you know what they are willing and able to pay per year for your college is important. Those two things are not the same.

I would suggest that your mom go to this website and see which (if any) programs you may be eligible for: https://www.hesaa.org/Pages/NJGrantsHome.aspx. There’s the Tuition Aid Grant (for any higher ed, from community college to private 4-year colleges), Community College Opportunity Grant (for families with an adjusted gross income (AGI) below $65k to get their first associate’s degree, about the first two years of college courses, at a community college), and the Garden State Guarantee (which coves the tuition for years three and four at in-state publics for families with an AGI below $65k).

Additionally, NJ prepares an annual guide about educational options in the state and funding opportunities that you can access here: https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/19a669e3#/19a669e3/1

Aerospace engineering is a very specific degree, and the only colleges in New Jersey that are ABET-accredited for that specialty are Princeton (I would not bother applying) and Rutgers-New Brunswick.

That said, however, many people often recommend that individuals interested in aerospace get a degree in mechanical engineering because aerospace companies hire mechanical engineers, but if the job market goes south for aerospace engineers, there’s a lot more flexibility and ability to pivot with a mechanical engineering degree than an aerospace one. The NJ schools that are ABET-accredited for mechanical engineering are

  • Fairleigh Dickinson (Metropolitan Campus in Teaneck)
  • New Jersey Institute of Technology (public)
  • The College of New Jersey (public)
  • Princeton
  • Rowan (public)
  • Rutgers – New Brunswick (public)
  • Stevens Institute of Technology

Are any of the public colleges accredited for mechanical engineering within commuting distance from where you live?

You may also want to look into mechanical engineering technology and what the differences are between that and regular mechanical engineering. Should that end up appealing at any point, both Fairleigh Dickinson and NJIT are ABET-accredited for mechanical engineering technology.

This is how I suggest going about a college search:

  1. Determine the annual budget per year that your family is willing and able to afford without loans.
  2. Find options that are highly likely to meet that budget, that are highly likely to accept you, and that you would be happy to attend. (And sometimes when the budget is very low, it can be more of a willingness to attend and may require loans up to the undergraduate federal maximum of about $27k total for 4 years, or $31k lifetime max.)
  3. Once you have a couple of options that meet the criteria in #2, then you can look for other schools that can meet the budget, that you’d be happy to attend, and that you want to apply to. But you should only move on to step #3 once you’ve completed step #2.

One potential route would be to attend community college for two years and then transfer to a New Jersey public for your last two years to complete your degree. If you qualify for the free tuition offers for NJ residents, then you can get a well-respected degree at a very low cost.

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Yeah my mom said I can retake both but for the SAT I got 590 for math and 580 for english, and the ACT I got a composite score of 23 with 23 for english and math and 24 for reading and science. If im honest, I didnt really prepare much for both of them so maybe getting textbooks and stuff alone could easily raise my score?

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Also im only making this list so early since I have to make one for this program im in by tommorrow, so it’s not really final and idek how my mom will pay for them. Also, I tried to get her salary and stuff but she says I don’t need to know since I’m a child so I might just have to ask the program to tell me or something. I appreciate the people mentioning more about the degrees I should get or where I should go, while also helping me understand that I might need to look for in-state schools with grants and stuff so thanks. I just wanna have a better chance of getting into some more selective schools so thats why I was worried about my extracurriculars (nonexistent) and my low gpa and funds

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There are books and online tools you can use to study - some that show strategies and old practice tests - so yes, a higher score is possible.

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That’s why I sent you a net price calculator - for her to fill out. Every school has one to tell you if they are affordable. This is for Rowan. Have her fill it out. Just google a school + net price calculator - for any of interest. I put WPI too. She needs 15 minutes for each….you don’t need to be involved. They will give a cost - she says I can afford or I can’t….then you know.

https://rowan.clearcostcalculator.com/student/default/netpricecalculator/survey

Net Price Calculator

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thanks I will try and ask her to fill it out

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Also, she can do it anonymously if she wants, if that makes her feel more comfortable.

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