For safety and value then with your concept - have you looked at schools like Rose Hulman and to a lesser level Florida Tech.
The career outcomes at Rose are very good and he’s certainly likely there with some merit.
It’s very different in that it’s campus is tiny.
But - it’s sort of what you’re looking for and it’s #1 year after year for schools that don’t offer a PHD, If the student is pre-med, that’s an entirely different thing - because some schools - like an Alabama and its Mccullough Medical Scholars (no biomedical) have special programs/cohorts - and for pre-med, that’s be an entire different discussion.
You and I can disagree on university strength - that’s ok - but I was trying to fill your “value” part - and in my experience, what I’ve seen -but it’s MechE - it seems like the same companies I see on top school websites are writing kids via handshake - at least at my kid’s schools. I think the internet has changed a lot of things recruiting wise.
Good luck.
2024 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (No Doctorate) | US News Rankings
Career Placement and Salary Data | Rose-Hulman
I’ve definitely got the most familiarity with A&M as a former student and with a lot of connections to the school. We’ve visited and met with the BME Department as well. ETAM is definitely flawed at A&M. They should allow for exceptions to bypass it. For instance A&M makes incoming Freshman take a Math test to help place them in the correct math class but ETAM doesn’t reward you for going in a higher level class. You can take Pre Calc up to Diff EQ and all that matters is the grade. My son will likely take Calc II which will be repeating a lot of what he does in Calc BC. He’s taking Physics C so if he does well enough on the Exam he would also be able to skip in college but he will just take it at A&M. Chemistry they give you credit but not for the Chemistry class that matters. So there is a bit of wasted time. That said that’s really more about his ability to graduate in 3 or 3 and a half or get a Masters in 5 or less.
Most of the kids who struggle with ETAM though are those who haven’t taken that many APs in science and get intimidated in a large classroom setting. I know many kids from my son’s HS who have taken AP classes there and they think HS is easier than A&M, my eldest is in a different major and feels the same (he has a 4.0 at A&M now as a Junior). Also, if my son gets Honors then he can take smaller classes and gets to register first so he can pick his profs.
Otherwise it’s a pretty great program. Facilities at A&M are crazy. $260 Million Engineering Building with every machine you can imagine to build anything. The BME building is a couple hundred yards away and is new with state of the art labs, that’s important because A&M is a HUGE campus and essentially after Freshman year he will have all his classes in those buildings. It’s the 3rd largest BME Department in the country after GT and Hopkins and one of the oldest at 50 years. Many of the Profs have Med Device companies and they also have a very high Med School placement rate if he chooses to go that route. It’s also a potential avenue to the EnMed Program A&M has with Houston Methodist where you get an MD and MS in BME in 4 years.
That’s why it’s a high bar. He’s fortunate to be in a situation where that’s basically a Safety. If he can get some Merit to go with already getting In State that makes it really hard to pass up. Still I want to make sure he has options and we aren’t putting all our eggs in that basket. That’s why it doesn’t make sense for him to go to a similar or lower rated Engineering school unless it’s basically free though and potentially is a part of a special cohort or scholarship program that gives him opportunities and access he might not otherwise get. Those programs are extremely competitive though so that’s why I am looking at having as many potential options as possible. UTD also has a McDermott Scholarship for instance but not a strong BME program (strong Comp Sci).
Rose is interesting but really small and Terre Haute would be a hard sell for him. Fits a lot of the other criteria though.
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Two more but not sure strong in biomed but ABET - RPI, WPI - which has 7 weeks classes - so that’s another nuance.
Just looking at the list I posted above 
How about UTD as the - if A&M doesn’t happen engineering wise - ultra safety?
RPI and WPI definitely fit the right category, just no way he is going that far North unless it is for MIT or maybe being in Mountain Biking Heaven at Mines. He’s pretty cold sensitive I’ve recruited at both schools and they are really solid btw but really cold.
Might apply to UTD and shoot for a McDermott. Know 2 kids that did and both are in Residency now, they prefer females generally.
Repeating what one learned in high school also consumes schedule space that could be used for additional upper level courses (later, if one finishes the lower level courses earlier) or free electives within one’s schedule, if one does not try to graduate early.
I.e. would the student rather repeat frosh level calculus and physics, or have the schedule space for additional interesting upper level courses in the major, or additional courses of interest outside the major?
OK - in case you’re not aware and somehow RPI does make a list, you’d want to have him nominated for their medal for $40K off. Good value for a school with great outcomes.
The Rensselaer Medal | Admissions (rpi.edu)
Yep, definitely the biggest knock on A&M is ETAM. I wish they would implement the system UNC has for instance where if you got a 5 on the AP exam it counts as an A in the calculation or some other ways to qualify out of ETAM directly in to Major. I would rather him not have to be worried about challenging himself as a Freshman but with ETAM he pretty much needs to. Good news is it really only impacts one Semester though and I’d rather him get off to a strong GPA start anyway since GPA ultimately drives so much.
I do feel for kids that don’t understand how that game works though. I’ve seen the ETAM numbers and generally the Majors impacted the most are CS and Bio. Most of them you can get in Holistically without the 3.75. So you end up with some smart kids that just go into those 350 person classes with a good number of kids taking it who are like my son who already know most of the material and they end up with a B or C and not able to take those Majors. Could also happen to my son if he isn’t careful. Not a lot of room for error.
Yeah, it definitely hits a lot of the right notes. I’ve just been to Troy, NY in February and that’s not going to be his thing.
I didn’t know about direct admit or not.
My son chose his school (Bama) after initially wanting Purdue (which would have the secondary).
I’m not sure he looked at that or I did - but he was the typical super smart kid with 12 APs and a 34 ACT and all that - and first semester - whammo - had to WD a class.
Interestingly, at Mines admitted student day, the student panel said if it’s a math or science class, AP or not - take it again!! Good advice.
Others on here disagree but that’s what they said - and boom - just like that. I think he WD’d two classes overall but one first semester. He said it was a bad prof, not the difficulty but who knows.
There were many times first semester or year based on his musings to mom, we thought he’d flunk out of the major. It’s hard. Turns out he was likely over dramatic but I think his GPA in the major was a 3.2 or 3.3 or something like that.
But it’s not necessarily as easy as many parents think - hence the 40-60% drop out rate (depending on study) of the major.
Or as my neighbor’s kid who went to UTK said - the business school is loaded with the ex engineers - and they have it easy.
If I were a parent and knew about this stuff back then - I’d strongly advise my kid away from any school that wasn’t direct admit - just seems scary - no matter the major, no matter how talented and driven your kid is. They’re likely successful - and some schools have higher rates of success - but it just seems like adding stress unnecessarily to an already stressful situation.
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You probably mean NCSU. NCSU has a similar system as Texas A&M, but no automatic admission GPA. Biomedical engineering is one of the most competitive majors there (25th percentile college GPA for those admitted was something like 3.75 recently). NCSU does have an AP score to grade mapping as you mention. The biomedical engineering major is also offered at UNC-CH in conjunction with NCSU; UNC-CH students also have to go through secondary admission.
Other schools with similar systems of secondary admission to engineering majors include Purdue (3.2 automatic admission), Virginia Tech (3.0 automatic admission), Minnesota (3.2 automatic admission), Penn State (automatic admission GPA varies by major). Wisconsin effectively has a similar system with progression GPA requirements (that vary by major).
UNC has a similar system, toured there in the Fall and talked with them about it. You have a core set of STEM Classes that you have to take and get a certain GPA in but if you have a 4 or 5 on your AP exam it counts. Slightly different rules but similar concept.
FWIW UNC is gorgeous and has a tremendous reputation but their Engineering is not impressive. The Labs were small and in a basement with basic equipment. The Med School is amazing but they really don’t integrate with it that well. NC State is very Engineering focused though with a separate campus for it and great facilities, very new and modern. They have a 9 Way Axis CNC Mill which is just nuts. It is a dual program with both so the Degree has both school’s stamps on it. The appeal would be to try for NC State and the Park Scholarship but there are only 20 OOS per year so it’s tough.
UNC is also now arguably the hardest school to get in OOS in the country now, well under 5%. They are very restricted on the number of OOS seats and have a ton of applicants. OOS you probably have just as good of a chance at Duke which is also extremely tough. NC State just doesn’t attract as many top applicants even though it’s a really solid school, probably because the OOS tuition is pretty high for what you get. Park Scholarship of course completely changes that dynamic but even if he got a 36 on his ACT it’s a stretch.
Essentially NC State with Park is far better than A&M with In State tuition but straight up if NC State is OOS tuition then A&M is a no brainer.
I definitely don’t take the lack of direct admit lightly. I just have confidence based and so many others I know from our HS. The HS is just a meat grinder and extremely competitive with great teachers and the kids from there have done very well in Engineering at A&M, Texas, and Mines. Neighbor had similar grades to my son and currently has a 4.0 in CS at Stanford. Can’t take it for granted though, it always takes work.
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I just scrolled through quickly.
Is Florida State on your son’s list? My high ranked DS has a similar test score to your son.
DS was admitted into the honors college at FSU with an out of state waiver. He was also a semifinalist for the full ride Presidential scholarship (he did not proceed because he preferred another FL college).
I would recommend that your son does more volunteer work. DS applied to 22 schools and community service was recurring theme in the prompts.
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And there would be 0 FA from GaTech.
He’s got quite a bit of Volunteer work. He earned a Presidential Service Award, was President and Vice President of Young Men’s Service League, and is currently Vice President of Key Club and previously was Chair of their Relay For Life Fundraiser that raised over $10k. He will likely be President of Key Club for Sr year. He also does some Volunteer work with NHS but that’s minor. He’s looking at a couple of other ideas but he’s pretty limited on time.
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Yep, only shot there is something like Stamps and that’s stupid competitive at a place like GT. They have a decent number of them but that’s a pretty big longshot even if he got a 36 on his ACT. It might be worth the extra money though as it is now considered the best BME Program in the country along with Hopkins. Their program is linked with Emory Med School and it’s expensive OOS but not as crazy as some Privates.
Is the end goal a job or med school?
If a job, is it to work for a medical equipment company or at a hospital, etc.
Places like Abbott, Baxter, Becton Dickinson, JNJ, Medtronic, Stryker hire from JHU but many others as well as you’ll find salaries are likely based on location vs. school.
Rank is great for magazines - it may or may not translate to access to better job opportunities.
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Not sure yet. Generally BME go 1/3rd into industry, 1/3rd into Grad school, 1/3rd Med School. Most schools also offer 5 year Master combo programs if you are making grades as well and you can basically double count a lot of your classes. You can also do a BME Undergrad and then Masters in Mechanical or EE. It’s a very flexible Major, that’s part of what he likes about it. He really has a passion for both Engineering and Medicine and wants to keep exploring both for now.
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