Colleges w/ Acceptance Rates >20% & Strong Engineering Programs: Schools You Like and Why (NO REPLIES)

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I’ve heard a lot of people more knowledgeable than I on STEM fields who have been really impressed with the Speed School of Engineering at the U. of Louisville in Kentucky. The university has an overall admission rate of 81% and the requirements for a direct-admit to the engineering program are below (source):

image: Table of engineering admission requirements: .B. Speed School of Engineering GPA: 3.0 25 ACT or 1200 SAT 25 ACT Math & 25 ACT Science or 590 SAT Math OR GPA 3.5 24 ACT or 1160 SAT 24 ACT Math & 24 ACT Science or 580 SAT Math Students who choose to submit test scores and do not meet the minimum ACT/SAT requirements, but who meet GPA and course requirements will be admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences as pre-engineering GPA: 3.5 Comprehensive high school transcript evaluation to view levels of courses. (Successful completion of pre-calculus required and enrollment/completion of chemistry, preferably AP calculus) Student resume may be requested (extra-curricular activities and leadership positions)
image: Table of engineering admission requirements: .B. Speed School of Engineering GPA: 3.0 25 ACT or 1200 SAT 25 ACT Math & 25 ACT Science or 590 SAT Math OR GPA 3.5 24 ACT or 1160 SAT 24 ACT Math & 24 ACT Science or 580 SAT Math Students who choose to submit test scores and do not meet the minimum ACT/SAT requirements, but who meet GPA and course requirements will be admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences as pre-engineering GPA: 3.5 Comprehensive high school transcript evaluation to view levels of courses. (Successful completion of pre-calculus required and enrollment/completion of chemistry, preferably AP calculus) Student resume may be requested (extra-curricular activities and leadership positions)925×559 50.2 KB

The Speed program is based on the learn-by-doing model of Cal Poly SLO and students are required to have at least one co-op. The website boasts that 97% of Speed graduates are employed within 90 days, a shorter timeline than most colleges share (which is usually 6 months). There are many different ABET-accredited fields and many engineering-related clubs (including Formula and Baja SAE and a NASA rocketry club).

There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the school’s athletic teams (it gets an A+ on Niche for college athletics and ranks #29 of 1332 based on survey responses). But Louisville has a lot more to offer than that. It’s an affordable city, was rated #9 by Travel + Leisure as a food city, and the campus is within walking distance of Old Louisville and within biking/public transportation distance of downtown and the Riverwalk (3+ miles). Additionally, the city of Louisville has earned a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index every year since 2015. (Source for some of the info on life in Louisville.)

The university also makes significant efforts to be financially accessible and transparent, with tables of generous merit scholarships for out-of-state students to know their likely costs prior to applying.

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