My son wants to go into Aerospace Engineering and his grades are mediocre 2.98 (unweighted). his SAT was 1270. He did take all IB classes, so they were not easy. He does have a good work ethic and is very smart, but struggles sometimes with academics, and especially with tests. He was admitted to Florida Tech, Auburn and Texas A&M (in their PSA program). We live overseas but have family in Florida and the south. Texas A&M is a great school, but we don’t have any family there and we are so far away. He would have to attend a satellite school for one year and keep his grades above a 3.25 in order to transfer to the Texas A&M campus after two semesters. I am worried that he wont be able to keep up that GPA, in which case he will have to either continue attending the (sub-standard) school or transfer out. It might be a frustrating waste in order to get him into A&M, and since we don’t have any family there and live overseas it would be hard to even go visit him. (No close airports, etc.).
Auburn has a good reputation in engineering, but we are out of state tuition, and I am not sure how he will react to “weed out” classes, the academic stress and the various distractions from academics that a large diverse campus can have.
I’ve been thinking Florida Tech might be the place for him because it is small and seems very focused on the degrees and the academics. I am thinking the school might be more “hand holding” for him, which I think will be nice. We have family there within one hour both North and South from Melbourne. I have been steering him towards this school but now, I am wondering if I am wrong in thinking that having family close, etc. is more important than him attending a school which is well respected. He has matured a lot in the last year and gaining more confidence and independence. He liked Florida Tech and does not really want to go to A&M because he would have to transfer campuses. But then, there is Auburn! All three schools will cost us roughly the same amount of money because Florida Tech gave him a pretty good financial package, so that is not a factor. What are your thoughts on the various schools for engineering? Do you think I should encourage him to go to one of the better colleges? Is Florida Tech a good education?
My daughter went to Florida tech and it was a good academic fit for her. There are a lot of internship and work opportunities. It is very easy to get to from Orlando or he could fly out of the Melbourne airport to Atlanta for easy connections around the world.
I’d probably rule out A&M because of the reasons you stated, having to earn a 3.2 and having to transfer. That’s a lot pressure. He didn’t have a 3.2 in high school and college is going to be harder.
I don’t think the prestige of the school matters as much in engineering. My daughter got a job upon graduation, and most of her friends have them too. I’d probably pick Auburn just because it is a big school, big time sports, and more exciting, but Florida Tech will give him a good education.
Thanks so much for your feedback! We are looking at FL Tech and I am convinced that he will have a good experience there. Auburn is huge, and I’m worried he will get “lost” there. But when you look at the stats, Auburn is WAY ahead on the prestige scale. My son’s friend ridiculed his choice the other day and told him that Florida tech was not a good school. That had him spooked. I guess the real decision here must be based on whether his is able to keep up with no hand holding at Auburn. Because, they really don’t care if you attend class or not, etc. you have to be mature. He’s getting there but still a little bit lazy/slack when it comes to assignments he doesn’t like or see the point in.
Did you feel like Florida Tech was a supportive environment for your daughter? I’m kinda banking on that, but if it is no better, then maybe he should go for Auburn? Which, as you say would be the full package college deal (Big sports, big environment, school pride, lots of girls and academic diversity for him there. Of course there is no beach, but I went to Auburn myself and know what a fun experience it was. However, I’d hate to see him lost and struggling with it. He’s only ever been in Private International School and his whole school only has 1000 kids (from pre-k). He is sheltered, and doesn’t have a ton of “drive” as of yet, but like I said, he has been improving on this front in leaps and bounds in the last year or so.
We were taken a bit aback when he told us he wanted to major in aerospace. We visited both Auburn and Florida Tech this October and we both loved both campuses. He gave quite a rousing speech to the intake counselor at Fl Tech about why he wanted aerospace. She was obviously impressed, and so was I because I had not heard it before, LOL. Even though we are American, my son’s has lived in Europe almost his whole life, and I understand that 1/3 of the students there are international. So my son is not international but in some ways he is. Maybe that’s a reason he will “fit in” there? I’m hoping that he will get truly inspired once he starts school in his field.
Yes, Florida Tech is about 1/3 international students, and many are European. More European, South American, and middle eastern than the Asians you find at most schools. Many of them are athletes.
My daughter didn’t need the handholding, so I don’t know if it is automatic. She was an athlete and her coach knew her grades and if she missed a class long before I would know. She was also in a sorority and they got her grades before she did. Her team had a gpa of 3.5 and there were a couple who weren’t great students but they weren’t allowed to fall through the cracks.
I think kids get into small groups because of their majors very early and tend to hang out with those kids, work on projects, join the same competitions, and support each other. Because of the freshman village, there isn’t really a possibility of getting lost or forgotten. My daughter found most of the teachers supportive and helpful. She was a little different because she was in a very small department (civil) and she had her friends from her team who weren’t all engineers. I think FloridaTech as a school is a little boring compared to Auburn or A&M (I like big and exciting), but the city has more to offer and it is very easy to get to Miami, Orlando, even NYC. Getting to Melbourne from Europe would be very easy with a flight to Atlanta and then to Orlando or Melbourne. Don’t underestimate the ease of travel.
A friend is in aerospace engineering at SUNY Buffalo (horrible travel!). I think most of his friends are engineers so they’ve created a small tech world at a bigger school. My nephew is in engineering at CU-Boulder (not aerospace), and most of his friends are not engineers but he’s a very social kid and knew a lot of kids from high school and years of youth sports. His girlfriend is an engineer but not in his department. It is a different experience. His classmates aren’t really friends, and his roommates this year are all hockey players and not engineers.
My daughter worked for a professor one semester. One of her friends took a year off to do 3 co-ops, one at NASA, one at Johnson and Johnson and one at another big company. Great experience.
This is great news! My son is also planning to join the cross country team. There aren’t any scholarships for that but he just likes it. He has been one of the top members at his high school here! The coach said maybe they will have scholarships again sometime in the future but for now they don’t (they used to). I don’t think he will be able to be a truly valued member of cross county at Auburn. But I think being a part of a sports team will be great! I am also pleased that the school has been very communicative so far. I feel like they want him there, which is a big plus! The beach, the accessibility by airplane and the idea that he will be very close to many of our family members is making Florida Tech most attractive. Thanks for helping to gel this all in my mind! My Son is really excited about FL Tech, and now I am beginning to be super-excited with him! Thanks!
You can read the Florida Tech magazine online. It is really a beautiful student/alum magazine that come 4 times a year and has articles about the current students and their projects and at least one super excited alum. The guy who runs the NYC subway was in it an issue or so ago, and it is always so interesting with marine biology projects and space stuff. My daughter has been in it for lacrosse (is in the latest issue for an article about the teams adopting a special needs child to be part of the team - but it is an old picture).
Sign up for the FB pages too. They are always sending news articles about the astronauts and students getting really spectacular awards like the astronaut scholarships or building underwater vehicles.
Of course I’m easily impressed since my science projects were things like baking soda volcanoes (a la The Brady Bunch).