DH, DD & I went to a National College Fair tonight and an Admissions Rep told us that their school’s Average ACT for their engineering department was a 31. I had previously researched this college and it has a 24-29 ACT range overall. Their engineering department has the largest enrollment (by far). I’m not seeing how the largest department could have a 31 average when two different sources report that their 25%-75% range is 24-29. We have taken this school off of the list as everything the Admissions Rep said about the school was the opposite of what my DD was looking for in a school. So at least we won’t have to waste a visit on this one. I wonder if she was trying to make the school seem more prestigious and selective than it is because it has a 61% acceptance rate.
Is the overall admissions ACT 25-75%ile 24-29? Its quite possible that the midrange specifically for engineering students alone is higher.
What does the ASEE profile for the school (which shows test score ranges for engineering frosh) say?
For example, the ASEE profile for CSULA indicates higher test score ranges for engineering frosh than for all frosh:
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/7349/screen/19
https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1080
Yes, we had an admissions officer visiting the HS that stated a lower gpa average needed to gain admittance into a program than what is stated on the university’s website. A call to the university confirmed that the website was correct and the visiting admissions officer had it wrong.
Sometimes a person manning a table at a college fair is a local alum, not an adcomm.
@jym626 The engineering department makes up 48% of the student body. @ucbalumnus thanks for that link it shows “There is no data available for this institution” listed for the New Applicants section. HMMM - The worst part is DD said biochemistry with a goal of going to med school. So the engineering school ACT average was not even applicable to her. It was the most bizarre discussion I had ever had with an Admissions Rep. I can’t even describe it.
@jym626 She was the school’s Admissions Counselor assigned to our state. Maybe it’s possible that the engineering school overall is higher. It was a really weird conversation, but it will be a favorite of ours to tell. She probably insulted DD four times during the conversation. It was awful. It’s a school with that is 70% male 30% female - USNWR and DD was trying to ask about how that dynamic worked and how females were integrated into the school. Rep says no it’s like 60% 40% but don’t worry there are plenty of guys to go around??? I mean she’s not there to get her MRS!
What school are you talking about?
Averages and percentiles are not the same measurements. It’s quite possible that the 75th percentile is 29 and the average for 48% of the class is 31.
eg scores of 18, 22, 22, 24, 25, 25, 28, 29, 29, 33, 33, 34 where the top 6 students are engineering students would give those 25th-75th percentiles and engineering average.
Standardized test scores are usually higher for engineering students.
At at least one info session, we were told that a certain combination of grades and test scores would be needed for a automatic scholarship which turned out not to be true (at least for my kid). Would have been more honest to state that this would make a kid eligible for such a scholarship but this person really made it sound like it was definite.
Years ago, we were told by a UC Berkeley tour guide that the state budget crisis in CA had in no way affected campus services or classes. But every library we passed had a sign announcing reduced hours due to budget cuts. I don’t think the guide was intentionally lying. I just think she had not been personally affected by the problem.
It’s not unusual for one department to have higher admission standards than another. Back when I was going to undergrad in the late 80s, the SAT for automatic admission was something like 1150, but to get auto admit into engineering, it was 1250.
And, to reiterate what @jym626 said, when I went to a college fair, it seemed that most of the people I talked to were just alums and not on the admissions committee.
@gusmahler Maybe the scores are higher, but my DD told her she was interested in biochemistry not engineering. So why even bother with that statistic? My impression was that she was trying to make the school more prestigious and selective than it is. Also she told us they had a 60/40 ratio of M to F when every source we have looked at said approximately 70/30. She was definitely the Admission Rep for our area and not just an area alumni. She was very specific about that and how she was going to be reading my DD’s application and to make sure she got everything in right. She kept making weird jokes that were kind of insulting at the same time - the whole thing was bizarre. I’m honestly glad we had this interaction with her because it eliminated a school and saved us the expense of a visit.