Highschool Junior Match me for Engineering preferably Aerospace [TX resident, 3.9 GPA, top 6%, 34 ACT]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

match me for Engineering preferably Aerospace

Demographics

  • US citizen

    TX resident

  • Public sub urban high-school

  • Male

Cost Constraints / Budget
No

Intended Major(s) Engineering preferably Aerospace

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.9/4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA:
  • College GPA: N/A
  • Class Rank:42/803 Top 6 percent
  • ACT/SAT Scores:34 composite 35 Maths ,33 Reading ,34 Writing ,36 Science

List your HS coursework

AP World,AP Physics 1,AP USH,AP Chem,AP Physics C,AP Calculus BC,AP CS A

Awards

Extracurriculars
Boys Scouts

Clubs

SciOly,TARC member ,Aerospace Club,Science Bowl,Programmer in FTC Robotics, Selected for NASA HAS(Actively Engaged )

Awards

NHS, Eagle Scout

Summer activities

9 th Grade - Worked at Eagle Summer camp

10 Grade -Volunteering at Science Museum

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

Schools
Reach

Georgia Tech
Rice (ED)

Target

 Purdue
 UUIC Urbana
 University of Michigan

Safety

 College Station
 UT Dallas

If a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below; also, for colleges that admit by major or division, consider that in chance estimate.

Not expecting any scholarship or Financial Aid

Appreciate you response thank you

2

Why not UTexas?

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3

Why aerospace? The reason I ask is that you can work in the industry with almost any engineering or CS degree. What do you want to do?

4

So this is a chance me as you listed schools vs a match me that you stated (find me schools).”.

I’d say you are in good shape.

A&M has secondary admission so if you want assured aero or MECHE, that’s not the school.

Rice isn’t aero accredited although it’s a concentration in MECHE. UTD doesn’t have at all but has a Defense and Aero concentration in Systems Engineering.

There’s 82 accredited schools in the U.S. You’ll certainly get in A&M and UTD. The others - you have a chance. But can’t say. Purdue most likely if he rest and honestly a high majority of the 82 if you expanded your list.

Lots of great engineering schools. Pedigree doesn’t matter much.

$ Not an issue but would you want to spend $80k+ at Michigan when Alabama will be $20k for you? Or they work side by side with kids from W Michigan ?

Btw UT Arlington is aero accredited so maybe swap that in for Dallas if you want aero. You don’t need aero but if it’s your interest, I see no issue.

Good luck.

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5

Thank you all for the quick response. I am trying to expand/refine the list based on the inputs .

6

Thank you for your response. CS is definitely not an area I want to go. Any engineering should be fine but I am more interested in Aero and building my resume to support in Aero

7

Thank you for your prompt reply. At this time, based on my current ECs , I came with that draft list. I will definitely include all Texas colleges

8

Because you are out of state, I would move U Michigan into the reach category. UIUC and Purdue can be unpredictable for OOS applicants as well (UIUC more so than Purdue) but I think you’d likely see an acceptance at Purdue.

RPI would be a good match for you with a similar vibe of many of the schools on your list, albeit a bit smaller. If you are one of the top stem students in your HS, talk to your guidance counselor about nominating you for the RPI Medal. I will translate to a $40K/year merit scholarship.

9

If you’d like more, let us know - but talk to your parents about budget. Some can spend unlimited but when they realize they could save big time (in some cases hundreds of thousands), they think otherwise.

Honestly, there’s great aero schools all over - but a ton of MechE. My son is in an aero company as an MechE. Some will tell you MechE gives you more flexibility. He chose Bama over Purdue - not for savings although it was cheaper - but for example, because he got his own dorm room.

A school like UAH - under $20K for you - is surrounded by defense companies as is Florida Tech.

Not saying you should expand (maybe UTA over UTD) or go to these - but there are other options. RPI was mentioned above. If you wanted a school with shorter classes, more project work, there’s WPI. If you wanted out of Texas, U of Arizona has a great aero program.

But your list is fine. Even A&M is fine, just know that aero is not guaranteed, nor is MechE. You have to deliver first year but it’s going to happen for many and maybe you. Same with Purdue. Other schools are direct to major.

But you’re a great candidate and I’m sure you’ll do well, even with your current list.

Good luck.

10

I suggest the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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11

Again, to do WHAT in aero? A frequent poster out here did a lot of work on the Mars Rover and he’s a civil. My son was offered a job (he took a different one) with a satellite company and he’s a mechanical. Good you’ve eliminated CS. The aerospace industry entails a LOT of stuff. What do you want to do?

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12

You’d have almost certain admission with merit at Wichita State (Kansas) and Missouri S & T. Both have excellent regional reputations for aerospace. Many aerospace companies have offices on the Wichita State campus.

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13

OP, in my opinion I’d worry less about the “why aerospace” question right now. If it’s interesting for you, then I’d go for it. Just know that there are many paths and when you ultimately figure out more specifics on what you’re interested in, you might change that path. As noted earlier, there are lots of opportunities with different majors.

I do agree with the advice to look at colleges in locations where there are aerospace companies, and I’d also look at schools that are recruited more heavily from aerospace companies.

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14

Why is a very important question because there are only 58 ABET accredited AE programs in the country. UCB, Caltech, MIT and Stanford are all good options for aerodynamics, but none of them offer AE. Further more, AE at some schools is very systems oriented. If a student is fascinated by being in the weeds of thruster dynamics, nose cone shapes, etc. they might be better served in the ME department.

15

Actually, 70 in the US for a bachelor.

I think if OP wants aero, it’s fine - and most of these would accept him and come at various price points, but that doesn’t seem a driving factor. So the list is ok.

But if OP is choosing aero because they think you need aero to work in aero, then yes they should know so they can explore more.

And they should learn which schools are direct admit vs. not direct admit, in case that’s a concern for them.

Here are the US schools that are ABET accredited. But as noted, some (like Rice) don’t have an aero major but have an aero concentration in MechE - so in theory it does have accreditation but the major would be MechE.

Auburn University Auburn Alabama
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville Alabama
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Alabama
Tuskegee University Tuskegee Alabama
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott Prescott Arizona
Arizona State University Tempe Arizona
The University of Arizona Tucson Arizona
University of California, Davis Davis California
University of California, Irvine Irvine California
University of California, San Diego La Jolla California
California State University, Long Beach Long Beach California
University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles California
University of Southern California Los Angeles California
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Pomona California
San Diego State University San Diego California
San Jose State University San Jose California
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo California
University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado
United States Air Force Academy USAFA Colorado
University of Hartford West Hartford Connecticut
University of Miami Coral Gables Florida
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach Daytona Beach Florida
University of Florida Gainesville Florida
Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne Florida
University of Central Florida Orlando Florida
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia
University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign Illinois
Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago Illinois
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame Indiana
Purdue University at West Lafayette West Lafayette Indiana
Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames Iowa
The University of Kansas Lawrence Kansas
Wichita State University Wichita Kansas
United States Naval Academy Annapolis Maryland
University of Maryland College Park College Park Maryland
Capitol Technology University Laurel Maryland
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester Massachusetts
University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo Michigan
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis Minnesota
Mississippi State University Mississippi State Mississippi
Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla Missouri
Saint Louis University Saint Louis Missouri
Southern New Hampshire University Manchester New Hampshire
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick New Jersey
Princeton University Princeton New Jersey
New Mexico State University Las Cruces New Mexico
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Buffalo New York
Clarkson University Potsdam New York
Syracuse University Syracuse New York
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy New York
North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh North Carolina
The University of Akron Akron Ohio
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Ohio
The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
Kent State University Kent Ohio
University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma
Oklahoma State University Stillwater Oklahoma
The Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
University of South Carolina Columbia South Carolina
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville Tennessee
The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington Texas
University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas
Texas A&M University College Station Texas
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg Virginia
University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia
University of Washington Seattle Washington
West Virginia University Morgantown West Virginia
16

Yup, aerospace encompasses a lot of disciplines… my son is interviewing for jobs in this area and he’s EE… the most recent hiring manager he interviewed with was trained as a materials scientist, and the next interview he has is with a guy whose degree was in industrial engineering.

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