<p>I would not assume that UIC would admit him w/a 25 in the math on the ACT. He needs to bring that up a lot to be competitive. If I were you, I’d start looking hard at SUI E and SIU C and Northern. But with his stats, I wouldn’t assume an admit at any eng. school.</p>
<p>I had some personal issues at the exclusive prep school I went to during my first three years of high school and finished my Junior year last in my class with a 1.4 GPA with a D in Algebra II and Fs in French and Chemistry. I took the SATs in the spring of my Junior year and got a 520 in math and a 610 in the verbal. However, something suddenly clicked over the summer and I started my Senior year with a determination to turn my life around. I had a 3.4 GPA for the Fall semester of my senior year and a 3.5 for the Spring semester. Unfortunately all the colleges I applied to in the Fall of my senior year only saw my grades through my Junior year. As you can imagine I received numerous rejection letters including one that had a hand written note on the standard rejection form saying “extremely poor high school record”, as if I didn’t know that. I had no safety schools with my record and by Spring had received nothing but rejections. Finally, in April one college took a look at my senior year grades and offered me an interview and I took advantage of that chance to convince them I was a much better prospect than my record through my Junior year would indicate.</p>
<p>I got accepted there and went on to earn a BS in Astronomy which required 3 semesters of Calculus, one semester of Differential Equations and one semester of Linear Algebra in addition to a large number of very challenging Physics and Astronomy courses. I eventually decided to pursue a career in medicine, was admitted to a leading medical school and am a practicing physician today.</p>
<p>It is possible to be a woeful underachiever through your Junior year, get a stack of rejection letters from colleges, all of which stung, and still achieve a modicum of success.</p>
<p>Good for you, lemaitre1. I am so proud of you for having confidence in yourself.</p>
<p>To the OP, your son has a lot of potential, just based on the fact that he wants to push himself to take the harder classes. To me, that speaks volumes towards his success in college. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you lemaitre1!!! You’ve made me feel so much better!!! I was just wondering if any school will take his senior grades into consideration. I’m hoping they will pull up as he realizes how serious this is now. I am about at my wits end with this and he knows how depressed I’ve become over this. We only want the best for our children, and want them to succeed, which I’m sure he can, given the chance. It’s a real shame that schools rely so much on grades during a rough time in a teenagers life, when their whole future can depend on it.</p>
<p>I’m grateful that you posted your story and I’m sure that it will help more folks out there in my position!!!</p>
<p>Donna</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Great addition!! </p>
<p>And thanks for the person who pointed out that the 50% range goes from 25%-75%. So an ACT score below the bottom range would put you in the bottom 25% of the incoming class with regards to test scores.</p>
<p>Wonderful story lemaitre1. </p>
<p>DonnaLK, I don’t know much about your college prepaid plan and if you can use it outside of Illinois but if you can and your son is willing to consider UW-Platteville I believe he would be accepted with his current stats into the engineering program. He has a composite ACT of 22 and a Math score of 25 which meets their requriements. In addition, UW-Platteville has a Tristate Initiative which gives a lower COA to Illinois students majoring in engineering. I believe with that program the COA (tuition, books, room and board) would be under $17,000.</p>
<p>I wonder if Iowa would be under that Tristate Initiative, or Minnesota?</p>
<p>UIC tends to look at composite scores for ACT. UIC unlike UIUC places more weight at high school grades/class rank. UIUC is the opposite. UIC’s College of Engineering does have the highest averages.
This is the admitted freshman average stats profile.
[UIC</a> Admissions and Records - Freshman](<a href=“http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/undergrad/freshman.html]UIC”>http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/undergrad/freshman.html)</p>
<p>The strict accrediation requirements from ABET mean that most engineering programs across the country are of similiar caliber. I don’t Stanford Engineering is any easier or more difficult than any random state university.</p>
<p>Because of this, I’d focus less on which university to go to and more effort onto improving his math skills as his success in engineering will depend on his math skill. Alternatively, time spent looking at other majors may not be a bad idea.</p>
<p>Where he gets admitted is much less important than if he graduates.</p>
<p>As a parent of one child who has completed an engineering grad degree and another in the midst of a physical science major, I would agree with BigTrees on this one. I would suggest spending the rest of the summer on math skills, and then by fall you can worry about whether it makes sense to go for the engineering degree or look at other majors and choose schools accordingly.</p>
<p>Also, to OP, I think it is important for your son to learn to ask for help.</p>
<p>Montegut, the Tristate Initiative at UW-Platteville is for students in Illinois and Iowa. It only covers certain majors, engineering being one of them. Minnesota wouldn’t be covered under this program because MN and WI have tuition reciprocity so MN residents already receive a tuition break.</p>
<p>Below is a link that lists the majors this covers.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.uwplatt.edu/admission/tristate/academic.html[/url]”>http://www.uwplatt.edu/admission/tristate/academic.html</a></p>
<p>
I disagree with this. Like most accrediting bodies, ABET sets minimum standards. That doesn’t mean any program cannot exceed those standards - either in quality and variety of offerings, or in difficulty.</p>
<p>I know nothing about Stanford in particular, except I didn’t attend there so I have no real dog in the fight. And any ABET accredited program is good enough to get a job in engineering. Even some non-ABET programs are okay.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
On the other hand, I agree wholehearedly with both of these statements. Algebra II is an extremly important course, and a tool for future math classes. One should be able to use this with ease and facility, so if you struggle with it a good review is in order.</p>
<p>
This is never a bad idea for anyone.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m not surprised and it’s not incorrect to disagree with the statement. The problem we all have is most of us only attended one undergraduate engineering school and aren’t in a position to tell. Even if we did attend two engineering schools, the second is likely to be easier because we have some experience with engineering and are also more mature.</p>
<p>What I can observe is that the engineering school I graduated from was very difficult. When I talk with engineers that graduated from different schools, they say their school was also very difficult. When I read books authored by engineers, they say that the school they went to was very hard, and in fact, it was the first time he/she had to study. When I look on college confidential, people generally say that engineering school is tough regardless of which school they are attending. There are exceptions - some do find it easy - but I think this is the student rather than the college.</p>
<p>The conclusion that I have come to is that most or all of the ABET accredited colleges have a challenging and difficult engineering program and that generally the programs are all about the same level of difficulty. It’s unscientific and unprovable but I would think if some schools had easy engineering programs, I’d see a lot of students from that school saying it was really easy.</p>
<p>The one exception is community college classes are significantly (in some cases) than four year classes.</p>
<p>(By the way, I have taken classes at a large number of colleges and universities. I have taken individual classes at four community colleges and pursued engineering degrees at one four year insitution and two graduates schools. I think I’m actually pretty well experienced at comparing the colleges.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I took courses at two schools at the same time (Cal State Long Beach and UCLA), and I could easily tell which one was more difficult. Long Beach is not an easy school, but it was not as hard as UCLA. I’m really curious about which schools you are comparing.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sure, they are all challenging and difficult. Engineering is a difficult field. But some schools are just over the top hard. I didn’t go to one of those schools, but I’ve looked at their exams and I can admit it. But if you think the typical state university is of equal rigor to Caltech, I suppose nobody can dissuade you.</p>
<p>My husband didn’t take any higher math than Algebra II in high school because they didn’t offer anything higher at his school. (He actually moved to that high school at the beginning of junior year and to this day still claims his high school education stopped sophomore year.) Anyway, he had to start with Calculus I Freshman year at UF. Fortunately, Algebra II was easy for him so he was able to handle Calculus I, although he had to take Calculus II twice because he liked it so much:). He actually blames me for that really bad 2nd semester where he failed Calculus II and Chemistry II because we started dating. In any case, he did finish his BS in Engineering and then was given a full fellowship to get his MS in Engineering, which he did with honors and in one year. He has successfully maintained an engineering career since college and has had his own firm for the last six years.</p>
<p>I guess what I am trying to say is that he can probably get through an engineering program without taking pre-calculus in high school, but if he struggles so much in math that Algebra II is difficult for him as a junior then he needs a lot of help. If he has some aptitude for math and the willingness to work hard enough to get over this hurdle he can do it. </p>
<p>Those on the forum who are just discussing the engineering programs your son could get into with his record are seriously overlooking the fact that without some remedial help it will be like throwing your son to the sharks. I hate to sound like I am bragging, but my daughter aced Algebra II Freshman year and at the time she was the age of an eighth grade student. My son also aced Algebra II as a freshman and he was incredibly lazy and his laziness continued at college where he dropped out after freshman year and joined the Air Force. </p>
<p>Engineering takes an aptitude for math and a willingness to work hard in college and the less aptitude in math the harder the program will be for him. I am not trying to be cruel, I am trying to be realistic.</p>
<p>
I’m sort of baffled as to what this has to do with anything. Yes, the kid needs a review, but what your kids did is sort of irrelevant.</p>
<p>The post about the kid who had Cs & Ds, then “woke up” and had an excellent selection of colleges is certainly the exception, not the rule. And I wonder if that kid was applying to engineering programs… boys have an edge in admissions to many other majors these days, which might explain part of the C/D/excellent college story. But for admission to decent engineering programs, I bet that would be very rare.</p>
<p>Also, question is whether OPs son really will “wake up”. As others have pointed out, a 2.4 GPA isn’t the result of just one D in math. Even with a lot of honors/AP classes, that GPA (about a C+ average) will be problematic for admission to many schools. The OP’s quote, “I’m sure he can succeed, given the chance” is kind of telling. He has a chance now, in high school. I have heard of nothing holding him back (if he has something that is, like a health problem or some kind of major family problem, it could make good essay fodder :)). But generally colleges feel that if the kid can’t “wake up” in high school, they are not likely to in college.</p>
<p>Also, if U of I/Urbana is out of his reach as an in-state kid, Purdue surely is. But it does sound like Purdue might just be a passing interest because his friend is talking about it. There are some good suggestions of other schools on this thread that are better possibilities. You should take your son on some visits to those schools, get his focus off unrealistic options if you can.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, of course I can’t argue with that. He really should find some way to review his Alg II. It would be a good test of his diligence if nothing else. Nobody is denying you need to be able to do math to be an engineer.</p>
<p>But I am honestly getting a chuckle out of the posts on here which make it out like you have to be some sort of math accelerated genius to even possibly be able to graduate from engineering school. I have BS degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering and I assure you I am no genius. Mainly engineering school, or any technical school, requires a reasonable level of intelligence, interest, and a lot of hard work.</p>
<p>I was fairly accelerated in math in high school, many years ago. I was a good student and didn’t go through my period of “bombing out” until about Junior year of college, but I went back and finished up. I am certain many of my colleagues took Algebra II junior year of high school, and at least some of them struggled with it, but still finished their degrees more expeditiously than I did.</p>
<p>If the OPs son wants to give it a shot, he can get in somewhere reasonable, and she is willing to support him, then the worst that will happen is he’ll be one of the 2/3rds of kids who drop out of engineering every year (something I read somewhere up-thread).</p>
<p>bovertine: I am trying to point out that Algebra II isn’t really that difficult of a math class for a high junior considering engineering unless they had a really poor foundation in math and were not placed in the right math class or they are too lazy too learn the material. If it is poor preparation then get the kid a tutor and help him overcome the challenge and succeed. If it is laziness, well, laziness doesn’t bid well for engineering students. Personally, I think the poor math skills is the easiest to overcome, because if the child is willing to work with someone and learn then I am sure he can. If it is laziness, that could take a little longer until he matures a little more. The OP also said that his son’s friends struggled with Algebra II, so maybe he needs to find friends who are more serious students.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if there is an alternative to engineering/architecture that will be a better fit for this kid’s aptitude. I had a friend in college – extremely smart guy - who got involved doing construction work just a summer job, realized he loved project planning aspect, and became a contractor after college. Absolutely loved the work – extremely fulfilling for him. The point is, you don’t have to have a degree in engineering to become a builder – and if that is the reason for attraction to those fields, there may be more realistic options, which also might be more enjoyable if the kid is a hands-on kind of guy.</p>
<p>I see that some of the state universities in Illinois offer degrees in Construction Management - would that be something to consider?</p>