Match d27 IL 3.9 UW [engineering]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hello!

I’m looking for advice in assembling a list for DS27 who only recently decided he’s interested in studying engineering. He likes Duke based on a virtual visit, location, size and basketball fandom. We need targets, and also want to call his attention to great schools where he’d be very likely to be admitted. His father and I are not engineers—we studied History and English—and feel a little out of our element. Luckily, I read on here about ABET certification being what’s important, so that helps.

Demographics

  • US domestic
  • Illinois
  • Suburban public hs

Cost Constraints: no

Intended Major(s): Engineering (unsure what kind)

3.9 UW, unknown rank, 1350 PSAT, 34s on practice ACTs

HS coursework

  • 2 years of English, AP Lang & Comp
  • Algebra, Geometry, AP AB precalc
  • Bio, Chem/Phys, AP Chem/Phys
  • Humanities, civics, APUSH
  • Spanish 1, 2, AP Spanish
  • Theater
  • Economics

Awards

Best teammate in baseball

School honor society

Extracurricular

Theater, Baseball (will not play in college), peer-leadership volunteer, student ambassador

He’s well liked by his teachers, and should receive nice LOR.

Wants mid-size to large school with lively sports fan scene, but also likes cities, including New York. Warmer is better, but not a dealbreaker. Would prefer engineering program close to 50/50 men & women.

He is prepping for SAT & ACT & hopes to do better than PSAT score. He’s going to do some tutoring this summer so he’s prepared to take BC Calc next year.

So far, based on my reading here, I plan to encourage him to look at Pitt.

Thanks so much for reading. Any input or advice about where we should look, or how he might strengthen his app would be very welcome.

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The first thing - moreso than stats - is budget.

What are you willing to spend?

The SEC will all be in play - UF, Bama, UGA, U of SC, UTK, LSU, Miss State, etc. - they are large, big sports. U of SC and UTK are in mid size cities - note a skyline - whereas UF, UGA, Bama are in small cities - more suburban. They will range from Bama with auomerit - in today’s dollars about $20K a year all in - to likely UF on the top - by then approaching $50K with the expected 10% OOS increase. U Arizona is another great school - warm and a local free city transport to downtown. USC too. You also have non SEC schools like UCF, USF, Clemson (rural), etc. I hesitate to say FSU because the engineering program/campus is shared with another college and a mile or two away.

Not as warm and not necessarily by cities but Va Tech could work as could Texas A&M. Then you have some less sports heavy - but Embry Riddle if he had a love of airplanes, etc.

Others that could meet - Tulane, SMU - more Duke size, etc.

Lots of programs in/near city, warm and sports.

50/50 men to women - you’ll have to research - but unlikely at large publics, etc and even other schools. The schools may still have more women - but not the engineering programs.

In the end, it comes down to budget - are you able/willing to spend $20K, $95K or an amount in between. You say budget no - but often people realize - well if one school is $100, 200, 300K less than another with a likely similar outcome - then they do have a budget - or a desired figure. But assuming he keeps his trajectory and gets a 32+ ACT, he’ll have more wanting him than not.

This is a 3rd party article but may help you with gender parity - Vanderbilt would fit what your son wants.

Top Engineering Programs with the Most Women | Ivy Coach

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It’s early for a match me without junior year grades and actual test scores but it’s good to start thinking about what he likes.

I’d encourage some visits to nearby schools to see what he thinks when he’s actually on a campus. When my D was a sophomore we did the go see big schools, small schools, urban campus, rural campus type visits.

Pitt is great because they have rolling admission so be sure your son applies as soon as the common app opens.

Iowa State and Michigan State are popular engineering safeties for students in the midwest.

For sports, big school energy, and strong in engineering you can’t go wrong with nearby Big 10 schools - UIUC, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan. Not really matches for engineering but not as reachy as a school like Duke.

Iowa State and Michigan State are popular engineering safeties for students in the midwest.

Northwestern is usually on the Duke overlap list so that would be a good school to officially tour to see if he likes the vibe.

A note about gender parity -most schools will have gender parity for the school as a whole but not necessarily engineering.

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You have very good in-state public options. UIUC in particular comes to mind as excellent, both in general and for engineering.

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In case anyone missed this…

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He does like Northwestern. We haven’t done an official visit yet, but he’s been on the campus a few times.

I’m glad to know that MSU & Iowa State aren’t super selective for engineering. MSU is cold ofc, but definitely fulfills the sports fan criteria. We get the overall selectivity info from school guidance, but there’s no breakdown by program. So intel from you & others here is very helpful.

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OP said:

If this means “no cost constraints”, then it would imply willingness to pay up to $100k per year. If it means “no money”, then the student needs a full ride or close to that.

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Arizona State University?

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Thank you for the info. I’m really ignorant of southern schools, so this helps. Being out of state I figured Va Tech was a reach. I did say no budget, but, you’re right, I’m not going to welcome spending $90k+ COA if he’s admitted to Illinois for Engineering.

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Fwiw, 3.9 GPA is inclusive of first semester grades. But this semester looks very tough, I honestly don’t know if he’ll be able to maintain it. He has to work really hard for As.

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That’s why I think it’s too early to make a list but totally OK to start figuring out which qualities he likes in colleges.

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Duke’s long-time basketball rival, Syracuse, has been investing heavily in their engineering programs and offers all the fandom he could want. Undergraduate Programs - ECS – Syracuse University Weather isn’t warm, obviously, but it could be a nice more-likely option otherwise.

U of Louisville could be a nice safety. Strong D1 bball team, and a great engineering program that’s modeled after Cal Poly’s “learn by doing” approach, and that has its own LLC. Urban school with about 17,000 undergrads (57% female overall, but the 2000 in engineering are 75% male) and very affordable for high-stats OOS students.

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OP – Since Purdue has been mentioned, here is a link to the Purdue Data Digest: https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/; and especially look at the links to “Applications, Admits, and Matriculations” and “New First-Time Beginner Profile”. Once your son gets some test scores, and gets his GPA updated, he can plug in his stats to some of the interactive links on these sites, and perhaps get an idea where he might fall relative to recently admitted OOS applicants to Purdue.

Purdue currently will cost in the mid- to upper $40Ks for OOS students.

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I’d put Colorado State, Ohio State and UMN in with those schools as well. They meet all of your criteria except warmth. All have good honors programs if his grades stay high and are in good college towns. Colorado State and UMN have rolling admissions and Iowa State has auto admit. I suggest adding at least one to your list and applying as soon as applications open. It’s nice to have an acceptance in the bag by late October. It takes a lot of pressure off of the rest of senior year.

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A lot of people say that - but then when they see the costs and realize the equivalence of things it changes.

Others, like on another thread said he was full pay - and now has to talk to the folks but guesses $50K is the most - after he applied to, got into, and now says - but it’s $80K.

So never hurts to get people to think deeper. It’s a big commiment.

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As an example - Bama - over 1500 Illinioisans are there. Why? At $20K all in, cheaper than home - and that’s why they have thousands from many states - they buy them in.

But yes, the SEC schools are sporty and Greek and weather and palm trees.

The Big 10 schools are great - whether it’s those like UIUC and Purdue people see on top but Ohio State, Michigan State, UMN, etc.

I presented the South because of your warm weather comment. And as the population has migrated South - there’s that too.

As for Va Tech - you hear actually some OOS getting in with lesser #s - i.e. they want the OOS revenues. If he’s a 3.9, has Calc AB, the sciences and gets to Spanish 3, etc, I’d say - with a 32+ ACT it’s a target at worst case. Near a city - no. Roanoke isn’t too too far.

One other learning - there are direct to major and indirect to major schools. So a Bama - just because I know it - is direct to major. You pick your major up front. Purdue, Texas A&M and others are indirect - so you go through first year, then pick your major but it’s competitive - so if they have 50 slots in a major and 200 want it, then you might not get it. I think at Texas A&M, a 3.75 gets you first choice. Purdue has different normal cutoffs depending but others could talk more about it.

So for each you look at, you might see if they are direct or not. Others have undecided engineering - so they may have direct but a kid isn’t ready to pick. I think UIUC has undeclared engineering.

Engineering Undeclared | The Grainger College of Engineering | Illinois

Entry to a Major Process | Texas A&M University Engineering

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What would be a budget you would be willing to pay, even if he does get into UIUC - Engineering?

Based on what you’ve shared, below is a list of schools sorted into rough categories of likelihood for admission.

Quite Likely (65-100%)

  • Arizona State: About 65k undergrads in the Phoenix metro area

  • Louisiana State: About 33k undergrads in Baton Rouge

  • Marquette (WI): About 7700 undergrads in Milwaukee

  • Michigan State: About 40k undergrads in East Lansing

  • Texas Tech: About 33k undergrads in Lubbock

  • U. of Arizona: About 42k undergrads in Tucson

  • U. of Arkansas: About 27k undergrads in Fayetteville

  • U. of Central Florida: About 59k undergrads in Orlando

  • U. of Cincinnati (OH): About 31k undergrads

  • U. of Houston (TX): About 37k undergrads

  • U. of Kentucky: About 24k undergrads in Lexington

  • U. of Louisville (KY): About 16k undergrads

  • U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities: About 40k undergrads

  • U. of Oklahoma: About 22k undergrads

  • U. of South Carolina: About 28k undergrads in Columbia

  • U. of Utah: About 27k undergrads in Salt Lake City

Decent Possibility (30-65%)

  • Ohio State: About 46k undergrads in Columbus

  • Southern Methodist: About 7100 undergrads in Dallas

  • U. of Tennessee: About 29k undergrads in Knoxville

  • U. of Wisconsin – Madison: About 37k undergrads

Lower Probability (0-30%)

  • North Carolina State: About 27k undergrads in Raleigh

  • U. of Florida: About 35k undergrads in Gainesville

  • U. of Miami (FL): About 12k undergrads

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Since he likes Duke, which is impossible for admissions, the next best thing for basketball fandom and a good engineering school is University of Connecticut. A few things to know are:

  1. UConn likes out-of-state applicants, admitting them at a higher rate;
  2. UConn admits a high rate of early decision applicants;
  3. Within a 50 mile radius of Hartford, there are more aerospace companies than anywhere else in the country. Good for internships. Submarines and helicopters are also built in Connecticut.
  4. Schools of Engineering (SOE)with 50:50 male:female don’t exist. Fewer than a quarter of engineering students are female. If a SOE just over 30% female, it’s doing well; over 40% and it’s doing great. UConn SOE has hit 30%.

Another university where there is a higher than average percent of females in engineering is University of Colorado. Last year, their freshman class in the College of Engineering & Applied Science hit 41%. Many of the engineering schools with a high percents of females are also impossible for admission, but at Colorado his chances would be reasonably good.

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Only UCONN is in the middle of nowhere.

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But Syracuse, basketball wannabe isn’t, and reports are they are getting deep in merit. But it’s frigid.

The Miami choice was splendid. Tulane could work too plus Rice and SMU. Tulane is a bit more restrictive major wise. How about USC and SDSU?