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The average SAT scores for engineering at NCSU are 600 V and 660 M. SAT scores aren’t everything, and mom2collegekids is right that a lot of kids get weeded out, but that is still a far cry from Stanford and CMU. (Based on test score percentiles alone, ~5-10% of engineers are on par with a typical Stanford student.)</p>
<p>NC State does have some highly intelligent people; some of the smartest people from my high school ended up there. You’ll just have to work a bit harder to find them than you might at some of the other colleges you applied to. On a positive note, Raleigh is a nice and rapidly growing city, and State has a pretty good quality of life. For engineering-related fields, it’s definitely the best bang for your buck in the NC area. From what I understand, engineering is one of the most egalitarian career fields, and attending an elite college rarely provides a salary premium.</p>