Hi, are you considering it? Did you do the phone call?
Anyone get their app rejected because transcripts were not sent by your high school by Jan 15 deadine even though I submitted my app on time?
I am curious about your daughterâs stats. My daughter is OOS -denied Engineering school and admitted to CAS. She had a 4.29, test optional, great ECâs including Girls Who Code⊠She is super disappointed.
I got this option too
My son was also accepted to general studies and not engineering. We went to an Admitted students day and were really turned off by the general studies (PES) presentation. We also went to the admitted students day at Mines and were blown away. That school has their sh$t together! Did your daughter apply there? Btw his stats are 3.8 UW and I donât remember if he applied TO or not but SAT of 1440, 7 APs, and I think pretty darn good ECs.
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Good to know about the PES presentation. Iâm not a fan of the practice of admitting students into a different major and then saying âgood luck with the 41% chance of getting into the major you want after a yearâ.
My son is very similar to your son: engineering, 3.8 UW, 33 ACT, 13 APs, good engineering-related ECs + sports but placed into Exploratory Studies. I donât think my son will consider Colorado unless a space opens up in engineering. His admit letter alluded to that possibility, but the admissions counselor couldnât comment on the odds of that happening.
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But my understanding of CUâs exploratory studies program is that if all the students who want to get into engineering complete the first year courses with satisfactory grades, they would all get in - no limit on the number. At some schools, they cap the number who can transfer into the major (and at CU at one time this was also the rule and it was very hard to transfer into the engineering or business schools).
But nothing wrong with Mines.
I think everything you posted is accurate. My frustration is that a direct admit student in engineering has to maintain a 2.0 to be in good academic standing. A student who applied to engineering, but was admitted to Exploratory Studies has to earn a 2.7 for the same classes to earn their way into engineering. (This is what Iâve read on the CU website, so please correct me if Iâm wrong)
On one hand, I appreciate that they have limited spots in engineering and they are trying to give students a fighting chance of getting in later. However, due to large numbers of applications, they are turning away highly qualified students. Why are those students held to a higher standard?
My son isnât some super genius but he has good stats and Aâs in AP Physics, Comp Sci A, and Calculus. Maybe he could easily clear the 2.7 hurdle. Maybe he struggles a bit in transitioning to college. Why would he have to perform at a higher level than a direct admit?
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I donât know why, but maybe theyâve found that those in exploratory studies need to get that higher GPA to be successful in engineer. I suspect if someone in engineering only had a 2.0, he wouldnât last long. (I really think the issue isnât the 2.0 student in eng. but the exploratory studies student with a 2.5).
I have experience with 2 students. My nephew was admitted directly to engineering at CU. He spent way too much time drinking beer and not studying his first semester and got a D+ in calc 1 (I donât know his overall gpa but I think it was fine). He had to retake Calc 1 in the spring and then take calc 2 in the summer to stay on track. Yes, he was lucky he was accepted to engineering and could make up the class, but maybe if he were in exploratory studies he would have tried harder in the fall of freshman year.
My daughter (at a different school) was a direct admit to eng and only needed a 2.0 to stay in school, but needed a 3.0 to retain one scholarship and 2.8 to retain the other (much bigger) scholarship. Without these, she could not have remained at the school. She was petrified. She studied SO hard. She studied with another student (she hates that) and went to office hours, powered through a group project (hates those). In the library every night for 2-3 hours (mandatory study tables). She got a 3.8 and THEN relaxed a little as she knew what it took to get those grades and that she could do it.
I donât know what I would do in your sonâs position, especially if I had a direct admit to eng at another school. if he wants to be a Buff, then exploratory studies is not a huge risk (IMO) but heâll have to commit to really putting in the time. You are right that those admitted directly to engineering have a little buffer like my nephew did to get one bad grade, but I honestly think that if heâd not had that buffer he would have worked harder that first semester.
I may be cynical, but I suspect that the 2.7 cutoff is completely arbitrary to limit the number of students who would qualify for open spots. The 2.7 is just for the three engineering classes of Calc 1, Calc 2 and one of Chem/Physics/CompSci. A direct admit can get three Cs in those classes, but a PES student can only get one C if they want to enter engineering.
I feel like your nephewâs experience reinforces my point. Had he not been a direct admit, he might have wasted a semester or more of classes (and tuition) while he retook Calc 1 and reapplied to engineering.
My son was really interested in attending Colorado and he probably can successfully navigate the Exploratory Studies path to engineering (assuming he doesnât get sick, or hurt, or homesick, or drink too much). However, unless he gets an at large spot into engineering, heâll go somewhere else. Colorado was his #2 school and he was waitlisted at his #1, but he feels like Colorado is treating him as a second-class citizen at best and unwanted at worst.
Thankfully heâs been directly admitted into two ME programs that are higher ranked than Colorado (for whatever those rankings are worth). He likes them just a little less, but they are good schools and he feels wanted.
Iâm not trying to argue with you and I know Colorado wonât change its mind. Iâm mostly trying to say that this standard seems baffling and, at least for my son, is a competitive disadvantage for Colorado.
I donât think the 2.7 is arbitrary. I think it is probably calculated by âwhat if a student got a C in one class but Bs in the other two required classesâ (a 2.6666 gpa, but a B+ or a C+ would get them above the 2.7 required), and then did okay in the non-science classes, but I donât know for sure. My daughter needed a 2.8 to keep her scholarship (and her school was almost all engineering/STEM, so they knew those would be hard classes for some kids; ironically her only B was in English). I think those 2.0 engineering gpaâs are not long for the engineering dept and transfer to something else, making room for more engineering students. Also, taking Calc, physics and chem is not a waste. I knew that if my D didnât major in engineering she would have switched to chem or physics or some other STEM so those would have been required anyway.
I get it. He should go to the school that wants him. Exploratory studies is CUâs way of admitting more students. Forty years ago they didnât have it and if you didnât start in engineering or business it was impossible to transfer in. I had a friend who tried to transfer into business school and was denied. She had a 4.0 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, but not good enough to transfer into business school. It was difficult to even take a business course as they were all full. I think they added exploratory studies to get a path into engineering/business/other popular majors rather than deny applicants because they just didnât have any more room in eng/business. They know some admitted to engineering will not cut it, will drop out, will transfer, making room for second years.
I think you also get to pay the tuition for A&S which is about $2k less then engineering? Not sure, but I think so.
But as I said, not sure what I would do if I had other options. CU is great fun, but it is expensive.
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Despite my encouragement, my daughter did not apply to the Mines. Too small she said. She has a cousin whoâs a senior there and he LOVES it. He talked a lot all of the internships and opportunities heâs had through the school⊠and the money heâs excited to make when he graduates lol. Itâs a great school.
My guess is that itâs not arbitrary, but also not necessarily the Engineering Schoolâs âjust rightâ temperature for âwill succeed if they transfer in.â I suspect that over time the school calibrated a number that achieved a close correlation between the yearly averages of (a) the number of Exploratory Studies students who hit that number, multiplied by how many of them still wanted to get an Engineering degree by the end of their freshman year, on the one hand, and (b) the number of kids who wash out of the Engineering School, whether voluntarily or due to low grades, after the first year.
The B School, on the other hand, either hasnât plotted this out as well or just doesnât have many people leave for other disciplines, because hitting the IUT requirements for Leeds as an Exploratory Studies freshman is explicitly not a guarantee of transfer admission there. Of course, thereâs also a specified âPre-Businessâ program, where there is a guarantee of full BA program entry if one lives in a dorm specific to that program and achieves a certain level in basically the same courses Leeds freshmen are taking. I donât think thereâs an analogue in EAS.
Different discussion, but this might indicate that the university isnât adapting to student demand quickly enough - or that itâs made a conscious choice that it doesnât want to steer too many resources and students away from more traditional academic focus areas into business. Itâs always been the case (from what I can tell) that entry into almost any universityâs engineering school is more difficult/selective than other departments, but it seems to be an emerging pattern that business schools are getting swamped with applications to the point where kids who might get merit aid offers from the Philosophy department canât even get into the business program. If you had told me five years ago that my son (good student, around a 3.8/top 40% of his class at a competitive college prep hs with a long record of sending kids to Boulder, will almost certainly be admitted to the university as a general matter) might not get into the b-school at CU next year, I would have scoffed at the notion.
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You stated this far better than I did. I meant arbitrary in the sense that itâs not a GPA threshold that predicts success in engineering, but instead calibrated to ensure the number of successful applicants closely match the number of vacancies. This allows them to make admissions into engineering non-competitive.
The cousin/ senior at Mines, do you know where else he was accepted and what swayed his decision to Mines? Do you know if he has an opinion about one type of engineering vs. the other?
I think the engineering and B schools have grown at the same percentage as the rest of the departments. Last year was CU biggest entering class, and I think this year will top that. They had a 40% increase in applications in September and that was almost all OOS (most instate apps come in Oct. as there is a free application period and thatâs when the CGs submit all the paperwork).
Anyway, I think apps are way up (the Prime effect) and CU still has to figure out how big the yield will be. I really donât think theyâll increase the Business school faster than the other departments.
Shoot - I donât know the answers to your questions - when I talk with him I will ask him. Pretty sure he is in Computer/Design engineering.
Mines is known for petroleum engineering and CU for aerospace. The other types are fairly well represented at both schools (I have one nephew at Mines in mechE and another a grad of CU, also in MechE). I think most chose between the two (other than petroleum and aero) based on they type of school they want - large or midsized, D1 sports v, D2, mostly engineering v a full university with many majors offered.
My first nephew chose CU because he wanted the big school atmosphere. My second nephew chose Mines because he was offered more money there. Both were/are happy.
Received email today that my PES admitted child has now been accepted into Engineering. And that Boulder has extended the deadline to June 1.
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Anyone get their financial aid package yet?