<p>My JR HS son is passionate about ME or Aerospace or possibly bio med, but does not want a memorize and burn , lecture and test learning environment. He is storng in math and sciences but has LD with regard to english,& wants to avoid lots of reading and composition. What smaller schools have a learn by doing approach?? The big UC’s would not be a match due to ginormous classes the first 2 years…
his list so far includes cal poly SL, and CPoly Pomona, and embry riddle or Trinity U</p>
<p>Many do not seem to even get beyond theory and basic req’s until well into junior year.</p>
<p>A warmer climate would preferred, as would W. of the mississippi, </p>
<p>he has a 3.7 4. GPA weighted</p>
<p>1950 SAT total</p>
<p>EC’s include private pilots lisc, Civil Air patrol, several construction mission trips abroad</p>
<p>a Christian school would be o.k. he is also hoping to do AFROTC </p>
<p>Any Advice about the above would be appreciated</p>
<p>the cal polys definitely…i know that U of A has really leaned towards the whole learn by doing that in recent years, more so than other colleges, so look at that too (it’s massive thgh)</p>
<p>the truth is that it is impossible to avoid some sort of english req for engineering freshmen in the west…there are a few schools back east (i heard brown and rochester) that do not have such a requirement</p>
<p>a good choice for AFROTC is new mexico tech…also ERAU in prescott</p>
<p>You may want to clarify what “U of A” means. There are four states starting in the letter A, all of which have at least one university that could be abbreviated U of A.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>genevas,</p>
<p>I agree the Cal Poly schools may be a good choice and that Harvey Mudd may be good, though it is a somewhat “radical” approach to engineering education and has incredibly high admissions standards, so that may not be a fit. Embry-Riddle has been suggested, but it is really only a great option if aerospace turns out to be the major of choice, as it is a university dedicated to everything aerospace.</p>
<p>I would be careful thinking in the mindset of being totally against a “memorize and burn , lecture and test learning environment” because while engineering doesn’t have a ton of memorization if you do it right, you will not find a school that doesn’t have a lot of lecture/test style courses. Add to that the fact that engineering is, by it nature, a tough course of study, and you aren’t going to find a school where some people don’t burn out, no matter how small or hands-on it is.</p>
<p>As an engineer, he is guaranteed to not have to do a ton of composition (though labs require lab reports, this is technical writing and may not be as terrible to him). On the other hand, it may require a fair amount of reading depending on how diligent he wants to be about reading the texts. Personally, I never did much of that, even when assigned (oops) but I did know a fair number of people who did.</p>
<p>If Olin and Mudd are going to be mentioned…don’t forget Rose-Hulman! The weather may be not as warm as it is here in CA, but I don’t think it’s terrible either (maybe other than the winters). They really focus on undergrad education esp with engineering and do offer a lot of individualized attention unlike many engineering schools that are set up to let 50-60% of students crash and burn. </p>
<p>Stats-wise (SAT/GPA) …I had basically the same stats as your son. (SAT1950/ACT31/GPA 3.71) as well as some of my own spectacular ECs and got rejected from Mudd. </p>
<p>CalPoly SLO seems to be also a great option but he ought to visit to see if he fits.</p>
<p>Might I throw the University of Alabama into the mix? (i dont know if thats what was meant by U of A). I know it’s not west of that big ol’ river, but it is in the South, we have AFROTC, and we do more of the “learn by doing” program. Lots of $$ in scholarships as well. But you aren’t going to get out of the basic reqs unless you AP or DE. thats a fact of life you have to deal with.</p>
<p>Mudd Mudd Mudd. Three quarters of the students there are ADD or ADHD or LD of some type. It’s a little SoCal kingdom of burnination for the brilliant-but-odd. My brother loved it.</p>
<p>A lot of the suggestions don’t satisfy all the criteria. Some schools aren’t all that small (like Cal Poly SLO, but the OP said that’s on the list anyway). Others don’t have aerospace engineering (like Baylor), but the OP also said ME and Biomedical were being considered. Other suggestions aren’t in warm places (like Olin). Others might not have ROTC. Other conditions include possible Christian or LD friendly. I am putting ones on the table that fit some things, like semi-warm locations even if not western US. Western US really only leaves CA and TX unless there is a school in AZ. I have listed small schools that have aero and biomedical eng, since ME is pretty common. I would suggest the AF academy but CO might be too cold and it might be LD unfriendly. There may be some FL or other southern schools that might be a fit too. The student is a junior, so there’s time to narrow down the list. I think this is just for suggestions to explore. It is up to the OP to determine what conditions are the top priority and which are of lesser importance like location, size, etc.</p>
<p>ftr u of a refers to the university of arizona</p>
<p>as far as i know thats the only school correctly referred to as U of A
University of Arkansas is just “Arkansas”, University of Alabama is UA or “Bama” as far as I know</p>
<p>That varies regionally. I have never heard Arizona called U of A when I lived in Illinois or Texas. Everyone just says Arizona. I could say “U of I” for UIUC and it would technically be correct because everyone in Illinois and Missouri and surrounding states (other than Iowa) just says U of I, but that hardly makes it obvious to people outside the region.</p>