What do you think, Parents?

cobrat
Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:45:43 +0000

oldfort:

Another strategy would be to apply to A&S then transfer to engineering, if you are just not a good test taker. I don’t think any engineering school would be a walk in the park, so if your math scores are below 700 you will struggle anyway even if you get in.



Not all universities will allow someone to transfer into engineering as easily as changing one’s major. Many colleges on your list have separate Engineering schools which may require a transfer application which may be evaluated more rigorously than a mere change of major.

Moreover, a few colleges on that list like Columbia have historically been such that being admitted to A & S has been much harder than their Engineering school assuming one’s Math SAT passes muster.*

In the '90s, it was common practice for dozens of classmates from STEM oriented public magnets like BxScience and Stuy to apply to SEAS for the purpose of gaining entry to Columbia College through the backdoor as back then, all one needed to do was complete 1 year at SEAS in good standing and submit inter-transfer paperwork. Practice probably became so prevalent that Columbia has put a stop to it sometime in the '00s.


In my year, lowest GPA admitted to SEAS was barely above the mid-80’s/100 while the lowest GPA admitted for the College or Barnard was around a 90/100. Yes, it was actually harder to get into Barnard than SEAS back in the early-mid ‘90s. I should also mention that SEAS was much more forgiving of lowish Verbal SAT scores than the College was of lowish math SAT scores according to the GC stat sheet of our and previous class years’ admission stats.