<p>“Major of most interest is game design, follow by things like industrial design, product design, music, visual arts, arts& technology, CS, and ME.” - Skipping to end … probably game design and CS and ME are not a great fit for somebody with a math disability. </p>
<p>Honestly I think you need to revisit your debt tolerance. With an EFC of $10k, he can work throughout the school year and in the summer and make at least $5k. With a $2k scholarship, that’s only $12k of debt upon graduation. </p>
<p>If he goes to a high- to mid-ranked CS school, he has the chance to be making at least $60,000 a year. Starting. That’s the average from ALL schools, not just top ranking ones.</p>
<p>And if your son is a good writer, and with an interesting combination of CS major and musical background, I can see some very good schools being interested in your son.</p>
<p>He’s NOT too late for UA-H’s awards. UA-Huntsville will award all thru the year. </p>
<p>He would be late for UA’s awards, but Bama has been known to bend for high stats kids. </p>
<p>^^^ no essays required!!!</p>
<p>@ccggp101 If he goes to any good CS program, he has a very good chance of starting at $60k+ per year. </p>
<p>OP…sounds like you’ll only have one homeschooled kid at home after this one goes. Can you work part-time to bring in some money?</p>
<p>colorado_mom, yes, this is what I have been trying to tell him. He wanted to try it, though. His college physics professors encouraged him to go into engineering, but they didn’t know he had a disability because physics (trig-based) was so easy for him; it made sense to him. And his Intro to Engr. college professor assured the students that engr isn’t about math. Problem is, getting there requires a boatload of math.</p>
<p>We’re waiting for his pre-calculus grade, which might not be so good. I would be very happy if he got a B; we’ll know in a few weeks. He’s still slated to take Calculus, but yes, I have my doubts about engineering and I think he’s definitely reconsidering… except that he did apply to two UCs, two Cal States, and two OOS schools as an engineering major. :-p </p>
<p>A few engineering majors only require through Calc III because they’re interdisciplinary majors. I’m not even sure about those. If he can get Bs in both pre-calc and Calc I, I am very satisfied. His only B so far was in trig, and I suspect this pattern will not change. He can score well on SAT and SAT II just because he can focus on what will be on the test and they’re not high level. In a class, there’s so much material. But I commend him for working his tush off getting this far.</p>
<p>Crazy thing is he scores higher than his friends who cruised through their math classes. He has very good reasoning skills, but trying to remember all the content and do the calculations when his brain isn’t wired that way has been the biggest challenge.</p>
<p>I would not call your son’s stats “non super-star.” That’s a great SAT score and it seems like he has some solid ECs</p>
<p>Does he have a programming background? I am wondering based on your above post re math if engineering and CS might both not be good fits. Has he ever taken a discrete math like AOPS counting and probability? What is the draw to those majors?</p>
<p>Well, another B in a math class isn’t going to help matters, but I do talk about the disability in my counselor letter.</p>
<p>I was going to ask the same question…why engineering? If he isn’t “hardwired” to grasp higher level math concepts and apply them, engineering is going to be a challenge.</p>
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<p>For some majors like biology, a student just has to take calculus to prove that they can do some math. But in engineering, a student has to take calculus because they are going to use it in future courses. To succeed in differential equations, a student has to have calculus at the their fingertips.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the industrial engineering major, but every engineering major I’ve ever heard of requires differential equations.</p>
<p>UA Huntsville is an interesting option. I’ve been on maybe 5 business trips to the UAH campus as well as Cummings Research Park. It’s hi-tech yet under the radar. The ties between the research park and UAH are quite strong. There are lots of opportunity for someone with your son’s creds and interests. As costs in CA go up, a lot of companies are moving their HQs to places like Huntsville. HudsonAlpha (biotech) is an example. UAH is large enough for your DS’s widespread interests. The airport is easy access and is actually an international airport. </p>
<p>His Intro to Engr. class really got him interested as did his 1st place robotics team last year, but we knew it was a risk. Well ok, he really wanted to make engineering work because he figured he would get a good job after college. He loves his dad, but he didn’t want to end up in unskilled labor, as he’s seen the toll it’s taken on my dh, and he felt that engineering was most employable. So now you know.</p>
<p>But I have told him time and again to follow his love and abilities; why be miserable? It’s sinking in, I think.</p>
<p>No, he does not have a programming background other than things like Alice, Scratch, 3DSMax, RPGMaker, etc. He’s taking Java at the college in the spring and likely an online Python class after that.</p>
<p>Here’s one example of an engineering degree modified with art. Only Calc III is required:
<a href=“http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/academics/undergraduate/ab/modified/art/”>http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/academics/undergraduate/ab/modified/art/</a></p>
<p>Not sure what major at UA Huntsville if not engineering. Looking now.</p>
<p>He really needs an interdisciplinary type major if possible-one that includes arts, engr, tech, etc. Cause that’s where he sits. Or one that really focuses on design.</p>
<p>The U Rochester major he applied to seems really great:</p>
<p><a href=“Major Requirements : Undergraduate Program : Undergraduate Program in Digital Media Studies : University of Rochester”>http://www.rochester.edu/college/dms/undergraduate/curriculum.html</a></p>
<p>I thought UCI’s Comp Game Science was good, but it might have too much math.</p>
<p>Just an aside-I do know of another young person that I am sure had a math disability, but it was never addressed. Young person had great SAT-2170, but the math was 570. Very strong verbal. Young person didn’t back away from hard classes, and tried to take AP Calc, but ended up with a D or F. I wish the family had gotten the student tested for a disability. The student had good grades in other classes, but was rejected from most schools. Student did end up at Ohio State and presumably is doing well in linguistics.</p>
<p>My son has come so far, but I know the disability will never go away.</p>
<p>I think his current math level totally changes the conversation. I would only select a university that had other majors that he wants to pursue. From a B in pre-cal to graduating with a degree in either CS or engineering is a long hill climb. I also have to wonder if his math level for an engineering major might be why you are seeing the results that you are.</p>
<p>“Only cal 3” is a long way from pre-cal. Cal 2 is a class that many students find very difficult. Then he is facing a math-oriented career in his area of disability. </p>
<p>Totally agree, Mom2aphysicsgeek. For his last remaining schools, he is not applying to engineering. I think it looks something like this as far as majors applied to (or will apply to):</p>
<p>6 schools engineering
3 schools industrial design
7 schools game/animation/arts &tech
1 school modified engr
3 schools music/art/English/CS (not really a need to declare a major)</p>
<p>in engineering, a student has to take calculus because they are going to use it in future courses. Agree with this. Wonder if you’d be willing to hint at what tier the reachy-reaches are. You mean what we all consider reaches for all kids- eg, HYP? Or what you consider a reach because you view him as not a superstar? </p>
<p>Lots of kids like their first engineering course. A lot of this discussion does suggest a university is a good choice.</p>
<p>UCI Game Science seems to require Calculus I & II (that would be integral and differential calculus), Boolean Algebra, Linear Algebra, and Discrete Math. Linear Algebra usually requires and uses calculus. This does not seem like a good fit for a student with a math disability. What’s the disability? </p>
<p>I’m going to brutally honest. I would strongly encourage my student to pursue a different career path. Even if he is accepted to a university for engineering, if he has scholarship $$, very likely that $$ will be tied to a GPA. Stress.</p>
<p>I have strong math kids. Amg my strong math kids, I have super strong math kids. I would not encourage my super strong math kids that didn’t LOVE math and science to pursue a career in engineering. My kids that are pursuing (or are already employed in an engineering field) love math and science. Engineering is a hard row to hoe if you are only doing it for the $$ and that is true for kids that don’t have problems with math. (My 10th grader is acing pre-cal, but she only likes math, she does not love it. I would never encourage an engineering field.) </p>
<p>I would strongly encourage some career testing to help him find a broader range of possible careers.</p>
<p>Why didn’t he apply as an undeclared arts and sciences major? It may be that the specific major choices on his application are putting him at a disadvantage for admissions.</p>
<p>My own DD wanted to major in engineering. However, her stats were not strong enough for a direct admit into engineering. She looked for,schools where she had the ability to transfer int engineering if she met certain criteria. Plus she took the same course sequence freshmen year as entering engineering majors. She applied as an undeclared major…and transferred into engineering after her freshman year. By that time, she knew and had demonstrated that she could handle the coursework in that major.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, I agree. As I said, my son felt he had to try, but he is seeing the writing on the wall.</p>
<p>Not exactly sure what the disability is, but up thread I shared that he had scored 98%ile on math reasoning and 14%ile on math calculation on the WIAT II. What he says is that he just can’t remember all the material. He was the kid who had a hard time with the concept of time, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>He did get through two AoPS classes, Alg I and II, with As, but had a lot of help. He had an A in trig, but blanked on the final and got a B. His brain simply doesn’t retain.</p>
<p>So, now we’ve established that he won’t go into engineering. If he gets into a school to which he applied to engineering, he will almost certainly transfer out.</p>
<p>Yes, I am talking about that level of selectivity. His music really is a strength and he is a strong (though not award winning) writer with artistic ability. But cello is his only proven high level skill he brings to schools besides his animation portfolio and just general strong scores and great letters of recommendations. His recommenders love him.</p>
<p>This is why I say not a super-star: he has weaknesses, to be sure. He’s faced many hurdles in life, but keeps getting better in most areas…but math, ah, math.</p>