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But how likely is it that a fairly pedestrian student who puts in a mediocre effort will survive any engineering program, including Drexel's? Shouldn't the rigorous nature of these programs by themselves weed out the weak and incompetent?
If by survive, you mean pass with a 2 point something, then very, very likely.
Undergraduate engineering programs only weed out the REALLY weak and incompetent, in other words, those that are too busy drinking, smoking weed, and hooking up to spend time on their studies.
You could be in the 25th percentile of your high school class, get into Drexel Engineering, work and play and have a 3.2 GPA.
But Yale rejects valedictorians, and a lot of them. I have no idea about OP's grandson, but typically you have to be a flat out stud to get into Yale.
Harvey Mudd college in southern California is a top engineering school, yet many have never heard of it.
Very true, one of the best and least known of any science/engineering school. I don't know why that is, I guess being only a few miles from CALTECH may be too much to overcome....
Harvey Mudd does not have a graduate program, which means that it has little research presence. Also, it is not well known in the sports world. Usually, a school needs one or the other to have much of a reputation (there are exceptions, of course).
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jobaba
If by survive, you mean pass with a 2 point something, then very, very likely.
Undergraduate engineering programs only weed out the REALLY weak and incompetent, in other words, those that are too busy drinking, smoking weed, and hooking up to spend time on their studies.
You could be in the 25th percentile of your high school class, get into Drexel Engineering, work and play and have a 3.2 GPA.
But Yale rejects valedictorians, and a lot of them. I have no idea about OP's grandson, but typically you have to be a flat out stud to get into Yale.
Haha, GS is not a flat out stud, just a regular smart kid, with varied interests, who is not even in the top 3% of his class, even with a GPA of 4.5 or so. What will happen is, his parents will push for Yale, but if he doesn't feel comfortable with all the flat out studs, or that it's not a good fit for whatever reason, he will go for the comfort level of another school, rather than the prestige.
Haha, GS is not a flat out stud, just a regular smart kid, with varied interests, who is not even in the top 3% of his class, even with a GPA of 4.5 or so. What will happen is, his parents will push for Yale, but if he doesn't feel comfortable with all the flat out studs, or that it's not a good fit for whatever reason, he will go for the comfort level of another school, rather than the prestige.
Admissions can be fickle, but I would guess he had a lot of extracurriculars going on. I know a few valedictorians that were rejected from Yale, but that was a long time ago. A girl from my school actually got in with less than the typical profile, but both her parents went there. She decided to go somewhere else for that reason. Anyway, it's getting slightly off topic.
Really, it's his choice. But in terms of reputation, my school has done a significant amount in getting me interviews and making employers think I was smart. And it's reputation is significantly less than Yales.
I guess look at the subjects offered, the caliber of the teachers, and the academic resources available to the the students, then factor in the cost. I don't know about Yale but some ivy league schools (including the one I attended for grad school) assign graduate students to teach undergrad subjects. For the money that you pay, you should demand full time teachers with doctorates. Also check if these teachers offer consultation hours and to what extent.
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Originally Posted by Alex5729
Why not try to get into MIT or Rensselaer Poly?
I know he talked about applying to MIT last year (I even got him a baseball cap from there for Christmas), but for whatever reason, financial or academic, he didn't apply there. He's a very smart kid, but maybe can't compete for financial aid when everyone is a super genius. He'd apply to WPI before Rensselaer, because there's a legacy thing there.
He's just waiting to hear about the money at this point.
I know he talked about applying to MIT last year (I even got him a baseball cap from there for Christmas), but for whatever reason, financial or academic, he didn't apply there. He's a very smart kid, but maybe can't compete for financial aid when everyone is a super genius. He'd apply to WPI before Rensselaer, because there's a legacy thing there.
He's just waiting to hear about the money at this point.
MIT has need blind admissions and no merit scholarships. They would have given him a fin aid package based purely on need. But the school on his list are still good, so it will all work out okay in the end.
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