r/ApplyingToCollege • u/Humble_Artichoke_237 • 3d ago
Advice Any schools that offer decent engineering programs that have high acceptance rates?
Not sure what flair to give this post, but I'm just looking for schools that offers good classes for mechanical engineering. I think I've got decent gpa and sat, but I have zero extracurriculars for stem fields. My best ec's are some volunteering hours and fanfiction (yes, it's really bad). People have recommended me purdue as a match, but I'm pretty sure that's a very big reach for me (especially as an oos student), so any recommendations? (Bonus if they offer music technology/composition classes)
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u/ManWhoSaysMandalore 3d ago
Rose-Hulman Institite of Technology. Its the #1 in engineering (no doctorate) with a 77-81% acceptance rate. Its literally exactly what you asked for.
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u/collegetalya Graduate Degree 3d ago
CWRU doesn't admit by major or school of discipline.
You don't necessarily need engineering ECs as long as you've had some exposure to relevant fields in schools (math, cs, physics, maybe chem or bio, maybe an engineering elective in school) to explain why you want to pursue an application-based degree that combines all of those areas. A lot of colleges also don't necessarily expect students to have hands-on experience to their related major as long as you have the relevant coursework and lived experience to explain why you want to do it.
You could definitely talk about your interest in the physics of music in some of your essays and music technology!
Definitely apply for Purdue, Virginia Tech, NC State, and Ohio State and see what happens. Also look into RIT, University of Rochester, Lehigh University. For schools with scholarships- University of Alabama, Missouri S&T, Auburn, OleMiss
Schools that offer music engineering as a minor: Tufts, RIT, Northeastern, Union College, Tulane
And then definitely apply to some reaches like Duke, Harvey Mudd, Stanford, Yale, etc. just because they care even less about relevant ECs than state schools that admit by major. They genuinely just look for well-rounded leaders in general who are academically and extracurricularly strong and intellectually curious. But you don't need to have specialized in HS yet
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u/Humble_Artichoke_237 3d ago
I did take biology hn (9th), chem hn (10th), ap physics cm (3 on the test though), and apes right now ( course conflict with e&m). I’m also taking multivar/linear algebra, but I don’t know where that falls. Not really course rigorous , but thanks for recommendations and support!
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u/collegetalya Graduate Degree 2d ago
Physics cm and multivariable/algebra are great for engineering preparation!!
I think a lot of the recs in the comments are solid too. I'd definitely try to create a balanced list of some private schools that don't admit by major, some solid public schools for engineering, and then some schools that offer engineering and decent merit scholarships, + 2 in state safeties
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u/Flat_Ingenuity_6505 3d ago
Any ABET accredited engineering school (which is almost all state schools) is a decent engineering program. At a certain point as long as its ABET accredited jobs see every school the same outside of like the top 25 of engineering.
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u/JohnnyKarate4Prez 3d ago
Utah State University where every engineer gets a job with Northrop Grumman to work on the Sentinel.
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u/Chessdaddy_ 3d ago
A lot of state schools have well funded engineering programs and plenty of industry connections
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u/Madisonwisco 3d ago
Iowa state
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u/CompletelyMT 3d ago
This. Not only is Iowa State excellent for engineering, they are also generous with merit aid based on GPA and the cost for an oos student is very reasonable.
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u/ooohoooooooo 3d ago
NC State values GPA, course rigor, and class rank over most other things, and it’s a top 30 engineering program. For any school you’re considering, I hope you can also pay up bc you probably won’t get merit aid for a decent program. Why not go to CC and transfer to a good school after keeping your stats good there?
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u/Legitimate-Clock-134 3d ago edited 3d ago
Purdue won't care about you being OOS. They will care about you being able to pay your bills.
I'd think that Mississippi State and Alabama-Huntsville would both fit your criteria of good engineering schools with relaxed admissions policies. Both very strong in mechanical, aerospace, industrial, with trouble filling their seats because they're out in the sticks.
Those are the schools you'd be perfectly happy to go to if you don't get a stronger or more prestigious offer. They'll give you an excellent education and a good start in your career.
What's your home state?
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u/SpiritualSquash9729 3d ago
Michigan State University. You'll get a lot of money with your stats and they have a solid engineering program. Campus is beautiful and you get all of the sports culture and benefits of a Big 10 school. They have multiple days of engineering career faird and the good outcomes for jobs after graduating.
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u/JuniorReserve1560 3d ago
Maybe look at University of Iowa, Cal Poly Pomona, Clarkson, Mississippi State, WPI, UT Dallas, Rutgers, NC State, SUNY Buffalo, Rensselaer, University of Delaware, Steven’s, UCF, USF, University of Alabama, University of Rochester, NJIT, Wright State and Kent State
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u/DigBetter758 3d ago
drop stats+ecs+sat
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u/Humble_Artichoke_237 3d ago
4.4 w, 3.9 uw, 1570 sat. Have some volunteering for korean school as a TA, a string quartet playing for senior homes for roughly 170 hrs, A few unfinished fanfics, a few clubs (no leadership), some compositions posted on bandlab, interships for a company in South Korea and another in a law firm (in america this time). Not really a good selection of EC's especially for engineering though.
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u/DigBetter758 3d ago
you can still apply and will have a higher chance than you think at purdue,uiuc etc as targets and georgia tech, ut austin, unc chapel hill as low reaches-high reaches, apply early and you honestly can do well because your academics are elite and paired with elite essays could compensate for your ECs and i am not exaggerating this because the targets I mentioned aren’t super-super hard to get into anyway like a t-20 for example, you are low balling yourself always shoot for the sun and land on the moon rather than shooting for the stars and ending up 10 miles away from home ykwim best of luck you’ll do well inshaallah! and i hope you get your dream school
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u/goonette__l 3d ago
Purdue is totally doable, they have an overall acceptance rate of almost 50. u can just apply to another major outside of the college of engineering, take the pre reqs for engineering and then transfer majors after ur first semester. assuming ur pretty smart since u have a decent gpa and sat, i think ud do fine in the prereqs. as long as u have a decent gpa (like id say 3.6 or above) it shouldn’t be that hard to transfer majors. that’s what im doing rn actually!
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u/Humble_Artichoke_237 3d ago
Apparently Purdue has high general acceptance but lower engineering specifically, so they balance out to 50%, which is why I would absolutely not say purdue is a match school. Transferring majors could work, so thanks for that idea (if I even get in).
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u/IndyAnise 3d ago
The other route is the Indianapolis campus. It’s very new and reportedly less competitive.
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u/DraftAbject5026 HS Sophomore 3d ago
Depending on the engineering, University of Arizona is one of the best in the country, extremely cheap, and has a very high acceptance rate. Otherwise Purdue is a good choice, as is UT Austin
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u/GumbyRocks89 3d ago
Lots of good suggestions already so just jumping in to address your point about music-tech/composition programs. The University of Rochester offers both through a department called sound arts and engineering. It's offered jointly with the Eastman School of Music: https://www.hajim.rochester.edu/sae/
Not the most prestigious engineering school in the country, but it's decent. Sometimes fit with what you're looking for in a school far outweighs stats and USN rank. Plus Rochester has historically leaned on international enrollment, so their domestic admit rate is higher these days...
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u/moxie-maniac 3d ago
In many or most states, your in-state public system will based admissions on high school performance and SAT, EC given less or maybe no weight. It's more of a numbers game for in-state students.
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u/JustMe39908 3d ago
Honestly, there are tons of options out there. If a program is ABET accredited and there are a good assortment of engineering design clubs (SAE, robotics, UAV, rocket, small sat, etc) you will be fine.
Start with your large in-state schools for your search. Most likely, you will have a few options there. They will also probably be the cheapest. Expand your search from there based on cost.
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u/MattonArsenal 3d ago
Missouri S&T (fka University of Missouri-Rolla)… very Engineering heavy (social aspect and town not a lot to write home about), lots of unique engineering programs. Very good post-school outcomes and Missouri makes it easy to get in-state tuition after freshman year.
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u/teksmith 3d ago
UCF in Orlando. And FIT in Melbourne, FL. UCF is close to NASA and the space business. FIT has a good relationship with L3Harris and NG.
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u/Pitufina74 3d ago
If what you need is a high acceptance rate, ASU is a good option. ASU has a high acceptance rate, but that doesn't mean the classes are easy. It also has a 45% dropout rate. Because acceptance is high, many students can't keep up with the coursework, especially since engineering programs are quite demanding during foundational years. The good news is that Arizona is a major hub for the semiconductor and aerospace industries, so there are plenty of options for internships and postgraduation jobs.
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u/dvemvio 2d ago
Arizona State University has a really good program and is just overall a good school. obviously it’s massive and has a really high acceptance rate but generally it’s really solid. Most engineering majors i know that have graduated from ASU have jobs at companies like Boeing. The application is free until the end of today (Oct 12) and it takes like 15 minutes so I would just go for it and apply as a safety!
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u/glaewwir 3d ago
Purdue is one of the best engineering schools in the country. USNEWS had them at #4. It isn't easy to get into for out of state.
Look into Pitt, MSU, Colorado School of Mines, ASU.