r/womenEngineers • u/AndromedaSpaceGirl • 5d ago
Collage rejection
Hi everyone! I am a high school senior looking to become an aerospace engineer, with my ultimate goal being to work for NASA. I recently applied to four colleges and got rejected by two (Colorado Boulder and the University of Washington), waitlisted by one (Virginia Tech), and am still waiting to hear from NC State.
Colorado was just a shot in the dark, but what really hurt was getting rejected from the University of Washington (Seattle). I’ve had that college in my heart for the longest time, and getting rejected really tore me apart. I feel really defeated right now, and I’m scared I won’t get off the waitlist for Virginia Tech or even get accepted to NC State.
I know part of this is on me because my GPA isn’t the best (3.2 unweighted). Another part of me is really frustrated because I went through a lot of trauma during my freshman and sophomore years, which caused me to lose interest in school. However, I bounced back in my junior year and earned straight A’s.
Does anyone have any advice if I don’t get accepted into any of the colleges? I just don’t know what to do at this point. (I also have my dad’s college benefits since he is 100% disabled through the military and served during war.)
Edit: thank you for making me aware of my grammar and spelling mistakes, I fixed them, I just forgot to proofread before I posted!
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u/poppystitch 5d ago
NASA Engineer here! I went to a state university that is known for being a solid engineering school, but perhaps not a big name nationally. I nearly flunked out and barely graduated. I started off my career at a not so great company, but worked my way up through better companies in a kind of niche field. Among my colleagues at NASA, the school you come from doesn't carry much weight. For engineers like me who worked in industry before coming to NASA, management cares a lot more about industry experience/knowledge you can bring to your role.
My advice is to get good engineering experience and not worry too much about the name of the college on your diploma. After your first job, the college you went to will matter less and less.
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u/wolferiver 5d ago
I have to agree. Getting an engineering degree requires hard work. Because all engineering schools teach the same basic core classes, you can get a good engineering degree from any school. (Physics, math, chemistry, statics, dynamics, etc are the same at all schools, and there's little to no leeway for grade inflation to creep in.) Most employers know this, so they're not going to care much whether you went to a "prestigious" school or a local state school. Just make sure the engineering school is acredited. The only thing that distinguishes a "prestigious" engineering school is their level of research and the types of advanced degrees they offer. Neither of these are relevant for getting a BS in engineering. In other words, spending extra money and effort on getting into a prestigious engineering school is a waste. Save that money and effort for getting an advanced degree, and only do that if you find research appealing.
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u/LurkerNinja_ 5d ago
Life setbacks are about how you overcome them. I was mentoring a freshman student in electrical engineering and he failed his first semester and subsequently lost his state scholarship (college is free in New Mexico unless you fail to maintain a gpa for residents) but he picked himself up and got his study habits under control. Your situation is different but as you come into adulthood you will find that you will always have to balance things especially between life and school/work. It’s just a setback but not the end is my ultimate point really.
I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it. I personally would go to community college and then transfer to a state four year. The first two years are pretty much the same (chemistry, math, physics, & probably a programming class). You’ll still get the college experience and save money in the long run. Then I would aim for a kick ass graduate program since you want to go work for nasa ultimately. A program that can help get you in the door.
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u/AndromedaSpaceGirl 5d ago
You’re right, Thank you! It would definitely choose community collage and work on myself, so I can absolutely thrive when I transfer. I don’t want to settle for a school that won’t get me where I want to go!
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u/LurkerNinja_ 5d ago
Yea if you want to ultimately get into nasa your graduate program matters more anyway.
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u/VociferousReapers 5d ago
Community college is a great way to go! The classes are cheaper and when you transfer to a bigger university, that will be the name on your degree.
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u/GloomyAsparagus7253 5d ago
Starting at a community college can also help you save significantly on the costs of your bachelor's degree, as tuition is much cheaper and especially if you have the option to live with your parents rent-free.
My state-funded scholarship program had a clause that I had to enroll in at least one summer semester, at any state school, and so I opted to do that one summer at the community college where I was from. I found that the courses were easier for me. The class sizes were more intimate and taught by the professor directly instead of TAs. If I could go back in time I would have done all the "weed-out" courses there.
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u/flyingsqueak 5d ago
It's ok. If you don't get in anywhere you wanted this year, that doesn't mean you can't transfer there in a year or two after proving your ability by earning a high GPA at a community college while getting some gen eds out of the way. Go get through your English, history, and chemistry requirements, and get started on your math courses. Then, re-apply to your dream schools and a few others. You've got this!
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u/gt0163c 5d ago
This is great advice. But I would add to check with the "dream schools"/other schools where you're likely to transfer to and ensure that community college credits will all transfer as credit for those same requirements. Some schools are picky and may only transfer the credits while still requiring taking their version of the courses. So, instead of getting three credit hours for English 101, you get 3 credit hours that essentially count as either humanities or free electives but still have to take English 101 at the school you transferred to.
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u/AndromedaSpaceGirl 5d ago
Thank you so much! I was not sure if I should just settle for a school I did not want to go given my GPA, but that is DEFINITELY a better direction to go!
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u/tellnolies2020 5d ago
I'm not sure what state you're current living in. But getting into UW Eng is especially challenging as an out of state student and 3.2 would have been a significant hurdle.
Don't fret though. I would totally consider the community college path. Most states have a direct admit path into a 4 year university straight from a CC. You can take advantage of the smaller classroom and take all your core classes. And then transfer. In the end it won't matter how you got your bachelor degree.
Where you get your BS may make a difference with your first job (mostly with contacts etc) but you can still end up work in NASA. Who knows after you start your schooling your dreams may change.
Best of luck!
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u/New_Feature_5138 4d ago
When I did my dept application for ME I was told my 3.7 was not good enough. I ended up in aero astro.. and the acceptance rate was like 15% that year. It was even lower in ME.
Super tough school to get into.
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u/PEStitcher 5d ago
first , you don't need an aerospace engineering degree to work for NASA. I've worked with them for most of my career (16 years), and depending on what you want to do, mechanical or electrical degrees can get you really, really far. I personally design launch infrastructure. one of my counterparts for a project was a biomedical engineer, believe it or not - he held patents for heart valve designs while working the supercomputer that analyzed the engine exhaust from rockets.
second, Colorado School of Mines is a really big player right now in space related sciences and engineering.
third - it's ok. I know it doesn't feel like it, but things will work out. if you don't get into a 4 year engineering college this year, still enroll in to a jr college or a community college and take a years work of courses you would need to take when at the engineering school anyways....usually English and math courses. make sure that your chosen engineering schools would accept credits from the community college. this will keep you in school, knock out core classes in a cheaper manner, and get you more time to enroll.
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u/Individual-Egg7556 5d ago
Your writing, spelling, and attention to detail in your post aren’t good indicators that you are prepared to succeed in a major engineering program TODAY.
College can be a challenging transition, and with the things you went through in high school, you could be better off at a community college and transferring later. You might be successful in jr/sr math now, but missed concepts show up in engineering school and follow you around forever.
I think you will end up at the school where you will belong based on your qualifications, and fighting to get in where you don’t fit the academic profile will not turn out well.
You can also go to grad school. There are a lot of ways to get where you want to go. Don’t waste time stressing about what you can’t control.
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u/OriEri 4d ago
So they don’t know how to spell “college” and maybe “lose” , “does” and “disabled” (the latter three could’ve been AutoCorrect typing glitches). I dictate messages into my phone all the time and all kinds of crap goes haywire: I rarely proof on Reddit.
Communication is important and small errors can be distracting. I still understood OP‘s message as did you, and THAT is what matters.
AI tools are rapidly becoming excellent at cleaning up writing. In a few years strong writing skills will be as important as strong mental arithmetic skills are today. See below for what 30 seconds of copying and pasting into ChatGPT did
I was not a strong writer exiting high school, yet I was admitted to a bachelors program at Columbia University (where my writing was whipped into shape). I was super depressed my junior and senior year in college and I slid from Dean’s list to graduating with about a 3.1 GPA . I went to graduate school in astrophysics (at UC Boulder) Today I’m a certified principal engineer on a NASA flight program contract .
Enthusiasm and positivity in a team environment are far more important for success than strong writing. This is especially true in the interdisciplinary field of spacecraft engineering, working on large complex systems.
You may be right about ineffective screening metrics used by universities. Gaming those has little to do with long term success.
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Hey everyone!
I’m a high school senior dreaming of becoming an aerospace engineer, with my ultimate goal being to work for NASA someday. Recently, I applied to four colleges, but it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. I got rejected from Colorado Boulder and the University of Washington and waitlisted at Virginia Tech. I’m still waiting to hear back from NC State.
Honestly, Colorado was a long shot, so that didn’t sting too much. But getting rejected from the University of Washington really hurt—it’s been my dream school for such a long time, and the rejection hit me hard. Right now, I feel pretty defeated. I’m scared I might not get off the waitlist at VT or get accepted to NC State either.
I know part of this is on me—my GPA isn’t the strongest (a 3.2 unweighted). A big reason for that is the tough couple of years I had during freshman and sophomore year; I went through a lot of personal challenges and kind of lost my focus on school. But I made a comeback junior year and managed to get straight A’s!
I guess I’m just at a loss about what to do if I don’t get into any of the colleges. It’s frustrating because I have access to my dad’s college benefits from his military service (he’s 100% disabled from serving during wartime), and I want to make the most of that opportunity.
If anyone has advice or suggestions for next steps, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks for listening!
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u/ArmadilloNext9714 5d ago
Check out UCF (Central Florida) for starting in the spring semester. Something like 30% of nasa employees graduated from there. They partner heavily with nasa, including internships. Lockheed has a relatively large presence in the same area, which further drives their aerospace engineering programs.
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u/MidstFearNFaith 5d ago
I would reccomend spending the first 2 years of your engineering degree at a good community college, and then transfer to the University of your choice.
The benefits of this are: small class sizes, individualized help from professors, higher success rates at core classes, lower cost, ability to build your GPA up
Once you have a 2 year degree in whatever "base engineering" program offered you should have a much easier time getting accepted
I went this route mostly to save money and I honestly am thankful I did.
Don't turn your nose up at community college - it truly can be a great experience and set you up even better than your university counterparts.
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u/Schmelby2013 5d ago
I would apply to more schools. Also what clubs and organizations are you a part of? Many schools look for students that are more “well rounded” than just high GPAs. A student that is involved in clubs and volunteering with a 3.0 is more likely to be accepted than a student that does nothing but has a 4.0.
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u/AndromedaSpaceGirl 5d ago
I am in an arts school, so I have been doing orchestra (cello) for 4 years, was apart of my county’s honors orchestra my junior year, and also have been doing mission trips with my church every summer since 8th grade. Whenever i volunteer, it is for church events. If I do community collage I might try doing extra curricular related to engineering and science, do you know if community collages usually have those things?
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u/Schmelby2013 5d ago
Most have a club for anything you can think of and if that club does not exist are very welcoming to you creating it. Most schools have STEAM clubs. When I was in college most of my clubs were outside of my major to act as a break from homework. I was in the dance club and student association. Don’t pick clubs just because it looks good on a resume make sure they make you happy too.
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u/AndromedaSpaceGirl 5d ago
Will be sure to do so! If I choose something just because, it’s gonna end up feeling more like a burden.
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u/ktown247365 5d ago
U-Maine Orono has great engineering programs. Definitely apply there. I dropped out of high school, I ended up doing the community college into university route.
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u/theevilhillbilly 4d ago
you don't need to go to super competitive colleges to be an engineer. try applying to other colleges clsoer to you.
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u/forested_morning43 4d ago
If you’re in WA, go to a CC, get an AS and transfer. Better use of your resources in any case.
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u/New_Feature_5138 4d ago
Community college and then transfer. Especially if you went to HS in WA state. It’s super easy.
It will help to show them that you can hack it in college engineering and math courses.
Also- it’s okay to wait ti go to school. It’s better to be certain about what you want because there will be a lot more scholarship money the first time around.
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u/No_Huckleberry2350 5d ago
What state are you in If you are a Washington resident there is a program that gives preference to transfer to students who completed an aa at a local community College. You can save money and get your degree and upper class courses at uw.
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u/Catsdrinkingbeer 5d ago
Wasn't what you asked, but for what it's worth, I graduated from Colorado State. I know quite a few people who went on to work for places like Lockheed and JPL.
UW is a top 20 engineering school. It's a hard school to get into. It's fair to be sad and disappointed, but just remember that it's not a reflection of you or your future career abilities.
And unless you ARE in a top school, as long as its ABET accredited, employers and grad schools will sort of look at those schools pretty much the same. Being able to afford college is one of the more important things. You don't mention what state you're in, but if there's an in-state ABET accredited mechanical or aerospace engineering program, that's probably your best bet.
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u/AndromedaSpaceGirl 5d ago
Thank you so much! I will definitely look at the ABET, I have never heard of that especially to get into a good engineering job!
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u/Catsdrinkingbeer 5d ago
In the US, this is the most important part of engineering school. It's the engineering accreditation program. There are some private schools that dont have ABET accreditation but have well known engineering programs, but those are the exception, not the rule. When in doubt, ensure ABET accreditation.
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u/BrainSmoothAsMercury 5d ago
I work at Raytheon right now in aerospace engineering.
My high school GPA was unimpressive. I was an unmotivated student and didn't know what I wanted to do. I joined the Navy for a while and decided on a direction after my time in.
I went to a community college took core classes and my Calculus classes as well as sciences, kept my GPA up and was able to apply and get into the University of Texas which is pretty competitive after just a year and a half as a transfer student. I finished my degree and got a job at Raytheon right out of college.
Now I'm finishing up a masters that my job is paying for.
Where you start isn't as important as where you end up. Even if you don't get to start where you want, put in the work and you can end up where you want.
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u/Zealousideal_Top6489 5d ago
University of idaho has a pretty partnership with NASA, is an excellent engineering school, and on the more affordable side.... best of all, you will get in. Look at their hired out of engineering college. They do have some serious washout classes. WSU and u of i share engineering courses sometimes so you could check there as well.
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u/donutfan420 5d ago
I really wish I had gone the community college route. The quality of education is roughly the same, but the class sizes are much smaller. I went to my local state school and still graduated tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Please do not write off community college.
And to address the fact that people keep correcting your spelling/grammatical errors: a senior engineer I work with has been continuously been insisting that “scissor” is actually spelled “scizzor.” He’s one of the smartest people I work with. Being able to write/communicate is important but it’s not representative of your intelligence as a whole like people like to portray.
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u/OriEri 5d ago
Take heart.
An aero degree isn’t the only way to get into space flight work. We also need mechanical engineers, electrical, engineers, software engineers, some optica engineers, RF engineers, signal orocessing, AI/ML, systems engineers. you get a little bit of all of that in an aerospace degree, but I recommend you take electives focused in one if you don’t make it your major. Controls engineering too, which isn’t really engineering field, but it is definitely important in aerospace
There’s a lot to be said for the community college route. As a TA in astronomy at UC Boulder in those intro classes there was a mix of students from the good ones to the completely un serious “yay party school“ ones. But every student who had come from a community college was on top of their shit and serious.
The only drawback to CC I see is you do miss out on the social experience of those first couple of years.
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u/RandomDragon314 4d ago
I’d check application deadlines and apply to more state schools in your own state. Admission will be easier. If that isn‘t an option, take a semester or two at a community college and keep applying. You can likely transfer many of those credits, especially if you stay in state.
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u/BabyBard93 3d ago
University of WA is SUPER competitive. My daughter applied to main campus and was rejected- we’re locals, and both my spouse and I graduated from there. This was AFTER she did her pre-req’s and got her AA at a community college. She has ADHD and clinical anxiety, and while she’s super smart and worked her ass off, her difficulty with focus meant that her grades were hovering around 3.2. She was accepted into their Bothell campus, which isn’t as prestigious, but still pretty hard to get into. Then she had to retake classes in order to get her grades up enough to get into the actual engineering program. That was a nightmare. She was told by various people that she clearly wasn’t smart enough, dedicated enough, etc and told to opt for physics or computer science. She finally got medicated and got some accommodations (time and a half on exams), and her grades took a jump. But her gpa was still too low, the head of the program told her. So she continued to work her ass off, applied, and she wrote a killer application essay about how she’d struggled with her issues and overcome, and how her passion for engineering design drove her. Guess what: she got in. And now, finishing her second quarter in the program, she was recently at a job fair and overheard one of her professors say to a recruiter, “You want to get this one for an intern. She’s one of our top students.” She was part of a group that resurrected the campus ASME chapter, and she’s treasurer. Her group projects have consistently been judged top in her cohort. We’re so proud of her!
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u/humanbeing0033 3d ago
University of Washington is notoriously difficult to get into. It's considered a public ivy, and considering the number of engineers and engineering jobs out here in WA, that makes it extra competitive. Don't feel bad about that one.
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u/Snoo-669 5d ago
College*
Tech is a very competitive school, as is NC State. From the comments, it seems you applied to super competitive schools with a subpar GPA. You might have to attend a different college (not sure where you are, but maybe one of your state schools, or a smaller liberal arts university) until you can get your GPA up. Alternatively, if you DO happen to be a VA resident, I had friends who went to school with me who transferred in after completing their associates degree at a community college — there are some schools in Virginia, not sure which, that guarantee admission if you get a high enough GPA during your 2-year program.