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Why is the pratt school more selective, when its ranking is only 20 on USNEWS...?

By Theguac (Theguac) on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 01:24 am: Edit

Pratt is not more selective than Trinity, per se. It just targets different people with different interests, so it's really hard to compare the two in terms of selectivity. Harvard engineering, which is ranked #30, is just as selective as the College. The reason is that the people who apply to its engineering program are just as qualified as the College students. Same with Duke--the quality of applicants does not diminish even if its rank is #20 in engineering. The name and prestige is enough for a lot of people. In job interviews or on graduate school applications, will you say Duke or Pratt? I bet most will say Duke before Pratt.

By Dreadpirate (Dreadpirate) on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 10:34 am: Edit

The college of engineering, which became Pratt a few years ago when the late Mr. Pratt donated $35 million, places much greater emphasis than Trinity on standardized tests, particularly in the math and sciences. (It is difficult to argue against the validity of a standardized test of basic math or physics.) The average engineering student at Duke has SAT 1s north of 1500 and SAT 2s in math and science >750. Trinity (known affectionately to the engineers as the college of arts and crafts) takes a more subjective approach to admissions. You have to be smart, but not necessarily spooky smart, and the adcom has to think that you are interesting. You will find similar stats in the engineering programs of Harvard, Yale and Rice, which, like Duke, do not have top ten US news rankings but are more "selective" than all except MIT, Cal Tech, Stanford and Princeton.

By Frazzleddad (Frazzleddad) on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 11:26 am: Edit

are the apps to the different schools reviewed by the same group of adcoms?

By Theguac (Theguac) on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 01:34 pm: Edit

Engineering applications are reviewed by one admissions counselor who is also in charge of a few states for Trinity applications (called a regional officer). However, all the couselors do meet and discuss each application after the first review is conducted by the individual counselors. In this first review, applications which are obvious no-go's are taken out and only the "maybe's" are reviewed by everyone.

By Wobudong (Wobudong) on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 02:13 pm: Edit

The engineering school makes the final call and has its own formula for evaluating stats that is significantly different from Trinity's. If you figured out nuclear fusion and the engineering faculty wants you, it really does not matter whether the Trinity adcom thinks you are interesting.

By Wrxfanatic (Wrxfanatic) on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 06:35 pm: Edit

so if my SAT is not too great, but my other stats are good, should i apply to trinity and then transfer my 2nd year to pratt?

By Theguac (Theguac) on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 09:56 pm: Edit

Trinity is not that easy to make either. Again, each school is looking for different characteristics and if you find yourself wanting Pratt, then go for it early. There's no point in delaying for a year just because you think you may not make it. You'll have a stronger application if you express your interest in engineering rather than taking a so-called "easier route" (which is a common misconception). Both schools want high SAT's and an overall great application. You also need to have your transfer approved by the engineering deans, so it may not even work out in the end. I say that you go for engineering now; it's better than to stay in a school you don't want to be in.