Webinar overview
In this strategic webinar, former Admissions Officer James breaks down how selective engineering programs evaluate applicants and what distinguishes competitive engineering profiles today. You will gain clarity on:
- How different engineering majors (mechanical, electrical, biomedical, computer, civil, and more) are evaluated
- Which parts of the engineering application carry the most weight at selective universities
- How admissions officers determine a student has a genuine engineering interest
- What successful engineering applicants consistently do differently in coursework, projects, research, and leadership
- What competitive engineering applicants are doing differently to stand out
- Live answers to your specific engineering admissions questions during an interactive Q&A
Meet your webinar host: James Crawley
James is a former Admissions Officer at Purdue University and currently serves as Prepory’s Program Manager, where he has reviewed thousands of engineering and STEM applications. Over the past eight years, he has guided students into some of the nation’s most elite engineering programs, including MIT’s School of Engineering, UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering, and Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering.
Meet your webinar host:
James is a former Admissions Officer at Purdue University and currently serves as Prepory’s Program Manager, where he has reviewed thousands of engineering and STEM applications. Over the past eight years, he has guided students into some of the nation’s most elite engineering programs, including MIT’s School of Engineering, UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering, and Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering.
Frequently asked questions for engineering students:
Colleges are not looking for students who simply say they want to be engineers. They look for hands-on problem solving, quantitative reasoning, technical curiosity, and initiative. Activities such as robotics, science olympiad, coding projects, independent research, engineering summer programs, and math competitions can signal genuine interest when pursued with depth and consistency.
Admissions officers value sustained commitment and measurable impact. Leadership in robotics or STEM clubs, engineering internships or mentorships, independent technical projects, research with university faculty, participation in competitions like FIRST Robotics or Science Olympiad, and community-oriented problem solving tend to carry more weight than surface-level participation.
Common mistakes include overloading on generic STEM activities without depth, neglecting advanced math and science coursework, failing to connect extracurriculars to a clear engineering narrative, and crafting an application that feels formulaic or one-dimensional. A competitive profile requires coherence, technical growth, and evidence of real-world problem solving over time.
Yes. The skills that make a strong engineering applicant, including analytical thinking, technical problem solving, leadership, and academic rigor, are valuable across many competitive college pathways. This session helps families build flexibility into a student's profile while maintaining strategic direction.
