<p>Please add to this list I have started of schools that admit to a general engineering program and allow a choice of engineering major at the end of a period of time (shown in parentheses) and those that require a student to select an engineering major at the time of application. If a school offers both or has no formal program for all freshman (GA tech) I have put them on the admit to major list since that is what most students do. Also please comment upon the pros and cons of each kind of admittance without considering the merits of each school itself. I would love to hear from students, admission officers, recruiters, practicing engineers and parents. </p>
<p>Freshman or general engineering admit:
Purdue (Freshman year)
Valpo(1st semester)
Clemson (freshman year)
VA Tech (freshman year)
MIT (freshman year)</p>
<p>Engineering major admit:
GA Tech
University of Cincinnati</p>
<p>Pros freshman engineering:
Reduces chance of transferring between engineering majors later.
Allows student with specific end goal to see which major best matches that goal. </p>
<p>Cons freshman engineering:
Reduces time/ability to complete a co-op program in 5 years. </p>
<p>Embry-Riddle Prescott (and Daytona) both have direct admission into engineering majors. I didn’t really see any drawbacks to this approach as the major specific coursework didn’t start until late sophomore/early junior year anyway. So, in effect, its pretty much the same thing as having a “general engineering” first year, the only difference being that you are technically defined as an “aerospace engineering” student from the very beginning. You are free to change your major at any time so long as the program has enough space and you meet your prereq requirements.</p>
<p>Either way, the majority of freshman classes will be the same. </p>
<p>Engneering major admit:
Carnegie Melon</p>
<p>(But can try two different intro classes during freshmen year; ones that are limited in space such as ece have higher gpa requirements)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You probably want to distinguish between schools where selecting a major requires a higher GPA than needed to avoid probation or dismissal, or requires a competitive admission process, from schools where the frosh undeclared student can choose majors without another admissions process. For example, Purdue requires frosh engineering students to go through another admissions process to enter their desired majors. But MIT students can change major freely, assuming that they have been taking prerequisites to be able to complete the new major.</p>
<p>Some other schools:</p>
<p>Berkeley: admits College of Engineering frosh to the majors. Applicants may also apply to College of Engineering undeclared. Frosh College of Engineering undeclared students can declare any College of Engineering major later. Any other change of major within the College of Engineering requires an admission process. Changing into the College of Engineering from another division is considered very difficult.</p>
<p>Washington: admits engineering major applicants both directly to the majors and as undeclared students. All engineering majors require an admission process to enter.</p>
<p>Illinois Institute of Technology also admits to both majors and undecided engineering.</p>
<p>Texas A&M University admits to “general engineering.”</p>
<p>I believe UMich admits to general engineering, and you need to pick your major your sophomore year.</p>
<p>I will definitely put the secondary admissions process as a “con” of some freshman engineering programs. My DS finds them attractive however as he is most interested in alternative energy but different schools suggest different engineering paths to that field. DS finds the opportunity to learn more about each speciality before finding his own path very attractive even if GPA might limit which one he can pursue due to a secondary admission process. He sees the wisdom of pursuing what fits where he has had success in the intro classes. </p>
<p>UT-Austin - direct admit into major. Waiting period and intro coursework to switch majors ( new this year apparently).</p>
<p>UWashington - admitted to general engineering with selection of major at end of freshman year unless selected by specific department as a direct admit at time of admission.</p>
<p>UWisc - admitted to university as general engineering and then a secondary process for admission into specific engineering major</p>