<p>My son was accepted to First Year College @ NC State, but disappointed, as he applied to Engineering. His GPA is 4.3, 1900 on SATs, extracurricular, volunteer, et al--all in line with Engineering's acceptance standards. (We think he was declined because of required geographic quotas and the intellectually stiff competition here in Chapel Hill, NC). He was accepted in Engineering to Purdue, Clemson and VA Tech.</p>
<p>My questions: He is wondering if 1) can he take engineering classes at NC State as a Freshman in First-Year College 2) What are his chances of getting into Engineering as a sophomore (presuming he makes excellent grades as a freshman) and 3) Is it worth OOS tuition to pursue VA Tech instead? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any advice!</p>
<p>If a university has a limited number of spots for engineering, it is often just as difficult to do an internal transfer. In fact they often warn applicants not to get their hopes up about the possibility. That being said, look carefully at what First Year College is all about and whether they have options for those students who originally applied to Engineering. Will it take an extra year or can the transition be seamless if he is allowed to transfer in after the first year?</p>
<p>Purdue and VA Tech are both well regarded for engineering and Clemson is good too. See if any of those meet your financial targets if your son is set on engineering and being into it from the beginning.</p>
<p>There are usually a number of “would be” engineering majors that wash out after a semester or two thereby opening up spots in the program. DH is a NCSU engineering alum. He remembers being told on the first day “Look to your left. Look to your right. You won’t see these people again after the first semester or two”. </p>
<p>S’s NCSU roommate did FYC and transferred into the College of Management (accounting) for sophomore year w/ no prob…</p>
<p>I was in FYC my freshman year and successfully matriculated into Civil Engineering. College of Engineering freshmen don’t usually take many actual engineering classes. Your son will be in the same calculus and physics classes as the COE students and the FYC class will count for the same credit as E101. So yes and no. He wont be able to take any actual engineering courses, but most of the COE freshmen wont be taking them either. As far as getting into engineering after freshman year, it depends on what type of engineering he wants to major in. Nuclear and Aerospace are more competitive than Civil and Environmental for example. My grades weren’t spectacular, I think I had a 3.2 when I matriculated into civil. That GPA probably would not have gotten me into Aerospace or Nuclear. But even those are very doable with good grades. Tons of people go into engineering from FYC every year. This is not a big deal at all, certainly not worth the extra $6000 a year at VA Tech.</p>