<p>I got accepted to CIT and SCS. - " It is an honor to invite you to join Carnegie Mellon University's Carnegie Institute of Technology and School of Computer science" In the letter, however, it said I had access to a few listed departments to major in and the wrote "Because of the large number of qualifies students interested in Electrical and Computer Engineering, we are unable to include this department in our offer of admission"</p>
<p>.... what does this mean? Does this just mean I can't major in electrical engineering? Did anyone else receive a similar message?</p>
<p>This is so strange, I got accepted to CIT and it listed all the programs including ECE. However, I got waitlisted for SCS.</p>
<p>When my son visited CMU during Sleeping Bag Weekend we attended an engineering info session and they said that if your acceptance letter doesn't accept you to ECE as an incoming freshman, then you will have to apply at some point. I can't remember if it's during the spring of freshman year or sophomore year. They don't guarantee to accept everyone, and if they have more than they can accomodate they will base it on GPA. I think if you search on this forum there are some other threads about it, though. Also, I suggest you call the school and ask more specifically.</p>
<p>Here's a link to one of the posts that discuss it: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=125730&highlight=ECE%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=125730&highlight=ECE</a></p>
<p>It means that you're not guaranteed to be able to major in ECE, but you can apply (partway through spring of freshman year, when people start declaring majors) and may (probably) be accepted.</p>
<p>It doesn't mean a lot in practice. You can still apply to ECE by the time you declare your major and be accepted. You'll need good grades though during freshman year, as the number of available places in ECE may be limited. </p>
<p>BTW, it's odd that you got accepted into SCS (which is supposed to be more selective), but were restricted access to ECE. That seems to indicate the pool of ECE applicants this year must have been exceptionally strong. It would be be nice if admitted students posted their stats so that we can have a reliable sample.</p>
<p>KrazyKow, you mentioned that it's not too hard to transfer into SCS upon getting an 'A' in 15-211? Do you see this happening often?</p>
<p>The thing is, I applied to CMU with hopes of doing computer science as my primary focus, with all else as a possible second study. I ended up getting onto CIT, but wait-listed for SCS. On the literature that they sent us, they didn't say to accept with the sole-intention of transferring, as nothing is guaranteed.</p>
<p>I guess I'm going to have to do some heart-searching over the next few weeks as to whether or not I'd pursue E+CE rather than CS...</p>
<p>I know one person in particular who transferred from ECE to CS- he was one of the strongest students in a non-CS section of a programming class. I have heard that generally getting an 'A' in 15-211 is enough to transfer. I know that the dean generally won't consider transfers from people who haven't completed 15-211, but there have been some major changes in the pre-reqs of CS courses, so he might use another class (that used to have 15-211 as a pre-req, but now doesn't) as a decision.</p>
<p>What is it that you like/dislike in CE and CS?</p>
<p>I like the abstraction of Computer Science, the flexibility of software and simply putting concepts into "reality". I really haven't done a horrible amount of research into CE, as my focus has always seemed to be upon CS. Assuming that it is more of the physical/hardware-end of things, I would love to learn more about it, but more to complement my desire to go into CS. I applied to both SCS and CIT with hopes of potentially doing some sort of double major, though my personal focus was/is on CS.</p>
<p>My interest in CE seems to stem from a root fascination in CS. Of course, maybe that could mean that I wouldn't mind studying one over the other.</p>
<p>I have absolutely no computing/programming experience but I am good at and really enjoy mathematics and science. I thought I would like Computer Science and now that i have been waitlisted but accepted for Computer Engineering, I don't really know what to expect. Have you met kids in ECE who were like me and are now regretting their decision to not pursue SCS.</p>
<p>fwiw, my son was IS major and picked up Computer Science as a second major. So he didn't have to be accepted into SCS because he was not actually transferring into it. But he had to get the permission after soph year, and it was not at all difficult. Advisor was helpful and wanted him to be able to do it.</p>
<p>Somewhere along the line he took harder math series (I guess first and or second year? does this make sense KK?) than is required for IS (same ones CS kids take, excuse me for not knowing details). Second year he took 15-211 first semester then 212 second. Got B's in both, close to A in 211 but blew final. So he was able to keep going and eventually get CS as his second major. Actually C's would have been enough for him to be accepted into the double major, I'm pretty sure of this since it's an important point. This was 3-4 yrs ago.</p>
<p>S found 211 and 212 not so much impossible but rather a TON of work, and you had to truly understand the material to build upon and keep going on. Others of his friends also attempting to get CS as a second major couldn't get C's in 211 AND 212, sounds like it would be easy but they didn't, rather couldn't. Just didn't really "get" it accd to S and these courses will make sure you get it.</p>
<p>The advisor in CS is really great and will try to help you out if he can. It's easier to do CS as a second major than as a primary major, because if you have CS as a primary major, they have to be confident that you can finish the program and graduate on time. As a second major, they're just telling you that if you take the right classes, you get something else on your diploma.</p>
<p>I've never met anyone in ECE regretting their decision, but I don't know a ton of ECEs. If what you really like is abstraction and math, the CS is probably a better match for you than ECE. If you have questions to be answered by administrative types, the freshman advisor would probably be happy to answer your emails. He's rather fond of sending emails. If you do come here and you're not a CS major, you probably will be able to take whatever CS classes you want as electives, if you can get them to fit into your schedule.</p>