Hi, I am going to be a freshman next year attending a four year instate university. I originally wanted to major in engineering so i chose utk over uga. However, i want to do business management systems. The problem is: I got accepted into UGA and wanted to go but their engineering is worse and i did not pay the enrollment fees. For UTK, i did the housing contract but did not confirm my student contract(?). I dont know if this matters. Overall, UGA is top 10 in business management systems while UTK doesnt even offer it. What should i do? Can i still change colleges?(i doubt it since its almost a month pst the may 1st deadline).
If i choose to transfer, do you think i can still get into UGA? I worry because UGA was kind of hard OOS but I somehow got in with ACT lower than my friends who didnt( my GPA was a lot better however). Also, do you recommend this? I dont want to be years behind. If yes, when should i transfer?( after which year) also i got into UGA early action out of state.(if i transfer will i still get financial aid or scholarships)
Edit: i meant major in management information systems not business management systems
Although it’s unlikely that UGA would entertain your late admission, I am concerned about your statement that you did not confirm your ‘student contract’ with UTK.
Do you mean that you did not submit a deposit and/or statement of intent to register? Have you received a confirmation from UTK or a notification about how enrolled students will be registering for Fall courses?
I recommend that contact UGA directly on Tuesday to scratch that itch.
Thanks for the replies and i just want to update and clarify. The student contract was for summer but i did confirm the fall student contract so that is ok. I will be attending utk for engineering next year. However, i do not know if engineering is a keeper because i have interest in management information systems and if i study that i want to choose UGA since utk does not offer it. If i plan to do that, i want to transfer after my freshman year. (Good or bad)
If i do that, will i be behind? I need 30 semester hours to transfer but i am starting at engineering so would that mess me up? I heard freshman classes dont go towards major but if this is true how will i know if i like engineering or not?
I heard engineering lowers gpa because it is harder than business etc. i worry about this because i dont want a low gpa to determine if i can get into uga for a different major. I did get accepted out of high school so does this play a factor? If so, positive or negative? Do they look at my ACT and HS transcript or only college?
If i do transfer, will i get any sccholarships or financial aid? If so, do i get both or only one?
What year should i transfer with my background. Is transferring a hard adjustment because i feel like eveeryone there will already have their groups while i have to start over.( this is just a personal one. I know some people who go there and i am just curious. I understand i will make friends and education comes first)
In terms of engineering lowering GPA: I have heard this said many times. However, I found undergraduate introductory engineering courses to be rather solid A’s, and in my experience the same is definitely NOT true of other subjects. I think that it comes down to what you are good at.
At the risk of saying the obvious, you should work very hard to keep your GPA up at UTK. This is important if you want to transfer. For engineering (and math), this means keeping ahead of your classes as much as you can. Do your homework at close as possible to when it is assigned. Be ahead in your reading (I don’t recall there being all that much reading in engineering, which should make it easier to keep ahead).
Regarding falling behind: I don’t know anything about management degrees. However, having some experience, however little, in engineering strikes me as quite valuable going into a management career. Also, doesn’t “management information systems” imply some software knowledge is needed? Isn’t this something that you could start on at UTK as an engineering first year student?
Can anyone else confirm about the difficulty of engineering introductory classes? Also, if i take engineering intro classes freshman year and decide to change to MIS and transfer, will i have to retake intro classes at UGA?( will i graduate on time or fall behind)
Bump - is it true that the first two years of college are general courses? Like they dont pertain to my major specifically until junior year? If this is true, if i do my work, is it easy to mainain a good gpa?
@DadTwoGirls, a few caveats. I think intro classes in engineering, like Intro to ME, Intro to EE, etc. are generally pretty easy. The Calculus and some of the Physics series can also result in As for many engineers who end up graduating, but can be what kills the dream for those who get weeded out. As you say, it depends on what you’re good at.
I think that the best way for you to find out all of the the answers to your school-specific major-related questions would be to go to the UTK departmental site for Engineering and read up on what to expect in the way of degree required undergrad courses for your particular major. http://www.engr.utk.edu/academics/
Thanks for all the help. I think my situation is that i chose utk over uga because i was going to do engineering. However, i wasnt sold on being an engineering and i never was taught ap physics or honors chem well. My best subject is math however. With all this said, i have family members who have a degree in MIS and i think it could be a better fit for me. UTK does not offer that and UGA (who accepted me out of HS) ranks among the best and it was my number one school. Ive just been worried that if I decide to switch and transfer, i might be behind because i transfered or i might not be able to transfer because i heard engineering courses are hard to get a good GPA. I keep thinking and regretting my choice because if I cant get back into UGA then i feel like i lost a huge opportunity since i got in early action out of high school. I understand i chose UTK for its reason but i honestly didnt have that full passion for engineering. I chose it because it was free so i could change majors as i pleased without losing money.( but it does not offer MIS)
Sounds like you have a bad case of buyer’s remorse.
This is not uncommon, and no need to beat yourself up about it.
But before you get yourself too much more wound up about this,
have a closer look at their Industrial & Systems Engineering program. http://ise.utk.edu/undergraduate/overview/
I think that you can probably get all that you need from UTK to get you toward your intended career, even if the degree is not in MIS. If you combine their Integrated Business & Engineering program, I venture to say that with the solid advising on offer, you can get all of the answers that you need. http://www.engr.utk.edu/academics/
Have you contacted the admission department at UGA to inquire if they will still entertain your admission?
Call or email them tomorrow. It would be good if you can get that question answered once and for all,
which may allow you to move on and embrace the terrific opportunity you have in front of you.
Thanks again for the responses. I understand what utk has to offer and i chose it because i originally planned on doing MS/MBA. As a kid, i liked solving puzzles and problem solving which is why i intended to do engineering but i was never fond of science and physics. As of right now, i doubt wngineering is the right choice but since i am already enrolled at utk i want to try it out. However, my problem is that i am interested in MIS and UGA has a terrific program ( and my top choicw if major and money didnt play a factor) while UTK does not offer it. Im worried that not wanting to attend UTK and not wanting to be an engineer plus the fact that i was never really taught chem or physics add to a possibility of a lower gpa, which decreases my chance of transferring to UGA(a school that i got into early action out of state and also a school that i debated with UTK for months). How hard is it to maintain a good gpa with engineering as my intended major first year of college? I heard engineering classes are weed out classes but also that freshman classes are general courses.
engineering and other STEM grading in most classes will depend on professor (curve, assignments etc.) and department philosophy (weed out, tough but not weed out, only B’s and As (joke for the ivies ha!). The first two years in engineering are general but it’s not like general education. Figure two years of math, calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, a year of physics, a year of chemistry/biology, maybe materials science. Then throw in a computing class, engineering lab, modeling class, mechanics. You could take two classes in your major as well. Business is not necessarily easier but I found that if you work hard in a business class, you’ll do fine. In engineering, a lot more students work hard and still get a C. If you’re going more business, take a writing and oral presentation course, that will help.
It’s actually the junior and senior level courses that are a bit easier as it’s stuff you’re more interested in.
Ok thanks. So with all that considered, having been accepted early action out of state to UGA (great school but not one of those super selective schools tho somewhat challenging for OOS) and attending UTK for engineering. Do i have a good chance if I wish to transfer to UGA for a business degree if I hose engineering at UTK freshman year and doing somewhat decent?(math is my best subject but i did not like AP physics and was never really taught chenistry.)
Also, will UGA take into account that although my goa may be a little lower, they see that i did engineering and i plan on doing business at their school? Will they take into account that i got in out of high school early action OOS?(i know a couple friends with higher act scores that got deferred)
Have you contacted UGA to see if they will still take you for Fall17? Have you contacted them about their Transfer admission preferences? Have you looked at the Common Data Set for transfers?
If not, do so. Why keep asking the same questions re: admissions? Get an answer straight from the horses mouth.
Other than that, if you apply as a transfer, they will look at your GPA, course rigor and not be interested in your EA admittance as a potential freshman. I would guess (note that this is only a guess…) that when they see that you were previously admitted (most application will ask if you’d previously applied and what was the outcome) and that your high school record may indeed play a part, but the EA factor will likely make no difference, since you did not take them up on their offer.
Thank you to everyone who has replied. I have decided that i will try my freshman year at UTK and will transfer if needed. Is transition when transferring colleges hard to meet new people and is the process similar to high school? Is transferrring to switch majors easy?( like will they take my previous major into account and in what ways?) i believe i have my answer but i just want to clear some things up to make sure