Title says it all. If so, how many classes will I pay for no reason? Thank you 
Probably, but it depends a lot on the details… which you didn’t provide.
Well, if Jack has X oranges and Jill has Y apples, how many fruit do they have total? Kind of hard to solve without knowing X and Y, isn’t it? You don’t say where you are in your studies, you don’t say what kind of engineering or what specialty within the major, and you don’t say what school. It might be none. It might be 2 years worth.
Depends on how far along you are and what school you go to.
Engineering is VERY sequential. The easiest way to answer this is to look at the flowchart of the program you want to go into, drop the classes you already have on it, and look at the sequence. My guess is physics will be the Achilles heel. Unless you have it, you’ll likely be looking at starting over at square one. Engineering is math intensive, but there aren’t that many classes in the sequence, typically 4 or 5 if your program requires linear. Good luck.
Well, I am still a senior in High school and I am interested in Mechanical, Electrical Engineering. Maybe even petroleum but I am not sure about this one…Does this make it clearer? I mean I thought Engineering requires math and if I major in math for the first year and switch, I wouldn’t be losing out on classes but you guys are the experts.
You could also just major in engineering if that’s the goal… the math classes you’d be required to take would be part of your curriculum.
Okay, that makes it clearer.
First, let me say that it never makes sense to start in a department if you would prefer to be in a different one. If you want to be an engineer, start in engineering, and if you want to be a mathematician, start in mathematics.
Second, switching into engineering can be difficult. Many majors are controlled, and rarely have opening available for those who did not start in the program (or at least the college) as a freshman. It is usually easier to switch out of engineering than vice versa.
Third, if you start in math but want to switch into engineering for some reason, you need to follow the engineering academic plan, and NOT the mathematics academic plan! You can generally do this, but it is important - there will be a fair amount of overlap, but you must get the physics and/or chemistry done early to avoid massive delays later! There will also likely be some freshman-level engineering courses, and you will need to see if you can skip them or take them later after joining the major.
All this gets much worse after freshman year - you will start accruing math classes that your engineering major will not accept, and will start missing important engineering classes that can hugely delay your progress. Remember that the basic engineering curricula usually have prerequisite trains on the order of 4 semesters long at minimum just for the engineering courses, with the basic science courses adding 2 more semesters at the beginning!
Wait, I am confused about the how I can have a math major but still follow the engineering academic plan? I am going into math major because the college I am applying to is really high in demand for engineering and I don’t think I will get in as an engineering major so a teacher of mine told me to apply to math major and switch after a year. Thanks!
Not sure you’re getting the best advice from your teacher. See if there’s anywhere you can apply where you’re likely to be admitted as an engineering major freshman year. Being able to switch isn’t guaranteed; it’s likely predicated on your frosh GPA and maybe another application process.
Backdooring into a major isn’t the best plan. I’d get more opinions from just that teacher.
Each major will have a list of classes (or types of classes) you should take each semester - this is the academic plan. You have the freedom to schedule whatever classes you want, however, provided the classes you choose are not full or restricted. So, if you are serious about this, what you would need to do is schedule the courses that the engineering major recommends instead of what the math major recommends. There will be some significant overlap, but it will get less each semester, and sooner or later you will run into courses that are restricted to those in the major.
It is a bit of a long shot at most schools thanks to accreditation rules. You might have better luck finishing your undergrad in math (or physics, or chemistry) and then going to grad school for engineering.
I’m trying to understand, do you want to major in engineering? Because if so, then you will have certain math classes you will have to take as part of the engineering degree. Are you wanting to double major in math and engineering or maybe get a math minor? Yes, engineers need math, but they don’t have to start as math majors. They take some 3+ classes in math (Calc I, II, III, Diff Eqs, maybe Linear Algebra, perhaps one or two others) but not anywhere near as much as a math major. Some can get close to a math minor, with a little manipulation. But you definitely take math classes as an engineering major, no worries there.
Which college ? In the UCs for example, trying to get into engineering from non-engineering is really difficult. Lots of people post here about their disappointment at not getting into engineering at say UW. Some schools have very high GPA requirements to transfer into engineering … and sometimes the GPA requirement just gets you into the competition for very limited spots.
Engineering is competitive at a lot of schools … but if you check the ABET list for the engineering type you prefer, you may find some very good other alternatives where you can be a direct admit into engineering (and you can always transfer out to a math major if you decide the physics and chem are too difficult or you just don’t like the problem focus of engineering ).
Any ABET accredited school will qualify you to become an engineer, especially if you work hard and do well there.
Also take math and physics in high school, if you can, and do well. It will help you succeed through the freshman sequence and be well prepared for higher courses.
People here have a lot of ideas if you reveal your state and stats.
Alright, so from what I am hearing is that its better to just go into engineering major rather than math. I will get more advice from the teacher I talked to. Also, lets say I get in with a math major, is it possible to switch the math to a minor and start majoring in engineering. However, worst case scenario, I don’t get to switch to engineering like many people here said then lets say I just major in math for 4 years and then do engineering for grad school, would that still be worth? From what I heard, engineering majors make much more money than math. I am also open to the math to software engineering plan (I dont know how that works but I have hard of it, only job that pays well if your a math major). I did apply to some colleges for engineering that I believe I will get in with my stats but the ones that I believe I barely reach, I put mathematics. And “cosmicfish” would you mind telling me where I can find this engineering academic plan that I can follow IF I get in to this college as a math major. I am also open to any smart options that I can follow as of right now. I am from NY, the colleges I applied to, for math major are UB, Stony Brook, Binghamton, and New Paltz. The CUNY and some privates that I applied to is engineering major, which I am pretty sure I will get into. My stats aren’t that great, 86 GPA and 1610 SAT. 
Taking the SAT again this january 23rd, I know some colleges won’t accept this score but some said they can update or count the 23rd SAT score for scholarships and such. Any SAT tips will also be greatly appreciated. College Essay tips as well. Sorry, this is so long, I am the first person from my family to go to college and I am also applying for EOP. Thank you guys! or girls!
The minor is irrelevant to this conversation and, for that matter, just about everything else. Minors don’t really do much. But getting into engineering from the outside is always tough. Possible, but tough. Tough enough that you should probably plan on graduating in whatever field you enter.
Yes. I know a number of good, even great engineers who started out with undergrad degrees in math or physics.
Yes, engineers make more money… if they are happy in what they are doing and can be successful. Being an unhappy engineer generally pays… less. And you’re unhappy, too. If math makes you happier, do math - the money may not be as good, but it is still decent.
You will need to look it up for each department of interest, they all label them differently. Here is Stony Brook’s EE guide to show you what I mean - look at pages 7, 9, and 11 for the academic plans:
Good luck!
Reading between the lines here, sounds like you are sure you want to major in engineering and not math. But you and your teacher don’t think your grades are high enough to earn you admission into an engineering school. So, instead you think you will apply to a university and claim you want to major in math but then you hope to transfer into engineering once you gain admission to the school as a math major and have a semester or two under your belt. As others have pointed out, not starting engineering at year one will set you back because the courses are sequenced from the 1st year. But, perhaps more problematic is that the engineering classes are often very rigorous even in schools that aren’t that rigorous in non-STEM related departments. So they will be looking for very high STEM grades from anyone in the school looking to transfer. If you did not have them in high school, it is unlikely that you will have them in the first year of college-even engineering students who have only A’s in high school often barely pass their college classes. And, if that is true for you, you will be stuck in whatever major you started in. So start school in a major you really are interested in.
The only CUNY school that I’m aware of that offers an engineering degree, is CCNY. Here is the CCNY Mechanical Engineering Curriculum sheet, showing the course sequences. The sheet shows Calculus I (Math 20102) as the starting point. A number of students might be required to start the Math sequence with Math 19000 (College Algebra and Trigonometry) or Math 19500 (Precalculus). CCNY use to have an accelerated 2-course-Calculus series, which was a Calculus I and first part of Calculus II (Calculus X1) and the other would be the latter part of Calculus II and Calculus III (Calculus X2)…three semester calculus series condensed into 2-semesters. Not sure this is still offered to Engineering, Computer Science and some science majors (e.g., Chemistry).
https://*****/viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ccny.cuny.edu%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fmecheng%2Fupload%2F2013-14-Curriculum-Sheet-ME-2013-07-01.pdf
What is your SAT score split (especially Math)?
You could take your engineering prerequisites at a slower pace, along with any required pre-calculus math, at a community college or local 4 year university. I think it would be better to spread the first few tough years out into a three, so you have more time to study and catch up (assuming your SAT scores somewhat match your grades and high school preparation). So plan on 5 or more years, financially. Getting an engineering degree in 5 years is still great and would prep you for good paying jobs.
The goal of the first part of your studies is to learn everything in the math sequence and the core science (physics, chem) with good grades so you can transfer into an engineering program well prepared and finish up another 2 difficult years.
Although, going into engineering purely for the pay is unadvised, it is a long hard slog for many, especially if you are not well prepared in high school. There are other ways to make money, both short and long term.
You need to take math starting at whatever level you really have mastered, not try to skip ahead. You can’t take physics before completing Calc 1, especially if you are not a math wizard (and both classes require a lot of problem sets). You could take chemistry and humanities classes (I would really try to improve my verbal side scores in these classes, critical reading and writing are important life skills).
Steer clear of accelerated courses unless you are or become a math wiz, since these classes are really easy to fail. Summer classes might be easier, but you have to make sure you learn everything in your math sequence, since it all builds on itself.
I have reached to the conclusion that I will either do engineering at a college that I can get into easily or do 4 years of math major and do engineering for grad. Does that sound good?