<p>Curious of my chances to be accepted in engineering and if I have any chance at the Honors program
Texas resident
ACT 32 (Math 33, Science 34, English 30)
UW GPA 3.9
104.5 weighted
9 AP courses
4 years varsity band
Eagle Scout
3 student clubs
100+ volunteer hours
Interned with Research Program at Univ. Texas At Austin
roughly 10% rank in class of 630 at Competitive High School</p>
<p>I think you’re a match for CoE.
It’s also key to note that the LSA Honors Program is completely different from the CoE Honors Program. You apply to LSA Honors as an admitted student, and you apply to CoE Honors after your freshmen year. </p>
<p>You do not apply for a specific field of engineering as an incoming student as all fields of engineering have the same initial core curriculum. If interested in BIOMED E you would apply to CoE and then declare your major by your Sophomore year. I was at orientation for my D just last week and was told at the parent session that there is currently no cap on students getting into BIOMED E, but there is an additional requirement of 2.5 GPA when you declare. </p>
<p>Unless I am mistaken (could be the case) when my son went thru COE orientation (July 2011) they were also told that there was no cap for students applying to enter the BIOMED E program but the entry GPA was on the order of 3.3-3.5 for Freshman classes </p>
<p>Just re-checked the handout given at parent orientation session for engineering last week. When they declare their major (expected to be done sometime in 2015 for students admitted in Fall 2014), students must have a 2.0 GPA to declare an engineering major with the exception of BIOMED E which requires a 2.5.
Note this is their college GPA, not their incoming high school GPA. Our presenter showed some data on GPAs for high school GPAs and first semester CoE. They didn’t provide copies so I’m going from memory on this part, but the high school GPAs where heavily clustered at the high end (around 3.7 and above for vast majority). First semester CoE GPAs were amost evenly distributed from around 2.0 to 4.0, with some lower. The lecturer was trying to set some expectations with parents… </p>
<p>MomOf2TeenGirls. . . Thank you so much for posting this Engineering Orientation info. Husband and I are not attending since we have an older child at UM and have sat through Orientation once and are from OOS and didn’t think it was worth it to incur the cost involved. But our older child was in LS&A so feel a little bit guilty about missing the small Engineering part. Any other helpful info that was conveyed (particularly about placing out of general requirements with AP credit, etc.) would be much appreciated! 
</p>
<p>I’m a rising rising sophomore doing ChE and, unless things have changed, you need a 3.0 to declare BME.</p>
<p>A 4 or 5 in AP Chem gets you out of the Gen Chem requirement. If you don’t have credit for Gen Chem and place into Orgo during the placement exam, take Gen Chem because it’s generally an easier A. However, take Orgo if you’re doing ChE/BME/MSE/Environmental since it’s required anyway.</p>
<p>A 4 or 5 in AP Calc AB or a 4 in AP Calc BC gets you out of Calc I, and a 5 in BC gets you out of Calc I and II. The general consensus is to not retake math that you already have credit for. The required math classes after Calc II are arguably easier as well.</p>
<p>A 5 on Physics C: Mechanics gets you out of Gen Physics I (“140”) and a 5 on Physics C: E&M gets you out of Gen Physics II (“240”). Most people say 140 is alright, but dislike 240. A lot of kids take 240 “equivalent” course at another school over the summer or something so they don’t have to bother with it here. AP Physics B will not get you out of 140 or 240. </p>
<p>There’s no way of avoiding ENGR100, as far as I know. No way out of 101 either other than opting for 151 (there might be some workaround involving taking EECS280 the first semester or something like that, but I’m not doing EECS so I don’t really know).</p>
<p>@LittleMom - Happy to try to answer any questions! It is our D2 going to UM, but D1 is at a much smaller school (Rose-Hulman) so I was interested to learn a bit more about how things worked differently at UM. We are also OOS.
They didn’t speak too much to APs with the parents, other than to assure that the advisors would work with the kids to consider AP scores (including those anticipated but not yet received) and placement tests. They said if a student felt poorly or “iffy” about how they did, they typically advise to register for the lower class and then switch up if pleasantly surprised when scores arrive. My D already had her scores from BC Calc and Chem because she took them as a junior. Based on those, the advisor put her into Calc 3 and she will start in organic chem (not taking a science first semester though due to her second major).
Does this info help? I have to say that my D has been handling everything, but from what she has shared I’ve been pleased with how everything’s been working. Due to her dual degrees, she’s had to work across two advisors, get overrides and follow up on a couple issues after returning home. She has handled it all via email with the advisors and they have been super responsive. </p>
<p>Thanks MomOF2TeenGirls. . . </p>
<p>attribute. . . …we know that AP Physics B doesn’t get any credit from CoE. . .however wanted to know if any General elective credit could be received for it (based on the LS&A equivalency chart). Son took AP Physics C as well and he’s awaiting score from that but honestly doesn’t anticipate receiving a 5 on either section so guess he’ll be taking both Physics 140 and 240. He also hasn’t taken Chem. since his sophomore year and it was merely an Honors section but not the AP class (not allowed to take more than 1 AP in 10th grade and he was already taking AP World History). Any suggestions about when he should take the classes. … think he’s going to start with Physics 140 since he just had AP Physics C and still somewhat “fresh in his head”. . . but then take Chem. in the WInter term or continue with Physics 240 or strongly think about taking that over the summer or has a sophomore??
Can Physics 240 be taken in its entirety during the Spring semester?</p>
<p>@attribute - Thank you! Perhaps the handout they gave us parents has an error on the BME requirement. Very helpful advice on the APs!</p>
<p>@LittleMom Yep, I think your son will get elective credit for AP Physics B! </p>
<p>I say he should go ahead and take 140 while physics is fresh in his head, and then take chem the winter semester. But I don’t think the order matters much. A friend of mine came in came in with similar high school course work as your son and did Gen Chem first followed by 140 instead, and ended up with a 3.9X by the end of freshmen year. </p>
<p>A 240 equivalent course can be taken over the summer at a CC, but if not, he should wait until fall semester sophomore year after adjusting to college life. He can try to squeeze it in with Gen Chem his freshmen year if he has nothing else he wants to take. I wouldn’t go down that road though, since the general consensus is that 240 is hard. But a lot of people take it here and do fine, so there’s that.</p>