<p>My son is in 2nd year as physics major but wanted to switch to mechanical engineering. He was given the auth code to get an engineering class this past quarter and got an A. He was not given the auth code to take the next engineering class for this quarter as the ME advisor said they had only 5 spots and those were given to student's with the highest cum GPA in physics, engineering & math courses. So he and apparently ~25 other students were told that they would not be allowed to change to ME major. The advisor said that if he has heart set on ME, he should consider other schools.</p>
<p>Any recommendations on next steps for him? We are inclined to let him finish the school year, research other schools and get the apps done for fall transfer. Any recommendations on other schools for ME? We are thinking private, done with state schools. Advisor told him that transferring to another UC was very difficult, he would be considered after community college transfers. BTW his cum GPA after 4 quarters is about 3.6. Thanks in advance for any advice.</p>
<p>I am sorry to hear about your son’s dilemma. Actually transferring to from UCSB directly to another UC is probably impossible due to their rules. Apps for next Fall were due at the end of November for transfer students. So the earliest he could apply to transfer would be for Fall 2014, at which point he would be entering his senior year, and UC schools do not accept senior transfers. Furthermore there is the UC unit cap, and after 3 years at UCSB he would not have the room for an additional 2 years of upper-division engineering classes.</p>
<p>One option might be the CC route if there is any thought of the UCs or CSU schools. You’d have to look carefully at the limits on units because of the rule above about not accepting seniors, but there may be special rules that appy (and since I think that all his classes have been lower division to this point). But the general idea would be that he enrolls at a CC on the 5-year plan. Over the next 1.5 years he takes all the lower division engineering prep classes and applies to UCs. The 2 semesters at a CC gives him the CC priority. Next Fall he applies to the campuses of his choice; he might even be eligible for guaranteed admission via TAG. He then spends 2 more years finishing his degree. And don’t be too quick to rule out a CSU campus. Even though overall they might not have the same reputation as UCs, for engineering the programs are acredited by ABET and are generally well regarded; Cal Poly SLO is probably the equivalent of most UCs.</p>
<p>Again, sorry to hear about his situation. The UCs make it very difficult to switch into some majors such as engineering and the Fine Arts.</p>
<p>If you are looking at private schools for engineering, check out [Association</a> of Independent Technological Universities: AITU](<a href=“http://theaitu.org%5DAssociation”>http://theaitu.org) schools. These are all private engineering-oriented schools and many of them will take transfer students. From what you say and my experience as a faculty member involved in admissions, your son would likely be admitted in my university, [Illinois</a> Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://www.iit.edu%5DIllinois”>http://www.iit.edu)</p>
<p>Since this is an advice forum, one other thing I’d add is to be sure your son has investigated the career before you go thru all the tumult of finding another college. Has he looked into what the career path is like, chatted with some ME’s, etc? Often college kids have only a rough (and sometimes inaccurate) idea of what a career entails.</p>
<p>Thanks mikemac & xray for your timely and thoughtful replies. Certainly will test my son’s commitment to the ME route before we take drastic action. He is meeting with the advisor in the College of Letters & Sciences to discuss alternatives. If he’s hell bent on ME, do you think it best that he put things on hold and pull out of UCSB now and pick up things this summer at a CC? I’m concerned about your warning regarding accumulating UC units that will likely not be directly related to the ME prerequisite might hurt him when it comes time to transfer, be it UC, state or private. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.</p>
<p>I’m not an admissions expert so while I want to raise some issues for you to explore, such as not getting to senior status, I can’t really tell you the best path to take. For example I don’t know the specific rules on how UCs or others will view a combo of units from UC and CC’s, but it is something to be aware of. </p>
<p>My understanding is that while there are some engineering courses people in the major take their 1st 2 years, the majority of the classes are ones that are open to anyone such as calculus, chemistry, physics, as well as satisfying college breadth requirements. So it might be possible, assuming the intent is to transfer, to take as much of that as possible finishing up his sophomore year at UCSB and then spend the following summer and academic year at a CC taking the engineering-related classes that UCSB won’t let him enroll in. But this needs to be carefully checked against how UC and CSU schools view a combination of units from 4-year and 2-year colleges to make sure he doesn’t accidentally become a senior and ineligible for transfer. This may not be an issue at privates, but again I don’t know. For that matter, if there is thought of the guaranteed admit program (TAG) then you’d need to look into the program requirements to make sure he has enough time at a CC if he finishes up this year at UCSB to be eligible to submit a TAG app this fall. Lots of issues, sorry I don’t have answers… And you’ll want to see if TAG even guarantees an engineering major.</p>
<p>Another thing to check into is what classes the CSU and UC schools (if he’s looking to go back to a public) require you to take before you can even submit a transfer app; since students apply in the fall for the following fall there are many courses they just list as planned to take, but there are some the colleges insist you have already completed or are enrolled in at the time of application. You’d want to make sure during the summer and next fall he takes these. </p>
<p>I hope the counselor meeting proves useful, and there is probably a fair amount you can look up online regarding rules and requirements.</p>
<p>It is likely that transferring to an ME program in the third year without being able to take any more engineering courses will result in a 3 year path to an engineering degree. Taking 5 years to complete an engineering degree is not out of the ordinary though.</p>
<p>Have you considered another path, that is a B.S. in physics followed by an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering? There might be a few remedial courses to take but it might allow him to stay at UCSB for the entire B.S.</p>
<p>Thanks xraymancs, I honestly wasn’t thinking you could get an MS in ME without an undergrad in ME. Is physics or math appropriate undergrad majors to apply for graduate programs in ME?</p>
<p>post #9 is an interesting idea. There is a tiny amount of info about this on the page at [Welcome</a> Prospective Students! | Mechanical Engineering](<a href=“http://me.ucsb.edu/graduate-program/admissions]Welcome”>http://me.ucsb.edu/graduate-program/admissions) but I suggest the OP’s son talk with the grad advisor at the dept about this. My guess is this might turn into a 6-year program; someone without the proper background would have a problem taking the MS courses if they assume knowledge of the undergrad classes. So they might end up spending a year of grad school taking the upper-division undergrad classes, then a subsequent year on the MS classes. Just a guess, though; worth talking about with the grad advisor to see if they actually admit people this way and if they do how long it might take.</p>
<p>This jogged my memory, though, and getting a MS this way is something that is readily possible at a CSU school. You’d have to check at each school, but they have a status called “conditionally classified” for Masters students. Getting admitted just requires a Bachelors (in anything) and a modest GPA. As a conditionally classified student you can then enroll in any classes needed to enter the Masters program as a regular “classified” student. This would end up being at least a 6-year plan for someone without the required ME courses to start the graduate program.</p>