<p>I am currently an undergrad at UW-Madison entering my sophomore year, and I am a declared biochemistry major. But, with my new discovery of job outlooks/salaries for biochemistry majors, I am thinking of changing my major to chemical engineering. I have loved all the science and math classes at UW, so I am sure this what I want to do. Science is my passion, and this major seems like it fits me best. </p>
<p>The problem is the competitiveness of the program. I know that I have to apply and be accepted into the program. Unfortunately, I slacked somewhat my freshman year. After my first year, I have a 3.3 overall GPA and a 3.23 science GPA. I have taken Calc I, Calc II, Chem 109, analytical chem, and bio so far. Is there anyone out there with any experience applying to the chem e program or knows the stats of accepted applicants? The amount of people that apply and get rejected etc.? Any advise would be very helpful.</p>
<p>-Thanks</p>
<p>I am a transfer student and also apply ChemE. I am a sophomore student from U of Miami with GPA 3.95 and Science GPA 4.0. But i still haven’t got any notification.</p>
<p>If you get permission from the department, you can take the beginning CBE classes without being accepted into the major. If you haven’t done so try to sign up for CBE 250 (You can also take 255 at the same time I think.) It is the first course you have to take, and it is a prerequisite for further CBE classes. </p>
<p>I know that people often get rejected and have to apply again. Not being in the department as a first semester sophomore isn’t terrible, though you have to be in before your fifth semester. I have no idea if you will get in or not.</p>
<p>Your classes line up well with what a CBE major would take their freshman year.
I’d recommend taking Chem 343, Math 234, and CBE 250. You also look like you need physics 201 and 202 sometime.</p>
<p>ajinqu99: I had slightly lower stats and got in, though I wasn’t a transfer student. I applied in October but they waited until mid January to answer, I think they start looking at them once semester grades are in, so maybe early to mid June. If you ask the department they might give you a better guess.</p>
<p>Thank you for your information. My counselor told me the result would be released at Mid-June. But it is still a long time waiting. If you got the offer from UIUC with chemE, would you still consider UWM?</p>
<p>Definitely, but I go here and have not visited UIUC, so I am very biased.
There have been many threads comparing UIUC and UW in the past, some are here:
[College</a> Confidential - Search Results](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search.php?searchid=46940173]College”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search.php?searchid=46940173)</p>
<p>I would recommend visiting both if possible.</p>
<p>To aqsewfqq: What is your stats ? Do you know if they require higher for transfer?
I have 3.3 in georgia tech n i has some engineering courses already. The chemical engineering dept told me i have to wait till mid june but last Thursday i got rejection from college of letters n science. I hope there r some confusions here.</p>
<p>NamTu189: I had a 3.9, don’t know if transfers need to be higher or lower, they would take more than GPA into account in any case. I don’t know what the college of Letters and Science does for admissions. Apparently the college of engineering runs admissions separately. Why did you apply to both?</p>
<p>wow! 3.9 is a low stat! So the average GPA to get in is 4.0?
Anyway I applied to COE but somehow they transferred me to College of Letters & Science, then they transferred me back to COE in Mid May.
I think that is why they messed up my app status.</p>
<p>3.9 is not low, I meant that my GPA was slightly lower than ajinqu99’s was. A 3.9 is an excellent GPA. The average GPA is definitely not a 4.0, it is lower, though I don’t know how low.</p>
<p>Thank you for the information.
How do you feel about studying Chem E in UW Madison? Is it extremely hard to get an A or even pass the class?
I am in my junior year in Ga Tech. I have the feeling that UW Madison courses should be harder.</p>
<p>Why you are considering transfer from Gatech to UWM, I have feeling that Gatech is pretty good at engineering, even better than UWM.</p>
<p>It was primarily my family finance problem. I couldn’t afford to go to Tech and I am OOS student in Georgia. I am independent student now so I figure out I should move back for cheaper tuition. I love Tech though. Most of their Engineering majors are better except Chemical, they rank Tech #10 while UW Madison #5. And I work in research department too. But still dont get why they make it so hard to go to Chem E in UW Madison. Tech rank #2 in Biomedical E and their admission is still easier than Chem E UW Madison. My GPA was fine except the humanity class that pulled it down. I talked with my profs, TAs, and friends about transferring out, we all thought it would be ok.</p>
<p>Don’t nitpick a gpa that is near perfect. Aside from that the courses looked at are those relevant to the major, not others for admission to a specific major. You are admitted to the university as a whole, which is why they did L&S as they don’t promise specific engineering admission. Most UW students are in L&S.</p>
<p>The reason some majors are restricted is the numbers that can be accommodated compared to the numbers interested. This has nothing to do with the rigor of any field but rather student interest. Teaching is another field requiring more than just meeting gpa requirements for the major. Both engineering and teaching require limited facilities. It is better to only admit students that can get the courses than to not be able to graduate on schedule because you couldn’t get a lab course or student teaching.</p>
<p>Consider the cost benefit ratio of transferring. Also look at how your credits will transfer. You need to do your final 60 credits, two years worth of work, at UW to get a UW degree. This makes sense as a school should be granting degrees to students who went through their program- most work, and the advanced work, is done the final two years. Check with the UW website for accuracy of this, as with all other info you see on CC, btw. Also note that once a school is in the top echelons being ranked a bit higher or lower isn’t important- the overall fit of the school is (that does include academics, social and economic factors). Getting a Georgia Tech degree in engineering is worth a lot (as is a UW one).</p>
<p>I was accepted by UIUC and UMich with ChemE. I don’t know whether I should wait for the result of UWM.</p>
<p>NamTu: ChemE classes are hard, definitely. But if you’re doing fine in classes at Georgia Tech, you should do fine in classes here, I’d think.</p>
<p>ajinqu99: I can’t answer that, though unless there is a reason to hurry up and decide waiting won’t hurt any. Have you been able to visit any of the schools? See which one you like best? I don’t know the rankings, but all three will give a good education, and other aspects of the school are also important. Or if one is significantly cheaper than the other two, I’d go there.</p>