CMU Internal Transfer from CFA to CMS (freshman year)

Hello,
My son recently applied for CMU’s BSA program but was accepted into CFA program and not the MCS program. He wants to major in biomedical engineering with a premed track in mind, and would like to do an internal transfer as soon as possible.
We are worried that even if he does transfer into MCS, he will be behind in coursework and graduate later than the rest of 2023.
That said, is it possible to do an internal transfer from an art to science school? Would this hinder or delay the process of him getting into medical school? On that note, how strong is CMU’s premed program, considering that it is primarily an engineering/CS school?
Thank you!

So why did you apply to CFA at all if no intention to study there?

freshman can’t change schools (i.e. CFA to MCS or CIT) until the second semester freshman year and the rules actually say post-mid term although my daughter moved from CIT to MCS at the very beginning of the second semester with no problem. I know they won’t entertain a transfer until at least the beginning of the second semester.

You really need to review the requirements beforehand and understand what you are doing since CFA to MCS/CIT i s a big jump. For starters BME isn’t in MCS it’s in CIT and is only offered as an “additional major” after declaring another Engineering major (i.e. ChemE). A transfer to CIT will likely put a student behind as CIT requires 2 intro engineering classes which act as pre-requisites for sophomore courses. A student that doesn’t have at least one of those intros will need special permission to register for sophomore engineering courses and will be overloaded as they will need to make up that intro class. MCS (i.e. Biology or Chemistry) has a little less rigid curriculum. They’ll take 2nd semester freshman transfers as long as they meet a few requirements: reasonable first semester grades, Calc1 and the intro science for their intended major (i.e. Bio or Chem) done.

Premed at CMU is a not a major like in some schools. It’s basically a mailing list and an advisor that is available to help with course selection and questions for the first couple of years. They generally recommend Bio, Chem, or ChemE as the best majors since those majors hit the majority of the expected Med School science requirements as part of the major. Other majors are possible but require the student to use a bunch of elective slots to cover Med School expectations. At Junior year, the pre-health program starts helping with prep for MCAT, interviews, preparing a committee letter, and applications.

Thank you so much for this information.
I have a few follow-up questions:

  1. Is it possible to take bio or chem courses even if you're in CFA first semester of freshman year? Is that something we can arrange with an advisor?
  2. How difficult and long is the process to transfer? Would admissions officers be skeptical of a student wanting to transfer to MCS from CFA? My son originally wanted to intersect biology with fine arts (which is why he applied to BSA) but ultimately was shooting for med school, and thus believed that studying at MCS would help him achieve his goals.

Thank you again.

As I said in my reply to atxfather, my son wanted to intersect biology with art (which is why he applied to BSA in the first place) but he had medical school in mind. He believed that, for the sake of getting in med school, it’s best for him to study at MCS.

for question #1 (whether science and math classes can be taken) you’d need to talk with the adviser in the current major department and also check the online catalog (google cmu catalog). I know music is pretty tightly scheduled and doesn’t have a lot of flexibility. I don’t know about other CFA programs.

On #2, I only really know our experience. I do know my D transferred from Engineering to Bio in less than 10 minutes. That was a much smaller step. The MCS undergrad adviser looked up her first semester grades, saw that they were more than good enough and that she had the prerequisites. She discussed the reasons she wanted to transfer which made sense to the adviser and that was that… I think if the grades and pre-requisites are there then the last part is just making sure the transfer is really what the student wants.

The course catalog says you have to have Calc1 and the intro science completed (question #1) completed for consideration by MCS. I think Engineering is similar, they require Calc1 and probably Physics and maybe one of the intro engineering courses. The one worry would be If those courses aren’t A/Bs. I don’t know how that would pan out. I do my what D reported which was that the adviser checked her grades and then immediately moved to the “why” question and then endorsed the transfer to the MCS Dean for approval all within 10 minutes.

I think you need to figure out exactly what he wants to do and then speak with the school.

Engineering is in the College of Engineering (is it still CIT?), not MCS. And even there you can’t major in Biomedical Engineering - it’s simply not offered as a primary Major. He would need to major in ChemE/CivE/MechE/ECE/Materials and then double or minor in Biomed.

MCS would have Biological Sciences, which is one of the options to choose from with the BSA program.

And transferring from Fine Arts to Engineering or Science is a drastic change - it’s pretty unlikely the Freshman CFA courses (which program - Art, Design, Drama, Music?) would meet Engineering/science freshman courses that are prerequisites for the following year.

@RichInPitt
My son has been accepted into the Art program in CFA.
I’ve heard several cases of people easily transferring from Tepper Business School to CIT/MCS, so I thought maybe
transferring from CFA to MCS/CIT would also be feasible, especially considering that he is going to a science magnet school.
Do you happen to know if you can add another MCS prereq class to your schedule or take one of the classes over break to not fall behind the students in the school you’re transferring to?
Additionally, would AP scores will in the Calculus credit in MCS?

@atxfather
Thank you so much for your advice.
For your information, my son has been accepted into the Art program in CFA.
Some other follow questions I would like to ask:
Would a 5 on the BC Calculus exam fill in the Calc1 credit?
And I’ve heard several cases of people easily transferring from the Tepper Business School (which is not as related to STEM as Engineering is) to MCS-- would the advisers look at your grades from all of your classes, even if they’re not relevant to the MCS curriculum?

My son is willing to do anything as he is able to enroll into MCS without falling behind the other class of 2023 students.

Find answers on AP credit here: https://www.cmu.edu/hub/registrar/docs/ap-credit.pdf

I have heard of some people at CMU who APed out of math classes, and later regretted that, as they found they were promoted into classes that were too difficult. There is also a math placement test that might help with assuring accurate placement in the curriculum.

5 on BC Calc will satisfy 2 semesters of Calculus credit which is all that is required for a Biology major. However MCS has a requirement that at least one math course be taken at CMU as part of their overall distribution so at least one math class would have to be taken in order to graduate. I would think that would mean that the Calc1 requirement for transferring is met but you really need to be asking the question directly to the folks in MCS not relying on a forum post for a major issue like this. My D had a 5 on BC and had taken the third semester Calc class at CMU when she transferred into MCS so it’s not exactly the same situation. Google the CMU catalog and go to the MCS section and there’s a subsection on academic regulations or something like that. It has a paragraph on transfers. You should also look at the course requirements for the intended major and there is usually a suggested schedule posted on their somewhere for each major. After reading that, I’d suggest you have your student contact the folks in MCS for detailed questions on the transfer and how things are factored in. And you definitely need to know that the CFA program would allow the basic science requirements to be met until the transfer can could be done.

If I am going into premed, is it worth doing this internal transfer at CMU or go to a different school where I can go straight into the premed track? I really love the CMU environment and feel like I can fit with the CMU community more than my other college of choice.