<p>thanks. We are looking into other places too- will go with the best offer !!
got a likely letter from ivies & a top school. -but no scholarships.</p>
<p>I applied to a major (Civil Engineering) that I’m absolutely positive I don’t wanna do anymore.
I guess I’m a bit fickle, so my interests will probably change later on again. However, I’m still pretty confident that I’ll stick with engineering. I’m thinking about BME now… do I need to do anything special to change my major?
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I know that BME is more restrictive than civil (unless you’re talking architectural, specifically), so I’m not sure how hard it would be to switch.</p>
<p>Oops this is embarassing, but it’s too late to edit. I actually got accepted into Mechanical Engineering, not Civil Engineering if that matters.</p>
<p>I just read the requirements for internal transfer and it sounds like quite a hassle. It says I need at least 24 hours in residence. Does that mean I’ll have a slow start or something, since you mentioned the intro courses to BME?</p>
<p>I know, I hate the way you can’t edit very long after you post something! I’ve made some really dumb mistakes and typos.</p>
<p>Did you look up the BME curriculum online? Maybe some of the courses between ME and BME overlap? You could get some of your non-engineering courses completed, too.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would call up the BME department and ask them how many people a year manage to transfer in. Find out how they decide - GPA, I imagine. Maybe they can give you a feel for the grades you’ll need to make. I’m just shooting from the hip - that’s why I think you need to call and speak to someone who knows what he/she is talking about.</p>
<p>I was planning on getting some stuff out of the way with AP credit… so this might present a dilemma.
I guess I’ll call them up once I’m sure I’m actually matriculating. I wish I had more time to delve into the situation at the moment…</p>
<p>I think it’s a bit weird there’s so much of a hassle just to transfer (within Cockrell)… do they really expect high schoolers to know what they want to do for the rest of their life? 
I’m ashamed to admit that I just randomly selected a major in Engineering when I applied; last minute sorta thing. I hope the Honors acceptance or Engineering scholarship wasn’t on the basis of my major… that’d be unfair to other people if my nonchalance benefited me. =/</p>
<p>Thanks for the response, I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Texas is the only school out of the eleven that my son applied to that required he make a commitment to a particular major BEFORE he was even accepted! He doesn’t have a clue as to exactly what he wants to do. He knows he likes the human body and also enjoys physics and math, so it seemed as good a guess as any!</p>
<p>I don’t think Texas has any choice, though. There is so much demand for engineering that almost all the spots are filled - there’s no room for extra kids, even from one engineering discipline to another.</p>
<p>Son got accepted into Engineering (Computer)…</p>
<p>Anyone here doing Computer Engineering? - If you can offer some insight about how its like, are the classes too large and whether the AP credits in Calc AB and BC make a difference. I have read on here that the Calc classes are hard.</p>
<p>Thanks -</p>
<p>Does anyone have an opinion regarding Rice University vs Honors Engineering? Where would you have the best social life? UT is as big as a city. It seems that students could easily be alone in a crowd? Rice has a good reputation, but Cockrell School of Engineering ranks higher. Would guys have to join a fraternity at UT to meet any girls? Passing on Harvey Mudd because of the male/female ratio.</p>
<p>There is a very active Women in Engineering group (my son’s cute gf is also an engineering student). Cockrell has its own Student Life office and stresses the importance of social competence in an engineering workplace. It provides lots of opportunities for shyer types to get to know other engineers: FIGs, study groups, student clubs, Engineering Fall Gathering, leadership training, etc.
The fraternities get a lot of mention here on CC, but less than 12% of UT students are in the greek orgs. There are plenty of social opportunities outside of greeks and engineering too -
leadership development [Office</a> of the Dean of Students - Student Activities and Leadership Development - Leadership - LEAP](<a href=“http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sald/leadership_leap.php]Office”>http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sald/leadership_leap.php),
intramural sports [UT</a> RecSports - Intramurals - Home - About](<a href=“http://www.utrecsports.org/intramurals/about.php]UT”>http://www.utrecsports.org/intramurals/about.php),
and tons of student orgs [Office</a> of the Dean of Students - Student Activities and Leadership Development - Student Organizations](<a href=“http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sald/studentorgs/index.php]Office”>http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sald/studentorgs/index.php).
If your S is in band, he might be interested in LHB -about 70% of the members are engineering majors. [Longhorn</a> Band / University of Texas at Austin](<a href=“http://www.music.utexas.edu/LonghornBand/]Longhorn”>http://www.music.utexas.edu/LonghornBand/)</p>
<p>Zlc Thanks so much for the information and great ideas.</p>
<p>@insertAlias:
If you are undecided on your major, UT is definitely the school for you, as it has a wide selection of top rated programs.
Changing major within engineering is pretty simple. You just need to apply with the engineering office. If you have good GPA, they’ll let you do it right away. The only consideration is transferring credits from one engineering major to another. Your counselor can help you with that. Also, because of pre-req are different between majors, you may be restricted on the class selection.
As a note, if you do decide to change major, it’s better do it earlier rather than later. Since the civil engineering specific classes will not transfer towards a degree in BME.</p>
<p>@houstonmom2:
Rice engineering and Engineering Honors is a semi-toss up. The opportunities available is probably a bit better at Rice, since the classes are much smaller and the students will have more research opportunities. But IMO, UT has better career services and a stronger national brand.</p>
<p>I think student life is a big part of college. In that respect, UT has much better student life, just because there are so many different people. I don’t seeing being alone as an issue, unless your son has loner tendencies (going to Rice won’t help that). Living in the dorms definitely helps with making friends. </p>
<p>For me, Austin is much better city than Houston. Even the West U area doesn’t compare to Austin in terms of activities. And Rice isn’t even in the same league as UT when it comes to girls.</p>
<ul>
<li>Just had to jump in about research opportunities. If a student is interested (and shows it during class) and approaches an instructor about research opportunities, the answer will be YES. My d worked as a research assistant for an instructor her 2nd semester at UT (Comm. Sci. and Disorders). My (freshman) son was invited to join a student research project in September, less than a month into his college career, after speaking with the project lead. He recently gave that up because he is now a team lead on another (grant funded) project. As proud as I am of my kids, I can’t claim that they are prodigies -they were both just interested and bold. The opportunities are there for students who pursue them.</li>
</ul>
<p>hey, i got into mech e but my first choice was chem eng… i am an international student so i am low on UT priority list … my question is… How hard would it be to transfer from mech e to chem eng ??</p>
<p>Congrats IndianSaudi!!</p>
<p>@pixeljig
I’m not very sure about computer engineering (I am in mechanical honors). The beginning classes for all the engineering majors are very similar, however. I think that as a general rule, the classes are very large at the beginning. They start to get smaller your second year after a lot of people start to drop out :/</p>
<p>After you get to what they call Major Sequence, you’ll be in much smaller classes. The AP credits help you get some classes out of the way. I don’t think the calc classes here are that hard (I took M408d here). They usually grade on curves so you just have to do well relative to others. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>@houstonmom2
With an engineering major, that’s actually a very valid concern. I know of a lot of engineers who choose to join frats to meet girls, but it isn’t necessary. The ratio of males to females in the classes is probably around 5 to 1. However, since UT is such a large school, I think as long as your son makes an effort, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I would definitely choose UT over Rice if engineering is what he wants to do. Austin is a great city with an awesome atmosphere (not to mention great sports program). </p>
<p>@liu02bhs
I can’t comment on the research opportunities at Rice, but the opportunities at UT are there. zlc’s comment is absolutely right. You just need to make an effort to ask professors.</p>
<p>@indianinsaudi
I don’t know much about internal transfers for engineering students, but it shouldn’t be THAT hard for you. The chem eng department is a little harder to get into from what I’ve heard, but I have a friend who was able to transfer from BME to ChemE with no problems.</p>
<p>@pixeljig
I’m a second year ECE (Electrical and computer engineering) student. First year courses can be challenging, more to get your feet on the ground than anything else. EE 302 (intro to circuits) has a reputation for being fairly easy, while EE 306 (intro to computing) can be brutally difficult. Calc can be hard if you don’t have experience, but it all comes down to “failing less than everyone else,” so if you get a hard teacher and work hard you can come through.</p>
<p>Engineering physics can be a nightmare (Mechanics isn’t bad but E-mag has been a thorn in my side lately).</p>
<p>Overall, I don’t think that its obscenely hard, but they do expect you to work. You’ll (or your son will, rather) be spending a lot of time on homework. It has a rep as one of the hardest majors, but honestly, if you work hard you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Thank you Jacobsladder, sounds like fun!! :)</p>
<p>Have you been happy with your professors and which dorm would you recommend for freshman? We just paid the deposit yesterday for housing, waiting to hear back from them.</p>
<p>Son is taking AP Calc BC with MultiVar this year plus Physics C. He is bright but a last minute person, will not do his HW unless its graded.</p>
<p>Classes are huge first year…?? But are the courses easy to get?</p>
<p>ender314 Thanks for UT info. We visited Rice this week. Plan to visit UT soon. Rice has many planned activities through their college residential system. Students tend to stay on campus to socialize/ relax. It seems like UT turns into a commuter school after the first year in the dorm. I have heard west of campus is were kids go to party at UT, but nothing is really planned by the dorms or colleges.</p>