As the question says - what schools make it easy or at least possible to transfer from arts and sciences to engineering? It seems almost impossible in many schools. So far I think I found: Northwestern, Tufts, USC, maybe CU Boulder. Is that right? Any others? Thanks!
Rice. There are no limitation to changing into majors except for into architecture and music. It’s as simple as filling out a form. You don’t have to declare a major officially until second semester sophomore year.
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My kid was undeclared at Santa Clara University in fall 2006 and transferred to engineering. But for freshman year, she also took all the required courses first year engineers took.
Don’t know if this is still true…or not.
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It’s possible to transfer at Cornell.
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There are many schools where changing major to engineering is possible/straightforward (although some have certain classes that the student must have taken and/or GPA requirements): Lehigh, Bucknell, Lafayette, Union, Swat, Dayton, Bradley, Cornell, U Arizona, ASU, U Miami, Tulane, to start. I am sure there are many more.
Sometimes making a change to engineering can add a semester or two of college so the student can meet the engineering transfer requirements.
The list of schools where it is difficult or nearly impossible to change one’s major to engineering is probably the shorter list.
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This is a very interesting thread. Arguably, it is easier to be admitted to many of the schools mentioned if you apply to the Arts and Sciences school rather than the engineering program. If all it takes if filling out a form, is that a popular option for would-be engineering majors?
This is an important point. Whether you can or not is one thing. The moment you do though you’ll be at ground zero unless you do what @thumper1’s student did.
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This is a great point and true for some schools. Not many HS students are absolutely certain they want to be an engineer coming out of HS (and some won’t cut it once they get to college), but why not explore options, take classes in many subjects, and retain the possibility of choosing engineering? (and take advantage of the sometimes higher arts and sciences admit rate, at least at some schools that admit by major)
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My daughter has a friend at Rice who transferred from Liberal Arts to Engineering sophomore year. Rice has “distribution requirements” where you have to take classes in different areas of study so he was able to use most of his freshman year classes to fulfill those requirements so he didn’t lose any time and will graduate on time.
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It might be interesting to see if there is a correlation between how much easier it is to be admitted to one college than another and ease of transfer between colleges. For instance, one large public my daughter applied to does not make it easy to transfer into engineering. It’s also WAY more difficult to get admitted into engineering in the first place. So applying to an easier major and then transferring is not really an option you can count on. However, the school where she landed does not admit by major so it’s not easier/harder to get admitted to Liberal Arts vs. Engineering. And transferring between colleges once admitted is a breeze.
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Ohio State has just announced changes to their engineering program:
Only students enrolled within the College of Engineering are permitted to participate in this admission to major process.
Starting Autumn 2023
In order to implement a transparent and equitable admission process and recognizing the challenges in meeting the demand and space availability in popular majors, effective Autumn 2023 the college will limit enrollment options for all Columbus and Regional campus students pursuing the following majors:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Science and Engineering (ENG) / Computer and Information Science (ASC)
- Mechanical Engineering
Prospective Ohio State students (freshmen and transfers) interested in one of these majors will need to apply to the major during the undergraduate admissions process.
Current Ohio State students may continue to switch into these pre-major programs through Summer 2023. Starting Autumn 2023, students will no longer be permitted to switch into these pre-major programs. Alternatively, students will be offered the opportunity to switch into pre-major or major programs that have capacity.
https://advising.engineering.osu.edu/change-pre-major
So engineering disciplines available to transfer into are: Agricultural Engineering (BSFABE), Chemical Engineering (BSChE, Civil Engineering (BSCE), Computer Engineering (BSECE), Electrical Engineering (BSECE), Environmental Engineering (BSEnvE), Food, Biological, and Ecological Engineering (BSFABE), Industrial and Systems Engineering (BSIE), Materials Science and Engineering (BSMSE), Welding Engineering (BSWE) and Engineering Physics.
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Case Western has a single door admission so transferring into engineering there is simple.
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Notre Dame is another.
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Love this. I want to keep a record of this for when my S26 is ready to look. He wants to be involved in space work, and has mentioned aerospace engineering or mechanical engineering. But he’s also in love with physics, math, chemistry and history. His love for history is super strong. I know a lot will change in the 3 years before he applies, but I’ve been a little worried about him applying to engineering programs—both because of how competitive they are and because I want him to be able to choose other things easily enough. It’s nice to know there are some schools where he can explore his varied interests and still turn to engineering if that’s what he wants to settle on.
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Thanks this is super helpful. My S23 is a stem kid who suddenly decided he is interested in engineering but doesn’t want to commit to that in applying - also his app is frankly stronger in his long time stem interest. He wants to be able to take an engineering class or two and transfer if he likes it better.
It is possible at most colleges where there is an arts & sciences and an engineering division.
However, difficulty of changing into the engineering division, or a specific engineering major, varies, ranging from trivial (basically only that you able to complete your new major in your remaining semesters, based on courses already passed), to highly difficult and competitive because there is very little or no space in the division or major for those trying to change into it.
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In general, it is more likely to find fewer or no restrictions to changing into engineering at:
- Smaller schools, where the minimum department size for an effective department is large enough to handle even a high percentage of the small number of total students choosing that major.
- Very wealthy private schools, which can afford to have oversized departments relative to the number of students who choose that major.
- Less selective schools, where many students with less academic strength self-weed-out of engineering majors because they feel that those majors are too hard or too much work.
State flagships that are large and in the higher range of admission selectivity are more likely to have a surplus of students with the academic strength and interest to overflow department capacity for engineering majors.
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Michigan -
Meet the requirements.
https://bulletin.engin.umich.edu/admissions/cross-campus-transfer/
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Any short list for this should include the University of Rochester.
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there are some colleges where you can transfer to engineering, but it is competitive.