I’m about to begin my sophmore year in school. I’ve come to realize that a chemistry major on its own is pretty useless since I do not like the idea of working in research and having to get a masters to advance any further.
I struggled quite a bit with gen chem 1 and 2 due to the fact that I was not used to the workload of college and worked a job on the side (I got a C- and B respectively).
I was wondering with a gpa of 2.8 (and hopefully about 3.4 by the end of this year) would I have a shot at transferring to a school with a chemical engineering program? Would they accept my credits in gen chem, orgo, and calculus?
I know it depends on the school but I’m looking for general answers and anyone who’s had an experience like this.
Do you think I would be ble to handle the workload of a chemical engineer?
Thanks for all help!
Chemical Engineering has a lot of physics in it as well as some chemistry. Are you comfortable with the mathematics and physics you have taken? If so, then as you are planning to transfer, make sure you take all the way through Differential Equations and take Organic Chemistry and as much of the General Physics (Calculus-based) as possible.
While I don’t know about a lot of schools, I would say that if a committee saw a 3.4 that would make you at least somewhat competitive, depending on the school. If your application has a 2.8 GPA, that would be more challenging but you can still try. What will be important in either case is your essay or other activities that you submit to the program.
I agree with xramancs, differential equations and physics are in general more important than chemistry in chemE courses (although I have found that we take most of the chemistry classes chemistry majors take). Definitely make sure the physics classes are calc-based.
On a personal note, I transferred from a small school to one of the “top” chemE schools (I say “top” because I really have no idea if we are any more rigorous than the next school); during this process I was told that to be accepted into chemE I would need very close to a 4.0. I know people that started as freshman within the school that got around 3.5 before going from pre-engineering to chemE. Also, you ask about being able to handle workload; while no one can know your capabilities, I suggest that as long as you are willing to put in a lot of work, then yes you probably can handle it. As with any engineering curriculum though, I do mean a LOT of work. Now is a good time to prepare for this as you build up to potentially transferring by making sure you do well in your classes.
Calc 3, Diff Eq, Linear Algebra, Partial Diff Eq, Prob and Stats 1, would all be good math classes to take, which would transfer as credit / or / help you understand the math in ChE
some Chemistry programs stop you at Calc 2 and Applied Math 1, this isn’t enough…