<p>I love business. I've earned numerous awards in DECA and I've taken all the business courses at my school.<br>
Next year (senior year for me) I signed up for: College Accounting, AP US Govt., AP Economics, Calc AB, AP Enviro, and AP Lit.</p>
<p>I thought I was going to double major finance and econ. I would still LOVE to but so many idiots at my school are all like "yeah man im going into business man. im gonna make bank man." This is turning me off like no other. Plus now i read all about how business majors are questionably worth the college investment since they dont learn as much as other majors.</p>
<p>I LOVE engineering too. Im a total geek for it. I code and build computers as a hobby. PROBLEMS ARE:
1) not taking AP Physics. (almost a MUST for top engineering schools)
2) not taking Project Lead the Way
3) haven't taken any Cisco courses or CS courses
4) not participating in the world renown FIRST robotics (my school has won the world championship 3 or 4 times now)</p>
<p>I feel like engineering schools are going to look at my stats and say: this kid isnt a engineering major, he's a slacker AKA business major. </p>
<p>Is this true? Am I doomed? Especially at top engineering schools like UIUC, Stanford, Case-Western??????????????? STEM is the future. I want to be part of it.</p>
<p>To major in engineering, you DO NOT NEED:
- AP Physics
- AP Calculus
- Any pre-college CS course (it’s a nice to have though)</p>
<p>Most engineering, math and physics majors have almost the same freshman/sophomore schedule:</p>
<p>Calculus I
Calculus II
Calculus III
Differential Equations
Linear Algebra
Chemistry
Physics I - Mechanics
Physics II - Electricity & Magnetism
Computer Programming (Java or C++)
English Composition
…and some social science/humanities courses</p>
<p>I understand you don’t necessarily NEED those courses. BUT those courses show “demonstrated interest.” Those courses make engineering candidates more competitive. </p>
<p>If I am applying to top schools against kids that have taken these courses with similar stats as me, I feel colleges will take them over me. Could I write in my essays that I chose to take entrepreneurship courses because it’s a dream of mine to start a start-up? (it is a genuine dream of mine)</p>
<p>I feel like if I apply directly to engineering schools, I will be rejected because of these choices. :(</p>
<p>I dont understand your issue. Who said that you have to go to a top Engineering school to be successful?</p>
<p>Double majoring in Finance and Econ does not make sense unless you want to blow some money.</p>
<p>I have a B.S in Econ, currently pursuing a 2nd degree in Engineering at Iowa State.</p>
<p>If you really want to be an engineer, you will find a way- I dont understand why these young are so freaking obsessed with top schools.</p>
<p>In my area(Industrial Engineering), our dept is #21 I pay resident tuition and our placement rate at graduation is close to 100%.</p>
<p>As long as you go to a solid school where companies recruit from, I dont understand this obsession with rankings. </p>
<p>Like I said, if you really to
become an engineer, you will find a way.</p>
<p>You could always double major/major minor in business and engineering.</p>
<p>I think this whole double majoring trend is so stupid. OP, you can take all the AP classes in the world, your first year in Engineering school will not be very pleasant regardless of which school you choose.</p>
<p>Yes, I understand engineering is a rough major first year. Its the weed out year. My father is a EE and he has told me all about it. </p>
<p>What you guys are saying is that, there is a large enough demand for engineers that as long as you go to a good program where companies recruit from, I’ll be okay?</p>
<p>This is nice to hear but i still want to go to a top school. Especially UIUC. I live in Illinois so it would be a steal. How can I make myself a more competitive engineering applicant this late in the game? Thanks for your help so far.</p>
<p>You can find a school with an operations research/ industrial engineering major. It’s basically the major that mixes business with engineering principles. I think you would have a good shot if you applied for it. I know Michigan, Cornell, Columbia, northwestern, and many other engineering schools have it.</p>
<p>UIUC isn’t a steal in-state. I will be a senior there in aero next year and it costs over 30K for me as an in-state student. It is a good school but not a steal.</p>
<p>Don’t worry OP. just get into the best school you can. Even if you aren’t directly admitted to the College of Engineering (I wasn’t), it doesn’t mean you can’t start an engineering program. Take calculus, physics, etc your freshman year, then with good grades you’ll be admitted.</p>
<p>I understand why you say it’s not a steal financially and I agree. UIUC is perfect for me though. It has everything I want and more. Large, many connections, research opportunities, hundreds of RSO’s. </p>
<p>I have heard about IOE but everyone tells me that is one of the easier engineering majors. Some have even compared it to civil engineering. I’ve looked at computer engineering, CS, and EE. </p>
<p>Aerokid, were you a very competitive
Student in high school? Would you mind sharing stats. I hear the engineering school at UIUc is very hard to get into. Even for instate applicants.</p>
<p>The minimum high school preparation for majoring in engineering at nearly all colleges in the US is:</p>
<ul>
<li>trigonometry / precalculus (so that you are ready for calculus)</li>
<li>high school physics (recommended prerequisite for college physics)</li>
<li>high school chemistry (recommended prerequisite for college chemistry)</li>
<li>other well rounded high school curriculum (e.g. English composition, social studies, etc.) to be prepared for college level work</li>
</ul>
<p>Having had calculus in high school can let you start in a more advanced math course, which may give you more free elective space and shorten some prerequisite sequences, but is not strictly necessary.</p>
<p>If you are allowed to skip the college’s introductory courses in math or physics with AP credit, it would be a good idea to check the college’s old final exams for those courses, to ensure that you really know the material.</p>
<p>“I have heard about IOE but everyone tells me that is one of the easier engineering majors. Some have even compared it to civil engineering. I’ve looked at computer engineering, CS, and EE”</p>
<p>Who the hell cares if a major is easier or harder? I am majoring in IE because I like it, it is a good major with great opportunities. A lot of IE’s move up to upper management because they understand the operations aspect of a business and they also know how to save money by optimizing operations, implementing Six Sigma strategies, etc.</p>
<p>Great variety of people too, not just a bunch of nerds- We have some average people, some smart people and some very smart people-quite a few girls too.</p>
<p>If you want to go through hell for 4 years to get a degree in EE or CE, go for it. I am not saying that EE and CE are not good majors but do you enjoy EE and CE or are you going simply because you want to prove something to somebody?</p>
<p>I have seen way more unemployed Electrical Engineers lately than Industrial Engineers. Good luck!</p>
<p>scisslehannd, my worries on engineering schools are very similar actually. Yours is that your course schedule and EC’s don’t show it and mine is that my grades and EC’s dont show it. After a bit of research I’ve found the following:
It’s true that it looks better, but it definitely doesn’t hurt your application because colleges can’t expect you to have your whole life figured out by age 15 and 16, already picking classes and EC’s for your major. Also, most known places for engineering like the big state schools like UIUC, Purdue, Iowa State, Ohio State, Berkeley, etc…usually look primarily at statistics than EC’s.
MIT and Stanford do look extensively into your application, but I’d also like to point out that getting into a top ranked university is overrated, because the education only matters for your first job. Now of course there are many reasons for going to a higher ranked college, be it the campus or whatever, but ultimately it’s not going to harm you as you would imagine. (High ranked schools only help a bit) It’s the person your are that makes a better engineer, not the school.</p>
<p>*I also am a Junior and in DECA (food marketing)…I made it to state but not to nationals haha</p>
<p>NO WAY! I’m in food marketing too!!! lol what a coincidence! </p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your opinions. I agree that it, while highly ranked schools are good, its the student that matters. and if a student is motivated and hard working, he/she will go places no matter what.</p>
<p>I’ve done some reading on IOE and stuff and I think I would really like it! Thanks!!! you were right bschoolwiz!</p>
<p>uscbalumnus, i have taken honors physics and honors chemistry. this summer i am taking a microecon course at a community college. i am going to try and enroll in a CS course or physics course to get a taste of engineering before i go to school. </p>
<p>everyones advice was soooo helpful. its calmed me down. i was kinda freaking out for nothing. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!</p>
<p>I haven’t used any physics or calculus in any of my computer science courses. I don’t know of any that need either except for robotics.</p>
<p>Absolutely not! I know a few people who weren’t in heavy duty physics or math courses and went into engineering just fine.
I’m not going to lie, AP Physics and AP Calculus will probably set you up well, but it’s by no means a requirement.</p>
<p>All those issues could very easily be resolved, but you honestly don’t sound like you’re into engineering for anything other than the money/financial stability.
If that’s your only reason, it’s far from worth it, because engineering is far from what it is hyped up to be. You’d be much better off as a serious business student, maybe with quant finance/some other math-heavy curriculum. There’s a difference between good business majors and the average one.</p>
<p>The problem with not having AP Physics or Calc is that you might not have a good enough taste of the coursework to know that you would survive and enjoy the engineering academics. So choose a school that also has interesting econ/finance programs available as backup.</p>
<p>OP- My DS is going to Georgia tech next year but he also got into some other good engineering schools. He had a good GPA & test scores and a number of AP classes including AP Computer Science however he is:
- not taking AP Physics.
- not taking Project Lead the Way
- not participating in the world renown FIRST robotics</p>
<p>You will be fine.:)</p>