<p>My S was accepted to the College of Engineering and on the Applicant page it states “Program - Engineering; Plan Mechanical Engineering” does this mean anything regarding his choice for Mechanical Engineering or is it open pending his performance his first year. I know that Mechanical is competitive to get in and was wondering if it meant anything.</p>
<p>The way it works at OSU is that you have to apply to declare your major at the first year. So basically your freshman year, you “pre” Major in your interested field. That’s probably why they worded it as “plan” because your major is not solidified.</p>
<p>At the end of freshman year*</p>
<p>Thanks, I would imagine that Mechanical is one of the harder areas to get in, and who knows where he will end up. I guess they figure that out Freshman year.</p>
<p>There will be a certain number of slots for each specialization…when I asked last year I was told that Biomedical was currently the most competitive. Other than that most who maintain gpa needed for the program are able to get the apecialization they want.</p>
<p>By the numbers, Bio-medical is the most competitive. A better word would be the most selective though. Every major has required prerequisite courses. Many consider the prerequisite courses for Mechanical/Aerospace to be more difficult than for some of the others. People tend to self-select out of the ones with tougher prereqs. Biomedical is a newer program and therefore that department must look at things other than GPA and completed coursework.</p>
<p>The pre- designation is used for very little. Your freshman survey class will depend on your pre-engineering. It is also used to assign advisors. All first-year engineering students take the same core classes. No freshman, regardless of HS performance, are in their major department.</p>