<p>Since you don't apply for major until sophomore year, I was wondering how competitive engineering is at UW. If you don't get into say, chemical engineering, what do you do? Just have to transfer to get the degree you want? Does anyone have any experience with the programs and would you reccomend UW over top engineering schools like Purdue or Iowa State where you get into your major freshman year?</p>
<p>As a campus and university I would certainly rank UW as much higher than the other two schools you mention. You mention Chem E- excellent at UW, especially when combined with its excellent Chemistry department. Only some engineering programs are limited by available facilities and are very competitive. Most are limited by your ability to do the work- if you can’t handle the math and science you don’t belong in the major anyhow. The same thing could happen to you at any other school- you want to be an X engineer but don’t get the grades to continue in it. Therefore you should choose the overall school you like best. You will discover a lot about yourself once you start college. You may learn about fields you never knew of in HS. You may discover interests and strengths or weaknesses that cause you to change your proposed major. Pick the affordable school that seems to fit you the person best.</p>
<p>Charters ~ Just wanted to say that you don’t really get into your specific major at Purdue right off the bat. We took our daughter on a campus visit in February and we attended a session specifically for future engineering majors. As a freshman, you will be admitted into the school of engineering, but not your specific engineering major. After freshman year, you apply for your specific major and then get into that program. If you have a higher GPA, you will have a better chance of getting the engineering major you want. Our daughter wants to do biomedical engineering, and at Purdue they said that it was one of the most competitive to get into. So basically I just wanted to say you are not absolutely guaranteed to get the specific engineering major at Purdue that you may want either.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help</p>
<p>You’re welcome, charters!</p>
<p>Are you interested in UIUC? I think there you are accepted into the engineering major that you want when you apply. UIUC doesn’t have biomedical engineering, they have bioengineering, which seems like it is basically the same thing as biomedical engineering. They said that when you apply to engineering you have to mark which engineering you are trying to get into and then pick an alternate engineering major in case you don’t get your first choice. In terms of bioengineering, UIUC said it is very competitive. They take less than 100 students every year and it is not something you can transfer into later. So say you start out in chemical engineering, you can’t decide your sophomore year you really want to major in bioengineering because they won’t allow you to transfer. I think you can choose to minor in it at any time though. Not sure if it is the same w/any of the other engineering majors there or not though. We just asked specifically about bioengineering because that is what our daughter is interested in majoring in. UIUC has a very good engineering program and is right up there w/Purdue and the University of Wisconsin. My husband earned his engineering degree from Purdue and works w/a lot of people that got their engineering degree from UIUC. It is very highly regarded. So is an engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin, too.</p>
<p>You can apply for your major within the College of Engineering in the semester that you complete the pre-requisites for that major (which is typically Calc I/II, Gen Chem, Gen Physics, Comp Sci and a couple other major-specific courses). Different engineering majors have different admission requirements - most require your GPA to be above 2.75+ (in those core math/science courses) to get into the major, while some are more competitive and require a 3.0+ GPA. Moreover, some engineering majors (such as Biomedical) get way too many applicants, so they also have to write a paper expressing their interests within the field and stuff; the best applicants get picked that semester. You can always try the next semester if you don’t get in that semester. Basically, you need to be in an engineering department within the College of Engineering by the end of your fourth semester. Otherwise, you get kicked out of the College of Engineering and can re-apply next semester.</p>
<p>The engineering school at UW-Madison is indeed highly ranked, and also highly competitive. There’s a reason so many prospective ChemE’s drop out of the major - the grading scheme is extremely rigorous (they pick out the most ridiculous things in your lab reports and punish you for it; at times it feels like they’re TRYING to screw you over), it’s very technical and requires a very strong commitment from a devoted student.</p>
<p>Engineering is not for the wimpy. You need confidence in your ability to succeed. Presume you have the ability and interest- then you can do it at UW or any other school. Pick your college based on the overall feel to you.</p>