<p>So, what exactly is the difference bwtween the two?</p>
<p>It depends on the school. But usually engineering undeclared means that you can choose your specific area of engineering within the first two or three semesters, while general engineering may be offered at schools where engineering is too small to support departments in all of the usual specific areas (some specialization may be available through elective choice).</p>
<p>Following on what UCB has offered,</p>
<p>General engineering is an actual major that you study and a degree is awarded. Engineering undecided is what you are labeled prior to declaring a more specific area of engineering as your major (no degrees are awarded).</p>
<p>Okay, thanks~
So what does general engineering mainly focus on?</p>
<p>Here is a quote from Miami U. of Ohio:
“Unlike the other engineering programs, the General Engineering major is designed for students interested in pursuing non-technical career paths. It provides students with a rigorous introduction to the fundamentals of the engineering discipline and emphasizes problem-solving skills and comprehension of the role of engineering in modern society. The engineering major enables students to appreciate and comprehend engineering practice in the context of fields typically outside of engineering.”</p>
<p>A few schools with small engineering departments (e.g. Harvard, Dartmouth, Harvey Mudd) offer just a general engineering major, where specialization is done through elective choice.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>I’m currently working on the application of UIUC, and I’m pretty interested in this: “ENG:First Year Engineering: Undeclared”. But, what does “First year” mean? that I should declare a specific major on the sophomore year? Or anything else?</p>
<p>Yes, you would declare in freshman or sophomore year. Check UIUC’s web site for more information.</p>
<p>Many engineering students come in not knowing what major they want or more commonly come in with two majors that they are debating about. Good engineering schools offer special first-year courses to help them decide. Looks like UIUC has a good one -
[Courses</a> | Illinois Engineering Freshman Experience](<a href=“http://iefx.engineering.illinois.edu/courses]Courses”>Campus Home - CampusGroups)</p>
<p>Got it~Thanks!</p>
<p>General engineering programs are a good option for a lot of students since many engineering students will go on to grad school anyways so they can specialize then. On the flip side, many students think they will like engineering but when they realize how intensive it is they decide against it. General engineering is a solid degree for people that want to work around engineering. If you team it up with business, you can be a rock star managing engineering projects.</p>