<p>I need help from a current student of someone with recent A&M experience
I applied for and was admitted into the Texas A&M College of Engineering as a freshman for the fall 2010 session. I thought I had been admitted with my first choice in major, chemical engineering, but then a received a letter about a week latter stating otherwise. It said my first choice major had no seats available so I had to choose a different one to stay admitted. I was forced to switch to electrical engineering. </p>
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<p>My question is, how hard will it be to switch back to chemical engineering after the first semester restriction ends? I understand the first two semesters are mostly the same between all engineering majors so Im not worried about that, I just want to know if I will have a good chance of being able to switch. I do not want to be an electrical engineer, how many people drop out of chemical engineering?</p>
<p>I have been admitted into Purdues chemical engineering program (with a small scholarship) and Tulanes (with a massive scholarship), but Purdue is out of state and cold and Tulane has no computer science (another interest) and they dont seem to care about engineering. Suffice to say, if there is a strong possibility of being able to switch majors at TAMU, it may be ideal.</p>
<p>I am sorry for the long-windedness, but the stupid letter A&M sent me only says Stronger grades may be required of students who wish to change into impacted majors ???</p>
<p>in your position, I would call the CE dept and talk to someone. You have major decisions and if you want to accept at A&M and <em>hope</em> to change majors, you should have someone in the CE depts advice - not ours.
I wish you the best!
Good luck & Gig’em</p>
<p>I am NOT a current student, however I may have some good news.</p>
<p>At an engineering info session I went to this kind of question was brought up. “If I decide I want to switch majors within engineering, can I do it?” The answer was most certainly yes as long as you keep a good gpa your freshman year (nothing amazing just above 3.0 preferably). I don’t see you having too much of a problem switching since ChemE is such a large department so many will probably drop. But to be sure about this, I would call someone in the department to clarify.</p>
<p>It’s easy to transfer within the College of Engineering, however, you will face a problem when switching from Electrical to Chemical. </p>
<p>All engineering majors essentially take the same classes their first year, yes, but they are also grouped into “Tracks” depending on what type of engineering major they are. These “Tracks” determine the curriculum you are taught in your two freshman ENGR classes (111, and 112). Electrical Engineers essentially learn how to program in C/C++ in their ENGR 111/112 classes. Chemical Engineers are on a different track, and learn completely different material. </p>
<p>So whenever you do transfer, you’ll have to take ENGR 111/112 over again, this time as a Chemical Engineer. These two classes are required for admission into upper-level engineering, so this will cause you to be behind on your Degree Plan.</p>
<p>Well thanks for all of the information so far. Upon going back and reading the fine print, I see that gstein is indeed right. I obviously have no college experience so I don’t know how hard it would be to make up a class, but it seems that if I were unable to switch after my first semester, I would be in a deep hole. I also now see that Majors in Chem Eng, Biomedical Eng, and Radio Health Eng require 8 credit hours of chemistry, but only 4 credit hours are in the curriculum of an Electrical Engineer.</p>
<p>I would switch to Petroleum Engineering, which is the same “tract”, but it also has no seats available. The same situation prevents me from switching to biomedical engineering. I suppose if I received a 5 on my chem AP test in April that might help, but at this point there are just too many variables. </p>
<p>As for contacting the Chem Engineering Department, I suppose I will do that in the near future. I would have done it almost automatically, but the letter I received (as mentioned above) seemed to deter against it. One of the paragraphs opened, “Incoming freshman often ask, whether it is possible to change majors after they have enrolled…”</p>
<p>Would Nuclear Engineering, a track “a” major, be closer?
Also, what happens if a bunch of people admitted into chemical engineering decide to go to some other college? This is probably a question to ask A&M, but if anyone has an answer that would be great.
How’s Purdue</p>
<p>I urge you to reconsider Tulane if you are interested at all. They do in fact have Chemical Engineering as a major, as well as Biomedical. They did drop civil, electrical, and mechanical, but you aren’t interested in those, and they are committed to maintaining and strengthening the remaining programs.</p>
<p>With regard to CS, I have been in direct contact with Dean Altiero on this subject. Tulane is probably going to bring it back at some point, but it isn’t like they don’t have CS rescources available. There are still existing centers and courses, so if you want to get a ChemE degree with some CS background, Tulane might be a great choice. I urge you to write to and talk with Dean Altiero directly. FWIW, he asked me to have students like you contact him directly with their questions and concerns. He is very accessable.</p>
<p>By the way, the credit from the AP exam may look enticing, but many college students I have talked to said that the college chem course teaches slightly more material than covered in AP. (This may not be the case at TAMU) That knowledge is imperative for future classes because they will expect you to know that material without reinforcement. Of course if your are an EE major I dont see why taking chem credit would be a problem, but in your case, as a chemE hopeful, thats a tougher decision. </p>
<p>As for nuclear, their degree program requires an extra intro to nuclear e class during freshman year. Going nuke will not help you with satisfying the 8 hour chem requirement either. Nuke is track a and chem is track c so the ENGR 111/112 class will still not be the same. </p>
<p>Just to comment on gstein’s comment about ENGR 111/112 Tracks: you can take other tracks. For instance, as an EE, you may be in the ME track, and this is totally acceptable. You will not have to retake the course. I am currently in track A, and we have a variety of majors in the class. Our professor did mention that those who are not “supposed” to be in track A may talk to their advisors about switching if they desire, but being in track A as an EE (for example) is acceptable.</p>
<p>If you really want to do CE, then go for it. Talk to someone in the department to get the most accurate answers.</p>
<p>Why is ELEL (Electrical Engineering) has the highest slots available? S2-2nd yr just switch from CEEL-Computer Engineering-(EE Track) this semester to ELEL. He has the GPA so is not an issue and he does not have to retake ENGR 111/112 since it is quite similar. He did talk to the advisers of both departments and they say OK, just fill and submit the form. Now I am worry, is that major VERY DIFFICULT or something else?</p>
<p>Well I don’t know if anyone will see this thread, but I have talked to various people from the Chemical Engineering department at A&M. I guess I just post the correct information real quick in case someone else has a similar question.
Although the Eng 111&112 classes are indeed different for each category of major, it does not matter which category you take, so long as you take these two classes. So, although you would learn C programming as an Electrical Engineer in these classes while you would learn about materials as a Chemical Engineer, it does not matter, so long as you complete the courses. The extra four hours of chemistry is a requirement that must be met, but it is not hard to fit into the course selection.
Switching into Chemical Engineering does not appear to be a major problem as long as you have good grades, but it is not guaranteed as it is impossible to predict how many, if any, spots will open up in Chem Engineering over those first few semesters.
Personally, I visited Purdue and was very impressed. Even though I could probably be a Chemical Engineer at A&M, Purdue seems like a much better school. I’ll be deciding in a few months so that’s it.</p>
<p>Purdue is a “better” program for sure, though A&M is still high quality. Honestly though, were I in your shoes, I would take Purdue assuming you can stand the cold (which isn’t THAT bad). I did my undergrad at UIUC which is essentially identical as far as climate goes and it really wasn’t too big of a deal, plus, all you Texans could afford to experience a little cold weather once in a while. I laugh when I walk around here in 50 degree weather and people have gloves and scarves on.</p>
<p>Personally, I find that funny and I’ve lived in Texas my whole life. Colorado = ideal weather IMO, Texas is too hot and humid (excluding west Texas, that is).</p>
<p>Shoot, Texas isn’t that humid until you head towards Houston. A lot of people complain about humidity here in B/CS, but honestly it doesn’t get any higher than 60% most of the time in the summer. Back home in St. Louis, it may not be as hot, but the heat indices are roughly the same because it is a good day if the humidity is 80% on any given day in August.</p>
<p>Though right now you might not be able to switch majors, the next time you could try to change is at the NSC(New Student Conference) some people decide to switch majors for various reasons so some slots might open up in Chem.E or in any other engineering in the same track. If not then, it really shouldn’t be too hard to switch after a semester or two.</p>
<p>Hello rangerford,
I’m in a similar situation, except for me it’s kind of the other way around. I live in Indiana and pretty much everyone in this state who wants to be an engineer goes to purdue. However, I have a bigger scholarship with Texas A&M. The type of engineering I am considering are: mechanical, chemical, electrical, nuclear, petroleum, industrial, and aeronautical. But other than that, I have no idea what type of engineering I want to go into. In your opinion, would it be worth risking not being able to get my first choice major immediately if I go to Texas A&M, but for half the price of Purdue? Thanks!
-srsensato</p>
<p>Rangerford posted in 2010, so I don’t know if he/she is still around. My daughter is an auto-admit to A & M next fall. We did the campus tour and this was discussed. Also, we met a young lady who had switched from Electrical to Mechanical. I suggest calling the Engineering department to get a good idea of what is likely in your particular instance. But I think A & M is a fantastic school, and there’s a good chance of being able to change your major within engineering later.</p>
<p>I would be sure to apply for a lot of scholarships regardless of what school you are going to. There is a lot of free money out there for students. In regards to Purdue, have you tried to look at online schools? Purdue has an online engineering school too: <a href=“https://purdueonlineengineering.com/[/url]”>https://purdueonlineengineering.com/</a> I do not know if A&M has an online engineering school but this is also something to consider too.</p>