I took Principles of Engineering in 9th grade and got solid A’s. It was really easy for me because I’m pretty good at math and all of the CAD stuff we did was a piece of cake (I’m good at figuring programs out by myself , I taught myself how to use photoshop). During my senior year, I signed up for:
AP Calc
AP Physics
AP English Literature
Radio, TV, & Film II (broadcasting class)
DECA
Tech of Design (photography)
and College Engineering
They ended up not putting me in college engineering and instead putting me in prelaw and astronomy. I’m okay with prelaw because I kind of wanted that as a minor in college anyways but I’d rather have College Engineering (taught at a university) bc it’s pertinant to my major (planning on Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Physics)
My school had other engineering classes after POE but I didn’t take them for whatever reason. That’s kind of why I tried to take CE. I’m trying to switch into it but my counselor said that it could be full.
I have 2 questions:
How will it look to colleges that I didnt take the other engineering classes that my school offered
If I get into it, how will I fare in the college class even though I didnt take the other years of engineering?
Thanks
I second what @bodangles said. That “engineering” in high school isn’t really engineering, and legit engineering colleges will know that those classes do not have any significance in predicting your ability to succeed in their program. I went into college having taken no engineering classes in high school (and yes, they were offered at my high school), yet I am doing fine. Sure, you are going to want to be able to answer the question “why engineering?” in your college essays, but don’t think that you have to take every engineering class your high school offers in order to look good. College engineering courses do not assume that you have learned any engineering skills in high school or before, and if you were to go in with zero engineering background, you are not in the minority.
Go as far as you can in AP Calc and AP Physics to better prepare you for college. I also suggest you take AP Chem and take the exam which may allow you to bypass Chem in college. That is what the colleges will be looking for if you are an Engineering major.
Pre-law does not require any specific courses or major in college, though some areas of law could benefit from specific undergraduate courses or majors that relate to those areas of law (e.g. engineering major for patent law).
In terms of engineering courses in high school, it is not expected that you have any before studying engineering in college. If courses that give an introduction to engineering design are available, they could be helpful in confirming or questioning your interest in engineering.
I made a mistake the prelaw class. It’s actually named Practical Law. I’ve been calling it Prelaw for a good month now and just realized the other day that that was not the name of the class [-(