I am an international student, and I have applied for fall 2018 as a freshman. However, I am really worried that I will not get into a school with the engineering department.( I have applied to both LACs and other private universities with the engineering departments and already got one full-scholarship from a school without engineering)
Will it be possible to transfer to a university with engineering department from the one without it? I know, it is a long-term question, but I need to know if it is an option.
Yes, you can transfer.
However, if you need a full scholarship, you probably won’t get that kind of money when you transfer. Taking a gap year to find a better list of places to apply to would make more sense.
Thank you! It is good to know that, after which major can possibly do that?
I am already on a gap year and because of the need for full aid, I applied to a lot of LACs.
My list is actually really well balanced with schools providing huge amounts of aid.
If you want to study engineering, then you should start out at a college or university that offers it. It is difficult to transfer into an engineering major because the engineering classes need to be taken in specific order. If you don’t have the exact prerequisites from your first college, you will need to spend extra time at the second one.
You need a lot of financial aid. So make a plan for what you will do if the only affordable place doesn’t offer engineering. Will you take another gap year, or will you find a different major and go to the affordable college?
I will be fine with going to school without engineering and taking science major instead, but still, want to know if I have a choice to transfer to engineering.
If I complete all requirements, can I transfer to nearby public universities to their engineering department? ( don’t mention the cost part, I am just interesting in knowing if that’s possible)
Some students do manage to transfer into engineering programs, it is not completely impossible. However, there are so many variables involved that there is no way to predict if you could do this or not.
Your best bet would be to major in physics/cs at a college with an excellent career center, and after OPT apply to a graduate program in engineering.
Many (most) competitive LACs offer a 3+2 engineering program, where you spend 3 years at the LAC + 2 years at another college (Wash U, Columbia, Dartmouth, RPI, Ga Tech, Penn State are usual suspects).
If I haven’t applied to 3+2 program, can I apply after being accepted? I just checked and almost every school where I’ve applied has 3+2 program.
@collegemom3717
About graduate in engineering, that’s a great option, I haven’t thought about that, thanks! But for example, if I want chemical engineering, can I major in chemistry/biochemistry and then try to get into graduate engineering school? @MYOS1634
My reaction is very similar to @happymomof1 (all three posts). If you need a lot of financial aid, this would seem to suggest that it would be very unfortunate if you are unable to graduate in 4 years. However, if you don’t start out in engineering, then transferring into engineering opens up a likely problem that you won’t be able to complete all the course sequences in 4 years total.
Of course none of us (probably not even you) know right now where you will end up being accepted and what sort of aid you will be offered. However, I am inclined to agree that “If you want to study engineering, then you should start out at a college or university that offers it”.
In all the colleges that I am familiar with you apply for the +2 part after you have enrolled
You don’t apply to the 3+2 programs immediately. Once you choose a college, assuming you go to an LAC, you will be assigned an advisor. Every school handles that in a slightly different way but when you first make contact with your advisor, let him or her know that you are interested in the 3+2 program so that they can help you choose the right classes.
When you go to orientation the week or so before classes start, there is likely to be a presentation offered by the 3+2 program coordinator so you can learn more specifics then.
Thank you everyone!
3+2 now seems as a great option, so I can be less worried about decisions.
You need to know that not every LAC offers a 3+2 program, and that these programs do not guarantee equivalent financial aid packages for the last two years. Those years can be much more expensive. In your case, this would mean that you would not be able to transfer because you need a full scholarship.
However, a biochemistry, chemistry, or physics major, as well as CS, can lead to Master’s in Engineering. After your BA/BS you can have an OPT for 27 months (ie., 2 years + 1 summer), and after that you continue at grad school for a Master’s in Engineering, provided of course that you have the right courses, grades, and tests scores.