<p>When DS applied to Tech in January, he applied as a business (undecided) major because he hadn't really found anything that excited him and so figured a finance or accounting degree was as good as any. However, he is now rethinking that decision and is wishing he had chosen CS or physics instead. </p>
<p>Does anyone know the process for an incoming freshman to switch majors (or to add a double major)? I hate the idea of him spending a year in Pamplin taking classes that he won't be able to apply towards his major if he waits to switch next year!</p>
<p>CS is in the college of engineering, so it isn’t as easy as filling out a forum and changing to it. Changing to physics should be easy though.</p>
<p>Any idea what the process might be? Who would he talk to? Can he wait to discuss it with someone at orientation in July?</p>
<p>[Selecting</a> a Major | Undergraduate Admissions | Virginia Tech](<a href=“http://www.admiss.vt.edu/apply/selecting-a-major/]Selecting”>http://www.admiss.vt.edu/apply/selecting-a-major/)</p>
<p>That email they provide should allow them to change their major to Physics. I don’t think that major is restricted.</p>
<p>Kids change their minds about majors all the time so it’s not as if VT doesn’t anticipate these type of issues. To major in CS though he will have to be accepted into the College of Engineering. If you look up threads for those in University Studies trying to get into Engineering you will find helpful information. Ultimately, the transfer acceptance into Engineering will depend upon his VT GPA. If he goes this route then he should sign up for as much of the CoE first year program as possible so that he maintains graduation progress. </p>
<p>First, I’d have him look at the 4 year check sheet with its list of courses and requirements for the CS major. Does he do well enough in Math for this math-heavy CS degree? He’ll be required to take engineering level chemistry, physics and/or biology (one full year + one semester of another).</p>
<p>Second, does he have any experience in programming to know whether he likes it? If not, why the new interest in CS?</p>
<p>Third, has he fully investigated the business school computer-heavy degrees, e.g., business information technology, or accounting information systems?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say CS here is really that math heavy. Math 2534 and math 3134 are for all purposes a CS class IMO when I took them. Minoring in CS is doable, but I think it is considered one of the hardest minors to take considering the course load. Majoring in math is also possible if you want to do CS stuff without engineering background. There are courses cross listed between cs and math that you can take in that major as well.</p>
<p>DS didn’t take a ton of math in HS, but he did score a 760 on the math SAT and I’m sure he could do the work if he wanted to. I’ve encouraged him to consider math but he’s always been curious about programming games as well as how the universe works. The decision is his, but I hope he will make up his mind before July orientation because most (all?) other majors require a different kind of math than the calculus with matrices required for the business majors.</p>
<p>VT’s CS program requires more math than a fair number of other CS programs at state universities. For example, you only need one more math class to receive a math minor. If I recall correctly UMD College Park required only Calc I, II and another math elective. Some kids are more than capable of handling the workload in any particular subject but just aren’t interested enough to want to take all the courses. </p>
<p>Specifics:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Business degrees require Calculus with matrices. However, it used to be that you could take a more advanced class series as a substitute (obviously not the other way around). He could check with his advisor to confirm whether Calc I, II and/or III would meet the math requirements for business.</p></li>
<li><p>Business degrees require a science series but again it’s at a lower level than the engineering version. The engineering chemistry or engineering physics requirements should satisfy the general chemistry/general physics requirement for business majors.</p></li>
<li><p>“curious about programming games” - well, aren’t they all!! Other than programming on your own time or playing around on various gaming groups I don’t think they will do much game programming in class. Tech does have a track that’s useful for the gaming industry - - the class are more fundamental, e.g., human computer interaction, GUI interfaces etc. Details are on the website.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>“The engineering chemistry or engineering physics requirements should satisfy the general chemistry/general physics requirement”</p>
<p>There is no more ‘engineering chemistry’ at VA Tech. Engineering students take General Chemistry with Lab. I asked about this at open house because I had seen references made to ‘engineering chemistry’ on this forum before, but I had not seen it on VT web site. Staff told me that Eng. Chem was done away with years ago. Same with Physics - it’s just General Physics w/ Lab.</p>
<p>I think there is only one chem you can take, but there are two physics classes possible. One is calc based and the other isn’t. Calc based is what engineers have to take.</p>
<p>Marty212 is correct…2 types of Physics classes and your major determines which you need to take along with what type of Math.</p>
<p>PHYS 2205-2206 - General Physics (pre-req is non-calc based Math)
PHYS 2305-2306 - Foundation of Physics (pre-req is Calc and some other math classes) I know Engineers are required to take this one Spring Freshman and Fall Sophmore year</p>
<p>Pamplin told me last summer that business students could take regular calculus but would also have to take a third semester to get the matrices portion. Still, probably the better option (using up 1 free spot in the schedule) than being locked into a business major if he decides he wants to do something else.</p>
<p>I’m a current Computer Science and Math double major so I think I can answer some of the questions. </p>
<p>On the topic of transferring in: yes, your son can transfer into the College of Engineering but it all depends on his VT GPA. If he’s in Pamplin, tell him to take Math 1205 and Math 1206 (Calculus I and Calculus II) instead of Math 1525 and Math 1526 (Elementary Calculus with Matrices I and II). I don’t know why, but the “business” calculus is considered easier than the math, engineering, and science calculus. Plus, if he took Math 1525 and 1526 it wouldn’t transfer over to CS. He would also need to take Linear Algebra and Vector Geometry. All the math classes aren’t major restricted so he should be able to get in them relatively easily. </p>
<p>Your son also needs to take the first year engineering courses. For CS, he’ll have to take Engineering Exploration and Exploration of the Digital Future. I believe these courses aren’t major restricted, but I could be wrong. I have a friend who came in as Environmental Science and also wanted to switch to CS, but she took Engineering Exploration this semester. But I would imagine her class is full of non-engineers because only Freshmen take that class and all the Freshmen engineers would be in the second-semester class. But, I’m unsure about if those classes are restricted so you should speak to someone. </p>
<p>Another option would be to take the first-semester engineering class at your local community college and transfer the credit. That way, he comes in a semester ahead and may have an easier time getting into the College of Engineering. The first year classes are jokes, seriously. Most of the engineers who don’t drop it laugh at its difficulty, although a good portion of my lab class dropped for whatever reason.</p>
<p>On the topic of Math in CS: You take a ton of Math classes but the actual CS courses aren’t really math heavy. The reason CS requires plenty of math is because the thought process for CS is analogous to the thought process in Math. Contrary to popular belief, a CS degree isn’t about learning Java, C, or C++ - anyone can do that. CS is more about computation and the actual creation of complex and efficient algorithms that make peoples’ lives easier. Those two concepts are not the same, as your son will soon realize. Math concepts are used extensively in CS education, even though actual Math hardly used. </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>@gigagirl - engineers will take Chem 1035 General Chemistry if they are taking chemistry. If you are not a science or engineering major you can take Chem 1015 Intro to Chemistry. A business major therefore could take Chem 1015 but if he transfers to engineering it may not fulfill the requirement for Chem 1035. When I went to Tech we had three levels of chemistry classes and they’ve combined the engineering chem and science chem into a single “General Chemistry”. I used the term “engineering chem” only to distinguish the chemistry class from the Intro to Chem that business majors could take.</p>
<p>@cloudycloud - no one likes my use of “heavy” so I’ll replace it with another adjective “many math classes”. Noted your comment about algorithms and that anyone can learn Java, C, or C+++ etc Although many learn programming languages fewer are actually any good at it.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, CC. Your info is extremely helpful. I had figured he would need to take the regular calculus courses, but didn’t know all the other stuff. Something tells me we’re looking at the 5 year plan (at least)!!</p>
<p>No problem. I’m here to help. </p>
<p>I forgot to add that you can probably take the first semester engineering class at your local community college over the summer. It’s usually two credits and the work is quite easy, although it may be heavier due to it being a summer course. Your son can take the course over the summer and come in a semester ahead of all the freshman engineers. It may make things easier. </p>
<p>Just something else you can look into.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip. I will suggest it but think DS has too many other things going on this summer to take the class.</p>
<p>By the way, those tracks you see on the website were just things made because one or two people in the department sat down and decided the courses somewhat fit together. I would look into individual courses rather than going off one of the “tracks”.</p>
<p>Sidenote, Virginia Tech’s engineering school is way easier to transfer into internally than a lot of the engineering schools of the same caliber. This is probably part of the reason for the student to professor ratio in the college of engineering.</p>
<p>Article about the engineering cap: [Dean</a> says engineering cap preserves educational quality - CollegiateTimes.com](<a href=“Dean says engineering cap preserves educational quality”>Dean says engineering cap preserves educational quality)</p>