I’m not sure how to phrase this, but we have visited about 16 different engineering schools and have learned that some admit directly into a major, some you choose a major (but can choose any) after 1-2 years, and some you must apply after 1-2 years to a major which is competitive and you are not guaranteed. Assuming the student is in good academic standing, is there someplace we can see which schools limit their engineering majors? My child is ready to do a search more broadly and would like to filter to only those schools that do not require a post-acceptance competition for a major. Thank you.
Does state/location matter?
Not at moment, though likely excluding CA since we are not state residents there. For several mostly non-financial reasons need to do a broad swath search through many states and private/public, with >5,000 students preferred. Which is why I can’t just look up each school or call, we are still in the seeking phase and wondering if new schools would pop up or get stricken if we could see which cap their engineering majors. Saw this at Texas A&M, U-MN, and it seemed overly stressful. Other very important screening for her was ability to study abroad and a strong engineers without borders chapter. But figured could look at those once a list was put together.
Duplicate post.
Unfortunately, it may mean going to departmental or division web sites at each school to check, since many schools do not maintain centralized lists of restricted majors. You may want to try searching for “[school] change major engineering”.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19854939/#Comment_19854939 is a list for computer science and related majors. If you follow the links for some (not all) schools, they may show policies relating to all engineering majors.
Some of the more popular and selective schools that appear to be open to changing into engineering majors with at most baseline requirements (sufficient course work, 2.0 GPA, C grades):
MIT
Michigan (if already in the College of Engineering)
Rutgers (if already in the School of Engineering)
Stanford
USC (if already in the Viterbi School of Engineering)
However, it is likely that many less selective schools also have open admission policies for students changing into an engineering major, since relatively few students at such schools are willing to handle the rigor of an engineering major. Smaller schools may also be more likely to have open or lenient policies, since the minimum effective size of a department may give it more than sufficient capacity for any realistic number of interested students at a small school. Some possible examples:
California State University - Los Angeles
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
RPI doesn’t cap engineering majors (once you’re admitted) and it’s not difficult to switch majors
Thank you for the replies. I think the thread referred helps for the schools listed and was the type of info I was seeking. I was hoping there might be a more comprehensive database, but probably there isn’t as schools may change those policies.
Good point about the more open enrollment issue. I was still surprised that schools would make students basically reapply for majors even after having the tougher engineering school admit. And some with a pretty high engin class GPA at that.
By the time I realized this was a thing, I hadn’t had the opportunity to hear more about it from the schools we had already visited. When I asked at Minnesota what happened if a student got rejected from their major, if they just had to leave the school, the presenter said that the students could just pick something less popular, like IOE. My spouse said we didn’t really want the C student building the bridges we drive on, and if student can’t keep up grades they may not be suited for being an engineer, so maybe this is not really a necessary worry.
Harvey Mudd doesn’t have any specific requirements for going into engineering. All majors are open to all students. However , by itself it doesn’t meet your 5,000 students requirement (~800) but as part of the Claremont consortium it just barely does. And, of course, there is the issue getting in and of money (they are expensive but there is some merit and they do meet need).
@treschicos I sympathize and share your concern. Your student needs to be able to study their chosen field at the chosen university. My D2 applied to Minnesota College of Science and Engineering as a safety on Sept 1 when the applications opened. Around Dec 24th, after she had been accepted and deposit to her ED school, she got a package from Minnesota that she had been accepted into Minnesota College of Liberal Arts, which she didn’t apply to. There was no mention of the school she actually applied to. Thinking that the bureaucracy was so bad that they actually reviewed her for the wrong school hoping I could get my app fee back, I inquired. They had waitlisted her for Science and Engineering and felt that she should be happy with College of Liberal Arts. It just cracks me up.
I suggest that your child make their list, and then carefully go through each school to determine if there is another round of admissions later.
Have you looked at WPI? There is no cap on majors, it’s easy to change majors, and a large percentage of students study abroad - mostly during their junior year while completing the required junior year project. There is also an active chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Here is a link to their webpage http://users.wpi.edu/~ewbwpi/#/
On the other hand, a B student could very well be blocked from his/her engineering major at Minnesota, where a 3.2 GPA is needed to assure entry into an engineering major (otherwise competitive for space available, if any). In addition, some students have trouble adjusting to college, resulting in worse GPAs in the first semester of college, which may have a large impact on the GPA for entrance to major after only two or three semesters.
Also, a C grade is supposed to mean that the student is solidly passing the course, and ready for the next course in sequence.
Obviously, in hindsight, Minnesota was not really a safety for her. If a school admits by division or major, then, for it to be a safety, the student must be assured of being able to get into both the school and the desired division or major.
Obviously.
Even with good data, and her stats well within safety range, I actually don’t know why she wasn’t admitted. I have not ruled out that a clerical error converted her application to the College of Liberal Arts. The silver lining is that all students need a good rejection to allow them to fully participate in the traditional self-deprecating spring rejection festivities, and this was hers.
Northeastern makes it very easy to switch majors - a good option if co-ops are interesting to your kid.
Good grades, advanced courses, good ECs, poor standardized test scores = casting a wide net. And if it remains this way in college, needs a place where work ethic and teamwork can help compensate for relatively poor testing. Is in PLTW so engineering is a known and desired quantity (for now) for her.