I am going to be a freshman at UMD this fall and selected aerospace engineering for my pre-med major, but most of experience so far has been in biology or mathematics for dual-enrollment and AP classes, as well as the internship I have been going to. I sort of skipped trying physics overall.
I am considering changing majors to bioengineering to bring some of what I have actually focused on studying into my major selection, though I understand that as a pre-med student I would still be taking biology courses either way. Any advice?
Also I have already registered for orientation so I am not sure I can change majors this year.
Both aerospace engineering and bioengineering are Limited Enrollment Programs. I’m not sure how easy it will be to switch, given that engineering majors have very specific course requirements.
You should send your questions to lep@umd.edu.
“You should send your questions to lep@umd.edu.”
Okay, I will try emailing them to check what I should consider doing since I don’t want to waste a year once I get to college sorting out this mess. Thank you for the help.
From the LEP list, it seems that both are lumped into engineering so they should have the same general requirements as far as the freshman year required LEP courses. I know that the actual course work for the majors is drastically different, I will just see what they say.
@AMStudent My daughter, a rising freshman, just changed her major last week from a non-selective one to a Limited Enrollment Major. There was a webpage that explained how to do this, but I can’t find it right now. Basically, she sent an email to apply@umd.edu. She gave her name, date of birth, her current major and her desired major. She received an answer within a week with a pro forma email giving approval. I figured that it would be better for her to ask before orientation than after orientation. Good luck! I don’t think it should be that hard to switch within engineering.
She’s a BK Scholar, so I’m glad that UMD was nice to her. In your case, you’re already in an LLP, so they really like you, too!
@AMStudent Mine is a rising junior at ECE. She was undecided in Engineering upon admission 2 years ago. She decided to select a major to ECE (with a focus on CE) after freshman orientation , then changed to EE after end of freshman year. I am unable to provide the details but she worked with Clark advisor(s) and the process seemed relatively easy. This would be a great question to ask during orientation, too.
@AMStudent I know a lot of bioe people at umd who are premed, so if you went that rout you would be in good company. I don’t know much about the aerospace major, but I am aware that many of the classes you would take as a premed such as organic chemistry and some upper level bsci classes also fulfill major requirements for bioengineering, so you would probably end up taking less extra classes. In addition bioe majors typically choose tracks, and there is a track for students who choose to be premed. Just something to consider.
“In addition bioe majors typically choose tracks, and there is a track for students who choose to be premed”, that is important for showing interest and keeping things running smoothly. I am currently most worried about missing out on biology/medical internships that may be exclusive to certain majors.
Also thank you for going over the downsides–(two courses of study with tight requirements) (completely different fields) (longer time in college).
The main reason I choose aerospace was that I was interested in it and it would offer a better job security for a masters degree if I graduate as a competent engineer (just in case). I understand that I am being indecisive. Thank you for the responses.