<p>My daughter will be attending UA this fall. She is having a tough time deciding on a major. Her choices right now are Accounting and Chemical Engineering. I know she would be great at both. Her concern is the Math on the Engineering side. She thinks she would need to start in Pre-Calc the first semester. Would this put her too far behind? We would appreciate any and all advice in helping make this decision!</p>
<p>I have seen several lists with Accounting on the Top as a profession most likely to maintain gainful employment.</p>
<p>These are vastly different career paths (IMO). My H is a Chem-Eng’r, and I know there are a TON of opportunities, career-wise for female CEs…tons of scholarships, too. Of all the branches of eng’g, it is the one where you will find the most females.</p>
<p>If you look at the UA flow-chart for this ‘regular’ major (not pre-med track) (<a href=“http://che.eng.ua.edu/files/2012/02/ChBE_FlowChart_1.pdf[/url]”>Aaron Skier – Chemical and Biological Engineering | The University of Alabama), it shows Calc I, II, III, and Diff EQ as the math. Some of these are prereqs for subsequent classes. There is heavy math involved. While it is certainly doable to start in pre-calc in university…it will throw off this flowchart and push a few things into subsequent years for you. Has your D not taken pre-calc already in HS? ANY eng’g degree is heavy in the math department, so if you have not taken upper math yet in HS, and got a taste for it yet, it may be a tough road to hoe in college, would be my comment.</p>
<p>Re employment, chemical eng’g (especially if you get into process eng’g), is a very diverse field. It is not just working in the oil and gas industry. It is vast, and I would predict that there are more and different career choices in CE than in accounting. Notice I did not say jobs - I said choices. If your D has a difficult time choosing a major now, it may be difficult for her to choose which path to take with a CE degree. Like I said, they are vastly different career paths. Both great fields. Good luck.</p>
<p>Those are two really different fields. For Chem E she’ll have to take higher level math; Accounting is pretty much arithmetic and rules, although she’ll need Calc for business/social science majors. Is her concern the ability to do the math, or just not having had enough math yet to start with Calc I in the fall? If it’s the latter, and she really would prefer Chem E but for the fact that she thinks she’d be behind on the math, could she take pre-Calc at your local community college this summer?</p>
<p>If your daughter wanted to take Precal as a refresher, she could take it through a local community college this summer, and transfer the credit to UA.</p>
<p>She could take the summer engineering program to give her a better feel for the major:
[About</a> the Program - Student Introduction to Engineering (SITE) - The College of Engineering - UA](<a href=“http://site.eng.ua.edu/about/]About”>About the Program - Student Introduction to Engineering (SITE) - The University of Alabama College of Engineering - UA)
The career center also offers an online resource for prospective students called choices planner to help students decide on a major. They are both good choices-Roll Tide</p>
<p>My S has a good friend from HS that is at another engineering school. Her intended major has always been ChemE. She took the math placement exam at her school and only tested into precalc and began in precalc her first semester. She is probably in Calc I now (her 2nd semester), I would have to check with my S. She is looking to add a food science concentration to her degree.</p>
<p>According to her mom who I saw recently, she is being ‘recruited’ by several professors for research and other opportunities, in spite of being behind in math.</p>
<p>So, it is definitely possible to do if that’s where her passion lies and she’s willing to put forth the effort necessary.</p>
<p>The summer eng’g programs (i.e., SITE at UA) are usually for rising Juniors and Seniors in high school. So, parents or Sophomores and Juniors take note! Almost every school offering an eng’g major will have such a program, and I can highly recommend attending at least one before going into eng’g. They will expose you to all branches of eng’g, and will also give you a flavor for what it is like to actually attend that school. It will either cement your student’s decision to pursue eng’g, or it may save them making a costly mistake. Other schools may have similar programs for other majors. Pays to check them out while student is still in high school.</p>
<p>FWIW, my Freshman S is a MechE at UA. He started thinking he was going ChemE. He also is “behind” (according to the flowchart) and is in Calc I this semester. He will be taking Calc II this summer at UA. He too was concerned about his math preparedness, so he took College Algebra at the local CC last summer and then started at UA in MA 113 last fall.</p>
<p>As far as Engineering goes at UA, those lower-level math classes do not apply towards his degree requirements, but I am still glad he did it that way because he says he is now much more comfortable with his math track. </p>
<p>If your student is on the fence between these two completely different career fields, I would keep your options open (especially in the first year) by taking as many gen ed requirements as you can (assuming you still need them and didn’t transfer them in). For example, my son transferred in his Eng requirements, a speech class, and Psychology, so all he needed were 2 history classes at UA to round things out. I would STRONGLY recommend taking the Intro to Chem E class (1 credit hour) and perhaps there is a similar offering in the business school for Accounting.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for the helpful advice! We really appreciate all of the thoughtful comments. To answer some of the questions, she is in an IB program in her high school. The math she has taken is:
9th-Geometry 10th-Algebra 2 11th-IB SL Math 12th- AP Statistics
The other piece I neglected to mention is the scholarship consideration. She is a UA scholar. If she chooses the Engineering route, she would get the additional 1/3 tuition plus $2,500. We have told her not to choose based on the money but that is also on her mind when making a decision.</p>
<p>I would encourage the Chem E and the scholarship. I think it would be easier to change out of the major instead of changing into it.</p>
<p>Great point, Longhaul. It is much easier to start in eng’g than to transfer into it from some other path. That brings up an interesting question: would UA consider giving the 1/3 tuition top-up + eng’g scholarship to a current UA Scholar who decides to go into eng’g say their 2nd semester? I doubt it, but if anyone has info on that, weigh in.</p>
<p>^^^
no.</p>
<p>The offer is a recruiting offer.</p>