<p>My son applied to University of Maryland's Engineering Program, but only got into their "Letter's and Science" school. We're trying to find out how hard it will be for him to get into the Mechanical Engineering Program after his freshman year, and also what the implications will be regarding summer classes he'd need to take in order to catch up to other sophmores already in the Engineering Program. He is accepted into the engineering school for several other good universities. So we are reluctant to "gamble" on him being able to eventually transfer into Maryland's Engineering Program, when the others are a "sure-thing". But Maryland would have probably been his top choose had he gotten right into the Engineering Program.</p>
<p>If anyone has an experience with this, or knows something about the probability of him getting into their Engineering Program as a sophmore, would really appreciate your feedback.</p>
<p>Did you apply regular decision?</p>
<p>yes, regular decision</p>
<p>I also had to deal with this as my current high school senior son S was not admitted into engineering initially (MD then switched him in after getting his midyear grade report). It seemed from my research that it would not be a problem to transfer to engineering if freshman grades were good (remember a lot of people admitted to engineering will decide it isn’t for them); however, he won’t get the priority first year that engineering students get in registering for engineering courses. So maybe he would have to take another semester. We’re not MD residents so I didn’t want to risk that financially. I also wanted him to be able to live in an engineering dorm since I think it’s such a demanding major it would be good to have neighbors with the same challenges.</p>
<p>thnaks for the info. I hadn’t considered the dorming implication.</p>
<p>A similar thing happened to my son who was accepted Priority admissions. After speaking to some people he was admitted to the school of Engineering. I read up on the process of transfer and thought it would be too iffy to gamble on being admitted after 2-3 semesters. I understand you may not be able to take the classes with engineering students if you are not in the school. Here is a link to info. on the LEP programs. [Undergradute</a> Advising: Transfer Students FAQ | A. James Clark School of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eng.umd.edu/advising/transfer-faq]Undergradute”>Undergraduate Transfer Students FAQ | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland)</p>
<p>Where else was he accepted?</p>
<p>He is accepted for Engineering at Purdue, Rutgers, Stevens, Drexel. Wait-listed at RPI. Still need to hear from Villanova, Leigh, Virginia Tech, Fordam/Columbia 3-2 Program.</p>
<p>Same happened to us. IMO it is better to accept admission to a school that has admitted him to his desired program than take a chance on an internal re-application to what is already a limited program. One in the hand is always better than having to chase down a seat through yet another competitive admissions process.</p>
<p>Even then, I would take Engineering at Purdue over Maryland any day.</p>
<p>Thnaks for all the advise. Purdue is great, but we live in New Jerseay, so need to decide if all the added travel cost and inconvenience is worth it.</p>
<p>If you’re OOS for both, I would definitely go to Purdue. </p>
<p>With that being said, internally transferring into the engineering school is simple. You just have to meet few basic requirements such as a 3.0 and passing all your core classes, the same classes that other engineering students take. The only thing your son will be “behind” is couple major specific class and a general introduction class to engineering design that all engineers take. If he was determined to catch up or even stay ahead of the schedule, he is more then welcomed to take on a tougher load or take summer/winter classes.</p>
<p>I am a UMD alum (C/O 2006) and I went through the internal transfer process for an LEP program. The process is not a bad as it would seem reading the literature on the website. The process is actually simple. As long as our son has the required GPA (3.0 I believe) and the required classes the application process is more of a formality. The only time it is a “competitive” process is if you are an external transfer or you fell short of the GPA cutoff. If its the latter chances are you aren’t getting in on appeal anyway. While they have gotten tighter with direct admits for freshmen since my time there the internal process is typically only an issue for those who fall short of the GPA cutoff. </p>
<p>Your son has to make sure he focus on the course work and not take more than he can handle. Most advisors operate on the assumption you want to graduate in 4 years and convince students to register for heavy course loads. This is a common freshman pitfall. </p>
<p>Hope this info helps</p>
<p>I would probably go for Rutgers. Is a very good university and will be in state tuition. I wouldn’t take any risk. I did the same. I asked for help and opinions. I spoke with a neurologist and he strongly suggested me not to get in a debt for an undergraduate program. If you would like your son all the way up, start in a good undergraduate program with no debt. After he finishes in Rutgers he could go for the masters at University of Maryland and hopefully an Ivy University for the last part of the program. The money should be saved for the graduate programs. That is my opinion if I would be in your position. Good luck to your son. I wish you the best.</p>