<p>I've been accepted to Tufts, and am looking forward to attend Tufts in the fall. I applied to the School of Liberal Arts, and I have a question.</p>
<p>I have a fairly strong interest in engineering, but I am not at all sure what engineering really is and whether I am looking to pursue engineering as a major or a future career. Thus I decided to apply to the School of Liberal Arts. I'm hoping to build up a foundation of the core knowledges because I don't want to "lock" myself into the technical details of engineering just yet. Furthermore, I have a very strong interest in music (accomplished violinist), and I'm definitely looking forward to continuing my musical endeavors at Tufts. I'm wondering what flexibility there is in terms of taking classes in both schools, and whether I should consider transferring to the School of Engineering before the year starts.</p>
<p>Transferring to Engineering is pretty easy, from what I've seen of students' experiences. I'm told that we graduate more engineers than we enroll, b/c there's a net transfer of student from LA to Engineering.</p>
<p>Engineers have it tough, in that you have to take 5 credits per semester, and sometimes 6. (Liberal Arts students tend to take between 4 and 5, on average). They're exempt from the language requirement, but they have to take a certain amount of Humanities, Social Sciences, Maths and Natural Sciences.</p>
<p>To continue with music, it depends just how much you want to commit yourself. I know plenty of engineers who are in various Tufts performance ensembles - orchestra, wind ensemble, chamber singers, etc. - or are taking private lessons for credit. These classes tend to be half a credit and can usually be added onto a 5-credit courseload. But if you wish to continue in music by taking lots of music classes, like theory, composition, analysis of specific composers, conducting, etc. you may find it slightly difficult - some music classes will fill requirements, and engineers get 2 totally free electives, but beyond that you'll have to concentrate on your other requirements. It could be a great idea or a not-so-good one, depending on how much of your class time you want to devote to music.</p>
<p>But why transfer over the summer? It might be to your benefit to come to Orientation and sit in on some of the engineering introductory panels, or meet with Dean Knox to discuss your options - you could potentially plan out a schedule where you take enough of the first-level engineering courses to stay on track while keeping in mind that you're testing it out and seeing if it's right for you. Tufts likes to work with you on things like this.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Wow, I really appreciate the detailed and helpful response! I'm just a little worried, because I'm not sure about anything at this point, and I'm constantly worried about "locking" myself in. But with your information, I think that I will do as you say and wait till the semester starts, talk with some advisors, and make my decision then. Thank you again :)</p>
<p>"Locking in" to engineering or liberal arts is basically impossible. Bluirinka's post is, as it nearly always is, right on the money. But I'll supplement some information.</p>
<p>First - if you decide to switch over the summer, the process is REALLY easy. Just send an e-mail to Lee Coffin, our dean of admissions, indicating that desire. That's basically it.</p>
<p>Second, if your major concern is not having time to pursue interests outside of engineering, than I'd actually recommend switching into engineering during the summer. You can always switch back out with little difficulty. As bluirinka correct states, we are the only engineering school in the country that has a negative attrition rate for engineers (though not every year). It is normal or us to graduate more engineering than we admit into the freshman class. I see the reason for that as providing enough academic and extracurricular flexibility for our E students that they don't 'burn out' on engineering in the way you described. </p>
<p>My advice will be nearly identical to bluirinka's - come to orientation, talk to students and administrators, make the final decision then. The only difference would be that I would encourage you to do that from the engineer's perspective to start. Coming in as an engineer will provide you with more opportunity during those first few days to have the conversations bluirinka describes. And it isn't a problem if you switch and then switch back again, after all.</p>