I asked this as a response to an older thread - but wanted to make a new thread of these specific questions:
Reviewing the OSU website, it seems clear that ALL students interested in engineering are admitted to a “pre-major” program before they are admitted to the School of Engineering (or, perhaps, they are technically admitted to the School of Engineering, but in a “pre-major” status - this isn’t clear to me). Moreover, it seems that during the first year you take some foundational classes common to all engineering majors (Ie., math, physics, intro to engineering, etc.).
My question is, just how competitive are the more competitive engineering majors to get into? My son is interested in Computer Engineering/Computer Science. It strikes me that this major is the most competitive at most places. Is this recapitulated at OSU? Is just getting INTO this major an uphill climb even for people admitted to the pre-major programs at OSU, or do most students have little trouble ending up in their intended majors?
So basically you come into OSU as an engineering pre-major. Once you have completed or are enrolled in the required pre-requisite courses (which are a little different for each major), you can apply for that major. This will either be in the spring of your freshmen year or the fall of your sophomore year, it depends on the major and if you came in with any credits. As for how competitive it is, I’ve never heard of anyone who met the GPA requirements and didn’t get in for CSE. I wouldn’t say CSE is the most competitive either. At OSU, biomedical is by far the hardest to get into since they only take 80 people every year and the average GPA tends to be around 3.6. Mechanical, electrical, and chemical all tend to be more competitive too. But the competitiveness of a major does not necessarily indicate how hard the major will be. In most cases, the more competitive majors to get into are just ones with limited space or have the most applicants. But either way, most students do not have a problem getting into their major as long as they meet the GPA requirements.