Penn State Undecided to Engineering?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
1

<p>I was admitted to Penn State for summer session and am going in undecided, I have decided that I would like to possibly major in engineering in the future. Could I transfer into the college of Engineering right when I get on campus or would I have to wait?</p>

2

<p>Pretty sure you will have to wait. </p>

<p>Even those students admitted to the College of Engineering don’t officially declare their majors until after their sophomore year (or is it mid way thru that year?). And for some of the “more desired” engineering majors you will have to have a good GPA too.</p>

3

<p>Did anyone find it hard to transfer from the division of undergraduate studies to the college of engineering?</p>

4

<p>This is the deal when you enter undecided and want to do business/engineering: Both business and (most) engineering majors are enrollment controlled. IE very hard to switch into from another major. However, if undecided kids want to do those majors, they must meet the same entrance to major requirements as those admitted to the major directly. As long as they do that, they will be allowed to transfer out of DUS after their sophomore year, but not before then. You will be guaranteed your major as long as you meet the same requirements as the others.</p>

5

<p>So lets say I’m going in undecided and I want to complete a computer science major. Do I get to take the same courses as to those in the college of engineering? I really don’t want to be set behind everyone else.</p>

6

<p>Well you can see, this is the recommended plan for a student starting at PSU-UP for a comp science major. <a href=“http://www.engr.psu.edu/AcademicPlans/UniversityPark/ComputerScience.pdf”>http://www.engr.psu.edu/AcademicPlans/UniversityPark/ComputerScience.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You need, for example, Cmpsc 221 in your third semester. You’re in DUS until your 5th semester. You go to schedule.psu.edu and look up cmpsc 221 and notice it says “controls” under notes. Click on that and it’ll say </p>

<p>ENGINEERING 01 - 05 ENGR<br>
D U S 01 - 05 D U S<br>
ENGINEERING 02 - 06 CMPSC<br>
ENGINEERING 02 - 06 CMPEN</p>

<p>This means that onle Engineering majors semesters 1-5, DUS students, Cmpsc majors semesters 2-6, and computer engineering majors semesters 2-6 are allowed to schedule that class. </p>

<p>Tl;dr, yes. you can take the same classes.</p>

7

<p>In some cases controls are in place to establish cohorts in a major, in others its to assure spaces are available to their majors. In the latter case, you can often contact the department office to override the controls and add you (they must add you). Some departments will do this a few days before classes begin, others will do so during the add period (first week of classes). This doesn’t always work, but its worth a shot.</p>

8

<p>

You cannot apply directly to the college, you will apply directly to the major just like engineering students:</p>

<p>*“In addition, eligibility for a major that is under enrollment control is limited to students who are registered in the College of Engineering (at any location) or in the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) by the deadline for indicating and confirming a major preference.” *</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.engr.psu.edu/AdvisingCenter/EntranceToMajor.aspx[/url]”>http://www.engr.psu.edu/AdvisingCenter/EntranceToMajor.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You stay DUS for a year and a half after entering PSU. Then, in the spring of the second year, you apply for a specific major. Make you sure you qualify (GPA and courses taken).</p>

<p>

Yes. The controlled courses are all (or nearly all, hard to keep track) upper-level courses that you do not need to take prior to admission to the major. DUS would be useless if it shut you out of majors.</p>