I applied to these four schools for engineering (I wish to do mechanical) and I have gotten into my program at all four schools except for Wisconsin which releases decisions in late January. I am from the Chicagoland area so I receive in state tuition for UIUC. UIUC, UW and Purdue are all about the same distance from home for me, while OSU is four hours further away. UIUC and Ohio would be 10-15K a year cheaper than my other options, but cost isn’t a major factor for me. I like the more urban surrounding areas of OSU and Wisconsin but they don’t rank as well as the other two for engineering. I would love to hear your thoughts and advice for which colleges I should continue considering. Thanks
Purdue admits to first year pre-engineering; students must earn a high college GPA to enter their majors later.
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/Academics/FirstYear/T2M
Ohio State is similar. For 2017-2018, mechanical engineering needs a 3.4 GPA in major courses.
https://advising.engineering.osu.edu/current-students/applying-your-major
Wisconsin admits to major, but requires high college GPA to stay in the major. For 2016-2017, mechanical engineering needed a 3.2 GPA in major courses and 3.0 GPA overall to stay in the major.
https://www.engr.wisc.edu/academics/student-services/academic-advising/first-year-undergraduate-students/progression-requirements/
UIUC admits to major. It does not appear to require anything other than good academic standing (2.0) to stay in your major. However, it may be more difficult if you want to change your major.
https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Want+to+Change+Your+Major
Thanks, I’m not too concerned about being able to maintain a high GPA, and I’m fairly certain I want to do mechanical, but it would be cool to check out other disciplines of engineering before committing to mechanical.
Remember, a 3.4 college GPA is typically harder to earn than a 3.4 high school GPA.
Since UIUC is one of the less expensive choices, does not “weed out” like the others, and you are reasonably sure of your major, it seems like the most obvious choice.
I didn’t particularly love UIUC when I visited, but I also visited the Monday after unofficial weekend. It will be interesting to see if I like it better when I go back in March to visit again.
Bump