<p>I'm at community college and am interested in UVA's Systems Engineering and Virginia Tech's Industrial & Systems Engineering. It's very likely that I'll get into both schools because of the guaranteed admissions agreements. I have a 3.52 GPA and just need 1 more class for guaranteed admission (sorry, I know my GPA isn't super high and that some people look down upon the GAA thing, which I can understand in a sense). </p>
<p>Both are good schools, but I prefer UVA in general and I like UVA's approach to Systems Engineering better than VT's. But I've read that even if I'm accepted to UVA engineering that I might not get in to Systems Engineering due to space limitations. I would feel uncomfortable going to UVA and then not being able to major in what I want, so I'm debating if I should just go to VT. Here are some questions I have that would help me make my decision:</p>
<p>1) Has anyone here heard of transfer students not getting into Systems Engineering?
2) Is it often that people don't get into Systems Engineering, or is that just every once in awhile?
3) Average GPA of students accepted to Systems Engineering?
4) If not accepted to Systems Engineering, do they let you apply again after taking some classes in the engineering school?
5) Are they going to expand the department so they don't have to refuse students?</p>
<p>Below is linked UVa’s SEAS Undergraduate Handbook. On page 29 you’ll find a chart giving acceptance rates to each major. Systems is 80%. My guess is this number is based off of first year students applying at the end of their second semester. You’ll need to call Thornton Hall (434-924-3072) to get a better picture of acceptance data for transfer students. What this does show you is which majors are more competitive. As you’ve already figured out, this has much more to do with resources and current trends then difficulty of the program. </p>
<p>Also important to note is this PDF version is for 2012-13 and policies DO change. There is a current UG Handbook on the SEAS website. It doesn’t include this chart and information. Data is fairly stable over 3-4yrs and what is shown is an average so I chose to point you to this resource. </p>
<p>There is a transfer open house each fall where each of the schools are represented. These would be great questions to ask at the SEAS Q&A. Watch the UVa Transfer Blog for dates and information. </p>
<p>1) Has anyone here heard of transfer students not getting into Systems Engineering? -No
2) Is it often that people don’t get into Systems Engineering, or is that just every once in awhile? -No, with an 80% acceptance rate nearly everyone gets in
3) Average GPA of students accepted to Systems Engineering? -dunno, there may be information about end of first year avg GPAs for the eschool
4) If not accepted to Systems Engineering, do they let you apply again after taking some classes in the engineering school? - if you’re coming in as a third year, you’ll have extremely limited time to finish your degree, so most likely not. Ask the SEAS folks
5) Are they going to expand the department so they don’t have to refuse students? - unknown</p>