<p>I don't know if my science/math skills would be strong enough to go straight into an engineering program as a freshmen. How easy is it to transfer later on? Would it be wishful to transfer into programs like Purdue and the University of Illinois? How can I better my credentials as a transfer student as opposed to an incoming freshmen (ie. Doubt they would care about my ACT score at that point)? Is it pretty much based off GPA, involvement, and class rigor?</p>
<p>Also, how is the schedule for somebody who switches in? Can you graduate on time (four years) if you transfer as a sophomore. Should I aim for spring semester of freshmen year to transfer in instead? I want to use freshmen year to explore the extent of engineering mathematics and physics to see if it's really right for me. When do you make up your intro to engineering classes? Can you do that over the summer or not? Are you going to end up having to take freshmen level classes as a sophomore? Is that bothersome or are there actually a lot of people in my situation? I'm in high school and I ended up having to take Government/Economics with mostly sophomores. And this sucked because high school classes tend to be just a big social hour but I didn't know anybody and I don't care to make friends with underclassmen (sorry, I just don't). But my impression of college is that class isn't a social hour, so you don't really care anymore, right? </p>
<p>(Also, attending a two year college is NOT an option for me.)</p>
<p>Yeah, lot of questions... Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I am not sure if I'm understanding your question correctly, however, if you are asking if you can get into a college in say, business, and then transfer into engineering, the answer is yes. I did exactly this. But! be careful, bc the two have a lot of differences in the first year. My advice, if you are thinking of doing this, is to look at the first year classes for both programs and try to overlap as many of those classes as you can. Obviously for engineering you need to go strait into calculus, chem, and physics. This will undoubtedly be a problem if you are a business major, because they will want you to take econ, accounting, etc. There will be some give with the math, and you are also usually required to take some science in most majors - just don't chose the easy road, look at the engineering schedule and take the same classes. Also, it is much easier to transfer out of engineering than it is to transfer in. You might want to start in engineering, and then if you don't like it transfer out, instead of the other way around. PS. I did loose time by transferring from Business to engineering...</p>
<p>So are you saying you want to transfer into a college because your grades/ACT scores aren't good enough? Because if that is true it really has nothing to do with engineering but just that school in general. </p>
<p>If it is just because you don't feel your math/science skills are strong enough then doing something else for a year isn't going to help that. Go into engineering and instead of jumping straight into the physics and math you would normally take, your school should offer preperation classes. Taking these classes over the summer might be a really good idea too.</p>
<p>The "University Studies" program at Virginia Tech allows students who can get accepted to the university but not to its college of engineering to take any needed foundational courses and demonstrate their abilities. They can then apply to transfer into engineering (or other depts). I'm pretty sure other schools have similar programs. </p>
<p>Many engineering programs are difficult to graduate from in 4 years under the best of circumstances.</p>
<p>Purduefrank, how much time did you lose (and could you make it up the summer? How much more annoying was that on your part?)? And what credentials do you need to transfer (besides taking the required courses)? </p>
<p>A point of clarification. I think my grades are solid. I have a 3.8 unweighted GPA (4.3 weighted) and I got a 30 on my ACT. I'm average in math and science, but I didn't take any prepatory math and sciences this year (I opted for AP Statistics and AP Biology) - so I don't think I have the right feel for engineering stuff. But I can only take Pre-Calc this summer because I want to work and that already consumes like 8 credit hours. And really, I'm not sure if I like math and science to go straight into engineering. But I want to leave the option open, at least for the first year.</p>
<p>But that's reassuring to say that more people than I thought need five years to graduate in engineering. What percentage would you say? As much as half?</p>
<p>You may not need to transfer. I feel that you should be fine in most engineering programs, provided that you like it and are willing to put in the work. You should be alright with regards to math and science preparation. In my experience as an engineering major, high school math up to precalculus is pretty much the only prerequisite. Make sure that you remember it well, because you'll use it a lot as an engineering student. It's better that you take calculus in college anyway, where you'll get a more sophisticated look at the subject, which will help in later classes. AP calculus blows.</p>
<p>You may be able to make up the classes in the summer. But, I wouldn't count on making up any more than two, or three at the absolute most - and that would be pushing it depending on the classes. Do I view it as a complete mistake? No, I have a true desire to work in a business environment, even now. I will most likely go on to work in energy consulting, and I also want to get an MBA someday. So, for me, the business classes that I took will actually end up to benefit me in the long run. However, keep in mind that it is very expensive to take classes that you don't need. In retrospect, I could have had the same benefits by just filling my General Electives with business classes. This way I would have been on par with my math, science, and engineering classes; as well as having somewhat easier courses to spread out through my college career. Now, I have used up most of my GE's, so my schedule is packed with almost all engineering, math, and science courses - which can be daunting. </p>
<p>By far, in my opinion, the best thing to do is go into engineering from the get go. It won't take you long to decide if it's right for you. If you don't like it, it's easy to transfer out - e.g. transferring into business from engineering is easy, at least at Purdue. I wouldn't worry too much about not being prepared for the math and science classes the first year. There is plenty of help available if you need it. Plus, your stats seem like they are better than mine were, so if you work hard and enjoy what you're doing, you should be able to do at least as well as I - which is better than most.</p>
<p>Also, to answer your question. Eligibility to transfer into engineering is determined solely on you completing the required courses, and, your GPA; nothing else is considered. Most of the engineering schools(e.g., chemE, IE, ME, etc.) require between a 2.5 and 3.0 GPA to transfer in from another department.</p>
<p>"You may be able to make up the classes in the summer. But, I wouldn't count on making up any more than two, or three at the absolute most - and that would be pushing it depending on the classes."</p>
<p>Okay. Really, I just want to avoid taking underclassmen classes later on. But thanks for the insight. Do you have any personal comments on taking General Chem, Physics, and Calculus in the same semester? I don't want to do this, but I haven't had any exposure to Physics and will not until college. But since physics is such a core component of engineering, I feel like I need it to get the proper feel for engineering. I'd rather know by the end of first semester if I really want to do engineering or not.</p>
<p>"Also, to answer your question. Eligibility to transfer into engineering is determined solely on you completing the required courses, and, your GPA; nothing else is considered. Most of the engineering schools(e.g., chemE, IE, ME, etc.) require between a 2.5 and 3.0 GPA to transfer in from another department."</p>
<p>All right, that clears it up a lot. Thanks. Is there always enough space though?</p>