Did you get direct admission to your major at Washington? If not, the risk of not being able to get into your major is much higher at Washington, so Minnesota would be preferable on that aspect. If you do have direct admission to your major at Washington, then that is advantageous, unless you change majors.
Of course, if other schools offer you direct admission to your major and/or have low thresholds to declare or change to your major, they could be preferable in this sense (though you need to consider other factors like cost as well).
If you are not directly admitted but (like you) are in the top 25% of GPA and/or SAT/ACT for UW, you should be fine getting into your desired engineering major after your sophomore year as long as you take your studies seriously. Good luck with all of your applications.
However, students attending Washington aiming for one of the highly competitive majors need to think about contingency plans if they do not get into the major. I.e. would they prefer to transfer elsewhere for their major, or settle for some other major?
Of course, it is less stressful and uncertain if one is directly admitted to the desired major, or if entering the desired major is not as highly competitive.
Why would stay in in a major that only requires passing courses with C or higher grades be as stressful as trying to maintain a 3.7 GPA and then hoping your essay impresses in the admissions process for the major?
28, I was referring to students who might not be performing as well as they had hoped in their desired majors. If a student is racking up C grades in a major, staying in that major might be stressful and uncertain (e.g., with respect to future job prospects, graduate school applications, continuing financial aid and scholarship requirements, undergraduate research and job opportunities, personal and family expectations, etc.), even if the department is not asking the student to leave the major.
A 2.1 GPA is stressful either way. But a 3.3 student’s situation differs. In one case, s/he is safely already in the major with a decent GPA. In the other, s/he is unlikely to be admitted to the major where a 3.7 is typical and must transfer or settle for another major.
Yes, the choices are reapply in another admission cycle, choose another major (related or unrelated) or transfer.
In this type of environment, the student should evaluate where he or she stands academically in relation to the class. If the student has a lower academic profile and a direct admission at another school, it may be best to accept the other offer.
If you have an AA degree at admission many of those credits are guaranteed transfer at in-state UW, or the evil WSU, probably saving you a semester or two of tuition. Check on the others for the transfer policies.
@sarangooL I want a school where I will have a lot of opportunities for research. A school with a lot of activities/clubs. That it has a little school spirit (don’t want it to be dead). I want the school to have good job placement and plenty of study abroad/international internship opportunities. High retention rate. Good student to faculty ratio. And good in engineering
Well I would encourage you to check out where I am going next year! I’m a bit biased but Rice is a really good University. It’s like #30ish in engineering rankings but the resources they provide are awesome. Also student faculty ratio is 6:1, and it’s been rated for the highest quality of life and some of the happiest students. There’s definitely opportunity for research given its small size and Houston is an amazing job opportunity area.
@sarangooL forgot to mention that I don’t wanna live in the south. Also trying to find a school with a relatively easy supplement/no supplementals at all
Okay, no offense, but honestly you’re trying to heap a whole lot of requests into one, and it’s unrealistic. There’s not going to be a key school out there that fits all your needs, you’re going to have to compromise on one thing or another. Honestly, I doubt you will find a top engineering program that doesn’t have some sort of supplement needed. Why not the south?