should u pick a general major to get in?

<p>My son wants to get into engineering at VT which I know is tough. Is it better to NOT list engineering and list general studies or math, etc. on your app and transfer later?</p>

<p>If Virginia Tech is unable to admit you to your first-choice major, they will automatically consider you for University Studies.</p>

<p>Also, no. It is VERY VERY hard both from a them letting you do it standpoint and from a it's academically difficult standpoint, and he'd probably end up a year behind if it even worked out.</p>

<p>just to ensure what Chuy said is crystal clear,</p>

<p>It can be difficult to transfer into the engineering department if I am not mistaken. So, Chuy is recommending that if you do not go to Virginia Tech under the Engineering school, you most likely should not enter the school under University Studies due to the difficulty of switching under the engineering majors.</p>

<p>This is partly because the Engineering school has some prerequisites that transfering into the school may affect your length of stay at Virginia Tech (taking a summer or extra year at Virginia Tech).</p>

<p>I do think I remember that when I visited Virginia Tech, the Engineering presenter actually said that students could switch into the Engineering school if they were not offered admissions immediately. He seemed encouraging, but I'll find more specifics tomorrow.</p>

<p>Okay, here is what I found for you:</p>

<p>
[quote]
All engineering students begin as freshmen in General Engineering, administered by the Division of Engineering Fundamentals. Details on becoming a GE student can be found at <a href="http://filebox.vt.edu/eng/ef/efhome/prospective.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://filebox.vt.edu/eng/ef/efhome/prospective.html&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>Current Virginia Tech students in a college other than engineering who wish to transfer into the college should do the following: Go to the office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the College of Engineering, located in 212 Hancock Hall to file a request. However, before you can transfer into Engineering, you must have first taken at least EF 1015. In order to be enrolled in EF 1015 during Fall or Spring semesters, you should come to 332 Randolph Hall and put your name on the waiting list. You will be notified by e-mail if you are enrolled, although you should keep checking your schedule on Hokie Spa to make sure.</p>

<p>In order to be eligible to take EF 1015, non-Engineering students must have successfully completed the first semester of the appropriate Chemistry, Mathematics, and English as specified for General Engineering students. (This information is copied from the Engineering Fundamentals web site frequently asked questions page at <a href="http://filebox.vt.edu/eng/ef/efhome/faq.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://filebox.vt.edu/eng/ef/efhome/faq.html&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p>

<p>The transition from General Engineering to a specific major within the College of Engineering involves the following. This is taken from the EF web site page at <a href="http://filebox.vt.edu/eng/ef/efhome/advising.html:%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://filebox.vt.edu/eng/ef/efhome/advising.html:&lt;/a> Students are transferred to their chosen engineering department upon completion of the required credit hours for their chosen major with an overall GPA of 2.0. Students who achieve the Dean's List by maintaining a 3.4 or better GPA during their first semester and have made a decision on which program they want to enter are eligible to transfer to their intended departments at the beginning of second semester.

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