<p>I got admitted to UIUC ME and currently thinking about the department. How hard is it to change to any engineering major from there?
and is it better to stick with it or find an interest first?</p>
<p>ME is great… Why do you need to change it? Are you more into electrical things…IF not then it’s okay…you should stick to it…</p>
<p>About changing majors I cannot comment…Good luck… And Congrats for getting into this marvelous University!</p>
<p>I’ve heard it’s relatively simple to transfer into all eng. departments except ME. Since you’re already in ME, you won’t have that problem. I’d say outlook is good. Call a dean’s office or something to be sure.</p>
<p>It is not that hard to transfer to a different department as long as you are already in engineering. I haven’t heard that ME is any harder, but then again, I did ME when I was there so I didn’t have to worry about that. The good news is, ME is probably the broadest flavor of engineering, so if you aren’t quite sure what you want to do, it is a good place to be.</p>
<p>If you think you may want to move disciplines, just make sure your GPA stays decent. You have a couple semesters leeway where every engineer takes the same courses anyway, so don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I would hope for the best college experience…
How much percentage of UIUC engineering students do internships during summer and did it helps a lot?(resume maybe?)</p>
<p>Do you guys work part time or something?</p>
<p>Internships are VERY important for your resume. They are probably the best thing to have on there aside from your degree. Companies love experience!</p>
<p>I would say that by the summer between Junior and Senior year, AT LEAST 80% of my peers had internships, and that is probably a conservative estimate. They are there if you are diligent enough to go out and try to get one.</p>
<p>Bone, I was discussing internships with my son, and he said he’d rather do Co-ops for a semester instead of a summer internship because he’d rather head home for the summer. My concern was that you’re interrupting your education to do a co-op and that trying to take classes usually offered during the Spring semester then next fall because you did a co-op might be tough. Any thoughts on that, or which is better? Are co-op opportunities as plentiful as summer internship opportunities?</p>
<p>Co-ops are, in some senses. Easier to get than summer internships since fewer people want them. They are good opportunities that almost always lead to full-time job offers, so even though it usually means 5 years of school, they pay well and lead to full-time spots. I never did one because I didn’t want to do that extra year. It is really just a personal preference.</p>
<p>However, a co-op won’t allow your son to go home for the summer. Generally, they either go January through August or May through December… a semester and a summer.</p>
<p>Sorry for hijacking the thread, but what about the effects of co-ops on your continuing studies? Wouldn’t taking a majority of a year off, screw you up as far as prior knowledge retention that future classes depend on as prerequisite knowledge (ie Does the GPA of a student participating in Co-ops suffer, in general, compared to students who take 4 continuous years of study)?</p>
<p>Not really. For some people that might happen but for some it’s motivation after seeing engineering at work.</p>
<p>I don’t honestly know if it affects your GPA but that doesn’t really matter if that co-op gets you a full-time position anyway.</p>
<p>I just got another offer to Penn State. That makes it 4. And also waitlisted for Michigan Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>Do Michigan Ann Arbor outperforms UIUC and UCSD?</p>