Hi! So I got into UMD College Park as well as UDel’s Honors Program, both for the intended major of Chemistry. Recently, however, I’ve been leaning towards trying to switch into the Engineering program at whichever school I go to for Chemical Engineering.
I’ve been researching transferring into the Engineering program at both schools, and:
- UMD makes it seem as though I’d be able to express my interest in the Engineering school and be placed into the School of Letters and Sciences (undecided) until I complete a few freshman classes with a grade of B- or higher (I think it’s Chem, Calc, and Physics?) and hold a 3.0 GPA. Once I complete these I’ll be transferred into the Engineering school.
- UDel’s website says that I could apply to switch into the Engineering school after earning a B or higher in a Math and Chem course, but admission isn’t guaranteed.
I’m not sure which school I should choose, especially because this decision to switch majors makes it difficult for either decision to be concrete. If anyone has any insight towards the Engineering schools at either University, or any opinions on which school would be better, please let me know.
@vicperre19 First of all, congratulations! Both very good schools. The engineering programs at Maryland are excellent, well-respected and IMHO better overall – with one exception – chemical engineering. In fact, the chemical engineering major at UD is one of the top in the WORLD. Why? The DuPont family. If you don’t know who they are, look them up. They are the reason UD has a world class program. If you graduate UD with a chemical engineering degree, you would be very fortunate. Having said all that, if your choice in school comes down to which university might let to transfer into the chemical engineering program after a semester or so, then you may want to call the respective engineering programs at each college for further advice. Best of luck either way.
I think the best way to choose an engineering school is to look at the curriculum it offers. My son chose Maryland specifically because it is multidisciplinary and would give him a wider range of skill sets. So, take a look at what each of these two schools offer…
UD (go to page 2 for the 4 year curriculum) https://www.engr.udel.edu/advise/Chemical.pdf
For UMD, here is the curriculum (go to page 2 for course title) http://www.eng.umd.edu/sites/default/files/images/current/forms/4yrplan/chbe-4yrplan-ge-2015-2016.pdf
and here is a description of the department which combines Chemical and Biomedical http://www.ench.umd.edu/about
And yes, you absolutely will be admitted to Maryland engineering if you meet the gateway requirements satisfactorily. Given that you have not matriculated yet, if you have really strong stats, you can ask for your application to be reviewed by engineering since you had a change of direction and were not initially considered by engineering in your admission. I would do this sooner than later - no guarantees, but it can’t hurt to ask.
Other small things to consider are the gen ed requirements by each university. FWIW, Maryland does not require a foreign language class, whereas I believe UD does if you have not had 4 years of same language in high school.