University of Washington Seattle Mechanical Engineering question

Hello,
I have a teen who is thinking of applying to University of Washington Seattle in Mechanical engineering. Is it true that many mech e majors at this school graduate in 5 years because it is so difficult to get into the courses required for the major? Is it true that students have to stand in line to register and sometimes wait for hours only to learn that the course has filled up? Any firsthand experience would be most welcome. Thanks!

I’m not MechE, so I’m not certain, but I haven’t heard this. Like many large universities, it can be a little difficult to register for some popular courses such as English composition as a freshman. You will eventually get in, but maybe not for your preferred day and time. It’s good to have AP or running start credits so you get sophomore registration status sooner. And it gets better after you get into your major program because only students who are already admitted to the program are allowed to register for those classes. Also, all registration is online, so you don’t physically stand in line. The online registration displays the available number of slots for each course so there’s no waiting to see if a course is full.

Thanks @Shimainu --are you a student there currently?

Went there many years ago. Son is a current UW engineering student in a different department.

Standing in line for classes? Registration is usually all online these days.

It’s not unheard of for engineers at many schools to take an extra year to graduate. There are many difficult classes and if you get behind and have to drop one you get off track to graduate “on time.”

Keep in mind that the School of Engineering is a competitive and difficult school to get admitted to as a freshman. It is more difficult to get into as an undeclared underclassman applying to the engineering school as a junior.

MechE is one of the more competitive departments. The average college GPA (freshman & sophomore year) for MechE admits is around 3.6. Something to consider if you are not among the 20% who get freshman direct admission.

^ Admission to the mechanical engineering major (and the other engineering majors) has changed beginning with students admitted to UW for autumn 2018:

https://www.engr.washington.edu/news/direct-to-college

https://www.engr.washington.edu/admission/directtocollege/faq

See also:

https://www.me.washington.edu/prospective/ug/admission

Click the tab that says, “High school students – Direct to College,” for more information about MechE admissions.

Looking for an update on how difficult it is to secure mechanical engineering after a year as Engineering-Undeclared. How competitive is the transfer, what does a student have to achieve, and is there a gender balance (i.e. harder for a male) due to diversity goals which I completely agree with, but which make the bar a bit higher for my son. He loves UW, but also has some other great choices with a certain MechE path.