UT Austin/Vanderbilt/other? Engineering Transfer [will be frosh at four year college without engineering majors]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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I am a rising freshman at Boston College and am in a tricky situation. Back in May, I narrowed down my options to Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and Clemson’s College of Engineering. After taking all factors into account, I chose BC. Throughout all of high school, I had been set on going to BC and studying business. However, during senior year of high school, I began to enjoy physics and my advisor recommended I look into engineering, which interested me. When decision day came, I went with my gut and picked the business school over the engineering school - this came after I learned that I could take an engineering class at BC but I could not transfer into their new engineering school.

After a long conversation with my advisor, we concocted a plan. I would take half engineering classes and half business classes in the fall semester, which I have done:

FALL SEMESTER SCHEDULE
Portico (Intro To Business)
Statistical Analysis
Introductory Physics
Design, Ethics, and Engineering

Now, I am going to have to make a decision at the end of the first semester as to whether I remain at BC and study business or opt to study engineering at another school. I am now wondering what my chances are if I pick the latter option.

If I am going to transfer, I want a change from BC. I really liked the southern atmosphere of Clemson, but BC had too many pros for me to ignore. Thus, UT Austin and Vanderbilt are #1 and #2 on my (rough) list.

I live in MA, had a 98.05/100 weighted GPA in high school, a 34 on the ACT, and was ranked in the top 8% of my class. For AP’s, I have a 5 on AB Calc and US History and 4’s in Latin, Stats, Physics 2, and English Lang.

I understand that college GPA is one of the main factors in transfer admissions, but I also believe that high school stats are important if you transfer after your freshman year.

Here are my decisions from last year (in order of preference):

Northwestern (ED) - Defer → Reject
Vanderbilt - Reject
Notre Dame - Waitlist → Reject
UNC-CH - Reject
UVA - Waitlist → Reject
UMich - Waitlist → Reject
BC - Accepted
Clemson - Accepted
Villanova - Accepted
Richmond - Accepted
Holy Cross - Accepted
Providence - Accepted

Any help/opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

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What you should do is call Clemson and see if there’s a way. There’s not but it never hurts to try.

It’s 95% always easier to go from engineering to another vs another to engineering. I remember the thread and you receiving this guidance.

That you are now b4 starting school, looking to transfer puzzles me.

Apply to UMASS. You may get into transfer friendly Vandy but for engineering, it doesn’t matter. Back to the thread - ABET matters.

Kids at UMass, Alabama wherever are getting the same jobs as kids at Purdue. My kid is one - turned down a major aero in your neck of the woods.

Interned with Ga Tech. Works with Purdue, Michigan and more. Had 5 offers by xmas from Alabama. Chose unranked Bana over Purdue with merit.

I say this - because look at your list - UT Austin and Vandy. If you don’t want to be an engineer - sure apply to that level of school. If you do, ensure you apply to a school that will take you.

Frankly your career outcome will likely be similar.

You wanted prestige and the issue is - what’s the point if you can’t study what you want.

You’ll have to go through the first semester and see how you do.

Vandy accepted a tad more than a sixth of applicants last year. You’ll need top grades because your ACT is light (yes 34).

UT will be very tough. Make sure you do the required math and physics classes to even be eligible to transfer. That said the university’s transfer admit rate is higher. But this is a top school for engineering so I’m not sure the engineering transfer rate is high. .

You can aim for prestige - as I recall that’s why you took BC over Clemson even though it was obvious that Clemson should have been the choice. You were amazed by Carroll where frankly even Clemson’s B school is solid.

I’m not trying to be harsh but you’re doing it again.

If you truly want to be an engineer you can aim for the top but you better find an ABET accredited school that will accept you - and frankly if you work hard, you’ll have a similar outcome because companies hire from all over.

BC btw and you were told this as well - not ABET. While it’s possible in the future since they plan to apply, it’s not assured and would have, imho, made a lousy choice for engineering so be glad that you can’t transfer in.

Be realistic.

And best of luck.

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Like I said before, I’m confident with my decisions so far. I’m not looking for criticism of my previous decisions but assistance on what to do if I do end up wanting to transfer.

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And I gave it.

Reach if you want but lower your sights to ensure you can study engineering.

You need ABET - not a huge name - so ensure you apply to a safety as well. Your odds are likely not good at either of these two.

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If you want to keep engineering (transfer) open, you likely need to:

  • Take suitable math. This means calculus 1 (the version suitable for math and physics majors) at the minimum, or a more advanced course if you have advanced placement through AP/IB/etc. credit (probably means calculus 2 if you have a 5 on AP calculus AB). The exception is if you have completed multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations already.
  • Take appropriate science. This means calculus based physics (such as that which is suitable for physics majors) and often general chemistry, depending on the kind of engineering.
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This is what I was alluding to.

Op needs to look up these classes and get them done. This is for UT.

  • Transfer students must have completed at least the equivalent of:
    • Mathematics 408D or M 408L or M 408M (TCCN: Math 2415)
    • Physics 303K (TCCN: PHYS 2425)
    • Physics 103M (lab)
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My concern is that you may need to add a year after you transfer and essentially start over. My engineering kid had calc each semester, design, physics, and Chem as a freshman. And her design had a CS component.

Is there an engineering or transfer advisor that you can speak to at your school?

I would also not recommend trying to transfer to any school that rejected you as a freshman applicant.

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If I recall OP was suggested if he truly wants engineering to gap year and reapply to save this extra year. But It sounds like he’s unsure still on major and perhaps business is still on the table.

OP you should look at the engineering course sequencing at these other schools to ensure you want to experience this type of curriculum.

I linked UT here. Scroll down.

You might also check with the others on your design class ? Will it transfer ? My guess is not to an ABET school. If you’re taking it to see if engineering is a fit then great. But if you think it will help towards the program at another school - then I’d check up front before taking it.

https://catalog.utexas.edu/undergraduate/engineering/degrees-and-programs/bs-mechanical-engineering/suggested-arrangement-of-courses/

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I’m a little confused as to why you are going to BC if there’s no way to transfer into engineering and that’s definitely what you want to study. Is there no way to transfer to engineering at BC? If not, then yes, trying to transfer as a sophomore makes sense and you have a compelling reason if you can’t study what you want at your current school. Have you looked up UT Austin transfer rates for out of state students? That would be something good to know. Generally it is not recommended to re-apply to a school that outright rejected you so I’m not sure your chances would be very good at Vandy. You could try transferring to some of the schools that waitlisted you though. Many schools have an increased transfer rate for students who were previously waitlisted.

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“this came after I learned that I could take an engineering class at BC but I could not transfer into their new engineering school.”

Just to be clear - BC does not have an engineering school. It has a major housed in the College of Arts and Sciences. While I suppose where it is housed may not matter, I worry that your advising is not familiar with the tight sequencing and advanced coursework of engineering - and is this costing you time and money (a years salary in addition to tuition). You should speak to an engineering advisor or prof to ensure your plan properly and get sound guidance.

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Two me the two obvious options would be to reapply to Clemson, and to apply to U.Mass Amherst.

You could apply to UT Austin and Vanderbilt. However, they do not look like safeties in terms of admissions as a transfer student. Whether they are likely seems unclear to me (but would not be my guess).

Students often under-appreciate their in-state public options. U.Mass is very good (and is ABET accredited for six fields of engineering, with a seventh apparently under consideration).

Also, if you decide that you want to be an engineer, then transferring into an ABET accredited program is needed. A “big name” program is not.

In terms of classes, I do wonder about taking calculus, whether in addition to statistics or instead of statistics.

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I agree with this. Therefore, I would suggest finding a different choice than Vandy where you were not accepted already. You are correct that your high school record will be used if you transfer as a sophomore. This same high school record already got you a rejection from Vandy.

There are many other options.

Since you were accepted to Clemson, it’s possible that you would be accepted again.

UT Austin is a fresh application for you, and could be a good choice.

Have you considered UMass?

I’m assuming cost isn’t a factor?

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Correct.

I spoke to some people at BC and their program is going to be ABET accredited in 2025.

I am taking calc based physics in the fall.

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But you didn’t get admitted to that program as an incoming freshman…so how would this help you?

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Additionally, I am picking the end of the first semester as my decision deadline because I will have to pick my second semester classes as a result of this decision.

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I asked just out of curiosity and this is what they said… just showing that I applied at an odd time and in five or so years this conversation would not be happening.

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Selection of courses for the next semester generally happens well before the end of the current semester.

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You were rejected from Vanderbilt this year so not sure they will accept you as a transfer student after your freshman year, especially based on your HS record.

UT OOS for engineering is extremely difficult. Top 8% and 34 ACT might not be enough for in state kids.

IMO, if you want to transfer, you’d probably need top grades at BC and have strong ECs/clubs (maybe some leadership roles which may be tough as a freshman).

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You’re heading to BC, but you’re looking for some ABET-accredited options where you could transfer, and you also like a southern feel. You had strong academics in high school, but didn’t get any admissions to the most rejective schools on your application list. Based on the schools from that original list, you may want to consider:

  • Southern Methodist (TX): This school with about 7100 undergrads is ABET-accredited in multiple fields and its Cox business school is very well-respected, should you decide to stick with business.

  • Louisiana State: There’s a fairly new engineering building here, big-time SEC sports, and a location in the state’s capital. This would probably be a highly-likely admit.

  • U. of Arkansas: Another SEC school and there’s great outdoor beauty here (similarly to Clemson). Unlike Clemson, however, there’s a lot of business life going on here, as the Walton family has made this area really boom. This is a definite growing area.

  • U. of Houston (TX): You get a big city, football fans, and a much more approachable admissions rate. This could be a safety for you.

In addition to reapplying to Clemson you could also consider U. of Alabama, as both have a big southern feel without being in cities (though Clemson is much more isolated than Tuscaloosa).

Depending on which areas of engineering you’re interested in, Tulane in New Orleans could also be a contender. It’s ABET-accredited in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, engineering physics, and information technology. So if you’re not into one of those, skip Tulane by.

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Exactly. As a resident of Massachusetts, assuming you do well at BC, you should have no difficulty transferring to UMass.

I’m not sure how easy it is to transfer into engineering.

@TomSrOfBoston do you happen to know?

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