I recently was accepted to the UW Madison engineering school, and it specifies that I was admitted to the Chemical Engineering Department. Does every student get admitted to a specific major, or is this only a select number of applicants from the freshmen engineering pool? For example, do you get admitted to a specific major or just the engineering school (not including those who go as undecided)? On other forums people were saying that everyone is admitted to a major while others said only a specific number do. Does anyone have leads on this? Im curious.
I was admitted specifically into Mechanical Engineering.
@Lauren8040 I was admitted to the Engineering Mechanics(Assumed this would be the best sustitute for an Aerospace degree) but plan on switching to Mechanical Engineering (relatively easy according to friends on campus). I believe we still have to declare a major after meeting the freshman progression requirements, someone please correct me if I am wrong. I think for the one person that didn’t have there major specified it was either a mistake or they are on the equivalent of a waiting list like some of the business kids. I know Chemical and Nuclear Engineering are the most competitive in the school, as they are both top 5 in the nation right on par with much more selective colleges like Stanford and Cal.
You might be better off asking this in the UW Madison subreddit, as there are alot of oldheads that don’t fully understand the direct admit process.
@Lauren8040 check the EA thread for UW because lots of COE accepteds with direct admit to major. One or two exceptions.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of students do not post here on CC.
If you want to know what direct admission really means, I think you need to read this section of the website carefully. This is the part for current students (for real), not admitted students (sales). You should find the equivalent section at every other school that has accepted you before making a choice.
Progression Requirements
https://www.engr.wisc.edu/academics/student-services/academic-advising/first-year-undergraduate-students/progression-requirements/
Especially “GPA Requirements for Progression”
Won’t matter to you if a school is top in its field if you personally don’t have access.
I was admitted direct to ChemE too
Yes, Wisconsin gives direct admission, but chemical engineering majors must earn a 3.5 technical and 3.0 overall college GPA to stay in the major, according to the link in reply #5.
Many other schools require only a 2.0 GPA and C grades to stay in the major. Some may require a little higher, like 2.25 or 2.5. But a 3.5 to stay in the major means managing your GPA like a pre-med.
https://registrar.wisc.edu/grade-reports/ shows the grade distributions of various courses at Wisconsin.
^Now, is it the case that if you get, say, a core GPA of 3.3 that you are shut out of chem eng. or just not guaranteed progression? There is a difference. Someone earlier on this or another thread said it was more the latter and that, space permitting, you could still progress.
I believe you can switch to another engineering major with a lower progression GPA.
^ But are you automatically shut out of chem. eng?
Lauren. Seriously. Call. Ask them exactly what you are asking us. It is no small thing to maintain a 3.5 and you can’t count on it - even if you do everything right and are pretty darn smart, not everyone handles enormous classes well, kids get mono, have family emergencies, all sorts of things. Call the department. Ask directly. You deserve a precise answer before you spend all this money.
Then call your second and third choices and ask the same. Then go to the school with an answer that works best for you. You wouldn’t buy a car or a condo without a ton of information, so seek it out from the source.
Good luck to you.
Could be misreading OP’s post, but thought she/he was asking more about how selective a DA to major was among the engineering admits, than whether chem. eng. was doable. Although the latter is a very valid point to bring up.