<p>Does this happen? and what then? I understand that it is a very competitive program. Are they essentially waiting for freshman year results to determine if the students are qualified? This would be tough to swallow if you could attend another school and study engineering. Are there many transfers out due to the limited enrollment? Please help me understand the risks. TIA.</p>
<p>Yes, some applicants will be accepted into University Studies instead of General Engineering. If that were to happen your son/daughter could stay on track for engineering by taking all of the general first year courses with the exception of the two semesters of freshman general engineering (Enge1024 and Enge1114). They could, however, take Enge1024 the summer prior to attending Virgina Tech. I believe the local community college offers this class on-line and it counts as VT credit. I think there are some other threads with this specific information. Once they have completed the first semester freshman courses they can transfer into general engineering. The explanation below is with regards to Mechanical Engineering but it should be same or similar for the other majors.</p>
<p>For Students Starting in University Studies & Other Departments
The second most common department that Mechanical Engineering students start out in is University Studies. Roughly 10-15% of ME’s start there before switching into engineering. University Studies (US) students wishing to switch into an engineering department should meet with their US advisor to carefully plan a course schedule to match the courses they would have taken had they started in General Engineering.</p>
<p>US students should be able to enroll in all freshmen-level courses their first year, with the exception of the Engineering Education (ENGE) courses, ENGE1024 and ENGE1114. Non-engineering students are placed on a waiting list to take ENGE1024 in the spring, and seats are awarded based on GPA’s from the fall semester, regardless of major. ENGE1024 and ENGE1114 are also available during the first and second summer sessions, respectively, at Virginia Tech. In the past, major restrictions have not been placed on these courses during the summer. Please see the Engineering Education website for more information for non-engineering students.</p>
<p>University Studies students may transfer into General Engineering after they have completed the first semester of freshmen courses, including ENGE1024, and may switch into Mechanical Engineering when they have completed all freshmen-level required courses (not including CLE humanities electives) and have an overall GPA of 2.5 or higher from Virginia Tech. These are the same requirements for all VT students, regardless of which department they started in.</p>