Applying to an undecided track at VT

[Anonymous]

Is this common or should my son pick a major? He stats are 3.8 weighted and 1460 SAT.

[Anonymous]

DP. Piggybacking, about VT. I see in Common App there is a question asking if the applicant is interested in Summer Start. The app also states that summer start is not required if one is offered admission. Does this affect one's admission chances in any way?

[Anonymous]

If everyone must apply to General Engineering, does the major of interest selected after that affect chances of admission? Most obviously, computer science?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If everyone must apply to General Engineering, does the major of interest selected after that affect chances of admission? Most obviously, computer science?

This is what I am wondering. My son is interested in engineering, but not mechanical or civil engineering. He was previously interested in CS, but has now switched interest to Information Technology, Computer Engineering or Finance.

I wonder if an undecided track will affect changes of being admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP. Piggybacking, about VT. I see in Common App there is a question asking if the applicant is interested in Summer Start. The app also states that summer start is not required if one is offered admission. Does this affect one's admission chances in any way?

Interesting. I did not see this, but we just started the application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If everyone must apply to General Engineering, does the major of interest selected after that affect chances of admission? Most obviously, computer science?

This is what I am wondering. My son is interested in engineering, but not mechanical or civil engineering. He was previously interested in CS, but has now switched interest to Information Technology, Computer Engineering or Finance.

I wonder if an undecided track will affect changes of being admitted.

Well, some of those majors you’ve listed are restricted & it’s non trivial to switch into. You should investigate how difficult switching between engineering & business degrees is. I thought I read for one you basically have to reapply to the school but I’ve looked at so many schools, I’m not positive it was VT. I *am* positive it’s something you should look into

[Anonymous]

I've heard before that it is better to apply to a major at VT because they admit by major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard before that it is better to apply to a major at VT because they admit by major.

Engineering works differently. You don't apply to a major until later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard before that it is better to apply to a major at VT because they admit by major.

Engineering works differently. You don't apply to a major until later.

I should have stated that more clearly. The app says:

"You have chosen General Engineering (GE) as your major. To better assist you in your journey toward an engineering degree, please select the Engineering major that you are most interested in studying at Virginia Tech. If you are unsure at this time, please select Undecided.

Please note: All College of Engineering students are admitted to General Engineering and are required to apply to their specific major after their first year of enrollment based on meeting college requirements."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If everyone must apply to General Engineering, does the major of interest selected after that affect chances of admission? Most obviously, computer science?

Unlikely to impact admissions, but please do understand that DC might or might not be *allowed* to enroll in CS based on their VT GPA at the decision point. There is a fixed numeric limit each year for several of the engineering majors, including CS.

UMCP solved this differently - by making CS a direct application narrowly to the CS program. This gets called "direct admission" on DCUM sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard before that it is better to apply to a major at VT because they admit by major.

Not for engineering.

[Anonymous]

For engineering, it does not matter which engineering discipline they put as intended. The whole reason they have a general engineering first year program is because they know how many students change their discipline of interest from when they start.