Anonymous
08/01/2023 12:09
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
WPI will allow you to do Co-op but you have to do the legwork since it is not part of the WPI plan. The student I know who did it had the co-op summer thru A term (mid October). You can probably do one coop and still graduate on time esp if you have APs/don't fail any classes.
Anonymous
08/01/2023 11:31
Subject: Re:What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Anonymous wrote:Under 10K would be great if they have a variety of engineering majors. Co-op and flexibility are more important to him than size or selectivity or location.
WPI
RPI
RIT
start with those
They all have a variety of engineering majors (my son was looking for ChemE and he found it at all of these---it's not found at every school).
Most schools have the ability to do coops, especially in engineering. Only RIT will have it that mostly everyone is doing it.
There are plenty of great engineering schools out there where your kid can select whatever major they want, and switch it up at any time (and the only issue is whether you will graduate on time due to the new major, not because you can't switch or cannot get into the classes you need). I think it's a much better plan than playing Hunger Games 2.0 to just major in what your kid actual wants to major in.
Anonymous
08/01/2023 10:37
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
I should add RIT is already on his list. So that suggestion was perfect! He really likes cold weather (had to get that in because you know someone will ask!).
Anonymous
08/01/2023 10:36
Subject: Re:What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Under 10K would be great if they have a variety of engineering majors. Co-op and flexibility are more important to him than size or selectivity or location.
Anonymous
08/01/2023 10:07
Subject: Re:What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Anonymous wrote:UVa lets you change majors anytime in the process with no restrictions on numbers. U of Washington in Seattle has you come in as a general engineering major too and you decide after. Have to apply - the competitive one there is biomed. But there's lots of abilities to take classes in other disciplines so you could combine in with another. Michigan you can go in as general. My kid got into a few of the UCs for Engineering - pretty sure the major was assigned. CU too.
Not sure what coops have to do with engineering??
Outside of schools like Drexel and Northeastern (which are "coop schools for all majors"), majority of kids that have done coops over the years are in engineering---it was around at every school I applied to 35+ years ago for engineering.
U Wash in Seattle is highly competitive for several of the engineering majors. You are only "guaranteed to major in some engineering". The website even tells you "if you have a specific major you are really interested in then our program may not be the best for you". Kids still have to get excellent grades to be competitive for the major they want. It is not the type of school the OP is looking for. Good school, but you will be fighting to get what you want, and get a C in fershman Chem or Orgo and you might not get into your major.
to OP: there are plenty of great engineering schools where your kid can major in whatever they want and it is easy to get the courses you want. They tend to be smaller than 8-10K students
Anonymous
08/01/2023 10:02
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
This was very common at RIT. They even had a biomedical concentration for electrical engineers. Co-ops were required, and there was a huge network for finding Co-Op placements (multiple career fairs and a career center.) Co-Ops were great because they really helped guide which electives to take based off what type of work you found most interesting. People transferred between the college for engineering and college for computer science often based on which classes they found most interesting. There was a lot of flexibility in the programs.
Anonymous
08/01/2023 10:01
Subject: Re:What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Anonymous wrote:UVa lets you change majors anytime in the process with no restrictions on numbers. U of Washington in Seattle has you come in as a general engineering major too and you decide after. Have to apply - the competitive one there is biomed. But there's lots of abilities to take classes in other disciplines so you could combine in with another. Michigan you can go in as general. My kid got into a few of the UCs for Engineering - pretty sure the major was assigned. CU too.
Not sure what coops have to do with engineering??
Co-ops as in job placements during the school year. They are more common in engineering than other disciplines.
Anonymous
08/01/2023 09:59
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Consider not limiting to co-op schools. Jobs and internships serve the same purpose without delaying graduation.
Anonymous
08/01/2023 09:58
Subject: Re:What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
UVa lets you change majors anytime in the process with no restrictions on numbers. U of Washington in Seattle has you come in as a general engineering major too and you decide after. Have to apply - the competitive one there is biomed. But there's lots of abilities to take classes in other disciplines so you could combine in with another. Michigan you can go in as general. My kid got into a few of the UCs for Engineering - pretty sure the major was assigned. CU too.
Not sure what coops have to do with engineering??
Not sure what coops have to do with engineering??
Anonymous
08/01/2023 09:58
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Drexel
Northeastern
Rit
Northeastern
Rit
Anonymous
08/01/2023 09:57
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Engineering is a major with a lot of required classes that build in a specific sequence. That's true everywhere. It's not going to be school dependent whether you can switch between different engineering disciplines. By contrast, whether you can switch into or out of engineering will be very school dependant.
Basically, he'll likely be able to do foundation classes his first year, without choosing a type of engineering. By sophomore year, he'll need to narrow it down a bit. He may not need to pick a specific type of engineering yet, but he'll need to narrow down if he needs advanced chem/bio classes (e.g., chemical engineering, environmental engineering) for his degree. Junior and senior year he'll be pretty locked in.
I generally try to dissuade folks from studying biomedical engineering. It's cross disciplinary such that you don't get enough of any one topic to be really useful. You still need at least an MD, biologist and/or mechanical or electrical engineers to work on the medical device. Medical devices aren't invented by teams of biomedical engineers.
We've heard that about biomedical engineering too.
I have heard there are definitely schools where switching, even within engineering is hard. As an example, we looked up Johns Hopkins. There the biomedical engineering major is the most competitive. So, if my kid thinks "I think I want to be a mechanical engineer who works on medical devices" and then gets there and decides he does want biomedical, he can't necessarily switch.
He doesn't want that. He wants a school where he can come in as undecided engineering, and all engineering disciplines will be open to him.
You may have found one exception, but that's most schools.
For a kid who is interested in an interdisciplinary topic, I'd look at whether he can take the fun advanced classes and labs if he's not in that major. For instance, could he take the advanced biomed seminar if he's a mech e? What prerequisites would he need?
Anonymous
08/01/2023 09:55
Subject: Re:What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
majority of schools with engineering programs also have coop programs. The list will be long for that.
Off the top of my head, there are several schools where you can change majors easily (but the list will be much much longer):
Case Western
RPI
WPI
Stevens
Clarkson
U of Rochester
Off the top of my head, there are several schools where you can change majors easily (but the list will be much much longer):
Case Western
RPI
WPI
Stevens
Clarkson
U of Rochester
Anonymous
08/01/2023 09:50
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Anonymous wrote:Engineering is a major with a lot of required classes that build in a specific sequence. That's true everywhere. It's not going to be school dependent whether you can switch between different engineering disciplines. By contrast, whether you can switch into or out of engineering will be very school dependant.
Basically, he'll likely be able to do foundation classes his first year, without choosing a type of engineering. By sophomore year, he'll need to narrow it down a bit. He may not need to pick a specific type of engineering yet, but he'll need to narrow down if he needs advanced chem/bio classes (e.g., chemical engineering, environmental engineering) for his degree. Junior and senior year he'll be pretty locked in.
I generally try to dissuade folks from studying biomedical engineering. It's cross disciplinary such that you don't get enough of any one topic to be really useful. You still need at least an MD, biologist and/or mechanical or electrical engineers to work on the medical device. Medical devices aren't invented by teams of biomedical engineers.
We've heard that about biomedical engineering too.
I have heard there are definitely schools where switching, even within engineering is hard. As an example, we looked up Johns Hopkins. There the biomedical engineering major is the most competitive. So, if my kid thinks "I think I want to be a mechanical engineer who works on medical devices" and then gets there and decides he does want biomedical, he can't necessarily switch.
He doesn't want that. He wants a school where he can come in as undecided engineering, and all engineering disciplines will be open to him.
Anonymous
08/01/2023 09:41
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
Engineering is a major with a lot of required classes that build in a specific sequence. That's true everywhere. It's not going to be school dependent whether you can switch between different engineering disciplines. By contrast, whether you can switch into or out of engineering will be very school dependant.
Basically, he'll likely be able to do foundation classes his first year, without choosing a type of engineering. By sophomore year, he'll need to narrow it down a bit. He may not need to pick a specific type of engineering yet, but he'll need to narrow down if he needs advanced chem/bio classes (e.g., chemical engineering, environmental engineering) for his degree. Junior and senior year he'll be pretty locked in.
I generally try to dissuade folks from studying biomedical engineering. It's cross disciplinary such that you don't get enough of any one topic to be really useful. You still need at least an MD, biologist and/or mechanical or electrical engineers to work on the medical device. Medical devices aren't invented by teams of biomedical engineers.
Basically, he'll likely be able to do foundation classes his first year, without choosing a type of engineering. By sophomore year, he'll need to narrow it down a bit. He may not need to pick a specific type of engineering yet, but he'll need to narrow down if he needs advanced chem/bio classes (e.g., chemical engineering, environmental engineering) for his degree. Junior and senior year he'll be pretty locked in.
I generally try to dissuade folks from studying biomedical engineering. It's cross disciplinary such that you don't get enough of any one topic to be really useful. You still need at least an MD, biologist and/or mechanical or electrical engineers to work on the medical device. Medical devices aren't invented by teams of biomedical engineers.
Anonymous
08/01/2023 09:08
Subject: What engineering schools have the ability to change majors and coops?
My kid wants to be an engineer in a medically related field, but not necessarily a biomedical engineer. So, he wants a school where changing majors within engineering isn't hard.
He also wants a co-op.
Any suggestions for schools should he look at? He's a kid who can buy a lottery ticket for schools at the top, so to speak, but isn't very focused on prestige.
He also wants a co-op.
Any suggestions for schools should he look at? He's a kid who can buy a lottery ticket for schools at the top, so to speak, but isn't very focused on prestige.