I am currently a freshman majoring in Computer ENGR, an engineering plan that follows the same track as Electrical Engineering.

Basically, I want to get out of Computer Engineering and into Mechanical Engineering. The issue with that is that it is the hardest one to switch into. Although, I am working my hardest I am still worried that my grades will not make the cut. If they do not, I do not, under any circumstances, want to be stuck in Computer Engineering. I do not like programming, which makes up the entire class.

As a fallback, which Engineering major could I switch into?

Mechanical is or at least was Track A, I'm not sure if they have changed it since I needed to know that information freshman year.

I wouldn't say Track A is the most difficult track to get into as I believe it is one of the largest, it is the actual majors that are often difficult to get into.

In track A there is civil, industrial, aerospace, to name a few.

If your ultimate goal is to get into mechanical I would think industrial would be the way to go your sophomore year. As an industrial major you could take these courses your sophomore year which are required for a MEEN degree: MATH 251, MATH 308, MEEN 221, MEEN 222, MEEN 315, ECEN 215. You could also take electives which are accepted for the mechanical department such as MATH 304 (Linear Algebra) or STAT 211 http://engineering.tamu.edu/media/130503/mechanical_engineering_stem___technical_electives.pdf

It would kind of be a risk, I personally wouldn't want to get stuck in industrial and have the risk of not being able to transfer out if another department wouldn't take me at a later time. I've also has a few Nukes in my upper level courses so that may be another option although I wouldn't want to get stuck there either.

I believe Petroleum, Chemical, and Ocean are all Track C; Electrical, Computer are all pretty much track B and everything else is track A though I could be mistaken.


[This message has been edited by AggieRidge14 (edited 3/12/2013 2:22p).]

Thank you. It does seem like Industrial would be the best to switch into because of class similarities.

I meant to ask which major would be the easiest to get into. I don't know why I wrote track in retrospect.

I have heard that the hardest majors to get into are Mechanical and Civil because they are so popular. I don't know if that's actually true or not. I just don't want to be stuck programming all day.

If your CBK courses meet the requirement then the MEEN department shouldn't say no to your application.

You might think that but it's not true.

I can guarantee that not every freshman that wants to transfer into petroleum that completes their CBKs with a 2.75 is able to.

Just do Electrical Power Engineering instead of Computer Engineering.

[This message has been edited by Burnetaggie99 (edited 3/14/2013 11:38a).]

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Just do Electrical Power Engineering instead of Computer Engineering.

[This message has been edited by Burnetaggie99 (edited 3/14/2013 11:38a).]

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Do this. Power Engineers are in high demand.

Noting wrong with getting stuck as an IE...very versatile degree and a lot of successful IE's out there. Best part of the degree is it's versatility, especially if you want to go down the business route one day. Have you spoken to the mechanical advisors? I always heard that the most important thing is speaking with them, making it clear you want it and showing it by getting the grades or showing improvement

Just take MMET. Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology. Its got both Mechanical engineering as well as the hands on aspect of learning manufacturing. I'm an MMET and i do the same job as Mechanicals.

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I'm an MMET and i do the same job as Mechanicals.

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Doubt it.

During my time at A&M most that ended up in the tech majors were there because they failed out of engineering.

Burnnnn

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I'm an MMET and i do the same job as Mechanicals.

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LOLOLOL Nearly **** my pants laughing! The difference in classes is ridiculous. Worked with one in a Senior Project and wanted to kick him in the ass so many times. Contributed nothing.

Not trying to be offensive, but I have heard the same thing. I would prefer to be in the actual MEEN major.

And I don't think everyone that barely meets the CBK requirements gets in. They seem very serious about the grade point mark every time I have talked to the advisors. In fact, it even seems like they discourage me from even trying to get in.

Thank you guys all for your help so far. I will look into your suggested majors. Especially if I don't get in. haha

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And I don't think everyone that barely meets the CBK requirements gets in. They seem very serious about the grade point mark every time I have talked to the advisors. In fact, it even seems like they discourage me from even trying to get in.

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This is absolutely correct. Many of the departments within the College of Engineering have space limitations, so there are even students with high grades and all the CBK coursework complete who are still unable to change majors. Of course, some of this could change now that the COE has announced plans to expand to 25,000 students by 2025. The impact of this announcement was felt immediately when the COE opened another 900 spots to incoming freshman in January.

Just keep working as hard as you can and try to keep your grades as high as possible. I'm hopeful you can land in Mechanical in the long run if that's still where you want to be.

In the meantime, you could also talk with some of the other departments to find out exactly what those students are doing, who they're going to work for, etc. As some have already said, you might find a perfect fit in another COE department that doesn't have space limitations.

Why did you go into computer engineering if you hate programming?

I know this is kind of a late response, but when I applied to change into MEEN last spring, they told me a 3.4 was the low end of what they would prefer, but it's not necessarily uncommon for 3.0 and higher to be accepted. With the engineering school growing so much (although I'm not sure how fast, especially this year) you may have a better chance.

Best of luck!

I am in Computer Engineering because it was the only Engineering major that was open. My goal was to stay on track with Engineering classes.

Thank you all for your help, advice and encouragement. I'll let you know how it turns out. I go to apply tomorrow.

I didn't get in this time. I'm still looking to apply next semester and keep improving my grades. They said the average to get in was a 3.6 If any of you guys could help me make the switch let me know. Thanks for all the help.

Good luck. Do you know who actually makes the decisions? Doug, Kim, Hogan, all of them? Maybe stay in contact with them to show them you're serious and that's what you really want to do.

First of all if your CBK isn't a 2.85 they will not even look at you. They always sent out a long email that said if this requirement is not met then you must change majors no questions asked. Yes it is difficult to transfer in. I was lucky enough to do it after my freshman year, I can't remember what my GPA was at that time though.

Second I would try my hardest to get ahold of Kim and sit down with her. I'm pretty sure she is the one that controls all of that. Talk to her about everything like what you should do that will make you look appealing to them. I'm not sure if you mentioned what class you are but really the last time to get in before you fall really far behind is second semester of sophomore year. If you haven't gotten in by then you are easily looking at another year till graduation possibly more. That's just a warning you may want to look at. But seriously good luck! Mechanical is a great major with endless opportunities and lets you obtain a lot of knowledge in many different areas of engineering.

How about Petro? I am looking to get back into school and hopefully into engineering at some point. I have an interest in PETE and would like any insight that yall might have.

Christopher,
I'm an engineer in the electronics industry. I was a manager for years and involved in my company's hiring process.

I'm just curious if your dislike of programming is based on your career plans or your coursework at school?

Companies will hire programmers (in mass) with computer science or programming type degrees. Those are the types that write code all day (and night) because they love programming.

However, having the school background in programming can be a plus to employers because internal programming resources may be scarce or difficult to get projects prioritized.

Your main job may not be to write code all day, but having computer skills could make you able to leverage what computer resources exist and be very valuable to your work team.

So if you can suck it up and survive the programming coursework, you will have a valuable skill, but you will not be obligated to find a job where you write code all day long.

My advice to you would be to try and identify what industries interest you and find out more about both specific and general engineering jobs exist in that industry.

If something specific interests you, take the specialized coursework that would make you attractive to employers that rely on those jobs for their core success.

If not, look for ways to get a broad education so you have a diverse skill set for a general entry level engineering position. Having some programming skills will be a plus.