Engineering is tough - no matter where you go. My kid studied all the time. Others maybe not as much. That’s really up on you. Purdue Cyber, of course, is not in engineering.
If you have kept pace in HS, then college should be ok. But college isn’t easy, and nationally (not V Tech), half of engineering students don’t finish.
Like any engineering student who doesn’t make it, there will be fallback majors - whether business or arts and sciences. Viability is up to you.
Here’s both career outcome reports.
If you’re adept at the material you’ve covered this far, go in with confidence!!! If it doesn’t work out and it won’t for many, you’ll adapt.
The schools admitted you - for a reason. They think you can do it.
Have you checked the curriculum of both - Math seems to go up to Applied Calc 2 at Purdue. It does go much higher at Va Tech - and not just the first year.
I’d add - neither one seems to show job titles - so you might ask each career center or department - for what roles are these kids doing - dependent up on cyber vs. CS.
You can probably find other articles similar - but it does seem like a lot of CS is software engineering.
For 1, software engineering and other more technical roles are better done with a CS background. Less technical roles like IT can come from a CIT background, but someone with a CS background will be stronger in the technical aspects of the job.
For 2, engineering major frosh year plans generally assume that the student has completed precalculus, high school physics, and high school chemistry. AP or other advanced placement is not required, although it can be useful if the student has it. The VT frosh year courses are listed at General Engineering Major | Engineering Education | Virginia Tech
Thanks! I understand that engineering is a commitment, and not everyone stays when things get hard. I think my main challenge right now is deciding whether I’m ready to commit to an engineering/cs path or start with something a bit more flexible and figure things out as I go.
Thanks, this is really helpful! I understand that CS is stronger for SWE, while CIT/cyber leads more toward IT roles. I think I’m mainly trying to decide whether I should commit to that path now or keep things more flexible as I figure out what I want to do.
Many of the “fallback” majors at VT are also challenging, course-wise, and hard to switch into because of their popularity and limited space. Trying to switch may add semesters to your college experience while you meet the course requirements and apply to switch. There are limited windows each semester where you can apply to switch but if you don’t have the prerequisites, it will be a “no” - then you’ll have to wait until the next window.
At many colleges, first year engineering is a weed-out situation for those who struggle with the math - it will be hard no matter where you go. If you’re not confident in the math, perhaps choose the other path.
Hi. I ended up depositing at Purdue and sending a withdrawal email to VT. I honestly feel a lot of regret and don’t know if I made a good choice. I feel like I probably won’t even get a chance to try engineering at this point. I’m scared because I feel like I chose something safer to avoid the stress of engineering. I’m not sure why I did that. Literally sent the email and deposited close to 11 pm.
Purdue CIT/Cyber is very employable, it sounds like you will be saving money, and not having the stress of the FYE curriculum as you transition to college.
If after a year you think you still would like to give engineering a try, go talk to the CoE at Purdue and also the CoS (where CS is housed). The CS numbers have been going down so who knows if there will be more flexibility of transferring in down the road. If those avenues are closed and you still think you want to do engineering, you can transfer.
No decision is ever set in stone and frankly many people have very winding paths to their final careers. It’s going to be totally OK!
Sounds like a great choice - a very employable major, a very strong university with a national brand name, terrific internships and even co-op opportunities, and the confidence to know you won’t have to fight your way through weed out courses. And all of this for a more affordable cost! Congratulations
Congratulations 
