<p>We heard from parents of OSU engineering students for class of 2017 that the only way to ensure assignment to main campus was to accept a position in honors engineering. Was this widespread? Have offers to class of 2018 been similar? Can anyone comment on when they were able to move to main campus as non-honors if this happened to them in a previous year?</p>
<p>I’m about 99% sure that what you heard is a lie. Maybe 25% of the students in engineering are in honors, and that might even be generous. If you have the qualifications to be accepted to the main branch, then you will be. They accept almost double the amount of engineers freshman year than their capacity allows for. This is because many students switch majors, drop out, change schools, etc. You are also in the “pre” major for your first year or two and just taking general courses so your major doesn’t matter as much. During your sophomore year you will be able to apply to different disciplines within engineering and this is where they cut the number of students that they accept into the program. </p>
<p>What you heard was that to be in an actual engineering major your first year you must be in honors. Non-honors students are considered pre-engineering students and must apply to their specific major after a year or two of taking prerequisite courses.</p>
<p>The Fisher College of Business uses the same method. As long a student doesn’t slack off their first couple of years then they should have no trouble getting into the major. Just remember that there is a risk of not getting into the program if they do perform worse than the average student.</p>
<p>Honors is a complete guarantee that you will be in the program, but non-honors students have a very very good chance of still getting in the actual major program (not entirely true because you can still be kicked out of honors if you have less than a 3.0 after three semesters).</p>