It varies a lot by school. Almost every school on my kid’s list did not restrict engineering majors at all from picking whatever specific major they wanted. But he only applied to a couple selective schools.
Some schools (like A&M or Purdue) you apply to a generic first-year engineering program and then apply to transfer to your specific major in spring of your freshman year. The process is quite restrictive at A&M, and not very restrictive at Purdue. Not sure about other schools. And I don’t know how they do/don’t include AP/DE classes in the GPA for the process.
Other schools you apply directly to a specific major, but in many of those you have the option to enter undeclared within engineering if you want (then once you decide you declare whatever you want). My kid applied undeclared within engineering when possible, and MechE where not possible. He was really particular about wanting freedom for any engineering major. But you know what you want.
A&M is by far the most restrictive school for transition to major, to my knowledge. You would be wise to 1) fully explore the engineering websites for each school, and 2) attend a virtual information session for each engineering program. You will be able to get all your questions about entry to major answered.
Since you’re such a stellar applicant, and so aero-focused, you will get into aero programs if you want. But it’s nice to remember that you can still work in aero even if you don’t major in aero for whatever reason. Aero employs people of a variety of majors, including MechE most obviously. I probably wouldn’t have brought this up unless you were a Texas resident wanting to major in AeroE, MechE, or CS, honestly. A&M seems to be a real outlier (due to auto-admit perhaps?). I suspect you’d get your first choice major, but I don’t know your tolerance for risk and I don’t want to you go there and be blindsided by the process.
Also, you’ll have such an amazing safety at UA Huntsville (and likely others) that you’ll be able to major in aero at a wonderful and affordable place regardless of your other admissions/aid offers.
Having just gotten the last of the decisions for my son, I thought I’d provide a quick report to give you a sense of what the results were for Aerospace.
The stats - 3.75 GPA UW and honestly don’t know the weighted. 5 AP’s with 5’s on all the tests. 33 ACT. Chicago, Catholic high school, two sport athlete all 4 years, volunteer service, summer jobs and UIUC summer engineering camp (1 remote and 1 in person). Essay had a neat personal story, but honestly was just fine and given the schools he applied to, I doubt they even looked at
Applied Aerospace wherever available or Mechanical if not.
Alabama - accepted (w/ $28k/yr merit)
Auburn - accepted ( w/ $15k/yr merit)
Georgia Tech - denied
Iowa - accepted (Mech) ($13.5k/yr merit)
Marquette - accepted (Mech) (w/ $25k/yr merit)
Maryland - accepted (no merit anticipated)
Michigan - deferred
Ole Miss - accepted (Mech) (w/ $27k/yr merit)
Purdue - denied Engineering, accepted in Physics
South Carolina - accepted (Mech) (no merit yet)
UIUC - accepted (no merit anticipated)
He applied for Randall Research at Bama but just found out he’s not moving on. Has an application to CME program at Ole Miss, with an on campus program next month. Decision to come.
Hope that gives you a recent data point for your research. Best of luck.
It’s funny, U of SC was not on the radar, but they invited him and a guest to a dinner at a local and well known steakhouse to hear a presentation about merit and the honors college. That got his interest and he applied. Nothing on merit and HC since and as far as I know, he may not hear until March.
He has a brother at Ole Miss in the Chinese flagship program, so we’ve been there to visit numerous times and he likes the campus and atmosphere. CME is probably the big driver for whether he goes or not.
UIUC not a bad fallback - though it might be one of the most expensive - even in-state - of the schools he’s seriously considering.
