My ideal university scenario...

b_r_um
Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:27:46 +0000

In a 3+2 engineering program you would spend the first 3 years of your undergraduate career at one school (typically a small liberal arts college w/o an engineering department) and the last 2 years at an engineering school. In the first 3 years you would have to complete a major and all gen ed requirements at the first university, as well as a sequence of science courses. After completing all engineering courses at the second institution, you would graduate with two undergraduate degrees, one from your first undergraduate institution and another one in engineering.

This is only possible at schools with a designated 3+2 program. Your liberal arts and engineering schools would have to agree to accept each others courses for credit. And the engineering curriculum at the second institution needs to be structured so that it is possible to take all engineering courses in 2 years, provided that you are already done with all math and science prerequisites and gen ed requirements.



And what would I be doing in my first year of a double major degree if I don’t have any electives? Surely I must get some…

As a first-year engineering major you would be busy studying math, physics, computer science and maybe chemistry. Those are the basic prerequisites for almost any engineering class offered, so you should be taking them ASAP. The remaining courses in your schedule are filled with gen ed requirements and maybe a poli sci class.

Of course you could postpone the sciences or gen ed requirements in order to make room for electives, but I think that would be a really bad idea. Once you start postponing engineering courses, you are committing yourself to stay for an extra year or two in order to finish your degree. I personally would recommend that you stay on track for the engineering major for at least one year in case you change your mind about taking 6 years to graduate.