Okay, so I am in a bit of a tight situation. I have finished my freshman year at the university of Houston. And while it is a very decent school, I would want to attend a more prestigious institution. I have recently been admitted into the University of Texas at Austin as a transfer for this fall, which is very good. The main problem here comes my major. I want to be an electrical engineering. While I have received this major at UH, I haven’t at UT. I made the mistake of applying as a math major, well obviously because I really enjoy math, especially calc. The reason I primarily did is that everyone told me that most transfers who apply get rejected. When I talked with a math advisor, I found out the curriculum, even applied math, is mostly theory and proofs, and I am definitely not interested in that. So I made a huge mistake of wanting to be a math major. Now, when I try to switch to an engineering major at UT they are giving me the huge hassle of going through an internal transfer and also telling me that the chances for this are extremely low and it happens very rarely. I think I made a HUGE HUGE mistake by not applying to UT ECE externally as I might have been able to get in. So if I do go to UT I guess I should not get my hopes up for engineering. And as I said earlier, I would want to attend a more prestigious institution than UH even though I got my major there. So this leaves me really stuck. I do want to go beyond UH, but UT is giving me a very difficult time for me to switch into engineering. In the end, I really do want to go to UT but seeing that engineering is probably not going to happen leaves me in a pickle. In the end, my two goals are to attend a very prestigious university and to also do engineering. In my situation, at these two schools, I only have one out of the two at either school. In fact, I have been so confused on what to do lately, that I have even considered going out of state, to a school such as UIUC for the spring of 2016. But the problem there would be that I am not sure if I would get in, and even if I did, the OOS tuition would be a problem. I finished my freshman year with a 3.97 GPA, being done with 33 credit hours, finishing all my calculus and first semester of physics with a lab, a semester of chemistry, and some introductory engineering courses as my technical credits. Anyone have any advice on what I should do? I really am in a very complex situation. Thank you very much for your time.
can’t you change majors when you get to UT?
It is not really that complex. If you want to be an Engineer, stay at UH, if you are OK with a Math major, then you can consider UT. You assume that you would have been admitted to EE at UT Austin but that is not a given, just like your chances at UIUC in Engineering are low because of the demand for the major.
Don’t get hung up on prestige. If the degree is ABET accredited, then you will be able to get a good job with a UH degree.
@NASA2014 - as the OP states, the chances for an internal transfer to EE are very low according to the UT people she/he has spoken to.
It is simple if you consider that the results are basically the same as if you had never applied, if you want to be an engineer.
Also, could you stay at UH and apply to transfer as EE at UT-Austin next year?
We old people have a saying: “A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.” You HAVE an engineering program. I wouldn’t give it up on the (slim) chance that you’d be able to transfer into it at UT. I think you’re better off staying at UH and applying directly to engineering programs from there.