DS has been admitted for Fall 2015 to two top public u. engineering programs, rank, cost, and distance all about the same. At school A, his top choice, all freshmen are admitted to general engineering and then apply to a major after. Admissions is competitive and holistic, and since the policy is new, there is very little information on admissions from previous years.
At school B, son has been directly admitted to his (current) major of choice.
The first statistics just released this week by A for the first cohort of freshmen indicate only 26 % of those who applied to his 1st choice major were accepted in this first cycle, a number which seems to surprise them as well. It was much more competitive than they thought it would be due to a number of factors including current economic situation. Other majors were less selective though still competitive, and a few took all but these were not ones the DS is currently considering.
In theory, I like the idea of a general engineering program, and exposure to multiple majors before making a decision. In practice, it's beginning to feel pretty risky. DS had better scores than GPA in HS, and it took him a bit of time to figure out how to succeed. The first semester at college may be similarly challenging, though I have no doubts about his ability to succeed in a challenging program. I don't want to make him feel like we are not confident in his abilities, but do want to make sure that he understands the risks, and the effort he will need to put in from day one. We also really don't know what other factors they are considering in the holistic part of the review. Average GPA of those accepted was a 3.8
with a range of 3.1 to 4.0. His only other potential choice major took 60%, avg GPA 3.6. There will be a second round of applications after the current semester.
The downside of school B is that, while he is assured his current major of choice, if he does change his mind, as many do, switching to another engineering major is difficult. DS has however been in engineering at his HS for all four years so he is coming in with a pretty good level of previous exposure. He is pretty confident he knows where his interests are. He also feels the overall fit for him was better at school A.
So how do we help him weigh the options? And should we pressure him to revisit school B and put it back in contention? Or, give him the info and then just let it be? He is out of town ( at an engineering competition at the moment) but we want to talk to him this Sunday.
Thoughts from any parents who have experienced similar choices in the past appreciated!
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