Getting an engineering job with a non engineering major

[engineerhopeful]

Hi all,

I am a student beginning my second semester of college in the spring. I am currently attending a community college and I am looking to transfer to the University of Maryland because it is in state tuition for me and they have my intended program of study, Aerospace Engineering. To transfer into their engineering program they have certain gateway course requirements that make or break your admission. In the case of engineering this is a B in Physics I, a B in Calculus II, and a C in Chemistry. Only allowing you to repeat one of these courses one time to achieve the required grade. In my case, I made the dumb mistake of taking the calculus based Physics I class my senior year of high school. Between my high school load and having to commute to class on top of that, I only got a C in the class and therefore have used my repeat this first semester (now I have a 98%). This meant that I had to get a B in Calc II the first time because I have used my repeat. Unfortunately I ended up with a 78 and some change this semester in Calc II and couldn't convince my instructor to push me over the edge. So therefore I am ineligible for the Engineering School at University of Maryland. I am currently working with them to see if there is any wiggle room in this policy with no success so far.

Due to this I am now looking at the possibility to change majors in order to stay in state and not have to pay Student loans for the next 90 years of my life. I have applied for many scholarships without much success so I can't justify the cost of going out of state. I was wondering if it is possible to get a job in the aerospace engineering industry as a physics major and make comparable money as I know an "aerospace engineering" degree makes more money on paper than a physicist.

Obviously the main goal is to find a loop hole in the system and get into the school of engineering at UMD but if that doesn't happen I would like to have a plan B.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

Go the community college route. Most of the general ed requirements at state Universities, are packed to the the brim with students. Going to a community college, will allow you to finish you're degree cheaper, help you adjust to college life, and to have more time with an instructor in theory. No offense, but it is kind of retarted to change majors because of not being admitted to a school.

sorry, i thought you were a high school student. Ignore my post.

 

[micromass]

Perhaps go for a physics major. Take many engineering electives if that is possible. Then try to get admitted to a masters or PhD in aerospace engineering. I don't know how feasible this plan is.

 

[clope023]

Perhaps go for a physics major. Take many engineering electives if that is possible. Then try to get admitted to a masters or PhD in aerospace engineering. I don't know how feasible this plan is.

This is probably the OP's best option given their situation, but there are other universities in Maryland though. Johns Hopkins, which is the home of APL (http://www.jhuapl.edu/) for instance:

http://engineering.jhu.edu/fields-of-study/space-systems-space-science-and-aerospace/