Placement into a major

You will request placement in the summer after your first year.

If you have advanced college credits that satisfy the application requirements for the capacity constrained pathway and are on track to complete the enrollment requirements, you may choose to apply to one or more engineering majors via this pathway. The capacity constrained pathway is intended primarily for prospective transfer students or current UW students who are not ENGRUDs and discovered an interest in engineering after they started at the UW, but ENGRUDs may apply if they are eligible. This pathway has more robust eligibility requirements, different application timelines, and a different application portal than the placement process. Admission to a major through this route is not guaranteed. Being admitted through the capacity constrained pathway would mean that you are able to start the junior-level curriculum in your second year at the UW. If you are not admitted, you will remain an ENGRUD and go through the placement process at the end of the first year.

If you think this may apply to you, reach out to your adviser to discuss further. For more information on this pathway, see “What is the capacity constrained pathway,” below.

Yes. If you’d like to pursue an engineering major, you’ll need to complete the placement requirements and request placement at the end of your first year. The second-year curriculum varies across engineering majors. Placement at the end of the first year ensures that you will be able to progress with an intentional academic plan to stay on a four-year graduation timeline.

There are many factors and experiences to consider as you make a decision about the order of your rankings. While this is an important initial decision in your academic career, your education and career exploration process is a journey, not a one-time choice. As you learned through your experience in your E-FIG, engineering is a highly interdisciplinary field and many of the engineering majors available at the UW can lead to similar career goals.

If you need help thinking through your next steps, set up an appointment to meet with your assigned engineering adviser and reflect on which courses you’ve found most engaging so far. More opportunities to gain perspective to help you move forward in your decision-making process include:

• Review the Areas of Impact pages.
• Review the sample four year plans and major overview sheets to learn more about the classes that are required of upper-division students in the major.
• Review our departments’ websites and note their areas of research.
• Check out LinkedIn to see what alumni from the various engineering majors are up to
• Schedule an appointment with a career coach in the Career Center at Engineering.
• Get involved in a club or student competition group.
• Talk to continuing engineering students.
• Stop by an engineering faculty member’s office hours.
• Check out past capstone projects and attend capstone sessions in the spring.
• Check out where College of Engineering alumni go after graduation.

There is no one “right” major. All engineering majors at the UW lead to successful and varied career opportunities.

The placement process is specific to majors within the College of Engineering. If you would like to explore transitioning to a major at the UW outside of the College of Engineering, you will need to follow that department’s process for admission to that major.

In order to be guaranteed placement, you must rank all of the majors you are eligible for. If you rank fewer and all of your ranked majors reach capacity, you will be offered the opportunity to rank the majors with remaining capacity.

To guarantee placement, you must:

• Meet the ENGRUD continuation policy.
• Complete the placement requirements.
• Have a minimum 2.00 UW ENGRUD grade point average (GPA).
• Earn a minimum 2.0 grade in each placement requirement.
• Have completed a minimum 24 credits as a matriculated UW student.
• Rank all majors you are eligible for.

The capacity constrained pathway is intended primarily for prospective transfer students or current UW students who are not ENGRUDs and discovered an interest in engineering after they started at the UW. The capacity constrained pathway may also be appropriate for ENGRUD students who brought in a large number of credits (around 90 credits or more; usually not just AP or IB) that are generally engineering-specific/relevant.

Applying through the capacity constrained pathway means that, if admitted, students would be able to start the junior-level curriculum in their second year at the UW. This pathway has more robust eligibility requirements, different application timelines, and a different application portal than the placement process. If an ENGRUD student applies via the capacity constrained pathway and is not offered admission they will remain an ENGRUD student and can still go through the placement process at the end of the year. Students who think this may apply to them are encouraged to meet with their adviser for further guidance.

No. There is no preference given to students based on the time/date of submission. The 5 p.m. PDT deadline is firm so be sure to give yourself time to allow for any technical difficulties.

No, placement requests only include courses completed by the end of spring quarter of your first year. Therefore, you should plan to complete the placement requirements by the end of your first year. However, if you started in Math 120 or Chem 110, or need more time to complete the requirements, you will be able to submit a petition to request conditional placement.

Petitions to request conditional placement due to missing placement requirement(s) will be approved on a rolling basis as they are received. If you are not in good ENGRUD standing, your petition will be reviewed by a committee. Approval is not guaranteed.

If you are placed in a major, placement will be conditional until the missing placement requirement(s) have been completed which must happen by the end of winter quarter of your second year. Many students will opt to complete any missing placement requirements over the summer to remain on a four-year graduation path.

Once you have completed the placement requirements, you should focus on the enrollment requirements for your major(s) of interest. The enrollment requirements for each major are noted via the shaded squares on this chart.

If you have advanced engineering-related credit, you may choose to explore the capacity constrained pathway in order to try to access the junior level curriculum sooner. Otherwise, students who are ahead in credits explore completing a minor, a second degree, study abroad, an extended internship or research experience. You are encouraged to work with your adviser to explore ways to maximize your time at UW.

Placement requests are assessed through a holistic review process. Holistic review is a comprehensive assessment of your UW grade trends, rigor of course loads, ENGRUD GPA and reflection on your major exploration via the short answer response.

If your first-choice major is full, we will try to place you into your second-choice major, and if that’s full, we’ll look at your third-choice, etc.

Ranking all majors you are eligible for will guarantee that you will be placed. If you rank fewer and all of your ranked majors reach capacity, you will be offered the opportunity to rank the majors with remaining capacity.

The College of Engineering has capacity for all ENGRUD students to be placed into an engineering major.

No. Your placement request will be considered holistically. The evaluation process looks at:

• Your academics (UW grade trends, rigor of curriculum, and ENGRUD GPA)
• Reflection on your exploration process in the short answer response

Extracurricular activities may be one type of experience that you reflect on in your short answer response. Thoughtful, deep reflection is more important that quantity of activities.

The ENGRUD Grade Point Average (GPA) is the average of the grades across the courses you’ve completed at the UW that are on this list. In order to be eligible to request placement, students must have a minimum of a 2.00 ENGRUD GPA. A student’s ENGRUD GPA is one of the components of the ENGRUD continuation policy.

The UW (cumulative) Grade Point Average (GPA) is the average of all of the grades across all of the courses you’ve completed at the UW. A student's UW GPA is used to determine their Scholastic Academic Standing.

ENGRUD courses, including placement requirements, must be completed with a numerical grade.

Courses required for a major or university requirement, major declaration or admission, or a known prerequisite, should not be taken as S/NS.

All ENGRUDs are guaranteed placement into an engineering major. The majority of ENGRUDs are placed into one of their top-choice majors.

Because student demand for majors varies each year, requests for some majors will exceed capacity. Visit the Placement Data page to view a summary of placement outcomes from prior years.

No, you will be placed into your highest ranked engineering major with capacity.

For most engineering majors you will continue working on foundational enrollment requirements through much of your second year. You will start the junior level, major-restricted courses in spring of your second year or fall of your third year. The major that you are placed into will ensure you have access to any major-restricted coursework needed to keep you on a four-year graduation timeline.

Although we anticipate being able to place the majority of students in one of their top choices, demand for seats in some majors will exceed capacity. If you have been placed in a program other than your top choice, we hope that you will connect with your new major adviser and the Career Center @ Engineering as soon as possible to learn more about how your academic path ahead can contribute to and shape your career goals.

Placement into an engineering major via the ENGRUD path is final. If you would like to pursue an engineering major that you were not placed in, you can apply to it next year via the capacity constrained pathway.

If you decide to pursue another major at the UW outside of the College of Engineering, you will need to follow that department’s process for admission to that major.

Due to capacity limitations, you cannot pursue two majors/degrees within the College of Engineering (e.g. mechanical engineering and chemical engineering).

You may, however, pursue an additional degree outside of the College of Engineering. It is important to note that students earning two degrees must complete a minimum of 45 additional credits above and beyond the 180 required for the first degree. It may be difficult to earn a double degree within four years unless you brought in significant applicable transfer credit. Approval from both departments is needed if you will need longer than four years to complete the degrees.

It's important to consider why you are seeking to complete an additional degree; what skills or knowledge would you gain in the additional major that is essential to your career goals? Your academic adviser or a counselor in the Career Center at Engineering can help you create a plan to achieve your goals.

Logistically, if you decide to pursue two degrees, you must wait until you have successfully completed the placement process into an engineering major to add the additional major. You cannot maintain ENGRUD major status with any additional major.

If you have not completed all of the placement requirements for one or more majors of interest by the end of your first year, and/or if you are on ENGRUD probation, you will need to submit the petition to request conditional placement. You are responsible for reviewing your MyENGRUD to determine this.

If you are only missing placement requirements but are in good ENGRUD standing, your petition will be approved on a rolling basis.

If you are not in good ENGRUD standing, your petition will be reviewed by a committee. Approval is not guaranteed. 

If your petition is approved, you will be able to request placement into any major that you are not eligible for (along with any that you are eligible for).

Conditional placement means you will have a spot held in your placed major until the end of winter quarter of your second year. Your ENGRUD adviser will be your primary point of contact for advising in the interim. If you do not complete the missing requirements with a minimum 2.0 grade and/or earn good ENGRUD standing, you will be transitioned out of the College of Engineering.

The only instance where your petition may not be approved is if you have an ENGRUD GPA below a 2.00. In the case that your petition is not approved, you will be transitioned out of the College of Engineering to pre-major status.