Do Georgia Tech and Caltech admit engineering applicants by intended major?

The biggest practical difference is that Georgia Tech has applicants select an intended major on the application, while Caltech admits students to the Institute before they choose an academic option. At Georgia Tech, that selection helps explain your academic interests and preparation, but first-year applicants are not formally admitted into a particular engineering major. At Caltech, students complete a substantial shared first-year core and typically declare an option, Caltech’s term for major, after their first year.

For Georgia Tech, choose the engineering major that honestly best matches your coursework, activities, and goals. An applicant interested in aerospace engineering, for example, should be able to show why physics, math, design, coding, or aerospace-related experiences led there. You are not locked into that choice after enrollment; changing majors is possible, though some programs may have course-sequencing considerations that make an early change easier than a late one.

At Caltech, applicants are evaluated for fit with its intensely quantitative, science-centered academic environment rather than for admission to a specific engineering option. Your stated interests still matter because they give context to your preparation and intellectual direction, but Caltech does not operate as separate admissions pools for mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or other options.