(05-04-2017 07:11 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  MIT is obviously a better engineering school than UCSD, so it's preposterous to say that UCSD would not admit him as an engineering student but MIT would.

Things may be different nowadays or at different schools, but you aren't "in" an engineering program right away as an undergrad. You have to make sufficient grades in math, physics, etc. before you can register for engineering classes. Like I said, that's how it used to be.

I don't think it's preposterous at all. UCSD offers the following undergraduate majors:

Computer Engineering (B.S.)*
Electrical Engineering and Society (B.A.)*
Engineering Physics (B.S.)*

the * means it's a capped major with higher qualifications and limited enrollment. Engineering is a demanding topic. Athletics is demanding too. It's reasonable for a school to not allow you to do both.

And MIT is D3 athletics, you might understand where they might have more allowances for reprioritizing athletics. Actually, Stugray2 didn't say he's playing basketball at MIT. His thought might have been "I'll goto UCSD if I get a basketball scholarship, but if I have to pay my own way I'm going to MIT".