Son is choosing between these 3 schools and plans to go to grad or business school after UG is done. I am struggling to see $120K in value of Vanderbilt over Michigan.
Alabama
Price: $39K total with NMF & engineering scholarship
Pro: Sports, new engineering facilities, wants high performers, cheap, weather, expanding rapidly, not close to home
Con: Somewhat isolated, low rankings
Michigan
Price: $120K total w in-state tuition
Pro: Sports, high rankings, super research facilities, faculty, many friends going there, recruiting, Ross
Cons: Dorms , close to home, weather, denied PA to Ross
Vanderbilt
Price: $243K total
Pro: Small class sizes, faculty student ratio, Nashville, weather, happy students, new facilities, intimate atmosphere, not close to home, beautiful campus
Con: Price, lower engineering rankings than Michigan
If money is a concern, go for Alabama. If money is not a concern, go for Michigan. You are correct in not seeing the value in spending an additional $120k on Vanderbilt. Even if they cost the same, for an aspiring engineering, Michigan makes better sense than Vanderbilt.
I agree with Alexandre, UMichigan easily has the best engineering of those three schools. And if you can afford the instate tuition then definitely do UMichigan.
For an MBA the good schools expect students to have 2-5 years work experience before enrolling. So the undergrad college is indirectly relevant in the sense that it may affect who recruits on campus but that is probably not a big effect for a ChemE degree.
On the other hand, grad school, what does son mean? I suspect he doesn’t really know much about this. In engineering a PhD is uncommon; the typical working engineer has a MS or BS. And a much better way to get a MS is to do it thru a school that has a 5-year program to get both BS and MS. He’ll have to look to see which if any of these offer it. The lost salary of taking 2 years to get a MS instead of 1 is a big deal, even aside from the cost (probably smaller) of actually paying for the 2nd year.
Also factor into your/his decision that stat that nationally 1/2 to 2/3rds of all those entering engineering drop out of it. Given that he isn’t really certain what he wants to do after school, he may not really have the committment it takes to get thru the heavy workload for ChemE. So it’s worth thinking about which he’d want to be at should he switch majors.
@mikemac, he is unsure whether he wants to go the PhD route or not, but is certain that he wants at least a masters degree. He really likes research (did a microfluidics internship last summer) , but also likes business and might follow a management track. We are trying to select a school that gives him the most options. He isn’t afraid of working hard , he is extremely disciplined and organized but doesn’t function well on little sleep so we will see if ChemE is too much for him. He loves chemistry and math though so it seems like a good fit.
Can you expand on your recruiting comment for ChemE at school A vs school B ? Or are you referring only to MBA programs?
Yes. MBA schools care about what you did those years right out of college, and the recruiting may be stronger at some schools than others. I’m no expert on these 3, they all have a good reputation, but someone with specific knowledge about MBA programs may be able to make a distinction on business-related recruiting.
My observation has been people leave science/engineering majors not because they can’t do the work, but because they decide it isn’t worth it. So if he does work hard he should be fine academically.
Doesn’t Bama have a combined STEMBA program that could likely be completed within the 5-year NMF package (meaning that unused semesters of NMF tuition can be applied to MBA tuition)?
Bama has an engineering management program with the business school. The Dean said it was very popular with NMF (and other) engineering students. Michigan allows dual enrollment with engineering and Ross but I do not know much about a combined program.
Does that $39k figure include the graduate tuition, or only the undergrad? Michigan is a great school (I’m from MI), but I wanted to make sure you knew that once your son finishes his Chem degree, any unused semesters from the NMF package can be used for MBA / grad school.
There was at least one poster on the engineering major section of these forums who viewed having a business second major or minor as a negative when looking to hire new engineering graduates. The poster’s experience was that such people tended to see engineering as a mere stepping stone to management and we’re less enthusiastic about doing engineering.
@DiotimaDM , the figures were for 4 yr undergrad only. He would have to pay about $13K more for an additional year at Alabama (with 5 yr NMF), $33K at Michigan (in-state grad tuition w inflation estimate), and $74K at Vanderbilt (rack rate w inflation estimate)
Bama’s chemE dept has some incredibly strong students with awesome UG research opportunities. The dept has had multiple Goldwater Scholars the past several yrs. (Regardless of the bias against Bama, that is quite an accomplishment.)
If you can afford it, I’d pick Michigan. Vandy definitely not worth the extra cost over Mich (I’d pick Mich even at same cost as Vandy). On the other hand, Mich is arguably worth $80K more than Bama. Mich engineering is one of the best in the country and has terrific industry connections.
If money is an issue, then Bama of course. It depends on your financial situation.