This is in response to @RichInPitt:
So we are comparing UDel and UMD for ChemE. Not that we are placing that much stock in rankings, but ChemE at UDel is in the T10 while UMD comes in in the mid-30s.
Setting price aside for the moment, DS would have more current friends at UMD, and if he bails on ChemE but sticks with engineering, the other programs, as well as most non-engineering programs seem to be stronger at UMD. On the other hand, the campus at UDel seems to be more popular among commentators (we haven’t visited yet), the size seems to be more manageable, and the decent mountain biking is closer.
This isn’t necessarily a choice yet. He was admitted to ChemE at UDel, but no word of merit scholarship money thus far. (Enough is expected to put the annual costs within $10K of UMD, which would not be an issue.) He won’t hear from UMD until late January.