Ok, here is the update.
DS was granted a trustee’s scholarship along with honors college admission to UDel for ChemE. Better scholarship still a possibility, but not factored into discussion.
UMD (in-state) admitted him for Spring 2022 to “Letters & Science”, which means he would have to take the engineering pre-requisites before he is actually admitted to the College of Engineering. There is a program that would allow him to take classes in the Fall, but he would be last on the totem pole for requesting courses, unlike UDel, where he would have priority enrollment. His fall classes would all be after 3:30 p.m. No honors college. Tuition difference as of now is about $9K a year, which isn’t an issue. Since he wants to do ChemE and is admitted to the major at UDel, which is a T10 program, we are having a hard time figuring out why UMD would be a better choice. DS is concerned about rumors that the entire social scene at UDel revolves around getting blotto every Thursday to Sunday, which he wants no part of, and still thinks UMD has a better rep overall, but that’s about it. Thoughts?