At a typical school ME is likely to be harder than CS.
The drop outs from Engg mostly happen as the student goes through the Math curriculum in the first two years. That tends to be the stumbling block. ME and CS has somewhat different kinds of math needs after the first 3-4 semesters.
ME and CS are very different paths. Helpful to spend time figuring out in high school ahead of time.
ASU will be under. Have you looked at U of Arizona. Awesome engineering school. Honors dorm with cafe on the. Bottom floor and gym adjacent. Very traditional campus vs ASU multiple over the city although engineering will be in one place. . Tucson is cooler than Phoenix. Iâm an ASU alum for MBA. For engineering, Iâd strongly consider Tucson (my wife is an alum). Nicer. Sheâs be low 20s cost wise. Well under budget. Just another safety. If you go look at ASU itâs just another 100 mins away. Frankly a nicer campus (imho) and set up.
Miami will be close $ wise. But not really. Typically 25k merit but some get more. Itâs very expensive to live off campus. Donât forget you should add $3-5k a year on top of what the school says. For UM you can raise that.
Since you want warm, have you looked at UF (40s)or FSU (low 20s). Or NC State.
Btw you mentioned UAB. Did you look at UAH ? Much stronger in engineering although Iâll assume the entire state is out. Great for aerospace.
The list is small but obviously you have several youâll get in. Thatâs all that matters.
I would look at more where you know youâll make cost vs hoping if that makes sense. So a Miami, Santa Clara and Maryland have risk if you are right on budget.
You could spend $55k (your budget). You could also spend significantly less by swapping out to schools that are still awesome. Or simply adding them so you get more options for the final decision.
Ps Cal Poly not a match. And check price. They are adding a surcharge. Reach. Bing not a match. Safety in my opinion.
Good luck.
I think spending up for quality matters less for ME than for CS, because ME is usually ABET accredited and standardized, and I think employers care less about the notional ranking.
This is a significant misconception. ABET does not standardize. ABET sets minimum program requirements.
Itâs true that there are a lot of ways to get to the end resultâŠpracticing engineer. Itâs also true that all of them can be effective. They are not all the same though.
If CA schools are on the list, Iâd throw in my sonâs alma mater, Cal Poly. Itâs in an idyllic location and they produce very strong ME and CS grads. It would be in budget at full price.
Good luck!
If this is the case, then paying up for better ranked schools will matter.
Ranking is not necessarily what one would value paying for in terms of the differences between ME (and most other kinds of engineering) programs. Where different collegesâ ME programs differ includes:
Obviously, if the goal is to go into quant finance or management consulting or other jobs where hiring is college-elitist, then going into the most elite college possible overrides many other factors. But that is not necessarily the case for someone who wants to work as a mechanical engineer.
Anyone have source with actual data.? Itâs easy to find âstudies have shownâ, Iâm looking for actual data.
EDIT: Actual data, though from a few years ago.
32% in Engineering, 28% in Computer and Information Sciences.
Percentage of 2011â12 beginning postsecondary students who ever changed majors, by original declared field of study: 2014
I think if you combine that with drop outs, you get to the higher number. I canât find the link right at the moment, but ASEE says 40-50% who start in engineering donât complete an engineering degree.
Honestly - itâs off topic - the point I made was - especially if the student is not getting the exposure in advance the parent wants - i simply made the point to go to a school with many options.
No point in debating something thatâs widely spread in the news as to the source - if you listen to my son and his fellow students, droves drop out first year (first semester, many to business).
But the chain is to find a school in budget for the student - who can be in budget or well under budget.
But doesnât your student attend a less selective college, where there are many more high school B students who are more likely to have difficulty with engineering course work? The OPâs student is an A student who is more likely to be able to handle engineering course work.
Again - we are giving suggestions.
The OP has listed the following and is looking for more - within budget.
Safety: Arizona State, SUNY New Paltz
Match/Fit: Santa Clara (with merit), SUNY Binghamton, U of Miami, SDSU (or CPSLO)
Reach: G Tech, U of Southern Cal (with merit)
What are your suggstions?
For the record, my kidâs school is loaded with smart kids, over 900 NMFs in fact - why? The $$ !!! But yes, overall itâs not a selective school - similar to many state flagships. But they buy in a ton of smart ones. I didnât suggest simply that school - I suggested a host of schools that would come in well under budget - because outcomes wonât be that far off.
For the OPs majors, Cal Poly would fall into the same category as GT and USC. For CS Itâs probably more selective.
was for UCB Alumnus 
but thanks.
and i canât spell
Glad to see you are back.
Glad you agree - I put CPSLO a reach for them, not match - and then SUNY B I think is likely an easy in given the stats.
Or the dreaded combined 5 credit statics and dynamics class 
@MrkInMerrick your list has a wide variety of schools; what is your daughter looking for in a school: large/small, urban/suburban, school spirit w/athletics/smaller with an LAC feel? Whatâs important to her: research, hands on program, high co-op participation rate, successful career center? Has she considered larger schools with a great honors college? Where would she like to live after graduation and in what type of industry/company does she envision working?
I grabbed the wrong text for the quote 
Point well taken and understood.
No strong size, sport, feel preferences. Between $ and geographies, we whittle things down to a fairly short list. Those priorities narrow it sufficiently. Adding another filter might not be feasible.
Re CPSLO, Reach in terms of probability of admission, or due to financials?
Youâve got some great in-state options. Just explore whether going to someone elseâs state U gets you anything but a more expensive trip home for XmasâŠ
Admission. They are pretty objective in the algorithm, but ME and CS are very competitive. The year my son was admitted, 13% ish (itâs hard to know exact numbers because they donât publish yield per major) of MEs were admitted and even fewer for CS. Your student has strong stats though and as I said, the algorithm is largely objective.
