Engineering: Difficult Choice Between Two Schools (JMU vs. WVU)

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I posted this in the Parents Forum before I realized there was an engineering forum. Probably fits better here. If you happen to read the parenting forum, sorry for the repeat.</p>

<p>Okay, my son is in a somewhat quandry over this. He did not get accepted into his top choice, Virginia Tech. He is waitlisted.</p>

<p>He thinks he wants to be an engineer. Now, let me caveat by saying that he's really not sure. We've talked to many people, gone on tours, and he still can't picture in his mind what his job might end up being and he has a hard time really imagining what he might be doing with an engineering degree. But, he has always enjoyed math courses and when he looks at curriculum, this is what he is drawn to.</p>

<p>We live in Virginia. He applied to West Virginia University's Engineering College and was accepted into their Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering program. He was also accepted into their school's honor college. Because the Mechanical/Aerospace engineering degree (dual major) is not offered in Virginia, as part of the Academic Common Market he gets in-state tuition rates. They have also awarded him a small academic scholarship. So the cost to attend is very reasonable. My daughter also attends WVU, loves it, but it does have its drawbacks.</p>

<p>My son has also been accepted to James Madison University. This is a regional school with a fairly good reputation and we know several people who have gone and not a bad word has ever been said. We visited for the first time the other day and the campus was beautiful, the food was delicious, the students all seemed extremely upbeat and engaged. Here's the rub. Their engineering program is in its 5th year. It's new. It will be ABET certified this year. My son will be entering their 6th class. They seem to have good outcomes from what they showed us. I ran the program by my engineer friend and he seemed very supportive of what they are doing. It is a "generalist" engineering program and doesn't specialize. They are one of 35 colleges in the country that do this and they say they chose to do this because industry indicated that a generalist engineer was sort of the "wave of the future." My engineer friend did tell me that one of his best professors at Virginia Tech thought the best engineer was a general engineer. But sometimes when we talk about it with other people, I can see them make a puzzled face. </p>

<p>We're just not sure.</p>

<p>To top it off, my son isn't 100% sure he wants to be an engineer and this is where it gets tricky.</p>

<p>WVU: Engineering program has a good reputation. If my son can't keep a 3.0 GPA he will lose his merit aid (not a huge deal--it is small). If my son decides he doesn't like engineering or even doesn't like mechanical engineering and changes his major, his tuition will triple to out of state rates. He will be forced to change schools because we cannot pay those costs. School spirit there is excellent, staff is excellent, engineering support is excellent. Campus is kind of so-so, town is great but can be very run down looking. On-campus food is not very good. Overall reputation of the school is "party school"; however, engineering school seems to be respected. </p>

<p>JMU: Engineering program is still in its infancy stages (although the school feels very strongly about how good it is), in-state rates are reasonable. If my son drops out of engineering, he 200 majors to choose from and won't have to change schools. If he decides he truly loves engineering and wants to specialize, he could transfer over to VT in a year or so because he's on the right track for courses. The JMU campus was really nice, seems like he fits in there with the student body, campus is 2 hours from home which was a plus in all our books, surrounding town looks like a typical suburb and not "interesting" like Morgantown but absolutely fine. Taking a chance with general engineering.</p>

<p>If you have made it this far, thanks!! I would love your thoughts.</p>

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<p>The likely reason is that most of the 35 colleges are small or have small engineering divisions or departments, so it may be hard for them to offer the full breadth and depth of courses for distinct engineering majors, as opposed to a general engineering science major.</p>

<p>However, such a degree program may be suitable for a student who is not sure of what kind of engineering s/he wants to go into, or one who wants to go into an area that is somewhat interdisciplinary with respect to various kinds of engineering.</p>

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<p>When you list the possible outcomes it would appear that going to JMU gives your son the most flexibility. WVA only works if he sticks with Mech/Aero. JMU works for all other majors and if he decides he wants a specific engineering degree (e.g., Mech, Aero, or Aero/Ocean) he can transfer to VaTech.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your responses.</p>

<p>ChrisTKD–I originally posted my thread on the Parents forum, not realizing that this might be the better forum (although I got some GREAT responses on the Parents Forum!!). On that forum someone suggested that getting into VT from JMU might be pretty much impossible due to: 1) limited spaces and 2) those limited spaces being taken up by the community college reciprocal agreements. </p>

<p>I was thinking that he could just waltz into VT if he was doing great at JMU but, based on those comments, that’s not looking like a good option either. </p>

<p>What are your thoughts on that? Do you have any knowledge of how hard it is to transfer in from schools besides the CCs that have agreements?</p>

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<p>I read through the Parents Forum post and they mention not accepting applications for Spring semester. I don’t think it’s the same for Fall. I’m trying to recall what Admissions said when we did the Engineering Open House last year. They did address comments by applicants interested in transferring into Engineering from other universities but it was in line with the discussion on the website, i.e., it didn’t sound like it was impossible as long as you had the grades (both overall and individually) and had taken prerequisites. The website discussion on transfers is excerpted below. I’d summarize by: 1) you probably need to have completed one year at JMU and taken similar classes to VaTech freshman engineering, 2) B or better grades in all classes, 3) competitive overall gpa (the higher the better obviously).</p>

<p>"Admission is offered on a competitive basis to transfer applicants as long as space is available in their chosen fields of study. Students are considered transfer applicants if they have formally enrolled at another college or university and attempted 12 or more hours at any time following graduation from high school.</p>

<p>Please note: The most important factors considered for admission are: completion or substantial progress toward completing prerequisite courses, particularly freshman English, math , and science appropriate for the intended major; and overall GPA in college course work. Although the admissions committee considers applicants with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 (on a 4.0 scale), most competitive applicants will present a GPA of 3.0 or better. In majors where applications exceed available space, such as business, communication, and engineering, the competitive GPA may be even higher. Also note that transfer applications are no longer accepted for majors in Architecture or Industrial Design.</p>

<p>Transfer applicants who have successfully completed the equivalent of Virginia Tech’s core curriculum requirements, especially those who have completed two years at a Virginia community college, will receive preference in the admission process. Applicants are encouraged to visit Virginia Tech’s Transfer Equivalency Database for course equivalents at Virginia community colleges or other two- and four-year institutions.</p>

<p>Transfer applicants, including those who have completed an associate’s degree, must:
have completed all entrance requirements, or the equivalent in a college program, for all entering students (see Freshman Academic Requirements).
be in good standing at all colleges and universities attended.
in addition to meeting the minimum requirements, present credentials of “B” or higher in courses of Freshman English, Mathematics (as required by the specific major) and Science (as required by the specific major). Applicants who have successfully completed the equivalent of Virginia Tech’s core curriculum, especially those who have completed an associate’s degree at a Virginia two-year college, receive preference in the admission process. See the Transfer Guide for more information.</p>