There are two campuses, one in Daytona Beach, FL and one in Prescott, AZ. The Daytona campus is the larger of the two, with around 5,000 students. Prescott has around 1,800 students. Both have great engineering programs, but Prescott is a much nicer location (IMO). They also have a higher proportion of engineering/science students.
Personally, I LOVE the Prescott campus. If what they offer fits what you are looking for academically, it is definitely worth checking out!
Pay attention to how easy or difficult it is to change majors, though. In some cases, engineering majors may be enrolled to capacity and may be difficult to change into if one is not directly admitted to the major. There are some schools which admit frosh only to pre-engineering programs and require all pre-engineering students to meet a high GPA or go through a competitive secondary admission process to enter an engineering major (e.g. Purdue, Minnesota, Texas A&M).
Sometimes, popular non-engineering majors like economics or psychology can also be enrolled to capacity, so that a high GPA or competitive secondary admission process is needed to enter the major.
^Great point, ucb. People throw around the idea of changing majors like all you need to do is fill out a form and you’re good to go. It’s not always that simple.
Thanks for sharing all the info and expertise! I’ve been keeping in mind the possibility she might end up changing her major. That’s one strike against Embry-Riddle, although they seem to have a great program.
In comparing UMD with UMBC I hadn’t taken into account that UMD might have an Honors floor(s). That could make a big difference. I know the LLCs at UMBC are awesome, so I’d expect the same from UMD.
UMD’s aerospace program is really, really tempting! UMBC appeals to her, but they don’t have aerospace. They do have mechanical, though. I’m going to investigate if it would make sense to get a BS in ME from UMBC, then go to UMD for a masters in aerospace engineering.
Engineering Physics? CHeck out Case Western Reserve University…they have good scholarships
A friend of my D got excellent merit aid from GA Tech as an OOS student. I was surprised, but it may be worth checking into. Agree with looking into URochester and RPI.
Still checking out schools, but we had her ACT scores sent to UMD, UMBC, UIUC, Purdue, and UA-Huntsville. She took the test with no prep, so we were pleasantly surprised at the results! C = 34, E = 36, M = 30, R = 34, S = 36. She had told us when she came home from the exam that she got bogged down on one math problem and forgot to skip and then go back to it, so she didn’t finish the section. She knows better, and I don’t think it would happen again.
Since she’s looking at Engineering, she wants to do some practice tests and re-take the exam to improve her math score. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to look through college sites for schools you all have recommended. She’s getting pretty excited about UMD, though…
Good scores, especially if she retakes for the math and a good shot at UMD!
It also gives her tuition + room at Huntsville, which may make it competitive financially with all but UMBC.