How much is an engineering education worth?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>How much is an engineering education worth? (not merely in terms of future earnings) </p>

<p>I'm faced with a fortunate dilemma. I've been accepted to UC San Diego and also Harvey Mudd College. UCSD awarded me a scholarship that pays for everything: tuition, room, board, fees, books, etc. It also gives me priority registration, the ability to participate in research starting as a freshmen, and guarenteed housing for four years. Additionally, because of AP and college credit, I can get a master's degree, double major, or pursue non-engineering areas of interest while I attend. Harvey Mudd offered a $10,000 per year scholarship that would cause the total costs of tuition, housing, supplies, and fees to be $34,000 per year. I have no doubt that Harvey Mudd would provide me with a better education and social environment. However, I'm having difficulty justifying the cost of attendence. Also, because of the heavy liberal arts requirements at Harvey Mudd, I don't even know if I'd be learning much more. I might just be forced to learn the same amount of material faster. Another difference between the schools is workload. In my high school, I don't do any homework outside of class. I'm secretly afraid that my GPA would be much lower at Harvey Mudd due to its strenuous academics. Should this even factor into my decision? Do graduate schools or employers care much?</p>

<p>I'd appreciate any advice or insight you could give me. And yes, I know the schools are very different in terms of scale and atmosphere. One last thing: I was also accepted to Cornell and Berkeley. Should I be considering those as well? I figure UCSD is the best value and HMC offers the best education. Thanks.</p>

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<p>If it's not a top 5 or 10 program, go with the money ;).</p>

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<p>you're sitting on a winning ticket. go to mudd.</p>

<p>top 5 or 10? heh... top 2.</p>

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<p>Mmmmm, that depends... it's #2 for schools without a doctorate program. I was referring to schools with a doctorate program, which I think UCSD has (correct me if I'm wrong). But, I don't think it's top 10 (again, if I'm wrong...).</p>

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<p>man berkeley dominated most of the engineering programs...if you want the best engineering program for sure is berkeley, but since you got that full ride for sd so that's not bad either.</p>

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<p>Unless money is no problem for you, go with the scholarship! I believe that Harvey Mudd is one of the top engineering schools in this country, but is it worth $34,000 a year when you've got a full-ride somewhere else? No. No way. Unless you've got lots of money.</p>

7

<p>Slorg, I love HMC, as you might guess from my username :)</p>

<p>I'm going to agree with Dr. Reynolds. Why? Because of this:</p>

<p>
[quote]
UCSD awarded me a scholarship that pays for everything: tuition, room, board, fees, books, etc. It also gives me priority registration, the ability to participate in research starting as a freshmen, and guarenteed housing for four years. Additionally, because of AP and college credit, I can get a master's degree, double major, or pursue non-engineering areas of interest while I attend.

[/quote]
UCSD's offer increases your options. </p>

<p>I don't see HMC's liberal arts requirement as a problem for you; but, quite honestly, this is a red flag:</p>

<p>
[quote]
In my high school, I don't do any homework outside of class.

[/quote]
You would have to develop a work ethic with an emphasis on time management skills. Nothing personal--and not saying you couldn't do that--but that's harder to do than it sounds. And remember that freshman core, even though 1st semester is pass/no pass, assumes that you start each class with a knowledge base at the AP 5 scoring level. (I also want to emphasize that HMC has the academic resources readily available to help any student who wants it.)</p>

<p>Here's another option for you. Do you know that HMC has summer research opportunities? Why not get some research experience under your belt at UCSD and apply to HMC for summer research? They offer NSF-REUs in chemistry and CS and research in all other areas. For that matter, you could do the same thing with Cornell which has a huge number of NSF-REUs in all research areas in an environment quite different from SoCal. The important thing is to keep your GPA up, get some research experience, and develop a good relationship with at least one mentor prof.</p>

<p>From what I know of Berkeley, I think it is absolutely the best school for a very particular kind of UG student, but that is a very narrow band. So I am not going to recommend it, especially considering your other options. </p>

<p>Best of luck to you whatever you decide!</p>

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<p>I don't understand why my financial situation matters. I would still have to pay the same amount to Harvey Mudd whether my family could afford it or not. In fact, my family has enough money to pay for Harvey Mudd. Yet, I'm unconvinced it should. For example, I could afford to buy a $5,000 12 GHz computer, but I don't because it's a bad deal (and pointless because I already have an 800 MHz computer). Is the interest on education loans so large that it would tip the scale?</p>

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<p>Slorg, your point about value is valid. But for a lot of kids and their parents, money is a tipping factor. Choices involving money mean examining trade-offs, and opinions on that vary greatly from individual to individual.</p>

<p>To address your question directly, is HMC worth roughly $40,000 per year? IMO, yes. Is it worth a $160,000 debt load? IMO, no unless that is an inconsequential amount for that family. In between, there is a continuum of debt load. Every family will answer differently where it falls on that continuum.</p>

<p>Now assuming that the amount is not a financial barrier in any way, you have to examine options. UCSD gives you:</p>

<ol>
<li> Priority registration [not a factor at HMC]</li>
<li> Ability to participate in research as a frosh [probably won't happen until summer after freshman year at HMC at the earliest unless you're engineering or exceptional in some particular area, mostly due to time necessary to devote to classes and building your interdisciplinary knowledge base]</li>
<li> Guaranteed housing for four years [not a factor at HMC]</li>
<li> Grants you AP and college credit</li>
</ol>

<p>This is a deal-breaker, IMO. You're not going to get AP credit at HMC. You can get credit for prior college classes in the core (with stipulations; must provide course syllabus, etc.). The downside is that your reward is placing into extremely rigorous classes with upperclassmen who've been through the HMC core. Think about that. (Spoken as one whose Mudder did it.)</p>

<p>You will not be graduating with a master's in four years or a double major (except for the interdisciplinary ones HMC offers if that's your interest; double majors are doable but the exception and faculty discourage it--again, except in rare circumstances), and it will be harder for you to pursue non-engineering interests than it would be at an integrated uni like UCSD (certainly not impossible; Mudder loves his minor and has taken classes at all the other 5C's).</p>

<p>This is all JMHO, remember. Hope it helped a little bit.</p>

10

<p>When I went to B-School at Northwestern(Kellogg), the # 1 student in the class of 400+ was an engineering major. He had majored in civil engineering at Ohio State University. He had come from a poor family near Cincinnati, and actually had paid for his entire education on his own. A truly phenomenal student and person in every sense of the word.</p>

<p>He ended up taking a job with one of the major consulting firms and last I heard, lives pretty well in the metro NY/NJ area.</p>

<p>Moral of the story: where he went to undergrad meant nothing to prospective employers; his brain and ability meant everything. TAKE THE MONEY. GO TO UCSD.</p>

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<p>Slorg,
Congratulations on your options! I'm glad you see how fortunate your dilemna is. I'm curious about the scholarship UCSD is offering. How did you qualify? Would you be willing to share the highlights of your application?</p>

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<p>UCSD's Jacob School of Engineering pulls up a list of their top 100 applicants and then offers their unpublicized scholarship to 50 of them. UCSD expects about 10 acceptances each year. I'm guessing they use the point system to determine the top 100.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your advice. I'm leaning toward UCSD because although education at Harvey Mudd is probably worth $34,000 a year, I'm not sure if the difference in educations between UCSD and HMC is worth that much. I'm hesistant to commit, however, because I feel like I'm missing an opportunity of a lifetime.</p>