The main issue is that AE graduates may have more difficulty getting non-AE jobs, while non-AE engineering graduates (e.g. ME) are competitive for AE jobs. I.e. having an AE degree may be more limiting in terms of seeking jobs outside the specialty, but does not confer a similar advantage over others within the specialty – and being tied to a specialty may make job prospects much more dependent on that industry’s business cycles.
ME with AE electives may be a way of doing “AE” without giving too much of a limiting signal to employers.
If he goes to Florida Tech, he can easily switch from AE to ME (or any other E) if once he gets into it he feels there aren’t enough opportunities in AE. The only engineering he might fall behind in is chemical engineering just because ChemE’s take 17-19 credits per semester while the other majors can get by with 16-17. Even that isn’t really an issue as there are online classes which can be taken to catch up.
Flor Tech has a general engineering course the first semester for those who are unclear which way to go. My daughter took that and decided on civil, which surprised me as she was thinking ocean or chemical. My nephew also switched after a semester from something (I think EE) to ME. Those first few semesters are very similar for all disciplines. Except chemical.
I really think after he talks to professors and other students, or maybe even employers after a year, he’ll know which path is right for him.
Not the school in question, but Duke’s website says:
“Duke adjusts the expected contribution for families receiving need-based aid with multiple students in college at the same time. The Parent Contribution is adjusted to 60% of the full calculated contribution for families who have two children in college and to 45% of the full calculated contribution for those with three children in college.”
My philosophy is that undergrad is relatively general training. Specializing too early is a mistake, and AE is definitely specialized. It’s better to do mechanical engineering–which is basically AE without the highly specialized parts–because (1) yes, you won’t send that limiting signal to employers and (2) you’ll still have all the fundamentals, first principles, etc needed to actually work an AE job. The converse is not always true.
Same argument applies to all manner of majors. E.g., I don’t think it’s wise to major in data science over mathematics at the undergrad level. Data science is a masters’ program kind of field. Similarly, computer science is the correct choice for undergrad–not software engineering.