<p>I think part of the issue is relying on an advisor who works on a completely different campus than the target campus. Often, branch campuses function autonomously from the main campus of a university system, so there is no telling how much this advisor actually knew about all the policies at the main campus in Happy Valley.</p>
<p>And I never said that some 19 year old kid should know that ABET may effectively cap the size of a department. What I will say is that a 19 year old kid should, in this situation, make sure that he knows the policy and method for changing majors should the need arise considering that he was unsure of engineering science in the first place.</p>
<p>I know when I was 17/18 and looking for colleges originally, one of my first questions was always “how difficult is it to switch majors within engineering?” because I didn’t know what I wanted to do… common sense.</p>
<p>boneh3ad, I imagine the advisor did know a bit about policies at main campus, since I believe in order to finish an engineering degree in the Penn State system you need to attend main campus for your last year or two for the higher-level classes (they aren’t offered at the satellites, as I remember).</p>
<p>Also, Momof4, he might want to look at CMU anyway. After a decent chunk of merit aid and a little bit of financial aid me going there actually wound up costing less money per year than my brother attending Pitt.</p>
<p>First, navyasw02 needs to back off a bit. I’m an engineering student at Penn State, Schreyer scholar, and a research assistant. So, unlike navyasw02, I actually know the university and read posts before ridiculing. </p>
<p>I feel badly for the student, and I’ll talk to some professors tomorrow to get an idea of what the student could do. However, I do know that main campus is really troubled with the number of engineering students that enter the program during the third year. The various satellite campuses pass along a tremendous number of students after their second year- heading to main campus to complete their curriculum requirements. </p>
<p>I’m curious why the student feels overwhelmed? Did the satellite campus fail to properly prepare the student? The student should realize, or perhaps come to the realization that engineering science program is not for slouches. Its the honors program for the engineering college at Penn State. So, the student may have felt like top dog at the satellite campus, but now feels challenged and stressed beyond the pale with the hardened curriculum.</p>
<p>Maybe the student should consider dropping some classes, coming down to 12 or 13 credits to alleviate some burden, and find their bearings. Transferring at this point to another university might appear easy on the surface, but the student should consider the loss of credits through the transfer process. </p>
<p>Also, the student should immediately head to the learning center to find tutors for the tougher classes. Tell the student to talk with the professors too! Let the professors know you feel overwhelmed and lost. Most professors will do everything they can to help the students- at least that’s my experience!</p>
My bad - I was looking at wrong tuition numbers for both. I would still recommend UMD, but I am more familiar with that school and its reputation.</p>
<p>
I worked in Baltimore for a few years and tend to think UMBC when I say UMD - the main campus is nearer to DC. Personally, I preferred Balmor for weekdays and DC for weekends…</p>
<p>This whole situation has nothing at all to do with his preparation for the major - I did my undergrad at PSU, and as others have noted the variations in freshman/sophomore requirements are minimal, expressly so that students have the freedom to select a major of their choice. The only real variations are that some majors require easier courses in some fields (like a 2cr version of a 4cr math course), but if you take the harder class it is automatically approved as meeting the easier requirement.</p>
<p>As for ESci, I was interested in that at the beginning, and have an old friend from high school who graduated in that field. Her starting salary as an engineer was … daunting. She is in management now, but it is definitely an engineering discipline.</p>