Son was accepted into engineering at both Marquette and TCU. They are ranked same by USNews, same size too. He received wonderful scholarship from Marquette, nothing from TCU. He is uncertain as to whether he wants to stay in engineering. He wants TCU due to new facilities, weather, etc. But I sense Marquette is the better school all around. Is this true?
Any advice or things to consider? We live in the northeast.
I can’t see one good reason, other than weather, why a kid from the northeast would pick TCU over Marquette for engineering. TCU only offers a generic undergrad engineering degree from its college of science while Marquette has a real engineering department with graduate programs ranked by US News. TCU is going to provide much greater culture shock for a kid from the northeast, especially if he is not a conservative Protestant. The fact that it sounds like TCU will cost you substantially more than Marquette on top of all this makes me wonder why TCU is even a consideration in this equation.
Thanks sltxdad for the response! The fact that TCU is not hard-core engineering is actually appealing at this point since he is uncertain as to whether he really wants engineering. A broader educational experience is a plus actually. But I’m not sure we’re being realistic: is it possible to get a broad education and be able to try out business, liberal arts, etc, and still keep engineering as an option? I hear study abroad is almost impossible in any engineering program which is another strike against any engineering program. Thanks so much for your opinion/feedback! I need someone to be objective!
Your son’s logic doesn’t make any sense. An expensive, “lite” engineering degree is still going to monopolize his course schedule but won’t be very highly regarded by grad schools or employers if he completes it. That sounds like a huge waste of time and money. Marquette, in my opinion, is the better of the two schools overall and represents a better landing place than TCU even if he opts out of engineering. Jesuit schools like Marquette are renowned for their liberal arts teaching. Paying full price at a private school for a kid who is going into engineering without being committed to it seems like an expensive disaster waiting to happen. If he is not sold on engineering and wants to consider other options, then maybe physics or another less all-consuming STEM major would be a better idea.
THANK YOU SLTXDAD! This is what I needed to hear. A great help!
Son just put his deposit down at Marquette! Done deal