<p>My son and I are analysing the pros and cons to attend Mechanical Engineering in the schools he was admitted: Cal Poly SLO, Rutgers, and UMD-CP. The total annual cost for him to attend each school is 38K, 27K, and 20K respectively. He was admitted directly into Engineering in Cal Poly and Rutgers, but will need to meet 3.0 overall GPA plus at least B- in Calc II and Physics I during freshman year to internally transfer to Engineering at UMD. He is fascinated about the learn by doing approach and location of Cal Poly, he likes UMD and knows it more than the others because my daughter is a happy sophomore there, and he is not so sure about his fit at Rutgers after a few visits. His top choice at the moment is Cal Poly, although he will visit it for the first time in two weeks; everything he knows about Cal Poly is from the Internet and from a friend who is a happy Engineering freshman there. Cost is not his concern, but it is my concern because I will pay for it. I am not sure if he will stay with Engineering, and Computer Science looks to be his Plan B. Our research shows that a change from Engineering to Computer Science is easy at Rutgers and UMD, but very difficult at Cal Poly. I will appreciate if students and graduates with knowledge of these schools can share their advice based on the situation that I have shared. I can provide more details if needed. Many thanks in advance.</p>
<p>As your cheapest option as well as having great engineering and CS programs, it looks like the best option is UMD. It seems you’ve already lined it up. Has your son heard your logic because its pretty solid stuff.</p>