But also make sure that if you offer her $X, you can also offer each of the younger kids $X (or $X adjusted for college price inflation).
Remember also that out-of-state public universities tend to give little or no need-based aid, and need-based aid may not necessarily reduce the net price much if the student is also getting merit scholarships (the interaction between need-based aid and merit scholarships can be complicated, and depends on the college, but “full stacking” is uncommon).
Towson University does not have any ABET-accredited engineering majors. For EE in a Maryland state university, the choices are UMCP and Morgan State.
Alabama is actually one of the five oldest engineering colleges in America. Founded 1837. The engineering campus is gorgeous. It’s ranking can’t be correct. Many in industry, including Tesla, hit it hard.
I was just throwing out a school to say as an engineer it doesn’t matter where you go. That’s all. Another school…not ABET but well respected and it has THE best scholarship program in the country in The Johnson Scholarship is Washington & Lee.
Abet is extremely important in the Midwest. Lots of big companies have ‘pursuing an abet accredited degree in engineering’ in their internship listings. An EE is cutting off future options if they aren’t in an abet program. Some states won’t allow you to pursue the PE required to stamp electrical drawings. This always seems to be a debate on CC, but every Midwestern electrical engineering professor we spoke with while looking told us that it was a deal breaker.
University of Alabama Huntsville has automatic merit. Very good EE and S was drawn to their center for applied optics and adjoining research park opportunities.
It matters if the school does not have the desired engineering major.
W&L does not have true engineering majors; it has physics or chemistry with some engineering courses (but not much in electrical), so it would not be a good choice for someone wanting to work as an electrical engineer.
Thanks for sharing. Interesting that out Ds had the same reactions.
NCSU: felt competitive
Clemson: felt collaborative (and was her dream school for awhile because of that, but doesn’t have neuro and guesstimate is merit $ will leave it as most expensive option)
UTK: engineer Dad loved it, but she didn’t (same thing - didn’t feel quite right; was last place we visited so by then I imagine she was comparing it to others in her head she already visited and liked vs just taking it in on its own while experiencing it)
I won’t pretend to be an expert in engineering. I just know they have a program and the school is both wealthy and gorgeous. Their merit may be the best in the country. Here’s some more info on their program. Perhaps EE is possible but I do understand your point. I just thought with the stats provided The Johnson Scholarship could be in play. Honestly not being ABET may be reason enough to avoid. My son applied to lots of internships that asked for an ABET curriculum.
UTK is a great school. They are tops in supply chain, an area some in engineering end up. They are also one of few schools with an ecoCAR team if your student has a desire in automotive. It’s campus is low rated aesthetics wise although they are doing a lot of building. And while many southern schools are finding diverse geographic crowds I think UTK isn’t there yet with multiple issues of anti-semitism etc. Many kids base their like or dislike on aesthetics. Why else would a future engineer pick Alabama over Purdue as my son did? It wasn’t for the aggressive scholarship. And the school is full of kids who got into top 30 engineer programs.
I agree UTK is a great school and option for some, which is why I often throw it out as an option on CC. The new engineering building looks like it will be amazing and the Cook Challenge program seems great.
For my D, it was just a combination of factors that made it not quite a fit for her. Yes, some things seem silly, like aesthetics (which was one) or a big factor for her - “the vibe,” if those things meant foregoing a great program for one not great. However, she has a number of options that have great programs and opportunities, so the differentiation does sometimes come down to other factors. Just because UTK isn’t her vibe doesn’t mean it’s not someone else’s vibe, so I frequently mention it. I have seen posts for others saying their student fell in love with UTK when they visited.
I’m not the OP. My D is planning on BME, so the only automotive interest she has is having an auto at college 
and also why she did not consider Bama btw as BME is at UAB only.
Ranking is correct. Just because it’s been there…
Like no one in the Midwest (big assumption here ), even knew anything about Alabama except they had a football team 
… Then about 7 years ago (speaking for Chicago suburbs where I work…) all of the sudden I noticed lots and lots of families that would of gone to UIUC, Both Iowa schools, Purdue all bragging their going to Alabama for engineering. Lots of families… One mother told me (I am a doctor and see lots of sports medicine kids and adults), that they are getting close to free rides and like… Free is worth taking a chance on…
So that class told their friends in the lower classes. Because you get sunshine in Alabama and yes they put lots of money to recruit these kids. What really sold it was when those kids got jobs. Yes, lots of companies had partnered with the school to make this happen. It’s great that it did…
It goes to show you that you don’t have to go to a highly ranked school to get a good education and job. Few schools can pay kids to go to their school. I hear some packages are now a bit less. Guess the revenue from the sports teams finances it I read somewhere? I hope it continues to grow. All the kids I know were in the honors college there.
Very basic like general engineering.
Even though abet curriculum is the same to similar the actual schools do matter to a point. Large research facilities and facility can make the difference. Opportunities at one school vs another can also. But there are all types of learners for schools like Kettering, Rose Hulman, Michigan etc. All Abet but I guarantee you each experiences will be vastly different. Possible job outcomes will be different.
I’m trying to compile a list of schools that have reputations for merit. This thread has been wonderful. We don’t want our daughter to take out loans. I am not an engineer and absolutely know nothing about different programs. Every school we discuss we run by my husband. He’s an electrical engineer at a large academic research institute. He can research the schools and advise our daughter on whether academically the program looks like a good fit.
One thing to look at is not the programs exactly. Since Abet is very similar in which courses you need to take for the degree. It’s the electives and other opportunities on campus that are your kids interests to me is what makes their college experience. For pretty much most schools Calc 2 is Calc 2. But do they have minors or certificates or clubs and opportunities that your child is interested in exploring? How do they do with getting co-op and internships opportunities. Every campus seems to have some Microsoft, Amazon, Google internships. Don’t get sold on that since it’s not like the whole campus. Plus there are many many other companies you never heard of that pay the same and have the same culture… Don’t believe the hype since most colleges except for the name brands ones hire regionally, mostly…
Funny this all sounds like we should be on the engineering thread… Lol… Well hopefully decisions will be out soon so we can get back into discussing how many more waves to go here… Lol
my kid is there too. LOVING it. the engineering school, facilities, clubs & programs are amazing. Add warm weather, great football/school spirit – it’s been a good choice. 66% of kids in engineering at Bama are from out of state. We looked at it originally because of the merit scholarships, but he loved it for many more reasons.
While ABET accreditation does specify the basic content for a given engineering major, different schools may organize the curriculum differently. For example, some schools may organize the curriculum to start with math and natural science first, engineering science next, and engineering design last. While “efficient” in terms of prerequisite sequencing, this type of organization is commonly complained about by students and others for not giving students engineering design experience earlier in the curriculum (to keep them interested and ensure that they get an idea of what engineering is like). Other schools try to introduce some design course work earlier.
Obviously, electives and subareas can differ between ABET-accredited programs in the same major. For example, EE may include control systems, device electronics, computer hardware, communications, radar, and/or power systems. Some departments may have greater or lesser emphasis on some of these areas.
Yes and yes but the subculture or classes can really enhance the learning experience. There are differences no question. These differences can be the deciding factor but lots of families never look that far into them. That is why I stated that.
Huntsville is in my D21s top 2. We have been impressed with the response from Admissions. They were very generous with APs/DE credits and created a plan where she could graduate in 3 years…have the JUMP program which allows students to take some graduate classes in undergraduate to count toward both degrees. We were not able to visit, but it was one of the smaller size in student population and seemed to have more on-campus living options for students beyond the first year than other campuses we looked at. The dorm rooms look nice—private rooms within a suite available to freshmen. Their auto merit chart is great!
Is your D potentially eligible as National Merit Scholar? That opens up a lot of merit options at places like University of TX-Dallas and the FL publics.
Both PSATs were canceled at our school. My daughter did take the SAT in August out of state. The College Board is allowing kids to do alternate entry for National Merit if they took an SAT exam between August 2020-May 2021. Based on an SAT score of 1560 it converts to a National Merit index score of 228 (according to her guidance counselor).
There are a lot of helpful posts on CC about NMS…many seem interested in engineering. Good luck with your search.