Picking a University- Married Engineering Major

State Forums
1

Hi all,

I’m looking for any words of advise on the situation I am in right now. I’ve been studying at a California community college for 5 semesters now with a major change. After pursuing Geology, I realized I was setting the bar way too low for myself (no disrespect to geology) and realized civil engineering is a better fit. I absolutely plan to specialize in the environmental field.

I am 21, my husband is 23, and we have been married for a bit over a year. My husband is discharging from the military at the end of the year, and from there we will be moving to Texas. He is planning to become a police officer in the town/ nearby town where I decide to finish uni.

So far, I have been admitted to Texas Tech, Texas State, University of Arlington, University of Dallas (for mechanical) and am waiting to hear from A&M for a Spring 2020 transfer.

Texas state’s civil engineering program is only beginning in the Fall of 2019, so I am really not willing to be a part of their inaugural class.

I don’t want to go to Dallas because I really don’t want to study Mech.

Texas Tech is a really awful location, and after living on a military base in a remote California desert for a couple years, my husband and I REALLY hate the desert. I would also prefer him to begin his career as a cop in a different location. Please keep in mind, these are all factors that I think about, but my education is ultimately the top priority.

Obviously A&M is the best choice on paper, my my gut says that I won’t be happy there. I cannot explain this much further, but my intuition is usually always right. I don’t really like the conservative dogmatic traditions. I realize I may be being judgmental, but my impression of the school isn’t that ideal.

Ultimately, I want to go to a university that is academically excellent where I also feel like I fit in (at least somewhat). I am a female trying to study engineering. I am also biracial, I have a full sleeve of tattoos, and I am married. While I am not a total liberal, I find people who are outwardly conservative or religious offensive. I am not trying to party (been there done that) and I typically find college aged people annoying. I am not really interested in the college experience but just truly focused on my husband and I’s goals, I don’t want to feel like that is a big deal. I am also a bit nervous about discrimination as a few of my more ethnic female friends in the field have some horror stories.

I’m not really sure what I’m looking for here, but would just appreciate any comments. Thank you!

2

Are you going to qualify for instate tuition? Have you done all the money math? Will you be working many hours? Or a full time student? Are you transferring as a college junior? Your credits are accepted?
Have you looked at UH? Are you Honors college material? You would be one of plenty of non trad commuter students, in a big vibrant city, with a cohort that looks pretty diverse. Engineering is engineering really.
https://www.egr.uh.edu/news/201907/uh-cullen-college-engineering-recognized-achievements-diversity-asee

3

I don’t know any of those schools well but I would say it sounds like “location” should take precedence in your decision. Can you start in ME at U of D and transfer majors? It sounds like your dream school was / is UT Austin but that’s a tough one to get into. I have to say I would move to Austin and commute to Texas State - it may be tough to be on the bleeding edge of a new program but at least you’ll be living somewhere you like and you can stay after graduation.

4

Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I just dont know where to go to find out if Texas State is worth the risk. I have reached out to the department but I am sure they will glorify the program.

5

Ask Texas State if the civil engineering program has ABET accreditation. If it doesn’t, that would be a deal breaker for me (I’m a structural engineer).

6

Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I will qualify for in state tuition and am lucky that I will not have to work at all.
All schools I am applying to will be about 11,000,-12,000 tuition/ year. Texas Tech will give me 9,000 total off tuition for my first two years. I have two years of university completed but will need about 5-6 more semester to finish.

Id also like to mention that I have been accepted to TT Environmental Engineering MEV (5 year masters program). This program has me leaning towards moving to Lubbock.

Unfortunately my gpa is is a 3.21 and in order to qualify for UH you need a minimum 3.25. I have reached out to them to see if I should apply anyways, but they said they have to many better qualified applicants to accept me.

I took some community college classes in high school and failed them, so unfortunately my gpa suffers greatly from that time of my life. Live and learn.

7

I checked and I don’t see that TX State is ABET accredited for a BSE and that’s kind of the “gold standard” for an acceptable engineering education.

https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.tspe.org/resource/resmgr/docs/abet_accredited_engineering_.pdf

I also don’t see that University of Dallas offers an ME program. Is it new too?

8

The program was added in 2008.

9

UH you need a minimum 3.25. <<<<<
For admission, or just for honors college? TAMU engineering is going to be more selective than UH. Have you fully assessed where your classes are placing you in the engineering 4 yr plan at any of these schools? Or is it an across the board agreement that you CCC classes are accepted? IMO you should apply to UH anyway.

10

That is the minimum for engineering admission at UH. I am aware that TAMU is very selective, but the minimum gpa for civil engineering is 3.0 so i’ts worth a shot to apply. My gpa has dramatically increased in the last year, with a 4.0 in my calculus 1&2, chemistry1&2, and physics 1&2 classes. I know it is still a long shot, but I have become an entirely different (focus and disciplined) since getting married. Hopefully they see that.

11

And yes, my classes are the TAMU equivalent and will transfer.

12

Texas State’s civil engineering program is new, so it if seeks ABET accreditation, it will not get it for several years because some students need to graduate in the program first (though new programs which get ABET accreditation typically get it retroactive to the first graduating students). You may want to ask directly about its timeline for ABET accreditation (which is important for civil engineering).
https://news.txstate.edu/inside-txst/2019/civil-engineering.html

Texas State’s ABET accredited programs are listed here:
http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=930&ProgramIDs=

Public schools in Texas with ABET accredited civil engineering:

Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, US
Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, US
Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX, US
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, US
Texas A&M University - Kingsville (Formerly Texas A&I University), Kingsville, TX, US
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, US
The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, US
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (Formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville & Texas Southmost College and The University of Texas - Pan American), Edinburg, TX, US
University of Houston (Formerly University of Houston, College of Technology), Houston, TX, US
University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, US
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, US
University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, US
University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, US
West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX, US

Which area(s) do you and your husband prefer? (Note: if you prefer Houston, you may want to consider Prairie View A&M as a backup option to University of Houston, since it is relatively nearby, has civil engineering, and is not hard to get into.)

13

If you get admitted to Texas A&M, check whether you are in the civil engineering major or are admitted to general engineering. Students in general engineering must go through another competitive admission process, and may not necessarily get their first choice major (except that those with 3.5 college GPA get automatic admission). See https://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/entry-to-a-major/index.html . Unfortunately, they no longer post detailed statistics that can help determine how competitive each major is.

14

Neither University of Dallas (private Catholic school) nor University of Texas - Dallas has ABET accredited civil engineering.

15

Because you are not a traditional student who will be living on campus, the atmosphere on campus may not matter as much – but the actual town may matter more. Conservative, liberal, religious etc may be what your husband deals with as a police office on a daily basis.

If I were you and just picking a university, I’d go with Tex Tech because it has the established civil/environmental program and is cheaper. If you want to consider the other things like location, that’s up to you. Tech and A&M will be the most recognized names outside Texas too.

16

could you study at a UC or CSU? It wasn’t clear to me why you needed to move to Texas.

17

Texas is home and where we have family. We ultimately want to buy a home in Austin suburbs. We are only in California because we’ve been stationed here for the military.

18

I’d try for UH anyhow too given your recent grades in appropriate pre-engineering classes. And of the list of accredited programs above, how about UT-San Antonio? That city may be closer to what you’re looking for. And maybe you could still transfer within UT system to Austin later?

19

How important is it for your husband to get a job as a police officer. It’s easier to hired in a major city than it is in a college town. I think you can cross A&M off the list with a 3.21 gpa. Based on what your looking for it is a bad fit any way. UofH would be a great choice if you can get admitted. Tech is a good school but job opportunities for your husband may be difficult. Based on the choices you have provided University of Arlington may be the best fit. Dallas DPD is begging for officers and UTA is a good fit for a non-traditional student. There are alots of apartments in Arlington and you would have plenty to do. Texas State would also be a good fit due to it being located half way between Austin and San Antonio. Lots of cities your husband could apply for a job. The accreditation issue is something you would need to research.

20

I am seeing a lot of bad reviews about UTA