<p>My son was accepted from the University of Rochester, Lehigh University, and University of Maryland at College park.
His major would be computer engineering.</p>
<p>It is hard to decide which college is best for my son.
We live in Maryland but overall cost is not much different because he got merit and need based financial support Rochester (Lehigh is not yet but might be similar) but there is no merit award from UMD.</p>
<p>He prefers to go UMD because many of his friends also go there.
But we want him to go Rochester (or Lehigh) because UMD seems too big to take care of each student.
Also in overall college ranking, Rochester (and Lehigh) is much higher than UMD.</p>
<p>In engineering point of view, which college is better?
And which college has a good alumni network?</p>
<p>My son also got accepted to UMD (out of state) and Lehigh. He was also accepted to Drexel) (honors) and UPitt (honors). He is a computer engineering major. I was also concerned about him going to the bigger schools. In the end, he choose UMD. This choice was made after he went on several visits and did a shadowing day at the schools he was interested in. Even though UMD is big, he felt their computer enginnering department was superior to the other schools and felt that the engineering community was a smaller community within the big school. He will also be in the College Park Scholars living learning community … another way to make a big university smaller. It wasn’t until my son did the shadowing days that he really made up his mind. These days are not “programs” and the students are not being marketed to like at the accepted student day events. I think they are really helpful. </p>
<p>My son graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park with a major in computer science. He was in the College Park Scholars program.</p>
<p>I was impressed at the amount of personal attention he received. His department had advisors who met with students individually to ensure that they were on track to meet graduation requirements, and they had a seminar series for first-semester juniors to introduce them to the research programs of those faculty members who were seeking undergraduates to join their research groups. My son was interested in one of the presentations, met with the professor, and ended up doing research (for pay!) for a year and a half, which culminated in an honors degree and admission to a top-20 PhD program, carefully selected with the help of his advisors to match his interests. (He later dropped out of the PhD program after completing a master’s degree, but that’s another story and not in any way related to his UMCP experience.) </p>
<p>UMCP was remarkably accommodating on the few occasions when he ran into difficulties, too. Once, he got sick with what was probably norovirus during finals week, and he had no difficulty rescheduling his exams, even though one was scheduled on the same day when he became ill. And when he got stuck in a double with a random roommate for his sophomore year, the housing office worked with him throughout the summer, trying to help him get a better placement. (He ended up with a huge single.) </p>
<p>I wasn’t expecting much from UMCP when my son decided to go there. I was delighted to be wrong.</p>
<p>Funny, those were my sons top 3. He’s at Rochester now. They’re all good, he’ll be fine at any of them. My opinion - UMD - positive - great rep, engineering seemed like a very strong program, downside over the other 2 - school is in a VERY sketchy area (think shootings and stabbings) and housing is non existent after freshman year. UMD also has enormous class sizes - intro engineering is 350. Lehigh - beautiful campus, strong program, tons of school spirit. downside - huge party school, very similar student body. Rochester - great undergrad curriculum, easy to schedule classes, nice, intellectual student body. Downside - the weather.</p>
<p>I’d have him go visit and decide for himself, he can’t go wrong.</p>
<p>The immediate area around the campus is OK. If you go a little farther, it is not. I would not be overly concerned for a guy; for a girl, maybe. My daughter, who did not attend UMCP, had friends who did, and some of them felt that their activities were limited by their concerns about safety. On the other hand, women students are concerned about safety on more rural campuses, too, which makes sense since one of their main concerns is being hassled by drunks, and most campuses abound with those late at night, especially on the weekends.</p>
<p>Shootings and stabbings were not a regular feature of my son’s time at UMCP. Theft was. UMCP only LOOKS suburban. You need to think of it as an urban campus and act accordingly. Things vanish in an instant if left unattended. My son had bikes stolen three times. Other things – luggage, laptops, whatever – were also known to disappear. But this is property crime and a standard part of urban living; it’s more annoying than scary.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about current housing policies. In my son’s time at UMCP, on-campus housing was guaranteed for all but seniors. There was also this eyesore available <a href=“http://universityview.net/[/url]”>http://universityview.net/</a>, which is technically not affiliated with the university but houses a large chunk of its student body and is as close to the academic buildings as many of the dorms are. Despite its hideous appearance (it looks even worse in the context of its neighborhood), it’s a rather nice place to live. My son lived there as a junior and senior. It’s a little pricey, but not to the point of absurdity. I believe there’s also another place of the same sort on the other side of the campus, but I can’t remember its name at the moment.</p>
<p>My son is also at Rochester. One of the draws for students is the ability to take classes in other disciplines eg music or film or minor in another area due to their flexible curriculum. If your son does have other areas he wants to take classes, you can search the website to see what is offered. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about the other schools. I do know that Lehigh has a pretty active frat scene if that is a draw for your son.</p>