DS is choosing a school for computer engineering between 4 schools that he was accepted to: URI, WPI, UMaine, UMass Amherst. I think WPI will be too expensive and he really doesn’t want debt. Based on fit he likes UMaine and URI. URI will have all new engineering facilities by 2019. Based on merit aid our cost at both those schools is about 22k. He can go for four years without loans. But if there is a fifth year, we have a problem. UMaine will be really expensive OOS. URI would be commutable and all new for the fifth and God forbid sixth year. At year 5, his brother starts college and we are not expecting aid since our EFC is high. Also if he does go to URI, he could go abroad for a year without the pressure of graduating on time. At UMaine he could only do that in the summer. He already has summer internships in his field lined up at my husband’s company. Should we select a college based on an expected 5 or 6 year graduation?
I would look at the graduation rates at the top choices. Also, consider if your DS has AP credit and if he intends to use it. Engineering is doable in 4 years, but many kids take more. My oldest is about to graduate with her BS ChemE and she did it in three years due to lots of AP credit and an accelerated freshman summer program - but that is not the norm! Most of her friends will be done in four years though. Our younger is a freshman doing dual degree (engineering and music) and is definitely looking at 5+.
I’m having a hard time deciding just based on graduation rates because I don’t know if they are student or school related. He will have some AP credit but we want him to take Calculus again to be sure he has a solid foundation.
Our deal - we’ll pay for 4 years. Anything beyond 4 years better be for an advanced degree. 2 down and one to go. I’m frightened you think there is any reason DS can’t graduate in 4 years, even without a single AP credit. Going abroad for an entire year is a bit of a luxury, IMO. Many ABET schools have study abroad semester programs that keep them on a 4 year graduation track. If the school/major has impaction problems, does your DS get preferred registration as a merit recipient/honor student?
I’m just looking at the graduation rates and trying to plan for the worst. It took me five years because I changed majors and did two co-ops. The overall 4 year graduation rate for engineers just seems lower than other majors. Going abroad for a year would be a super deluxe luxury but affordable with the state school choice. I haven’t heard or experienced problems for engineers registering for classes at those schools but will look into it more. He’s only just decided on his major in the last few months so I’m not 100% confident he won’t want to switch.
There is still hope - My D switched from engineering but still managed to graduate with a dual major in two different depts in 4 years. Full disclosure, she switched early and had preferred registration at a LAC.
Call and ask to speak with an academic advisor. Actually, maybe go in person to URI, then you will have your questions more streamlined for a University of Maine phone call. They will, of course, tell you 4 years is the normal. Ask them to tell you what all the pre-req dependencies are, what ‘slips’ are recoverable, etc. In other words, poke around under the hood. I cannot imagine that they would not give you 1/2 hour to help you make this very important decision.
It does vary more by school then by student in 4 year graduation rates. Class availability is the big issue and not one a student alone can change. You can get a school’s graduation rates by looking at their “common data sets” (just google the school and “common data set”) For instance, UMaine shows 1936 students entering in 2008; 717 graduated in 4 years and 1152 total graduated within 6 years. Figure that if a student hasn’t graduated after 6 years, they have probably abandoned their schooling or transferred. So, the comparison between the 4 year graduates and the 6 year is the most relevant. It doesn’t break it down by major. Engineering being one of the tougher majors typically would be lower than average.
My DD went to WPI. It was a little more money but they did offer her some decent merit money as our EFC was high. {I did call and talk to their financial aid department before they sent out their merit money offers} I liked their 4 year graduation rate. I figured that WPI’s cost was actually a little less considering that the other schools she was accepted to had much lower 4 year grad rates and it was most likely to take 5 years to graduate. (Cal Poly SLO is about 15% for their ME department. My son went to Cal Poly and he did indeed take 5 years). WPI’s common data set shows 805 admits for 2007 (their latest data); 565 graduated in 4, 654 total within 6. Figuring that the vast majority were engineering majors, I think those are good numbers.
Check out all the schools you are interested in and call if you have an questions. I find that the schools are very will to answer your questions, usually just a matter of finding out who to ask. Financial aid offices and department heads are a good place to start.
Umm @HPuck35, I may be a little slow on the uptake here. Please tell those of us with seniors (or rising seniors), what exactly this means:
Are there magic words, something like a “First Choice, IF…” declaration that you invoked? Or something else? What does it mean?
Four year graduation rate is likely highly student dependent. It is generally the more selective colleges that have higher four year graduation rates, since they have stronger students to begin with. These stronger students are more likely to take full course loads, not need remedial courses, start ahead with AP credit, and not fail courses.
Semesters off for co-op jobs do extend calendar time to graduation, but remember that these do not involve school attendance and tuition payments. A student who takes 9 semesters, of which 1 is co-op, will need only 8 semesters of tuition payments.
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I am sort of afraid of the same thing. I will probably have a 4-year full ride scholarship and I am going into engineering. It’s an out of state school, so it would be pretty hard (maybe impossible) to pay for if I can’t finish in 4 years. That being said, I am coming in with some transfer courses from dual enrollment, so dividing the units I have left by the 8 paid semesters, I have 15 units per semester with 2 left over (so I’ll probably take 16 units in 2 semesters.) And that’s without Honors or a minor. I don’t know how I would fit either of those in - does Honors really help a lot in finding a job? I was thinking of doing a minor in management that would require 5 classes, but that might put me up to 18 or 19 units in some semesters, and I don’t think I could handle that many classes and keep a 3.5 (which I need for the scholarship.) The Honors program would require more classes. So, I might be just getting the basic degree and actively participating in as many clubs as I can and hopefully getting good internships/co-ops .
Re: #10
Looks like Wichita State aerospace engineering requires a high number of credits – 16, 16, 19, 18, 18, 15, 17, 16 credit semesters listed in http://webs.wichita.edu/depttools/depttoolsmemberfiles/aero_eng/AE%20Check%20Sheet.pdf .
For the OP, it may be worth looking at each school’s recommended schedule to see if high credit semesters (more than 16 credits in a semester) are necessary for the student’s major at each school. This may increase the risk of delayed graduation if the student cannot handle such a workload. Also, try to figure out the longest prerequisite sequences and check whether the courses in them are offered every semester (if not, missing one could mean a year delay in taking it).
But also consider the student. An A student with good self motivation and time management is more likely to graduate in 8 semesters than a B student who needs to be prodded to keep up with school work.
@ucbalumnus You are correct on that, but I will be coming in with credit for Calc I, Calc II, 2 general eds, and Eng 102 and my SAT scores place me out of Eng 101. Taking those off of the required course list, it looks like I will have 15-16 credits per semester. I have to carry at least 15 for the NMF scholarship.
Good point about the different students.
@albert69 Albert, Albert, Albert Be careful with the 3.5 GPA requirement! That is not easy. Don’t bother with Honors. An internship will help you more. Focus on engineering because that is a high GPA to HAVE to maintain. I wouldn’t overload. Instead see if you can take a summer class or two each year.
@gearmom I know, that’s why I’m worried. It’s going to be hard to get that kind of GPA, but hey, if I can do it, it should help a bit in finding a job.
Yes, a 3.5 GPA to keep a scholarship is more stressful than a 3.0 GPA to keep a scholarship. Keeping a 3.5 GPA puts you in pre-med (or pre-law aiming for top-14 law schools) territory. Keeping a 3.0 GPA is generally not hard for the students who get the biggest scholarships at the university.
Be sure to try the calculus 1 and 2 old final exams from the university to verify that you know the material by the university’s standards.
Well, in my idealistic world (being 17), I hope that I keep the scholarship, graduate in 4 years, and get a decent job with a B.S. The old test idea is good, I’ll look into that. I had to send the syllabi for my classes to see if they would transfer, so they might have already checked to be sure that the correct subjects were covered.
There was just a student on here who could not maintain that attending Texas A & M. Had to change majors. And he repeated Calculus and they were using the same book as his high school. Try to get as much grade inertia as you can by starting with easy classes. Summer classes are sometimes easier. Pad your GPA is you can. Hopefully you are coming from a very competitive high school.
Note that Wichita State aero engineering has an 8 semester long prerequisite sequence:
MATH 242 -> MATH 243, PHYS 313 -> MATH 344, AE 223 -> AE 324, 373 -> AE 424, 415 -> AE 512, 514 -> AE 528 -> AE 628
If you are able to start in a more advanced math course than MATH 242, you may be able to get some slack in the schedule by starting PHYS 313 in your first semester (then AE 223, etc.), if each course is offered each semester.
@ucbalumnus @gearmom I am going to be starting with Math 344, so yes, I could take Phys 313 the first semester. I am going to work as hard as I possibly can. I took Calc I and II at my community college. I’m not sure why you keep saying summer classes - my scholarship won’t cover those at the school. However, I could try to get some general eds or maybe one of the EE classes done at my local college in summer. Thank you for the advice; I know it’s going to be hard.