<p>I currently attend Purdue University and intend on majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I have been wondering if I should transfer to University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign so I could save money and get in-state tuition. The issue is that currently, U of I is not accepting Mechanical Engineering transfers so I would have to go into Civil Engineering, which I am unsure about due to jobs. Also I heard that transferring engineering majors within U of I is very difficult. I like the campus of Purdue over U of I's and if I transfer it would mean starting fresh again in terms of meeting new people and friends. I don't know if I should make the move or not.</p>
<p>It sounds like you shouldn’t transfer then. You can’t study what you want to study.</p>
<p>Although I do have to respectfully disagree with you on which of the two campuses is nicer.</p>
<p>Two things to consider:</p>
<p>1) You may lose some credits through transfer. The college may accept the credits, but still make you take some of the courses you’ve already taken over, if they don’t match up exactly to their classes. Expect to repeat at least some courses if you transfer.</p>
<p>2) The discipline that you graduate with may or may not matter. Some employers will require that entry level engineers have “x” written on their degrees to get a job, but many others wont. It is possible to get a job outside the discipline that you studied in college, especially if you had an appropriate internship or research project while in school. There are civil engineers who do all sorts of things, not just civil engineering. It’s not that difficult to change your engineering discipline early in your career. After a few years, the discipline written on your degree will be irrelevant. Work experience will define what type of engineer you become, not your engineering major. </p>
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<p>True, though the risk of this is very small when transferring between two incredibly similar programs in Purdue and Illinois.</p>
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<p>This is just bad advice period. Sure, it makes sense if you already have job experience in a certain area that that experience trumps what is written on your degree, and it does. The problem is, it is unlikely that a student has the sort of experience that would allow this to be the case, and the only way to get this experience is to get hired into it. When a company is hiring, usually they are going to give preference to the candidates whose pieces of paper say a degree that is close to what they need so they have minimal on-the-job training before becoming productive. True, civil engineers do all sorts of things in non-traditional industries for civil engineering, but very, very few get hired into jobs that are dissimilar from their training without first gaining some experience that is relevant.</p>
<p>In short, if the OP is interested in some branch of mechanical engineering that can adequately covered by a civil engineering degree, then it may not matter as much. However, you don’t see many degreed civil engineers designing internal combustion engines in their first job out of school. Additionally, it is a lot easier to stay motivated when you are studying what you want to be studying instead of something else.</p>
<p>It sounds in your post like you don’t really want to transfer. You can’t put yourself in a major you won’t be happy in, you’ll just be miserable. </p>
<p>That being said, I know that money things can get tough and out of state tuition is expensive. A rule of thumb I like (might not be universal) is to try to not take out more loans than what you will make in your first year’s salary. With a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue, I think your salary would be pretty good. </p>
<p>Good luck with whatever you choose!</p>
<p>What about considering an additional lower-cost option; South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. No impacted majors, excellent reputation, still within the Midwest (and western plains) region and the COA is a bargain. In fact, it may come close to what you would pay for UI in-state.</p>