<p>My son has been accepted to a number of good schools for engineering. He is trying to decide between ocean engineering and straight civil engineering. His 2 main choices are UMaryland and Texas A & M. Anyone have an opinion?</p>
<p>Ocean engineering seems a bit overspecialized for an undergraduate program, but whatever.</p>
<p>He won't go wrong if he chooses Maryland, but you may never see him again because he will probably end up spending his summers doing internships in the Washington or Baltimore areas. </p>
<p>My son is a junior at Maryland, majoring in computer science. One of his roommates is a civil engineering major who is very pleased with his program and who has had great summer opportunities.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if your son is attracted by the idea of going to college in a part of the country that is truly different from home, Maryland may not be the ideal choice. Maryland only looks Southern (with all the red brick and white columns on the buildings). The culture really isn't Southern at all, and most of the out-of-staters come from your part of the country. It might be a bit too familiar.</p>
<p>UMaryland is very popular among FL kids too.</p>
<p>Texas A & M is a very conservative environment...something to keep in mind...the atmosphere of the 2 will be very different, too. D didn't even consider A & M, looks like she'll probably be headed to UMD. Good luck!</p>