<p>My son has been named a Meyerhoff Distinguished Scholar at UMBC. He can attend UMBC and then graduate school for the same price as an undergraduate degree at University of Delaware alone. Dad is pushing University of Delaware because son loved campus/rating of UD etc. I believe Meyerhoff is the better opportunity. What would you do?</p>
<p>I don’t know the quality of those schools, but I would go to the cheaper one! There’s no sense in paying that much for undergrad since grad school seems to be a likely future.</p>
<p>If dad has buckets of money, and paying for U Del won’t mean much sacrifice for the family, it is perfectly fine to choose the more expensive option for the sake of “fit”. However, if that isn’t the case, then no, go to the cheaper place.</p>
<p>Have your son run his numbers through this calculator and then talk the results over with him and his dad. The decision may be easier to make when everyone sees the numbers side by side. [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>
<p>Are you instate for UMBC? or UDel?</p>
<p>Did your son get any merit money from UDel?
What did he get from UMBC?</p>
<p>Personally, I would favor the flagship over a regional univ, but if cost is a huge difference…
My concern about regional schools is that they are often commuter/suitcase schools. </p>
<p>Grad school for STEMs is often funded, so that may not be an issue.</p>
<p>Hi. Your question convinced me to join. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Many years ago I was a graduate student in chemistry at UD and worked as a TA for CE majors. I HAVE NO IDEA IF THINGS ARE THE SAME NOW.</p>
<p>The CE program was amazing. The students were all smart, self-disciplined and motivated. It was very competitive. Top high school graduates pitted against other top high school graduates. It was common for me to hear them arranging study groups for 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning, etc.</p>
<p>Most bachelor’s graduates received 8 to 9 job offers with starting salaries that matched the best starting salaries of the chemistry Ph.D. students. I eventually became friends with some of my former students and remember one bought a house when he was 22 years old.</p>
<p>But what amazed me was the department’s standard operating procedure. For any entering class, they kicked out precisely 50% at the end of sophomore year. It didn’t matter what their grades were, only that that were below the 50%. It was heartbreaking. Many times a student would find me in a quiet place and burst into tears and tell me how their parents had had such great pride and had saved all their lives to send them there, and they were pretty sure they weren’t going to make the cut. Some transferred to other majors, accepted with open arms. Some quietly went home, feeling like failures.</p>
<p>Maybe you already knew all this. If not, find out for the 2 colleges you are considering, what is their attrition rate or their graduation rate, or whatever guise it goes under. Phone if you have to. Visit and ask students if you have to, but find out. Don’t convince yourself that your kid is the best of the best so will obviously not have to worry about that. All these kids were bright.</p>
<p>I don’t know what UDel’s attrition rate is, but generally most Eng’g depts lose kids within the first 4 semesters. Even those with high stats will find that either they don’t like eng’g or that they were weeded out by the math and sciences.</p>
<p>Eng’g is like pre-med…a good number fall by the wayside within 2 years. </p>
<p>If the OP’s son decides that a STEM major isn’t for him at some point, what will UMBC offer at that point. Isn’t that program for MD/PhD or PhD-bound STEMs?</p>
<p>@sofrustrating – THANK U! Great information. We are in-state for Maryland. Total cost of UMBC Meyerhoff program is $40,000. Total cost of UD program $132,00. He definately feels the “fit” of DU; but Meyerhoff will offer support and he definately won’t be kicked out.</p>
<p>Another concern is that if he wants to go to Delaware for graduate school… won’t it actually hurt his chances to go there for undergraduate? Does anyone know that?</p>
<p>My son is sure about a science career – if he decides that it isn’t chemical engineering, UMBC Meyerhoff will support him in any science/math and will even offer a 5th year of funding. This is what I found attractive about the program. Meyerhoff is a sucess because they offer so much support to these kids so that they do “stick with it.” I am going to do some seriously research about UD. Thank you!</p>
<p>So glad you thought that info might help. Again, the info is dated. I’m just trying to suggest where you might look.</p>
<p>I can’t directly answer your next question, but for what it’s worth, very few CE majors go to graduate school. The opportunities with a bachelor’s are very enticing.</p>
<p>I don’t remember any engineering grad students at UD who had been undergrads there. If memory serves me, most had foreign degrees and moved to the US for advanced degrees. Again, things may be different now.</p>
<p>Usually students want to “move up” to a better college for an advanced degree. Also, just because a program is top quality at the bachelor’s level doesn’t mean it’s considered top quality at the grad level. I.e., he may not want to go to UD for grad school. Maybe at that point he would switch to e.g., MIT.</p>
<p>More commonly, CEs add a different degree, in e.g., law instead. Once I started working, almost all CEs I worked with were getting MBAs part time. I only ever, in all my years of working surrounded by CEs, met one Ph.D. in CE outside of academics.</p>
<p>My point is, if he does well in CE, his future is wide open with possibilities.</p>
<p>*Another concern is that if he wants to go to Delaware for graduate school… won’t it actually hurt his chances to go there for undergraduate? Does anyone know that?
*</p>
<p>No…in fact, many universities provide an easy path from BS to their grad school. They will often waive LOR req’ts or GRE req’ts or even allow them to start taking 500 level courses as seniors.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’m trying to find out attritrian rates at UD now. So far, all I have been able to find is the numbers of CE presently in the program (not how many started out!).</p>
<p>Be brazen. This is the time to phone and ask. Try admissions-that’s their job. They may start out cagy, but stick to your guns. </p>
<p>To be really blunt about it (and I know this is the game at all schools for all majors, but maybe not to the same degree with such undeserving students) don’t let them use your son to fund the education of the others and their research programs. You have a lot at stake.</p>
<p>Thanks sofrustrating. I am going to have to make that call. I can’t find any information about attrition rates for CE at UD. HOWEVER: I found a lot of information that most CE students at UD do not graduate in 4 years. Was that your experience? Did many of them have to do winter session or take an extra year?</p>
<p>most CE students at UD do not graduate in 4 years</p>
<p>This sort of thing is common at state schools, because often students commute, change majors, don’t take a full load, or work their way thru college, so they sometimes take longer. However, those who don’t change their majors, don’t drop classes, have a budget to adhere to, will tend to do what it takes to graduate in four years.</p>
<p>Absolutely not. I don’t remember a single student staying more than 4 years. All were anxious to get out and make big bucks.</p>
<p>I didn’t mention before that one year, back in the old days, no one was hiring. It was a one year-fluke economic turndown. That year most students didn’t get offers. Back then, kids didn’t hang around a campus for more than 4 years for fear they’d look like drifters. They went home. But I later heard they had all gotten jobs within the year. </p>
<p>I’d guess what you read is a reflection of the general trend. I’ve heard of many students in both the US and Canada stalling graduation even in fields where there are jobs. “Why not take some extra courses to get an edge?” is the new norm. I’m surprised it’s affecting engineering and wonder if it’s largely voluntary. The engineering department here at Rutgers says employment has not been affected.</p>
<p>My sister is a CE and she’s been trying to retire for 5 years. At this point, she actually has an agent who calls her with offers with “Can’t refuse” terms. She says companies are going bonkers trying to fill jobs. I think she’s earned more money working very part time for 5 years than she made in the previous 10 years. She’s used to the extra income to rebuild her house, travel all over the world, buy cars…then she comes home, works a bit, then she’s off again. That’s the picture she paints. </p>
<p>So, my point is, you need to find out what the number you found really means. Are there unemployed young engineers? I wonder if you could phone a headhunter and simply ask? While you’re at it, ask what starting salaries are right now.</p>
<p>My head is still spinning over the fact that your son thinks it is OK to spend $92,000 extra just to go to UDel. That is a serious amount of money. Where, exactly, does he think it is going to come from?</p>
<p>@sofrustrating – THANK U! Great information. We are in-state for Maryland. Total cost of UMBC Meyerhoff program is $40,000. Total cost of UD program $132,00. He definately feels the “fit” of DU; but Meyerhoff will offer support and he definately won’t be kicked out.</p>
<p>Oh wow…I just saw this. I had no idea that the difference was that much. NO way…unless money is no object in your household. How would this get paid?</p>
<p>What about any other options? Did he apply anyplace else for big merit? It seems as if he would have qualified for big merit at other schools if he wanted the flagship experience. Is your son a NMF or NA finalist?</p>
<p>I also think the cost difference is too much; but Dad will pay. Delaware’s merit was the worst offer by far (only $9000 yr). There is no financial aid. Got $28,000yr merit Drexel but hated it. Nice offer from Rose-Hulman but 80% male and doesn’t want to go that far. Full ride Towson Fisher Pre-Engineering Scholarship but turned it down as he would have to transfer to College Park (which he didn’t like). Case-Western wasn’t impressed with chemistry program. Virginia Tech nice but still awaiting merit package. Definately leaning towards Meyerhoff after learning so much on CC. Thank you all!</p>
<p>My daughter is a student at UMBC. She has several friends who are Meyerhoff Scholars. I would definitely recommend UMBC over UD, especially in light of how much more it will cost to go to UD. Have you seen the feature on 60 Minutes from last fall about UMBC, Dr. Hrabowski, and the Meyerhoff scholars?</p>