My son has four very good options to choose from and we were looking for some perspectives/advice from people on this forum. He is interested in either Comp Sc. or Electrical/Computer Engineering starting Fall 2015.
UDel - Honors Program College of Engineering, Expected to get one of the Distinguished Scholars awards (could get full tuition or full ride - should know in the next few days)
Univ of Illlinois (Urbana Champaign) - Admitted to Comp Sc. in College of Engineering (In state, total annual cost ~ $ 35K)
Ohio State - Honors program College of Engineering, Got a couple of good scholarships (total annual cost ~ $ 23 K)
Case Western - Admitted to College of Engineering, Got a nice scholarship (total annual cost ~ $ 38 K)
The big question and decision might come down to UDel vs. UIUC.
With UDel he may pay nothing (if full ride) or about $ 15 K a year (if full tuition) vs. $ 35 K a year at UIUC (In State). At UDel he will be in the Honors program and a distinguished scholar vs. nothing special at UIUC. But UIUC of course is ranked in the Top 5 and has a stellar reputation for engineering, but is it worth the extra cost? And is UDel’s Comp Sc./EECE program a good alternative?
IMHO the cost factor here is significantly different, especially if your son is planning on going to grad school following his undergraduate degree. UD’s Engineering School overall is pretty highly rated and if a student performs well (and has an Honors Program designation on their diploma and was a Distinguished Scholar) they should have no problem getting into the top grad programs in the country (and also would then be in a better financial situation). In the working world, in most cases, where a student gets their grad degree is more important than where they get their undergrad degree. A reasonable compromise could be to attend UD undergrad and then go to UIUC for grad school. Just an idea. Best wishes to your son in making his decision.
Hi There! When my son was considering UD, I had the same questions. He had some wonderful choices and decided on UD for computer science. He is currently a sophomore in the Honors Program. I can tell you that his goal is to attend grad school and so far, his experiences have not only been positive but very impressive. The faculty, like in any university can vary. There are some outstanding professors and some that are mediocre. Some of the courses are challenging and some are not. He does put in hours of studying to maintain his high GPA, so the program does require a lot of work. There is also a lot of team work as well. The most impressive part of his experience has been the way the faculty has embraced his desire to conduct research. If you want to attend a top grad school, then they like to see that the student has conducted research. In his freshman year, my son approached a faculty member and has been conducting high level research ever since. This is a university with graduate students, and they encouraged a freshman to get involved with research, knowing that he had no prior experience. This is very impressive to me. So far, he has completed a paper that is being submitted to international conferences. Not all universities are so kind to undergraduates, especially Freshman when it comes to research, and UD has really done so much for him. Not only has he been involved in research, but the mentoring has been fabulous. They really seem to care about the students and will offer guidance and suggestions to help them meet their goals. There is no doubt in my mind that we made the right decision about UD. Please ask as many questions as you want. It’s an important decision!
@tigerm…thank you for that! its very encouraging to hear about your son’s positive experiences there - so glad its turned out well for him! Hearing about the great research opportunities and the attention from faculty is a huge plus.
Just some follow up questions:
Are the Computer Science labs/facilities good, state of the art? My son had visited last weekend but couldn’t see a whole lot during his time there.
I know your son is focused more on grad school but do you have a sense for how good the campus recruiting is for computer science - I had heard Microsoft, IBM hire UD graduates - we have so far not found a lot of information on companies that come to campus or average starting salaries by major.
One of the options my son is thinking about is doing a EE - CS double major at UD (I think they allow that for Honors students…?). I wonder if you might have some perspective on the Elec Engg or Comp Engg program. (Everyone talks about Chemical Engg at UD, and we have wondered how good the other programs are by comparison, even if they don’t yet have the same national reputation).
Also, if you feel comfortable sharing the information, I was curious what your son’s other top school choices were in addition to UD.
Hi. According to my son, the labs are very good. He, of course doesn’t know all of the labs, but from what he sees, he says they are good. As far as recruiting, he says that the top companies do not recruit on campus, however, there are plenty of students who were able to gain employment at Microsoft, Google etc. So they are hiring UD students. My son’s roommate is an EE major and seems to be doing well. Again, a lot of work and time goes into getting good grades. I should also note that there are honors sections in some of these classes that make the class more competitive. My son was accepted to Lafayette, Bucknell, F&M (which he liked but their dept was too small). He received money from all of them, but really thought that the research opportunities would be better at UD and he was right. There were also other factors that went into his decision besides the major, such as location, residential life and the overall “feel” of the campus. Let me know if you want to know anything else! Let us know your decision.
I think I replied to this on a different forum accidentally, but I can answer some of your questions about electrical engineering and computer science at UD. Earlier this semester, Google came to campus and gave a presentation with a couple of UD alumni who currently work there. Gore (think Gore-Tex) and Dupont (of course) also visit campus relatively frequently. I also know some people who work for Amazon now as software engineers. J.P. Morgan has a big presence on campus, even an onsite location, and quite a few of my friends have interned there or are going to intern there as computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering majors. Each semester has a career fair that brings a lot of companies to campus, including places like the NSA, Agilent, and many more. I know some of the professors in the ECE department have close ties with the Department of Defense and do research projects for them (that undergrads can assist with), because UD is pretty close to Aberdeen Proving Ground and the Army Research Lab.
Doing an EE-CS double major might be a little tricky, but I think it could possibly be doable. I know it’s very possible to do an honors EE degree with a CS minor (me!) or an honors CS degree with an ECE minor (one of my friends is doing this… and also getting a dual degree in math).
@ tigerm and @EEBlueHen…thank you for all the additional and very helpful information regarding UD. There is no doubt in our minds now its a great high quality program, and one that is set to go higher and gain more national recognition. For UD, my son, in addition to his strong academic/other credentials brings geographical diversity (being from Illinois) which I know they are looking to broaden.
The other thing we have also appreciated is how UD students and parents are very helpful and sharing the information about UD in a very objective useful way! Thanks again. I think my son will make a decision in the next week after weighing everything.