Hey forum, this is my conundrum. I’m in my late 20s, originally from the UK, and have a humanities bachelor from Oxbridge. Now I live in the USA with my partner and I’m one year into studying civil engineering at a community college in MD, having decided to switch career paths. I have a GPA of 4.0 with about two-thirds of the courses I need for an Associate’s under my belt. I’m still researching the possibility of convincing a university to grant me special student status, on account of my good grades in math/physics/chemistry and my fancy UK degree, with a view to jumping straight to a Master’s, but let’s say that doesn’t happen and I’m gonna end up pursuing my second Bachelor’s.
It seems likely that gaining admission to UMD will be a formality, since the transfer agreement my community college has with UMD requires a GPA of 3.2 for engineering. Now, in-state tuition at UMD is around $10k – it’s a great option to have, for a top-25 engineering university. With that in mind, I can afford out-of-state or private tuition rates without taking out loans (doubtless I’m not going to be receiving any financial aid). The extra $60k or more, however, is easily the equivalent of the down payment on a house/apartment after I graduate.
So my question is: Would any university be worth the extra cash compared to UMD?
As extra context, I’m undecided between focusing on construction engineering and transportation engineering. I’m also tempted by pursuing an academic/teaching career, though I’m cagey considering how badly universities treat adjuncts and how scarce tenure is. I care much more about getting to work on things I care about (sustainable urban systems and construction) than I do about making stupid money. I’d say there’s a 40-50% chance I’ll jump straight from a bachelor’s to a master’s, and I really, really like the look of a number of universities’ sustainable/resilient infrastructure and systems degrees (Stanford and UIUC especially). I think that’s pretty much everything!
I think you are drastically underestimating the cost of an OOS degree. For one there is a very good chance your CC courses won’t be accepted. Engineering falls under ABET accreditation so if you want to be in engineering the school won’t matter much. UMD has a great program. I can’t see any way an OOS program would be worth it.
You are correct that you won’t receive aid for an undergrad degree. You already have one. If your CC has an articulation agreement with UMD, then work with the Transfer Counselor at your CC and with the Transfer Admissions team at UMD to make certain you finish whatever it is that you need to finish with the GPA you need.
While you are at it, don’t forget to look at the various engineering programs at Frostburg, Morgan State, UMBC, and UMES. One of those might be easier for you to commute to than UMCP.
The CC has sent engineering transfers to a range of OOS colleges, the more prestigious of which the department, predictably, loudly advertises. In the past decade or so a handful of students have transferred to Purdue, CMU, Cornell, Stanford, even one to MIT. Generally a few each year get into Georgia Tech. There is no articulated agreement with any of these schools (maybe excepting GA Tech). I think it’s unlikely that the OOS schools took them and then made them start from scratch… right?
While it’s unlikely the students got zero credit, it is very likely they didn’t get the full credit on their transcripts. Ask your transfer GC if they have any info on that.
I would think that there aren’t many schools at all that would be worth the extra cost compared to UMD. Maybe somewhere such as MIT, Caltech, Georgie Tech, or Stanford. Even then it would probably depend upon how many years of additional studying you would need (which depends on how many credits you will get), and how much pain would be caused by the extra cost.
UMD is a very good school. According to their web site their Civil Engineering degree is ABET accredited, which is not a surprise.
I would be very tempted to finish your bachelor’s at UMD, and then think about other schools if you want to go for a master’s. Some students do work for a year or two between a bachelor’s and a master’s.
There is no way to actually answer your question of which schools would be worth the cost differential. Two reason:
You can't live a parallel experience, so you'll never truly know the answer.
What does "worth" mean to you? That's a values issue (not meant negatively in anyway as in if you don't do X you have lower values...). With the same exact outcome, some will say it was worth it to them to spend extra money because of X. Y and Z. Others will have the total opposite reaction. "If I got tot he same place, why would I spend a penny more?" I guess your answer (not the answer) is in the "Why".
Regardless of choice, suffice to say that UMD is an excellent school and has a very strong engineering program.