Accepted for Fall 2016: Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach and WPI. Accepted for Spring 2017: Univ of Maryland. Accepted for Fall but to Univ Studies…unsure of transfer to engineering possibility: VA Tech
I think my top choices are ER and WPI. I like both campuses!! Internships and career possibilities appear to be equal. ANY advice on how to decide? cost an issue, but not a deciding factor.
Look at future jobs and see where people that have that job went.
I would make a spreadsheet and include info like:
Net Cost
Number of Undergraduates
Faculty Student Ratio
%of students that live on campus
How big is the department for your major? If you are majoring in something that only has a couple of professors, that does not bode well.
Housing- do they offer all 4 years? freshman only?
Urban/rural/suburban…what do yo uprefer
Is this a commuter school? (do students go home on weekends)
Surrounding area - what is the nearby town/amenities like?
Transportation - how would you get home
AP Credits - can you get credit for AP tests you have taken
Male/Female ration
Greek life - what % of students are in greek life
Parking
Diversity
Safety
Sports
Jobs - what happens to seniors after they graduate
Internships - depending on your major, is it easy to get internships?
…and whatever makes sense for you
You might not care about, say, greek life. but if 50% of the kids are in greek life and you don’t want to be, that is something to know. Or you may want a big time sports scene or you might not want one. Grade them from 1-5 as they make sense to you.
Then look at each of them and see which makes sense for you
A tool to help is https://colleges.niche.com/compare/default.aspx?&tab=tab-rankings
I would caution against using a site like Niche as their rankings are self-reported, based on opinion, and therefore highly subjective. You could probably glean some general trends out of the reviews, but in the end, what matters most is how YOU feel about the school, not how others feel.
Personally, I would look at strengths of each program (in this case both are actually very good), job prospects, and overall vibe/feel of the two schools. If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend visiting both campuses. You will get a much better feeling for which one offers a better fit.