UCF pros:
-cheaper
-warm climate
-I get free housing since my relatives live in Orlando
(I don’t like dorm life)
-lots of entertainment near by
-NASA feeder school
UCF cons:
-understaffed
-lower graduation rate
-ranked below Rutgers for best engineering schools
Rutgers pros:
-top 50 public college
-2.5 hour drive from home (I could visit my family on weekends)
-High Indian population and friends living nearby
-higher graduation rate
Rutgers cons:
-more expensive
-similar climate to home
-dorm life, I have to leave my bird behind
-not much entertainment nearby
Is the price difference significant?
Which region of the country do you think you’ll want to live in? Although students can and do apply to jobs everywhere, there is inevitably a strong regional bias in where grads end up.
Maybe for a year. Most Rutgers kids move to of campus housing after freshman year.
There are enough activities in and around campus. You won’t be bored.
I don’t think NJ is a bad state since it’s close to my home, but I do prefer Orlando, FL, I also have a tendency to get moody in the winter season which holds back my performance so FL has warmer weather
Both out of state:
Rutgers NB is $34,766 per year, 15k with aid
UCF is $24,036 per year, but only 9k with aid, much cheaper if I live off campus
I think that’s a significant difference in cost but my biggest fear is the graduation rates
What type of Engineering ?
We are in Florida and have friends that have went to UCF and loved it.
I would choose UCF, but both are excellent and will probably come down to which is a better fit.
UCF is a school on the rise, Especially in Engineering, Aerospace, and Defense Industries. It’s nicknamed Space U.
The 50 yard line of the football field even lines up with NASA launch pad 39 and 29% of
Kennedy Space center employees are UCF Grads. The Future of Space Exploration | University of Central Florida.
Student life on Orlando there is so much to do and Athletics they just joined the Big12 Conference.
OOS Orlando is easy to fly into and many places to stay when you visit.
Graduation rates are lower butt they are improving. Our friends son just graduated in December (Business) in 3 1/2 years.
Good Luck.
Sounds like you prefer UCF and it is cheaper. Will you have reliable transportation to get to and from campus from your relatives?
And IMO unless the statistics are just terrible, graduation is in your hands – take college seriously, take the sequence of courses you need, etc. and you should graduate.
Only you (and your family given budgets) can decide which is right for you.
The rank is not relevant - not in engineering.
What you might look at though - and I’m not expert on these two schools - we’ve read a lot of stories about Rutgers and having to bus around campus or to different campuses. Not sure how that impacts engineering. Maybe someone can share…and if it’s a deal breaker.
UCF is big - but the day to day getting to class - maybe someone else will know.
That might be something work a look though.
PS - when you are looking at “aid” figures, make sure you add back in loans. Schools count those as aid - but they’re not. They have to be paid back and with interest.
Sounds like you prefer UCF. If the price is right, don’t worry, it’s not only ABET accredited but also well-respected.
Did you get into the honors college ?
Rutgers is a T50 school, that would be hard to pass up at the price that you would pay. UCF is a fine school, but it doesn’t have the same level of reputation or reach.
The campus is laid out very nice. It’s like a large circle with the student parking lots and dorms around it and the classrooms, Libraries, Student Union etc. in the middle. For as large of a campus I was pleasantly surprised how easy it is to get around. You can get from one side of campus to the other side of campus in 20-25 minutes walking.
Anyone interested google UCF and you can see it, my explanation might not give you the full picture