OP: How do you think your daughter will do in the University of Maine at Orono’s environment ? It seems to be the antithesis of her stated desire to be in a diverse environment surrounded by other high achieving students.
I encourage contact with NESCAC schools which are still of interest to her and by which she was wait-listed. Ask for advice.
Even the not so high academic profile at University of Maine would appear to be higher than that of the student’s high school, so even University of Maine would appear to be an improvement in this aspect, even if it may not be optimal.
Of course, then the question becomes, is the desire for diversity and “other high achievers” more important than the desire to study mechanical engineering? Chance of completion in that major is likely much lower in the 3+2 program than in a school where the major is offered.
I fully agree.
Often students do need to compromise on something when making their matriculation choice.
For this student, I hope they have visited UMaine…which is a great place. If they find themselves happy there, I see no reason to do a 3-2 engineering program.
This student will be around plenty of high achievers as an engineering major at UMaine. And they do have a great honors college as well.
I agree with your assessment. The problem is that the applicant did not apply to enough “target” schools. However, I am a bit surprised that she was not offered admission by Trinity College–which wait-listed her. Trinity offers engineering.
The attraction to Maine is the low cost of attendance and the presence of two engineering programs. But, the issue is how will OP’s daughter react to the environment.
P.S. Engineering is a demanding major. As there is no personal knowledge of OP’s daughter beyond what OP has shared, it is tough to predict how she will react to an environment that seems to be the opposite of what she is seeking and of what motivates her.
She will find her people. There are a lot of liberal kids in Maine. One of them is mine, and she has many similar friends.
Again, speaking as a professional engineer, I think Maine would be a great choice.
Well…the kid has the option of taking a gap year if the two colleges where they were accepted just don’t work for the kid.
But really…some kids apply to safety schools (with the intention of attending if nothing else works out) and then reaches. Really, that’s fine as a strategy for applications.
Like I said, I’m hoping this kid got to revisit Maine, and maybe have a tour specific to the engineering programs. They really are good, and UMaine turns out excellent engineers.
My DH says that UMaine Orono has an excellent mechanical engineering program. But it is located more remotely than many other colleges. But the engineering program is excellent (my DH hired engineers, including ME in his work).
Wheaton 3-2 would not be my husband’s suggestion. This student needs to start off in engineering…or is there something else they want?
I’m speaking from experience…and my kid DID start in engineering but decided it wasn’t really what she wanted to do.
UMaine (of the acceptances this student has) is the better option.
I’m less concerned given her Honors College offer and her major generally. Also UMAINE is a flagship match state so many attend there from other states because of good financial packages and excel. When we toured I met (purely by happenstance) a high stats Maine pre-med student who turned down BU to save $$. She was headed to the research lab on a Saturday afternoon.
I’m not sure it’s easy to get a graduate degree in engineering without an undergrad one. @WayOutWestMom do you know?
Of the two acceptances this student has, the only one where she can be guaranteed to major in engineering is…Maine.
If neither of these colleges will work, perhaps a gap year can be considered, with applications to better options for a year from now.
Even if it is possible, as I said earlier I would not recommend getting a graduate degree in engineering without an undergrad one. There’s just not enough time to get in all the design classes you’d need. And usually the grad school classes build on what you learned in undergrad. For example, I took Prestressed Concrete in grad school, but it would have been impossible to take that without a couple of semesters of Reinforced Concrete in undergrad. I’m sure there are similar cases in ME. Grad school is meant to delve deeper into what you learned as an undergrad.
It’s 3 now… a late app yielded admission to SUNY New Paltz as well, which ha an engineering program.
Great that she has another option with an engineering program! Definitely worth checking out the school – it may prove to be a better overall fit.
I think an issue is that this a kid on the spectrum who until relatively recently did not plan to major in Engineering (hence the college list).
This creates 2 problems that are different from a typical “where do you start, Wheaton or UMaine”, because fit isn’t just a nice add-on for a kid on the spectrum, it can make the difference between going to class or not, and because if OPs kid changes from engineering to something else the academic safegards coming from the ABET accredited courses will no longer be there.
UMaine is fine for Engineering and the Honors college will ensure there are motivated kids with her but it’s really not like either Wheaton or Dartmouth (which are both very different from each other).
But it’s a real issue that Engineering trumps every other consideration, some of which may be deal breakers otherwise, when it’s not entirely clear how certain OPs child is of wanting to study Engineering and work as an Engineer.
That’s why the NACAC list or a PG year may work better than the 2 current choices.
Eta: 3, with New Paltz - which may be the happy medium for OP. Only downside, AFAIK, New Paltz doesn’t have an honors program.
The surprised us too. It was a target for her. The only reasons I can think for not getting in are:
This is why I thought New Paltz might cover the bases, because it has the ABET engineering, but it could also be a good experience if she changes her mind. Not too large, and more balanced in its strengths. Has some interesting alternative STEM programs too, like the geology major that leads to professional licensure… and of course the usual suspects - math, physics, etc. Not so different from Wheaton, except in that engineering wouldn’t come with barriers that would make a major change more likely for reasons other than her own inclinations.
It does actually have an Honors program Apply | SUNY New Paltz although I haven’t looked at what it entails.
I encourage you or your daughter to contact Trinity College admissions since your daughter is on the wait-list. Send an email letting the admissions committee know of her situation & continued interest. She can share a bit more about her background.
@MYOS1634 seems to understand certain aspects of your daughter’s situation that has not been discussed in this thread. I agree with the assessment in that it really is important that your daughter be motivated by her environment. However, only you and she can judge which environment will work for her.
In researching mechanical engineering programs, I came across the University of Southern Maine which is ranked about the same as U Maine-Orono for Mechanical Engineering. Southern Maine is ranked #311 and Orono is just a bit lower at #313 according to College Factual. They are the top 2 ranked ME programs in the state of Maine. But, the location is in Portland–which may make a difference to your daughter.
Hopefully, she will enjoy her upcoming visit to Orono as it is ABET accredited.
Your daughter is talented, hard-working, and bright based on her posted stats.
Thanks for looking it up and finding it! 
Thank you! Yes, she has written a thoughtful LOCI. We can hope, but obviously can’t expect it to come through. At this point, it would be her first choice if it came through.
This is very close to home and not appealing to D24 because they have a split campus… dorms and many classes 20 minutes outside the city. Other classes are in the city.
I hope you get a chance to take her to New Paltz.
I missed that this was a student on the spectrum. You might also want to check to see if there are services available to her at all of these schools to help navigate a different and new situation, set of expectations, and independence.
My son was an applied math major at USM. All of his classes were in Portland; none were in Gorham. And they’re building a new dorm on the Portland campus. But I understand it might be too close to home! My son commuted.
I want to thank everyone for your thoughtful engagement. You have given me many wonderful insights and talking points to use with D24. We will see how the UMaine visit goes on Sunday and for sure visit New Paltz unless UMaine is a slam dunk. I will keep reading if you have more to share and keep the CC community apprised of our progress.
She also put in other late-ish apps to URI (which was still accepting apps) and UConn (which technically wasn’t accepting apps for Storrs but told us to submit anyway). UConn might branch her to Stamford, which has dorms and intro level engineering classes. They will also let you switch to Storrs after a year if you are pursuing engineering.