Good luck to your daughter! Keep us posted!
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She could walk there! Not what she is looking for I don’t think. But I am really trying to help her keep her mind open to all options.
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Let me get back to your OP…which I reread again. One thing you need to do regardless of the college choices is figure out where your student will get the best support, should she need it. Some colleges actually have excellent support services for kids on the spectrum. If your daughter has an IEP, or even a 504 plan, there should be some transition planning there with suggestions of what she might benefit from post high school. Or have this conversation with the school counselor. You want her to be in a place where she feels supported.
For the engineers out there and others in the know, what is the perception of UMaine for engineering?
My husband is a career engineer. He has hired from all over New England. He says UMaine has a great program and graduates learners who want to continue to learn (which is needed in every engineering job for new engineering grads)
Do students fare well in internships and jobs?
we have a relative who graduated from UMaine, and loved the program there. He had great internships which translated into his first job offer. He resides in Maine. Loves the outdoors and all outdoor things!
Will she be surrounded by smart, motivated students?
in engineering…yes
If she chooses the alternative (ie, Wheaton and a 3-2 engineering program or majoring in math/physics and pursuing engineering in grad school), is that a reasonable path for an engineering career?
my husband says that he can’t think of any good reasons to do a 3-2 program in engineering. It’s an extra year of undergrad costs, and lost engineering income. He suggests going where you can start in engineering…for a couple of reasons. If you end up liking engineering, you will have hit the ground running. If you don’t, you can change gears. In most 3-2 programs, the engineering rich courses are not until later…and it might be too late to change.
Knowing the high rate of attrition in engineering programs, and also knowing my daughter, who is a STEM kid but prone to changing her mind, does it make sense to base the undergrad decision on this one major?
all of her three acceptances so far have other majors. I would not send someone who isn’t sure to a tech kind of college, but none of these are. They have lots of other majors.
Just adding, my husband agrees that reaching out to Trinity is a good idea. You never know…it could help. Will it be affordable?
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We know kids who have recently toured UMaine and were impressed with the new engineering labs (not sure if they are new, but “newer” and they were impressed). UMaine is definitely the call if it is all about engineering, but I can understand the draw of a smaller school for your daughter.
I would connect with Student Accessibility Services immediately and see what they offer. You might be able to meet with someone on Sunday, but since it’s a weekend, I’d call first to see.
And have her apply for Trio Support Service through Student Support Services.
"At the core of all services provided is your TRIO SSS advisor. Your advisor is your advocate and ally while you are a student at UMaine. Your advisor’s goal is to provide you whatever assistance possible to help you achieve your degree, so you never have to wonder who to contact or where to go when you have a question or problem. "
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@vwlizard great info! If these programs sound like they will work for this student, they could make the difference for this student!
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A couple of points from my experience:
I have a S23 with (relatively mild) ASD, and the transition to college has been challenging for him. The coursework itself isn’t very taxing, but the always-on social stimulation is exhausting and anxiety producing. We have needed to pick him up a few times and bring him home for a recharge, which we could do because he is about 30 minutes away. That might not be a consideration for your child, but I’d recommend thinking about whether it might be.
My (engineer) husband hired a Wheaton Physics major grad this year as a lab engineer and is very impressed with their knowledge & skills. He says they could move into a design engineering role at his company if they want to with a bit of mentoring, or do a bit more work and then get a grad degree in engineering if they prefer. He doesn’t do PE type work, it is high-tech, computer simulation type engineering, so it could be different for other types of engineering work. It definitely isn’t the straightest path to engineering, but if Wheaton is by far the best option in every other way, I wouldn’t eliminate it.
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I wish I could remember the thread, but there was discussion about doing a grad degree in engineering and for the most part, it wasn’t as simple as just going to grad school. There were a lot of engineering pre-recs that needed to be completed.
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delete - I posted New Paltz Honors…see it already was posted.
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Here is the link to SUNY Binghamton‘s description of what you need to do if you don’t have an undergraduate degree in engineering and want to get an MS in engineering. I think it is pretty standard, but I’m sure the exact details would vary from school to school.
I don’t think it is too onerous for someone who has a BS in physics. But, yes, it might involve taking a couple of classes.
(I agree that if you 100% know you want to get an engineering degree, and you have feasible options for that, you should just go for that as an undergrad! I am only putting out the information because in some circumstances trade-offs have to be made, and if a school without an engineering degree is really a much better fit for the student as an undergrad, it does not mean she never has the option of moving into engineering in the future.)
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But note that master’s degree programs are usually programs where the student specializes in a subarea and goes deeper into it. If the student intends to work as an engineer in a situation where PE licensing may be needed (occasionally if mechanical or some other kinds of engineering, but definitely if civil), note that there are only two mechanical engineering master’s degree programs in the US with ABET accreditation.
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And they are…
According to abet.org , they are University of Louisville and Naval Postgraduate School.
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Super important for any school you’re considering: check into what support services are available for those with ASD. I’d choose a larger school with more robust support services over a smaller school that may not have as many resources in that area. I don’t know what’s available at these schools specifically, but I’d base a decision on that as least as much as specific academic programs and perceived social fit. Even if you don’t think they’ll need it, it could turn out to be very important.
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After thinking about this situation over the night, I really hope that the University of Maine at Orono clicks with your daughter as it would make life easier due to location (2 hours from home) and low cost (in-state) and honors benefits.
Problem with Trinity College is the surrounding neighborhood is not good as many feel unsafe.
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Larger schools seem scary, but they usually have more support and a larger pool of neurodiverse students from which to find your people.
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Yeah. D24 gets easily overwhelmed in crowded hallways. When we took D22 to UMass as a family to settle in for her freshman year, D24 had a panic attack just walking through the throngs of people. She has collected more tools and made great strides since then in terms of managing sensory-based anxiety. But it’s one of the reasons we didn’t apply to larger state schools. Still, she wants the immersive experience and independence of living on campus in a dorm vs living at home and going to USM down the street.
The distance of New Paltz is a concern perhaps, as others have said the being sble to come home for occasional weekends provides a respite from the stimuli. We are accessing housing accommodations for a single, because she needs respite.
D24 also is an appealing kid with a dry sense of humor and charisma. She finds friends more easily than many on the spectrum, but she struggles with how to spend time with friends, preferring activities to just hanging out and talking. She prefers to surround herself with neurotypical kids, mostly boys. In high school, she has found a cohort of smart, kind, and friendly guys to play ping pong and the like.
So, it’s hard to predict where she will flourish. I’m looking forward to the UMaine campus visit tomorrow.
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I also wanted to add that I am less concerned about the speed of her getting her degree and getting employable as a career engineer as soon as possible. She is young for her age in many ways, and more time in school could be a benefit. First and foremost, I want her to be happy, challenged, and growing in confidence and independence.
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I hope she had a nice visit at UMaine and was able to learn more about her potential major and get a feel for the day to day vibe while there.
It is hard to balance helping and giving them space. Good luck with navigating these next chapters of parenting. No one ever told us this would be harder than getting through the toddler stage - lol!
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Just a word of caution. You can’t get BS in something and go for Engineering for grad school… Most grad schools will take only students with undergraduate degree in Engineering. You can have Engineering degree and go for something else for grad school.
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I don’t know whether it is “most” or not, but there are high-quality schools that will take engineering graduate students who do not have an engineering undergraduate degree. (see my link to Binghamton above.) yes, you would need to make sure you had the right classes, and you would probably need to make a compelling case through personal statements and other activities, but it’s not impossible.
I mean, 25 years ago at MIT I knew graduate students in engineering programs that did not have undergraduate degrees in engineering. 
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