I’ve narrowed down my college choices to UMD and OSU for aerospace, and I’m hoping to get more insight into both programs. I’m OOS for both, and they cost the same after scholarships, so that’s not really a factor. I listed the things I’m considering below. I’ve toured UMD, and will be touring the engineering buildings soon. I’m also touring OSU tomorrow so I’ll learn more about their engineering then too.
Please keep in mind I’ve gathered all this information from google and other forums (some of which are older than a decade), so please correct me if I’m wrong!
osu pros
honors college
traditional university environment
bigger/stronger alumni network (from what I’ve seen)
more connections
osu cons
not a direct admit into aerospace
more broad/less specialized
umd pros
close to dc, and I love dc
greater opportunity with the dc area and NASA Goddard
stronger aero program, more specialized, more aero faculty
closer to home
umd cons
no honors college
more suburban environment, less lively/ traditional university imo
As for Honors, they are all different. You shouldn’t just want Honors because it’s Honors. Check what the program offers at OSU. Does what it offer interest you? Honors is not likely to matter job wise.
Not a direct admit is a reasonable reason not to go - but find out what it takes. There’s only 80 aero ABET accredited schools. MechE is a reasonable sub - my son is a MechE who works in aero and his work cohort was Industrial, MechE and I’m sure more. So if you didn’t get aero, you’ll still get classes/exposure.
I would not choose a school for the alumni network. These are both solid large schools - peers as most top 80 or 100 engineering schools will be. Some alums may help. Most likely can’t / won’t - but you’ll be applying for jobs on line like kids at most schools.
I wouldn’t say UMD is “less urban” - OSU is suburban in my opinion but it’s also only a few miles from downtown. But downtown Columbus is not DC. On the other hand, I don’t think DC is really reachable from UMD - not on a regular basis unless you have a car.
As for NASA, you will find alumns from tens and more of schools - schools like OK State and Kansas State - I wouldn’t say going to UMD gives you any advantage.
But if it’s NASA you seek, it’s not too late to put in an app at UAH (yes, also a peer) - which is surrounded by aero companies and Huntsville is Rocket City - in fact the space command is being moved there.
Bottom line - you have good points even though I don’t agree with all. But I think your visit will clear up a lot of things.
And find out the cutoff to get in aero while you are there.
I suspect you’ll have a strong inclination toward one vs. the other when all said and done.
I know they are building a train from or near campus but I don’t believe it had opened yet. You can get to DC but I don’t believe it’s quick.
This was just discussed by some locals I believe - on the UMD thread. I’ll see if I can find it.
I know the plan is for a direct train.
But I know people were saying -don’t count on going to DC regularly.
Can’t find it - it might be on the UMD thread but UMD puts this out and notes the train doesn’t run on the weekend. They actually highlight it - I didn’t highlight it.
I acknowledge it’s not my area of expertise but I looked into it for both my kids - it’s why my daughter decided after our GW, AU, and Gtown visit not to head up to UMD - and it was recently discussed on a thread that it’s not a reality.
Sounds like you are local so you may know otherwise.
They are building a train line, called the purple line, that will go from the suburb where UMD is located, to other suburbs.
The existing train, the green line, that goes from College park, where UMD is, into the city. You can transfer there to other lines if the stop you want isn’t on the green line, but the green line stops at a number of places in the city, like the archives which are a short walk from the Capitol.
The green line doesn’t go on the UMD campus but it’s an easy walk.
The link you show there is for the MARC train, which is a commuter rail. I would use the MARC train to get to the airport, or to Baltimore. But to get into DC the Metro Train is a better choice.
OK - @DCDC I found the discussion. #284. Sportsball starts it but you can look at what they replied to Soodad - and then read down from 284.
Perhaps you can add to their discussion or correct if needed.
I guess the genesis I got from it - and we had years ago for my daughter who wanted regularly to go into DC - was that it wasn’t realistic on a regular basis.
Thanks for adding your input - and to the other thread too. I still say - given one is going to intern during the summer, it wouldn’t be a factor for me. But OP can decide. Also, NASA Goddard doesn’t appear to be in DC - but East of UMD in Greenbelt MD (maybe it’s easier??) Public transport shows 1 hr 32 right now. UMD to DC shows 1 hour 4 but maybe because it’s a weekend.
Your link is to a discussion about the purple line. But the purple line, when it’s done, won’t take you downtown. The green or yellow line is the one you’d take to get downtown. Looking at times on Googlemaps, it’s about 45 minutes from the chapel (random location I chose) to the archives station that is nearest to the Capitol and serves as a decent stand in for “downtown”. About half of that is walking, and you could take a bus, or ride a bike or a scooter if you didn’t want to walk that far. When the purple line is running, you could take the purple line to the green or yellow station too.
NASA Goddard is in the same suburban county as UMD. I’ve never been there, but it looks like there aren’t great bus routes to get there, so it would take a little while to get there from the campus.
Congrats on the acceptances! You have isolated your positive and negatives.
I place a great deal of weight on having a direct acceptance to your major of choice. Agree that if you consider OSU you MUST understand how competitive it is to get into the aerospace major. Are there any direct admits to aerospace? Is there a GPA requirement to get in? What percentage of applicants are accepted? How big is the program? Would you be OK if not ultimately admitted to the aerospace program?
I would also understand exactly what the honors program at OSU provides. This can vary widely from college to college. At some schools there are huge benefits and at others some students turn down invitations to honors program as the benefit is not there for them.
For UMD in 2024, the average Aero salary was $87K (they don’t say if base only or not) with 53% employed and 20% still seeking. It sounds like they had data on 94% of grads - and this was at commencement so I’m sure some/much of the 20% found something eventually.
Most employment was in the DC area with more than a sixth with the federal government. These were the top employers:
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
Northrop Grumman
JHU Applied Physics Lab (APL)
US Army Research Lab
Naval Research Lab
US Air Force
Rolls Royce
National Space Intelligence Center
Lockheed Martin
L3Harris
OSU had 95 graduates in 2024 and has data on 93 of them. 49% employed. 15% seeking - but not sure of the timeframe. So many in grad school. The average was $80,093.
My guess is - the differentiation is location. With 80% of UMD in the high COL DC area whereas OSU shows 3x the amount of grads reporting salary in the midwest than the mid-atlantic/SE area.
Anyway, likely interesting but unless you don’t want to end up in DC, I wouldn’t think a deal breaker either way.
You’ll have to filter on the OSU to the current year.
Thank you all for the very helpful insights! After touring and talking to an engineering ambassador, I feel Ohio State isn’t the right fit for me. I didn’t feel much energy or excitement from the program, whereas I get a lot of that from UMD. Nothing about it really impressed or “wowed” me. Campus wise, I thought I’d like it a lot more, but surprisingly I didn’t feel any pull towards it- I think it may be too overwhelming for me. UMD seems to “call” to me more and I think another visit to just their engineering department this time will help!
A visit to UMD engineering doesn’t hurt, but honestly it sounds like you have your answer. Gut feel is part of the process. Congrats on your fine acceptances and thoughtful decision process. Hope you have a great college experience.
UMD has more alums at NASA than any other school on linkedin **FWIW if you think people pick for people from their own school, even in the slightest, that is a slight slight help. I checked recently.
**
**Knowing that is crappy data, but not no data and encompassed a lot of roles..
The recent resignation of the president and the fact a major donor (wexner) is an espteiner is not going to help the short-term focus of the administration on core strategy and academics at OSU - I honestly would consider that for next 4-5 years - I wouldn’t veto the school, but it will be a distraction for high level folks for sure.
OP- folks who don’t take the Metro regularly will be quick to tell you that being at UMD doesn’t mean you are close to DC. But I know at least a dozen current/recent Maryland students who had internships and jobs on Capitol Hill (i.e. took the Metro in and out at least twice a week) and it was not difficult. And only someone from a completely different part of the country would say it’s not accessible without a car. They clearly don’t know how expensive it is to park in DC (or how expensive that first ticket will be if you park illegally).
Getting policy experience while studying Aerospace is a fantastic combination. Every tech company in the US (and many from outside) maintain an office in DC to monitor and research legislation, help educate Hill staffers on new technologies, etc. Even if your interest is 100% on the R&D side of aero, knowing how money gets allocated is hugely beneficial.
Totally agree, having (admittedly very long ago) lived in that region.
One of my kids’ amazing college counselor highly recommended UMD for the one who was considering want aero (or pure mech-e) and had NASA dreams for all those reasons..
College Park is definitely not far from DC …not like georgetown / GWU obviously, but it is very much in the DC metro area…and government offices spread far and wide…which people sometimes forget - like the NIH, or NSA or Langley etc are quite a way outside downtown as examples..but as examples and LOTS of corporate stuff out near Dulles which is way outside too very sprawling area - also sprawling into MD - like Goddard!)
Third party article - so can’t say it’s assured - and I know OP picked UMD and that’s great. Congrats to them. Both schools show on this list and they didn’t have a bad choice.
Interestingly, when we visited OSU engineering, the campus is massive - but the engineering “building” was quite quiet - so I get what OP was saying. We might have seen it on a down time. I remember talking to a student from Richmond, VA.
Glad for OP they made a choice - not sure if they had been to UMD yet but hope they love it when they do, simply to ensure!!
I love #2 on this list - it doesn’t get a lot of love here and the engineering program is outstanding - always has been.
