I'm a electrical engineering major at UH with a 3.6ish gpa going into my 3rd semester, I'm thinking of trying to transfer to UT. As of now through my various scholarships I'm looking at nearly a free ride through UH, knowing that, does it make financial sense to transfer to UT where id be looking at out of pocket costs of 7k a semester? I understand that UH's engineering program sucks compared to UT but will having a degree from UT with student debt be better than having a degree from UH with no debt? Also for those who have transferred or know people that have, is my GPA competitive enough?
I graduated about 4 years ago from UT EE and is now part of the work force. I think the answer is that it depends. If you're looking for Grad School, it might make a small difference but nothing a solid GRE can't cure. If you have a decent job lined up or think you'll be able to find work out of school fairly easily, where you went to school (between UT and UH) become a lot less relevant 3 years after you start working. Now if you want to get hired right out of college, I know there are companies that would recruit at UT because of it's rankings that would not recruit out of UH, getting your foot in the door might be easier from UT. Lastly, and this is not to knock UH or UH alums (because I know there are a lot of people that go there that would run circles around me in smarts and success), but EE is hard and a lot of times grade curves comes into play. I would venture to say from what I saw, your peer competition at UT will be tougher (it is considered the better public schools in the state and the likely fall back school for any Asians from Texas that didn't get into Ivy Leagues) and thus if you're not up to it, your grades could drop (I know I went from one of the smarter kids in the classroom in HS to below average at UT for some courses).
Does Steven Weinberg still teach at UT? It's theoretical physics and not engineering, but dropping his name in a job interview would be nice.
It'd be interesting to see how many people would actually know who he is. lol. I mentioned "Carl Sagan" to a guy I worked with and he had no idea who the hell he was. Geez.
I have an engineering degree from UH and thankfully I have a better career and make more money than all my friends who went to UT and A&M.
You could just say Nobel prize, yadda yadda, recommendation letter if you can get it. I would be impressed. Change the name to Bazooka Joe and continue your stories and conversations unabated.
And played ball and got his business degree at UT, and didn't use either diploma for the next 40-50 years. All in all, I wouldn't think transferring to UT was worth it for the extra $7,000 per. You got Mission Control and the whole goddamned energy supply chain in a 50 mile radius. If you can't get a worthwhile ENGR job or pre-grad internship, den sumptin rawng wif youse.
I graduated EE from UT back in '02. UH will be sufficient for you if you plan on staying in Houston. But an engineering degree from Texas is well recognized around the country and across industries. Silicon Valley, for instance, is full of UT grads. So being a Texas Ex is a huge advantage from a networking perspective.
My sister graduated IE from UH and got a job with Schulmberger right out of school. She now works for Goodrich Aerospace in California. She'll probably be the first to tell you that while the universities are important to an extent, the quality of your interview and your resume/experience/internships will land you whatever job you need.
He engineered the Dallas Cowboys to three NFC titles and two Super Bowl wins, so he did use UH engineering degree.
5 years after college no one cares where you went....your first job matters more than where you graduated college from.... That said......getting your first job is easier when you go to a better school. DD
at the undergraduate level all public school sare the same, i would venture to even say that all schools are the same at the undergrad level, at UH professors are from the same schools that teach at any other school, the philosophy of most professors are to give minimal attention to undergrad students and maximum attention to graduate students, that being said i can tell you, you will recieve more one on one attention from your professors at UH as the average class size in Engineeering is between 32-40 students while looking at nationally ranked programs the majority of the criteria is reflective of all things except undergraduate work, research money, endowment money are major factors that go into ranking programs, engineering students at UH get paid internships and dont have to leave the city if they dont want to, if you have never been to the engineering career services department you need to make a visit, they have long established relationships with top engineering firms around nation, if you have never been to the career fair they put on make sure you attend it this semster no i'm not an engineering student and to the grammar nazis, yes i know, it's an internet message board get over yourselves
You're talking two semesters at $7K? In the big scheme that $14K is moot. What do you want to do? Grad school (my engineering colleagues are telling me a masters degree is the new bachelors -- but it's not my realm), work for a big co, a little co, or in a specialized field? DD's right -- once you get in, nobody cares so much about your degree. So will UH get you the job/grad school you want? Where would you prefer to go and where will you do best?
also nobody cares how much money you make and its not some contest with your friends. it's all about how happy you are. do what you feel is best for yourself. certain companies recruit at certain universities, so if you want to be at company xyz, its easier to go to that college that xyz recruits at.
I went to UT for an CS degree and it makes a small deference in getting the inteview but not in salary or actually in the job. You perfomance at the job is the most important factor. I know alot of people who graduated from UH ClearLake that make as much as me. Going to UT is fun though and if you like the college life it is much better at UT. If I were you I would transfer just to enjoy your last couple of years. You are finished with all the weed out courses and the quality of education will go up making it more interesting when you go to class.
