I pay around $500/semester out of pocket, but I'm an engineering major with expensive books and 18 hours/semester.
!!! My husband wants so badly to do Engineering, but thought it might not be feasible on a 3-year plan. Some schools, like the Citadel, have a specific 3-year Engineering track for STA-21 students. He just finished his Associate's. How were you able to do Engineering? Is it pretty easy to get all the classes you need in 3 years? Sometimes with very specific engineering degree plans, they will only offer one class every Fall (per say), so it is almost impossible to get your degree faster than a basic pre-planned out 4 year.
Advice?
Another option to possibly look into while at ODU if your husband wants to do an Engineering type degree but is worried about completing it in time. ODU offers Engineering Technology degree, such as my degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET). The Engineering Technology degrees are also ABET certified so they will hold their weight in the pursuit of a masters program.
Pluses to this degree is that you will only have to take up to Calc 2, which eliminates Calc 3, PDE and ODE. The only thing you really have to contend with on the downside is that you have to put up with other "real" engineering majors poking fun at your degree.
A major plus for me, in that I am a prior sub nuke is that I had multiple lower level classes taken care of me in the engineering track that it has allowed me to take a relatively light load. Instead of the previous quoted 18 hours a semester I have/will taken the following:
Fall 07-15 credits
Spring 08-17 credits
Summer 08- 7 credits
Fall 08-17 credits
Spring 09-17 credits
Summer 09-7 credits
Fall 09-13 credits
Spring '10- 12 credits.
If you are not a prior nuke you are looking at adding about 9-12 credits throughout that time which can easily be made up in the summer or your senior year.
One other plus is that as of right now the Engineering Technology department has more additional scholarships available then the Engineering Department. For example, on top of the Navy 10k a year I get I am also getting an additional 7k a year from another scholarship that was offered to primarily MET students.
No fun. Oh, well, only another 9 days till the end of the month...
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