Not Accredited Should I Transfer?

[MrAlt]

Hello All...I am a junior undergraduate computer engineering student attending Shepherd University, unfortunately i recently have discovered that my program is not ABET accredited. This affects my plans for grad school, I had planned to continue my eduaction and get a MS in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science, but since my BS won't be accredited I am not sure how this will affect my chances of grad schools. Can anyone give me some advice on this situation? I understand that if i transfer Ill be in school longer, but it dosent bother me that much if I know I am getting a quality education, because frankly some of the classes I am taking here at shepherd are a bit of a joke...Any Advice from those of you who have planned to or are currently attending grad school?

 

[marcusl]

If you have the grades, scores, and financial means to transfer, then definitely go ahead. A BS from an accredited school will help you get into grad school, or if you enter the working world, will be worth a better job at a higher salary.

 

[Vanadium 50]

If the classes you are taking are "a joke", I don't see a good argument to stay there. Independent of accreditation.

 

[twofish-quant]

If you can't convince yourself that you are getting a quality education, then it's going to be hard to convince someone else of that.

 

[ThinkToday]

I knew folks that went to Shepherd, and they did ok. Since you are in a WV state facility, you should be able to transfer to WVU for the ABET program, and I'm sure there are others too. Shouldn't be too much different than kids that do the 3/2 programs. IMO, as close as you are to being done, I'd hang in there. If you want the graduate school option at the end, why not call WVU and see if the Shepherd University ABET status would impact acceptance at WVU? That would give you a sense of whether you need to jump or not. I'd also talk it over with your adviser. Surely you wouldn't be the first Shepherd student to go on to graduate school. In all things you do in life; look before you leap.

 

[sweetpotato]

From my experience ABET accreditation of your undergrad degree is not required for admission to grad school. For example, one could have, say, a physics degree (which of course is not ABET accredited) and get into EE or ME grad school.

A bigger concern is that an engineering degree which is not ABET accredited is generally considered inferior to one that is. As one example: in some states, there may be restrictions as to whether you can take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam if your degree is not ABET accredited. I know of one person that had a B.S. in Physics and a PhD in EE, and was not allowed to take the FE exam because he didn't have an ABET-accredited undergrad degree. Now maybe you don't care about the FE exam or being licensed as a PE, so this may be completely irrelevant to you, but this is just one example.

If you mainly care about getting into grad school, the best thing to do would be to contact a prospective grad program of your choice and ask whether they care about ABET accreditation of your undergrad degree.

If you are concerned that your classes are a joke and that you are getting a poor quality of education... that is when I would seriously consider transferring.

 

[MrAlt]

Thank you everyone very much for your guidance,I called some graduate programs today and they assured me that i would be ok if I kept my grades in good standing, In regards to what i said about some classes being a joke, It was only a select few and I've made up for it through independent study, My mind is much more at ease, thank you all so much!