Should I attend a really good engineering school that isn't accredited in my major?

I'm looking to attend UT Austin, which is one of the best engineering schools, but it's not ABET accredited for environmental engineering, which is what I want to study. Although it's not accredited in my major, it's still a really good engineering school. Will it be enough that it's a highly rated school? Should I still attend or keep looking for other schools?

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Agatha Kim , AECOM

Answered Tuesday, August 13, 2019 at 12:45 PM

Hi Sarah,

I'm sorry that this response is coming so late. But to answer your question...

You're at a time of your life where the world is your oyster and you don't want to limit yourself by anything because you are capable and have the potential to achieve anything right now. I like to think of where you are right now as the best case of Schrodinger's cat, where you can be this, that, and everything, and nothing, you can be whatever you want! That being said, not having a degree from an ABET-accredited program may limit you in what you are able to do later in life, such as obtaining your Professional Engineering license or getting a job with a company that may be more selective in who they hire based on where they went to school. On the flip side, UT Austin may be in the process of getting their environmental engineering ABET-accreditation and perhaps by the time you graduate, it will be. This is something that you should find out from UT Austin and if it turns out that they're going for it, then you should too! I would keep looking at other schools, not saying that you should necessarily go to another school, but it's best to keep all your options open and look at what else is out there. You might find another school that you like just as much that has the accreditation that you want.

I hope I gave you some direction to help you in your quest to become an engineer. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out! I'll be better about checking my messages in the future.

Thank you,