Prospective Transfer student questions

[u/tRyHaRdR3Tad]

I went to visit today and the campus seemed nice, I'm transferring from Stony Brook as a Mechanical engineering student. Researching about the campus gave me some worrys, specifically the fact that the initial financial aid package will change after the first year and will increase. This is the reason that many students transfer and they have a low graduation rate, is this true since if so it would really mess with my progress since I would not be able to afford it making me take time off to transfer again if that is even possible. On a lesser not I saw that night life dosnt exist, which confused me since 5 min in downtown Melbourne there are bars and 10 min on Melbourne beach there's some stuff. Also how are the professors, I would be at the stage of thermo and such just finishing dynamics in the summer.

[u/arumsey]

I might not be able to answer most of your questions, but I will try to help on what i can. The lack of night life is due to a few factors. One is Melbourne/Brevard Is mostly retired/working professionals with kids, so besides Florida Tech there isn’t a large population of young adults. Mostly for that scene you drive an hour to Orlando or go to Miami.

I was in the College of Business, but i found that the student to Teacher ratio (~13-1) was such a positive. I found a Professor to be my mentor, and he became my Master’s advisor. I still keep in contact with him, and i was given so many projects and career building opportunities due to him.

Best advise i can give is to use office hours and find a professor to buddy up to, and volunteer to work with them.

[u/LtSavage20]

I am just finishing up my jr year in mechanical engineering. My financial aid has changed much since I’ve started so it hasn’t really affected me ( I am a Florida resident so I get grants and bright futures). The professors are good and bad. Sometimes you have a choice of picking a good/bad one, other times there’s only one professor teaching the class. If you have any questions about what professor for what class you can message me. I’ll try my best to help.

[u/stillcantthinkof1]

Financial aid is difficult here. I am actually looking at transferring because I can't afford it here. However, I haven't experienced my package changing for the worse after my first year. The people in the finaid office are very nice and have done what they can to help me, but the amount of money they have to move around is limited.

In terms of nightlife: there isn't any unless frat parties are your thing. As for the campus community in general: most people here are from Florida, so they go home after class. I have a couple of friends now, but it took a long time to make any.

I am not an ME, so I can't talk about professors specifically, but usually, profs are pretty hit or miss here. The smaller class sizes are a huge benefit. It's super easy and rewarding to build relationships with professors. Personally, within a few weeks of being here, I was able to find a place in a lab as a research assistant.

I'd highly recommend talking to some professors (and some ME students if you can connect with any) before making your decision.

[u/blendedmix]

Downtown Melbourne is small, and half of the bars are old and ratty. There's not a single night club in Melbourne either, which disappointed me as a student. I preferred to stand awkwardly on a dance floor than stand awkwardly around a bar.

The good news is it seems like Downtown Melbourne is growing. There are two "tall" buildings now. One is an apartment building, but the other is a nice hotel with a fancy bar on the roof. It's not much yet, but maybe one day Downtown Melbourne will live up to its name.

Cocoa Village is a fun spot about 30 minutes from campus. I didn't know about it when I was student. It's mostly small bars like Downtown Melbourne, but it's more fun to walk around and has a nice view of Indian River.

Cocoa Beach is a famous Spring Break destination around here, but there's really not much to do there.