A Little Confused....please Help

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
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<p>I am really sorry for starting such a thread but I am a little confused at the moment. </p>

<p>I have currently been accepted to a few universities and have shortlisted Purdue, UIUC and USC as my top options as Duke and Rice will reject me (no doubt about that) and I have to decide on which university to select. I am interested in majoring in Aerospace Engineering. </p>

<p>Purdue is currently ranked 4th in Aerospace Engineering and is highly regarded and recognized for this particular field. Overall it has a very good engineering program. But the downside is that it accepts 85% of its applicants.</p>

<p>USC is currently ranked 19th in Aerospace Engineering but its overall engineering is ranked 8th (just 2 ranks or so behind Purdue and 4 behind UIUC...if i am right). Overall it is better than both of them and is ranked in the top 30's in USNews Rankings. Plus it is situated in California which will suit the type of weather I am used to. But the downside is the high fees. Even though I would be able to pay for about 3 years in USC I might have to take a loan in the 4th year. </p>

<p>UIUC too is highly ranked in the Engineering department and currently shares 4th place with Purdue in the Aerospace Engineering rankings. It is more selective than Purdue but less selective than USC. But again, it has a higher fee structure than Purdue and lower than USC. </p>

<p>In addition to the Aerospace Engineering I intend to double major in Mechanical Engineering due to the overlap of many courses in the first 2-3 years.</p>

<p>And because I am unable to visit any of the universities to find out which I would feel more comfortable in I would like to know your views on which one of these 3 universities I should select as my university.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>The schools are VERY different. From what I've been told by the Associate Dean of Engineering at USC, double-majoring for engineers is very tough and will likely require extra terms of school to complete. My S is a freshman in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, tho he hasn't yet chosen the specialty he wants within the school.</p>

<p>One thing that may influence you is that USC has a large international population, especially in their engineering school, including housing where many of them live, Parkside. One thing my son particularly likes about USC is that there were only about 200 freshmen in the School of Engineering, which is a comfortable size to him (about the same # that were in his graduating class). It allows you to get to know the students who are in your class/grade while offering sufficient size to have a large faculty and varied course offerings.</p>

<p>USC has been given several large contributions lately, which have enabled it to have an office within the School of Engineering to help just them for internships & career placement. My S has been very happy there. He would not apply to Purdue because he felt it was too large & he didn't like the environment. He didn't apply to UIUC, so we don't know much about it. He's fond of the warmer climate of LA, which is similar to where he grew up. Probably you can get better info about Purdue & UIUC from their boards.</p>

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<p>Thank HImom.</p>

<p>The information was really helpful. And I too agree that Purdue has a really huge student body for my liking. </p>

<p>I am continuing my research into all 3 universities to find the best match which is still in the beginning stages but hopefully i will have a decision soon. </p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>