Aerospance engineering colleges?

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I'm looking for an college offering a degee in aerospace engineering. I don't want to go to a college where I would need to study constantly but I don't wanna go to just a partying school either. I've been directing my search more towards private schools because I'd rather have professors teach plus I live in Iowa, so I don't think I'd enjoy a huge university with 40,000+ students. I was looking into Embry-Riddle but I am a girl and I don't wanna be around preverted boys and I've read there isn't many things to do.
Any Ideas?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, being a girl and in aerospace engineering, most places you go will include atleast a few nerdy “pervs” that have never touched a woman (or possibly seen one for that matter). Doesn’t mean you can’t avoid them.</p>

<p>Embry-Riddle (the main campus) is in Daytona Beach, FL. I couldn’t see that location not having “many things to do” at all. Plus, it’s an hour away from Orlando. I can’t imagine what else you could be looking for in the “things to do” department. Personally, I think that’d be a great fit for one who wants a good aero program at a small school. Most of the other good aero programs are at larger institutions (atleast 10k+). You could also try looking into honors departments at larger schools. Aero isn’t that popular of a field to begin with, an honors department would make classes much smaller.</p>

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<p>First of all, as a girl interested in aerospace engineering, you’ve already got an advantage in both admissions and financial aid money. You should definitely apply to top schools, even if your grades are a little sub-par. Private universities are usually more generous with aid money (and less affected by federal/state education cuts), so you’re headed in the right direction there.</p>

<p>Embry-Riddle (both of them) are more technical-aerospace schools, there to train people how to be pilots and mechanics, not necessarily engineers that design planes.</p>

<p>As for my experience, I’m an aerospace engineer as well, and I go to the University of Southern California. I chose USC because it’s program is good (not the best, but definitely not bad), it’s got lots of connections to the defense industry and civilian aerospace companies, both of which are well-represented in the LA and Southern California area, and the advantages of having connections both in the aerospace field, as well as all the other fields of study at USC.</p>

<p>USC is a larger school, with about 33,000 students, and it’s pretty close to downtown LA, so there might be some culture shock for you. As for the studying/partying continuum, USC does have a reputation for being a party school, but it’s not like you can’t get away from it if you want. As for money, well, I strongly suggest you apply for the Trustee/Presidential scholarship, which are full/half tuition scholarships. I know two girls in my first AE class who had full tuition scholarships.</p>

<p>As for other schools, well, MIT and Georgia Tech are at the top of the heap in terms of rankings. University of Michigan and Purdue are very highly rated as well, but they are very large state schools, around 40,000 students. Stanford and Cornell are really good schools too.</p>

<p>Can you give us some more details on your situation? GPA, test scores, as well as other factors in your college choice decision?</p>

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<p>

Huh??? Exactly how would a USC student know this?</p>

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<p>U of M is large, but it definitely has a smaller feel. The engineers take classes on a different part of the campus (which is really pretty). UMich has a great aerospace engineering program, and a sweet building for aero classes. I saw some aero classes going on while I visited, and all of them I’d consider small.</p>

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<p>Aerospace Engineering Rankings:</p>

<p>Schools That Don’t Offer Graduate Programs:
Best Colleges Specialty Rankings: Undergraduate engineering specialties: Aerospace / Aeronautical / Astronautical
Ranked in 2008
1 Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Daytona Beach, FL
2 United States Air Force Academy
USAF Academy, CO
3 Embry Riddle Aeronautical University–Prescott
Prescott, AZ
4 United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
5 California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA</p>

<p>Schools That Offer Graduate Programs
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
2 Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA
3 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
4 Purdue University–West Lafayette
West Lafayette, IN
5 California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
6 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
7 Stanford University
Stanford, CA
8 University of Texas–Austin
Austin, TX
9 University of Maryland–College Park
College Park, MD
10 Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t let the size of a university sway your decision. Most of your friends will probably be fellow AE majors along with other engineering or science majors of some sort. I went to Purdue, which has almost 40K students and I spent most of my time with fellow EE students. So while it is a large university, you are part of a much smaller crowd. It definitely brings your perception of the size of the university down.</p>

<p>Also, you will find something to do at every school. It’s what you make of the experience. If you make an effort to do things and have fun you will do things and have fun. You may need to broaden your interests a bit and try out new things but I cannot imagine going to a school and finding nothing to do.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the advice.</p>

<p>As for other details I have a 3.98 GPA (in my school its impossible to get greater then a 4.0), recieve a 30 on my ACTs <em>have not taken SATs</em>, am in the top 5 students in my high school and will have 50+ volunteer hours by the end of summer. I’m not worried much about the money since I’m a girl going into a male dominated field and my grades have always been very high, which is why I was generally looking toward private colleges. Also, I am not religious, so I would prefer to go to a private college that is not a religious one.</p>

<p>The main thing I’m worried about it a large school is how much a teacher gets to know a student, I don’t think I’d enjoy being in 200 student lectures, but I also know this is a possibility at any school. Some other factors that are important is if the college has a well credited aerospace/general engineering program, if credits can be easily transfered (I’ve earned about 10 college credit hours from the local community college), safety, location (I don’t mind being in a smaller town but I’d like to be close to a city), and if there is internships, co-op programs, and study abroad programs. </p>

<p>I visited Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, FL, and I enjoyed it but I was looking and some mutiple websites to see what the students there thought and that is where I came across that there wasn’t much to do unless driving the hour to Orlando. I also was looking at some colleges closer to home (Iowa), but I do not want to go to Iowa State. </p>

<p>Thanks again</p>

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<p>Cal Poly SLO</p>

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<p>The only classes that are usually massive are the basic chemistry, physics, etc. classes. Some of the entry level engineering classes may also be larger, but usually not as large as the aforementioned. When you get to your mid and upper level engineering classes most of them should be substantially smaller.</p>

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<p>This could help:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061032315-post22.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061032315-post22.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Every engineering course is gonna have its fair share of awkward, nerdy kids. It’s inevitable.</p>

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<p>^AeroEngineer, not exactly sure if that list is for engineering majors, I’m pretty sure some of the schools on that list don’t even have engineering as a major like Spelman</p>

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<p>With your scores, you can attend Georgia Tech, which is the #2 AE school and #4 overall engineering school. As with any major engineering school, your non-major classes (like Calc) will be 100+ students, but your major classes will be 40 or less. Meanwhile, you’re physically in a major US city.</p>

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<p>From experience taking classes at ERAU Daytona(and I’m just now becoming a senior), I can tell you that their reputation is MUCH greater than is deserved. For the price against the quality, ERAU at Daytona is significantly worse than any of those schools with graduate programmes. ERAUs benefit is that it seems to have a fair quantity of “normal” people - but don’t expect it to be fantastic at any stretch, unless you like dumbed-down classes, which is exactly what they give you. Students commonly complain about the difficulty of otherwise simple classes. I honestly would suggest you go to a school like UF for aerospace engineering than ERAU, unless all you care about is the name.</p>

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<p>That’s a list of target schools that a Lockheed-Martin recruiter posted for AE’s on these forums a few months ago.</p>

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<p>If getting to know your professors is important to you (as it should be!) then you should take advantage of their office hours. Very few people actually go to them, in my experience, and it’s invaluable for getting help with homework, asking questions, and just generally getting your face and name in font of them more often than other people. This will really pay off in the form of great recommendation letters.</p>

<p>Internships… as a freshman you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything, especially in this economy. What really helps though, is having connections in industry through alumni and professors, something USC really excels at. Not to mention Southern California has a ton of aerospace companies, big and small, in the area. Plus there’s Edwards Air Force Base. Definitely a good location for an AE major.</p>

<p>Study abroad, now there’s a fun topic! USC’s engineering school runs a study abroad program for engineers only that takes place during the summer. Great for getting a couple classes done and freeing up your schedule a bit, plus it’s taught by USC professors and counts as a class held at USC, which is convenient for credit purposes. The University also runs a study abroad program for all majors. As an AE, there’s a couple partner schools you can attend where you’ll be able to take technical classes and have them count for your major.</p>

<p>Safety is a perennial issue at USC. On-campus, it’s very secure and well-patrolled, even late at night. Off-campus, it’s less secure, yes, but campus security runs patrols in the area around campus, most of which are student off-campus housing. As long as you travel with friends, keep your wits about you and don’t go looking for trouble, you will be fine.</p>

<p>Transfer credits: [url=<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2008/undergraduate/cwte_transfer.html]Here[/url”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2008/undergraduate/cwte_transfer.html]Here[/url</a>] are USC’s policies regarding transfer credits. I haven’t personally transferred any credits, but I hear they’re very good about accepting reasonable amounts from a wide range of schools.</p>