I am considering pursuing a degree in mining engineering at both of these schools.
Which school provides the best mining engineering education?
Which school has the best potential for landing a job?
Which school has the best opportunities for undergraduate research?
Weather, location, price (none of the other mining schools are an option for me), and extracurricular activities are not important to me. I just want to know which school offers the best mining engineering education and sets its students up for successful career as a mining engineer.
I can only offer a little info. I graduated from UAF back in the 80’s, though not for mining engineering. My roommate during my sophomore year was a petroleum engineering student in the mining school, so I became friends with a lot of other mining students. One of them runs a huge coal mine a couple hours south of Fairbanks. Another ended up running the Rio Tinto Group. At the time, graduates of the mining school were in big demand because of North Slope oil, but I have no idea what the demand is like now.
I did take a semester-long gold mining class as an elective, and thought it was one of the most interesting classes I took while there. We went out into the field several times to do some mining, and the guy who found and owned the largest gold nugget in the world came in and gave a very interesting talk about his career and how he came across the big nugget. The mining school seemed to be one of the more prominent and unique schools at UAF.
The city of Fairbanks was founded because of gold mining, and there are still lots of gold mines in the area. Mining is a big part of the culture and self-identity of Fairbanks.
I know nothing about the Southern Illinois mining program.
Seeing that Tom Albanese went to Alaska for mining engineering was what put UAF on my list of potential programs…
Thank you for the information, it’s really hard to get information on the few schools that still teach mining engineering. If you know anyone else with more information I would appreciate it!
Yeah, I remember getting drunk in the dorm with Tom Albanese a few times. I was stunned when I came across his name while randomly reading about a big mining project in Australia that people were protesting.
I graduated from UAF a long time ago, and I’m afraid I’ve totally lost touch with everyone up there, even my old roommate. Even though he wanted to do petroleum engineering, he was the type where I have a vision of him with a long, grey beard, dredging streams for gold out in the middle of nowhere. Just he and his pet wolf.
"Weather, location, price (none of the other mining schools are an option for me), and extracurricular activities are >>not important to me."
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These things are important. College is at least 50% of those things. You need the balance. You need to be socially happy. You need to be able to tolerate the weather. Otherwise, you will not be able to sustain your academics.
FYI, the average daily low temperature in Fairbanks is -10 or lower 3 months of the year. The record low -20 or lower for seven of the 12 months. It’s -40 or lower for 5 months and -60 or lower for 2 months. It’s hard to fathom how cold zero is if you’ve never felt it. In the record low ranges it isn’t safe to have ANY skin exposed.
Why is Utah not on your list? I know that you have honed it to these 2 choices but Utah never got there despite it having ME, being WUE and having rio in the valley? How are your stats?
I am exploring transferring from another mining school. UAF and SIU are the only schools I have a high probability of graduating on time and I can afford (No WUE).
My grades make SIU affordable (High achievers for instate plus money for mining engineers).
UAF costs a bit more, but I have a feeling it offers some unique opportunities. I want a FIFO position when I graduate, and I imagine graduating from UAF would make a mining company more inclined to take a chance on recent grad. I also realized that mines seem to hire students from close to the mine. I would like to start my career in Alaska so I think going to school there would show I am serious in my desire to work there. I posted here to see if I can confirm my hunch. I think it is interesting that a UAF mining engineering alum is the only American to head a major mining company.
I am a non-traditional student (I’ve had enough fun) and I spend all my time in the library as is. I am content with this arrangement as long as there is a mine trip every month. You can study at a library anywhere so why not Fairbanks if it offers additional unique opportunities.
Didn’t Albanese leave Rio Tinto just within the last 2-3 years?
Alaska attracts lots of untraditional people from all over the world looking for a unique experience, and a high proportion of students at UAF are older ex-military (like I was,) ex-fishing boat workers, ex-pipeline workers, etc., who didn’t go to college right out of high school. It does sound like you might be a good fit.
That said, there are a lot of people who go to UAF and leave after one semester because they can’t deal with the weather and isolation. On the other hand, there are lots of people who love it, including me. I never felt more alive than when I was living in Fairbanks.
Also, when I was back at UAF, I remember the mining professors were all old, sourdough-types who had actually worked some mines. Now it looks like the professors are mostly international and don’t fit my image of a real Alaskan miner. That may be the case in most mining schools these days, but boy, those mining professors when I was there were some real characters.
Unfortunately I am not able to disclose where I go to school, I want to keep this anonymous.
Albanese did get fired not long ago when the price of iron ore and met coal went down. Rio Tinto was probably going to get rid of the CEO regardless of who was in charge. When you profits take a big drop (regardless of the decline of the whole mining industry) someone needs to be the scapegoat.
If anyone has anymore information on Mining Engineering at Alaska-Fairbanks or Souther Illinois it would be greatly appreciated. It is hard to find any information on SIU beyond there website and the few students I have met at this years SME Conference.
Not sure if your situation has been resolved, but if not, I was in the graduate mining program at SIU and may be able to assist you if your still interested? Let me know.
Thank you for offering assistance, I decided to stay at my current school. However, I have sent you private message in regards to pursuing masters in mining engineering if you care to share about your experiences at SIU.