<p>Just any comments about any of the schools listed. Preferences?
Thanks</p>
<p>Guess I should have mentioned berkeley is no aid, purdue is decent aid, illinois (in-state) very good aid, minnesota good aid, clemson good aid
Money will be a factor in my ultimate decision.
Thanks again</p>
<p>Do you know what kind of E u want to go into?</p>
<p>It might be the case that some of the Unis you mentioned are better than others in the particular flavor of E you want to go into.</p>
<p>Do you have a preference for climate? I know my son - also a candidate for engineering -does not like the heat. So Clemson would be out for him. If you are the opposite of him and like the warmer weather, then Berkeley and Clemson would be better for you.</p>
<p>From a ranking perspective, Berkeley , UIUC, Purdue are all in the top 10, w/ Berkeley the highest ranked. I vaguely recall Clemson and Minn also up in the top 20 for E schools - probably why you chose them, I suspect. And I don’t believe it is too hot. It is just right weather wise.</p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Engineering Programs - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-engineering]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-engineering)</p>
<p>So it could come down to money, which you did say was a big factor. Of course UIUC/Purdue also is cheaper in your coming back and forth from home. </p>
<p>We are also from the land of lincoln, the prairie state, and so I have to admit, Berkeley in Calif. being so close to the ocean , mountains if you want it, the redwoods, silicon valley, would be my personal fave - if money were not an object.</p>
<p>I seriously do not think that there should be a debate on this! You are instate for UIUC, a school that could be “argued” to be the best in engineering among your choices and they are supposedly giving you good aid and yet you are still debating between it and Clemson!?!! </p>
<p>This thread is stupid.</p>
<p>as much as I like Clemson…</p>
<p>Berkeley, Purdue and Illinois are far superior for engineering. I personally would go to Purdue or Illinois</p>
<p>Since money is a factor, UIUC is a no-brainer here.</p>
<p>Illinois a top 5 engineering school and a good financial package?! Do it!</p>
<p>Thank you for all the responses. I guess should have said something along the lines of cost will be a MINOR factor, if that makes sense. My parents can pay for all of them, but I am personally too frugal to make them spend that kind-of money. Disregarding Illinois, which in your opinion would be the best place? I am not too sure if I really want to do engineering, it’s just I did well on the math parts of act/sat so i applied engineering
thanks
sticky
to roderick-thanks for the link. not exactly sure what type of engineering i want to go into (or as mentioned above if i even really want to do engineering)</p>
<p>Without regards for money, I would go</p>
<ol>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Purdue</li>
<li>Illinois</li>
<li>Minnesota</li>
</ol>
<p>You will want a place that can feed your curiousity and address talents and desires in case Engineering is not for you. My son is in a similar situation. he is a jr and he is not quite sure what he wants to do. All he knows is that he likes physics, econ, computers and legos goshdarnit, and we are asking him to know what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He gently reminds me when I show him the garish starting salaries out of UIUC Engineering compsci that he has never done this , so how would be know whether this is what he s/ apply to? he is taking AP comp pgming next yr. </p>
<p>Have you , OP, taken physics and other subjects that migth be related to engineering (others,what are HS subjects that, when taken , can givee one a feel for the Eng discipline?)? This would be a good topic for a thread: how do you know you are an Engineering major? I have asked this somewhere in CC, adn I’ll share it +.</p>
<p>Our default is our state flagship in the praiire state of Illinois. ANd sure enough you find as you dig deeper that UIUC does a heckuva good job in lots of things, from vet school, to physics, to english, to biz. But I have only scratched the surface of this elephant. I am still learning about it - and its peers.</p>
<p>The others on your list will also probably have good wide ranging pgms. As prev poster just suggested UC Berkely is a good choice ; I’ll add that uc-b is a good all 'round choice. Man, you got the locale, too. HAL just can’t beat that. :)</p>
<p>+
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rose-hulman-institute-technology/903834-how-did-you-decide-you-wanted-do-engineering.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rose-hulman-institute-technology/903834-how-did-you-decide-you-wanted-do-engineering.html</a></p>
<p>I happened to find this thread on the internet too</p>
<p>[The</a> Should-I-Become-An-Engineer? Thread](<a href=“Should I Become an Engineer?”>Should I Become an Engineer?)</p>
<p>@ Pierre0913,
Can you please elaborate why you will suggest Purdue over Illinois?
I can understand Berkeley because it is more well rounded across the board than Illinois and I can also understand Minnesota because some people might prefer the city setting over the middle of no where setting of Illinois. What exactly makes Purdue better than Illinois?</p>
<p>personally I don’t think engineering wise that there isn’t much difference between Purdue and Illinois education wise. I visited Purdue and loved it so that’s just based on personal experience, that’s why I suggested Purdue over Illinois. I’m pretty sure that Purdue and Illinois are both awesome schools and are mirror images of each (in addition to being in the middle of nowhere for both) but I’ve done a fair bit of research about Purdue since I was accepted there and I’m sure that I would have an awesome experience there if I went.</p>
<p>stickyfingers, a few more questions:</p>
<p>Have you visited all the candidate colleges in your list? What did you feel about the possibility of living there for 4 yrs? How did you feel about the locale (minnesota is urban , eg)</p>
<p>Since you have knowledge of money recvd from the colleges, this implies you have applied there and went thru the FA part. What made you apply there in the first place? Am I right in thinking that you have something like 9 days to make decision (today is 4-21)?</p>
<p>Do you know , or does anyone else know who is reading this, how easy it is to go from one college to another in all of the Uni’s you mentioned? What if you changed your mind, about Engineering, for example?</p>
<p>Have you thoroughly looked at the websites of each of the candidate colleges, paying particular attention to grad requirements (the courses needed to graduate)?</p>
<p>What is the 4 yr, 5 yr grad rate of each of the candidate colleges…</p>
<p>in the college of engineering?
of the university as a whole?</p>
<p><a href=“http://berkeley.edu/[/url]”>http://berkeley.edu/</a>
<a href=“http://illinois.edu/[/url]”>http://illinois.edu/</a>
<a href=“http://www.purdue.edu/[/url]”>http://www.purdue.edu/</a>
<a href=“http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/index.php[/url]”>http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/index.php</a>
<a href=“http://www.clemson.edu/[/url]”>http://www.clemson.edu/</a></p>
<p>roderick, i just typed a huge response to all of your questions and then accidentally hit the backspace button while outside of the text book. ■■■. thanks for all your help. ■■■ some more.</p>
<p>It is ok on those answers. THey were prompts for you to follow through on mostly and to have a better sense of ctl on the decision. It helped me and my son also.</p>
<p>One wrap up - they all are great choices, and you would do well with any of them, I am sure.</p>
<p>stickyfingers, if you have any questions about Clemson, im majoring in civil engineering here and have really enjoyed my experience here so far. Let me know if you have any questions at all about Clemson (or even Purdue, I visited and was accepted there too)!!</p>
<p>I also have a good friend at Minnesota so I could probably get some answers from him if you want.</p>
<p>OP, I also happened upon this thread - since you were kinda wondering about Engineering. Note that there is a whole sub forum at CC, too, concerning Engineering, which I did not know about.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/604571-why-engineering-so-hard.html?highlight=e%3Dmc2[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/604571-why-engineering-so-hard.html?highlight=e%3Dmc2</a></p>
<p>Even if you have money - no point in spending it if you do not HAVE to, UIUC is top 5 I would go there.</p>