I recently received a paid internship opportunity with Booz Allen Hamilton, and am eager to take it, as for I am very interested in Systems Engineering (and Entrepreneurship). That being said, what colleges, specifically, do you all recommend I apply for. I was previously looking at Stanford for the Business aspect of things, but 1) their Systems Engineering program isn’t the best of the best, and 2) Booz Allen Hamilton has very little opportunities there. So now, I am pretty lost…
Are you looking for undergrad? Where are you in your studies? If you already have an internship with BH, you don’t need to pick a school based on their connection, you will already have one. What is the nature of the internship?
You can Google " Booz Allen on your campus" to get an idea of where they recruit. You might want to keep your options open though in terms of exploring other companies/opportunities as well. As @cosmicfish says, you already have a connection with Booz Allen Hamilton.
Keep in mind that systems engineering is less its own engineering branch and more of a process applied to many fields. Some schools have a dedicated department. Some have it wrapped into the industrial department. Some have programs built into the mechanical or aerospace curricula.
And Penn has Systems Science and Engineering within their Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering. So, as @boneh3ad says, you can find Systems Engineering with its own department , or within other departments. It is school specific.
This is precisely why I am so dubious of undergraduate systems engineering programs - it really is dependent on the systems being engineered, so it is best to start with some other core and then add systems engineering on top. And I think that is a big reason why there appear to be more masters programs than undergrad programs.
There are 19 ABET accredited undergraduate Systems Engineering programs. The military academies have programs-USNA, USNA, West Point. Also, Penn, UVa, Lehigh, Case Western , GMU, Washington University , etc. At UVa, it is Systems and Information Engineering and is very popular and very well recruited. http://www.web.sys.virginia.edu/undergraduate.html. I’m having trouble with the link but the undergraduate program is easily googled to give an example of a program. It is not for everyone but can be a good program for some people.
The academies are always special cases, the nature of service as a military officer means that graduates are not immediately going to be doing traditional engineering work immediately anyway, and if they turn to that work post-service they will likely need some refreshers or additional education. Most of the grads I know don’t go into engineering anyway, they tend to go into program management or other areas that require an engineering education but not engineering practice.
I know a couple of Lehigh SE grads, they never really worked as engineers, they were always focused on the business side. The majority of these programs seem focused more on the business side than on actual systems engineering, which is consistent with how many of these schools approach engineering in general.
Looking at the curriculum, I can only think of a few limited roles for such a graduate. I was classified as a systems engineer for about 5 years of my career, I have systems engineers working on several teams for me and I see none of the major skill sets (in software, electrical, or mechanical) that I would look for. I worked briefly on a team that probably could use these graduates straight out of the gate, but the reason I got out of that group ASAP was because staying there appeared (and still does) to be a career killer.
I am not denying that these programs existing, I am just trying to say that regardless of what direction you want to go in your career, there is probably a better way to start than an undergrad degree in systems engineering.
I appreciate your perspective. An undergraduate Systems Engineering degree has been anything but a career killer for my son or any of his friends who graduated with him. Graduates are in high demand. This addresses the issue of undergraduate study of systems engineering, in the response to " I am an upcoming high school senior" . http://www.incose.org/AboutSE/SEEducation/SEEducationFAQs.
Northrop Grumman internship, then technology consulting, now at a major tech company doing more hands on tech and systems integration work. Also doing some interviewing of potential employees and has been to Yale and Georgia Tech to accompany recruiters to represent the company. Has a patent with some coworkers based on their research. Doing very well and highly paid.