<p>Hi, I am look for colleges that offer some of the best programs for the Astronautics portion of Aerospace engineering. I live in Illinois and am currently looking at U of I and Purdue. </p>
<p>I don’t know any off the top of my head, but I will say that we need more info than that to help - SAT/ACT, GPA/rank, how much you’re able to pay, what you want in terms of size, location, public vs. private, etc.</p>
<p>I will say that most engineering schools don’t offer astronautical engineering (or even aeronautical engineering) at the undergrad level. Most people, I believe, major in something like mechanical engineering for undergrad then go on to get a masters in astro/aero or whatever their area of focus is. </p>
<p>UIUC is one of the best. Can you afford or gain admission to an out-of-state public or private? </p>
<p>US Air Force Academy. Graduate with an Astro degree and you can go to work designing and operating state of the art space systems.</p>
<p>What is the difference between AerospaceE and AstronauticalE?</p>
<p>Yes, please tell us:</p>
<p>Your GPA
ACT and/or SAT (include SAT breakdown)
The amount your parents will pay each year for college.
What is your career goal?</p>
<p>You’re instate for UIUC, right? Very good, but can be pricey for instate.</p>
<p>OOS for Purdue? Very good, but can be pricey for OOS. </p>
<p>Much will depend on how much your family will pay and your stats.</p>
<p>My ACT is 29 and my GPA is 3.49. Astronautical Engineering is the space branch of Aerospace engineering. I am in state of UIUC. </p>
<p>Aerospace engineering is for aircraft flying in the earth atmosphere where Astronautical Engineering is for inter-galactic aircraft, like space shuttle or rockets goes out of earth atmosphere.</p>
<p>UIUC is the top school, so are Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Gtech and many others. </p>
<p>My dear friend, 86, is the pioneer in space crafts. He was paid a Full Year salary by American Space Museum for his autobiography. He graduated from UIUC and later on PHD in Stanford. </p>
<p><a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-aerospace-aeronautical-astronautical”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-aerospace-aeronautical-astronautical</a></p>
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<p>Is that your weighted GPA?</p>
<p>Anyway…you won’t qualify for merit at either school. What are your parents saying about paying? how much will they pay.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine a parent paying OOS for Purdue when they are instate for UIUC. But…of course…many would find both unaffordable. UIUC is quite pricey for instate students. I know this because my kids’ undergrad gets a lot of of strong-stats Illinois engineering students because with a merit scholarship, going OOS there is half the price (or even less!).</p>
<p>Unfortunately a high reach for UIUC engineering, know students with 3.9 and 34 ACT denied.</p>
<p>Your ACT makes you eligible for close to in-state tuition at Ohio State who has a BS aerospace degree. Need to check on your class rank, but the deadline is fast approaching for this award, it may be Nov. 1. Might be a nice, cheaper alternative to UIUC.</p>
<p>Was this thread moved from another forum or something?</p>
<p>First, @artloversplus doesn’t know what he/she is talking about. There are some [65</a> undergraduate aerospace engineering programs in the US that are accredited by ABET](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx]65”>http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx), some of which are called “aerospace engineering”, some are called “aeronautical and astronautical engineering”, and some of which are called “aeronautics and astronautics.” These all mean (essentially) the same thing, and these departments offer both aeronautics courses (inside the atmosphere) and astronautics courses (outside the atmosphere). Astronautical engineering is the space-oriented portion of aerospace engineering.</p>
<p>Second, @juck123, all of these programs will offer the same minimum level of coverage of space-related coursework as part of their accreditation. Some of them tend to focus more on that area than others, though, and may offer more electives in astronautics. Most of the consensus top programs offer a good mix of each. I’d suggest making a list of aerospace programs that interest you based on your stats, costs, location, etc, and then do a little research on the programs that make your list and see what kinds of research the professors do and what kind of space-related electives are offered. You might also check and see what companies attend the career fairs at each school to see what space-related companies recruit there. That gives you an idea of whether their graduates are sought for those roles. Of course, you may just see a company like Boeing and you won’t know if they are hiring aero or astro guys, but if you see SpaceX and Orbital Sciences and the likes then that is pretty obvious.</p>
<p>Also, just as a fun fact, despite what US News would have you believe, Caltech does not even offer an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering. Standford doesn’t, either. Of course, there are aerospace courses offered as part of their mechanical degrees.</p>
<p>The only two abet accredited astronautical engineering degrees outside of service academies that I am aware of are USC and Capitol Technical University (formerly Capitol College).</p>
<p>Not sure about “intergalactic.” The furthest the space shuttle ever got from earth was 380 miles. If you want to get out of our galaxy, you need to travel about 450,000,000,000,000,000 miles.</p>
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<p>Yes. It was moved from the college search and suggestions forum. I was actually looking at it yesterday…</p>
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<p>Before we get carried away fantasizing about the uber-elite schools, understand that there is no real <em>need</em> to attend these schools at the undergraduate level in order to achieve your career goals as an engineer. If prestige and bragging rights are important to you, then go ahead and knock yourself out… but just know that you don’t <em>need</em> to attend one of these schools to succeed as an engineer. The benefit of expanding your options beyond this small handful of schools is that you stand a higher chance of finding one that offers the best all-around fit, which is arguably most important.</p>
<p>[Wikipedia’s</a> list of aerospace engineering schools](<a href=“List of aerospace engineering schools - Wikipedia”>List of aerospace engineering schools - Wikipedia) is actually pretty helpful as a rough cut. From here, you can pick and choose the ones that sound interesting to you, then determine the caliber of companies recruiting from those schools to see if that’s where you want to be.</p>
<p>Often overlooked but never under-appreciated by Aerospace Engineering pros;</p>
<p>Iowa State, U Kansas, U Colorado.</p>