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Are we just going to ignore defense-sector aeronautics, which cannot hire engineers fast enough and is throwing out huge salaries and bonuses?
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I donāt think itās entirely clear how well that sector is going to do in five years time. I lean towards increased conflict with China as well as Russia and hence growing defense budgets, which would be positive for defense contractors (though perhaps not the rest of the economy). On the other hand, some presidents like to cut defense spending and redirect the money towards domestic priorities. Ironically enough, winning a war with Russia might make that easier.
It would be difficult for me to disagree with your general characterization of large schools more than I do. Major athletics programs and/or Greek scenes donāt generally dominate the culture of said schools as much as you imply. Iāve been affiliated with three of them (two as a student, one as faculty) and there are many, many students (the majority, even) we actually donāt care at all about athletics and/or donāt āgo Greekā even on campuses where those things are a big deal. At none of those schools did I ever feel that the presence of major athletics programs somehow detracted from the academic culture/atmosphere. They coexist with each other.
For many of us who attended such schools, having big-time college sports as a recreation option was a huge plus. For others, the large student bodies mean there are lots of people with whom you can happily ignore those things. The large student bodies are very much both a perk and a drawback. They mean there are large, generally diverse groups of people with whom to interact, but it also means itās easier to get lost in the crowd. Which is the stronger factor is highly personal.
I should mention that those schools generally do have large courses, especially early. However, a student who wants to have more personal attention can usually get it; they just have to be slightly more proactive in seeking it. That can range from office hours all the way up to getting involved in a professorās research lab. Itās just not as effortless as it would be if all your courses were 20 students.
My point here is not to try to prop up large school as opposed to smaller ones. What I really want to illustrate is that both have their virtues and the correct mix of traits will vary for different people.
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Presidents donāt set budgets, and the geopolitics that are driving the bipartisan glut in defense spending right now arenāt going change in the next 4 years short of a series of Berlin Wall type moments.
Love this statement. 
That is actually a great way to think of it, that hadnt occurred to me before.
I pretty much agree with what you say, you can make any environment work, it just might take a lot more effort in some places than others. For some people that are more introverted (for example) that could be more difficult to do in the larger environments. There might also be some really awesome opportunities at large schools that might not be available at some smaller schools, but the flip side is that the competition for those opportunities becomes a lot stiffer.
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My daughterās roommate whose father is a retired executive at one of the big aerospace companies in SoCal, he did graduate from a big party school with football and Greek scenes, that didnāt seem to hurt him. In fact he loves his undergraduate school, the school spirit is obvious at his house. The school is also known for Aerospace Engineering, but itās pricey.
What does it mean to be enrolled on CoE ? what is this CoE ?
(I know I can google it, but is easy to ask here )
College of Engineering
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My thinking exactly - however how should I do this deep dive ? Where should I look ?
I think somebody suggested LinkedIn ā¦ anything else ?
What exactly is this ? Like an ROTC program ?
Concerning your question about the stability of the Aerospace industry, I can tell you one thing. Several large contractors and tons of small ones are working on the Sentinel missile contract and they are struggling to get enough engineers to work on it. If I remember correctly it is anticipated to be in use for 50-75 years and it seems at least monthly some other big project is announced. And of course defense is not the only use for aerospace technology. At least for right now the future of the industry looks bright.
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Lockheed Martin, Raytheon for starters.
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No, not an ROTC program. I think they just mean that aeronautical engineers most often work in one of three possible sectors: 1) airplanes 2) space (NASA etc) or 3) military applications (i.e. defense-sector aeronautics.) It sounds like right now, all 3 sectors are doing pretty well, and especially the third area.
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The person to whom I was responding basically broke aerospace down into commercial aviation and space. That ignores defense aviation/aeronautics: fighters, bombers, missiles, etc.
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This highlights an important point - for a career in aero it may be difficult to avoid working for military contractors. This is a major reason my ds23 is deciding against it. Since he isnāt willing to work for those companies, he has talked to various people in the field and although he knows some aero engineering students who share his views and believe they can avoid that particular career path he is not confident it is actually possible or at least it is difficult. May or may not be an issue for yours.
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Working in the defense sector has its downside. I have a friend in the sector who couldnāt travel (or at least the process made it difficult to do so) to most countries, even most allied countries, before he retired.
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This is one reason I advised my daughter to not applying for defense companies. I have brothers who worked in the same aerospace company for nearly 40 years. Their kids are all doctors now, thatās how scared they are of this industry because of one lay off happened 40 years ago. Thatās if you want to stay in SoCal. They didnāt want to move to Ohio.
As for landing in a startup in Silicon Valley, you donāt have to go to Stanford, Caltech, or Berkeley, to land into one. Ask how I know. They are dime a dozen. The trick is to land one that can go public, not just any startup.
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I love this and think itās true. If you want to land in tech in CA, start there. Likewise, the auto industry or what have you. Of course, there are some majors which apply in many areas.
Iād also advise my kids to attend grad/even undergrad in an area that has their āthingā, if possible. IF there are no jobs in a particular industry and the kid wants to live there, something has to give. That can be really hard for a new college graduate to learn.
Buflea,
Some schools include much of this information on their websites, but you will likely need to dig a bit. For example, here is the link to a list of top employers for Purdue engineers by major: Active Employer List - Office of Professional Practice - Purdue University
You might also want to check the Common Data Set for each school on the list. Schools provide data in a common format to USNWR, Petersons, and the College Board, so it is a good tool for comparing schools.