Cal Poly, Colorado State, Northwestern, Oregon State, Purdue, or Wash. U?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am a senior, planning to major in mechanical engineering with a minor in business, and have applied to six schools. I have visited all of them. Here are my thoughts on them:</p>

<p>Cal Poly San Luis Obispo- will very likely be accepted
Pros: good engineering program, good business program, relatively inexpensive out-of-state tuition, good engineering reputation on the west coast, nice campus, college town, small class sizes
Cons: Hard to switch majors </p>

<p>Colorado State-accepted, also accepted to honors
Pros: good business program, inexpensive because I got the WUE, the honors program and housing is really nice, skiing, college town, nice campus
Cons: engineering program was smaller than the other schools, I don't think I would fit in as well with some of the students </p>

<p>Northwestern-probably about a 50/50 chance of being accepted
Pros: good engineering and business programs, nice campus,
Cons: very expensive, no merit aid(I probably won't qualify for any need-based aid), not a college town</p>

<p>Oregon State-accepted, also accepted to honors
Pros: good engineering and business programs, in-state tuition, nice campus, college town, good honors program
Cons: large class sizes/ hard to get into some classes </p>

<p>Purdue-accepted
Pros: best engineering program I saw, good business program, college town, best food
Cons: large classes, worst dorms</p>

<p>Washington University in St. Luis-probably about a 50/50 chance of being accepted
Pros: good engineering and business programs, beautiful campus, really nice dorms, not a college town but it is in a nice area
Cons: very expensive(but they do have merit aid), I have heard it is better for biomedical engineering than mechanical</p>

<p>I'd really appreciate any input. I can also answer any additional questions you may have.</p>

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<p>You forgot to put expensive for Purdue. You will likely get minimal merit $ at WashU (if any). Are your parents willing to pay for NW/Purdue/WashU?</p>

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<p>They are willing to pay for it, but obviously wouldn’t like to unless I thought that those schools would be a lot better than the other ones I’m applying to.</p>

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<p>Are you sure Cal Poly will allow you to get the Engineering degree and also take a meaningful number of business courses?</p>

<p>If they will, that is a very good choice.</p>

<p>I should let some Engineers chime in here, but I’ve always gotten the impression from threads like this that Engineering is the one degree where it is difficult to justify the increase in tuition between public flagship (or just quality public) and elite private.</p>

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<p>I would generally agree with this premise, but with major caveats. </p>

<p>1.) A large percentage (about 40%) transfer out of engineering into the Arts and Sciences college. Nobody thinks it’s going to be them, but it very well could be. Engineering is not easy anywhere. So, if you’re uncomfortable with the possibility of going to the arts & sciences college of a particular university, perhaps it’s not a good choice. (Not saying that a public arts & sciences isn’t any good, just saying it’s something you should have in mind)</p>

<p>2.) While engineering companies may not care as much about the prestige of attendees university, other industries (namely finance/consulting/banking/etc) do. And engineers go into those other industries in increasingly large numbers. So, going to Northwestern of Wash U would give you a leg up in those fields. Many people who study engineering don’t actually take engineering jobs at graduation or any time in their career for that matter. (Again, many high school seniors think they are 100% dedicated to an engineering curriculum and career, but things change in life…especially when it’s hard to understand what engineering actually is in high school since there are so few outlets at that young of an age)</p>

<p>3.) While engineering firms might not care about the prestige of the school all that much, they DO care about research experience and internships. I’m not saying you can’t get good research experience at large publics or anything, but I’d carefully examine the % of undergrads that conduct research at the university as a gauge. Some small privates have like a 80% participate rate and even if that school isn’t seen as prestigious in engineering, simply getting the experience in research will give you leg up in the job hunt.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

6

<p>

We can’t speculate on the OP’s chances without knowing background/stats. WashU offers a broad range of merit aid for those who qualify.</p>

<p>bluedog makes some good points. If you are at all undecided, some schools make it easier to transfer/combine majors; I know WashU is very flexible in this regard. From a quality of life standpoint, I think you would be very happy at NU or WashU (assuming the finances work out). However, in terms of cost, the other programs may very well offer similar career prospects (in engineering) at a more reasonable price. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Northwestern and WashU are in a separate category from the others. If you decide against engineering, and many do, they would be where I’d want to be. You have a much stronger peer group at those two, access to elite jobs upon graduation that would be tougher at the others and great alumni networks for life.</p>

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<p>If the OP only has a 50/50 shot of getting into NW and Wash U then the OP has a very slim chance of merit aid. Only the very top applicants get merit aid at WUStL.</p>

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<p>They do have some FIRST Robotics scholarships, which I think I would be pretty likely to get because I have been very heavily involved with FIRST Robotics. However, I probably won’t get a whole lot of merit aid from WUSTL.</p>

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<p>Update: I got accepted to the Purdue Engineering Honors Program. They have an Honors Learning Community that looks pretty good too.</p>

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<p>Personal opinion: Northwestern has such a strong history and produces great people! Good luck to you, no matter where you may go!</p>

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<p>Did you get any $$$ from Purdue? If so, that’s a natural choice. If not, CalPoly is very good. I have a personal bias for Colorado State - decent school, great town.</p>

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<p>So far I have not recieved any financial aid from Purdue, but it’s still possible that I could. Why do you think it’s an obvious choice if i get finacial aid?</p>

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<p>^ You sounded very positive about it and the engineering program is fabulous. I wouldn’t pay the full OOS rack rate given your other options, but it’s otherwise my top choice for you.</p>

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<p>Wow, you got into the Honors Engineering Program at Purdue! You must be extremely intelligent!! I wish I was you!!! I’ve heard the honors program at Purdue is harder to get into than Harvard!!! You must be some kind of genius!!! You also must be very handsome and totally not fat!!!</p>

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<p>^ Thanks for ■■■■■■■■.</p>