<p>Hi guys. I am a high school senior who intends to major in Chemical Engineering and I just got accepted to Cornell Engineering, University of Minnesota (Honors Program) Engineering, and UC Berkeley's College of Chemistry. In terms of smaller schools, I also got accepted to Carnegie Mellon and Rice University.</p>
<p>I want to have a strong enough foundation so that I would be able to pursue graduate studies and a research career. For now, financial aid is not a concern. So, are there any UMN ChemE alumni or just regular students familiar with this program out there who would care to comment about the strengths and weaknesses of these schools? Or just post their opinion(s) nevertheless?</p>
<p>From what I gathered so far, it seems that the programs between all of these schools are relatively equal and top notch. Thus, if someone could offer what the student body is like and how they felt about it, I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>Wow, those are great choices. I don’t think you can go wrong academically with any of them.</p>
<p>One thing to bear in mind about the UofM: admission to the ChemE major (following three semesters) is competitive. With >3.2 technical GPA, you are set; they tend to take a few with lower marks as well. ChemE is a star program here, so there is some competition. I wouldn’t expect any trouble if you work hard, but keep that in mind.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you intend to accomplish by asking strangers to evaluate their own small peer group (which may or may not reflect the student body in general). That said, I do feel that you should have no trouble meeting like-minded people on this campus. If you have more specific questions on this topic, I’d be glad to respond with more detail.</p>
<p>If you have all of your aid offers in hand, financial aspects either are or are not a concern - there’s no middle ground “for now”. So I would start thinking about that.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your offers!</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply… What I meant to accomplish was to ask people how did their respective university or alma mater help them out in fulfilling their goals.
Like, is the university undergraduate focused? How does it compare to other colleges in terms of faculty helping out students fulfill their dreams? What type of intellectual atmosphere does the university offer?</p>
<p>Overall, I think the faculty here are very good. Most CSE departments are well-regarded in academia and our faculty and grad students are near the top of their respective fields. In terms of teaching, you will like some instructors and dislike others (as is true anywhere). For the most part, your teachers should be accessible (in class, via email, or at office hours). I’ve had good experiences with the chemistry department, for what that’s worth, and most people in ChemE seem happy with the program.</p>
<p>I think you’d be satisfied with the academic programs in CSE, especially after you are in your major. The freshman curriculum isn’t great (in my opinion) but if you have AP credits you can eliminate a lot of that. I’d be very surprised if you weren’t challenged by most of your 2000-level and above courses. Check out [a</a> four-year plan.](<a href=“http://cse.umn.edu/prod/groups/cse/@pub/@cse/documents/content/cse_content_388844.pdf]a”>http://cse.umn.edu/prod/groups/cse/@pub/@cse/documents/content/cse_content_388844.pdf)</p>
<p>(I’m being honest here, not trying hard to sell you, so keep that in mind when comparing my post to responses on other school subforums.)</p>
<p>As a current student, I can’t answer post-grad stuff from personal experience. Here is a [list</a> of employers recruiting at the last career fair.](<a href=“http://blog.lib.umn.edu/itcomm/itup_announce/2013/01/more_than_130_employers_to_att.php]list”>http://blog.lib.umn.edu/itcomm/itup_announce/2013/01/more_than_130_employers_to_att.php) You should be able to pick out some names relevant to ChemE; I could maybe find a version sortable by major if you want.</p>
<p>If you were in my shoes, what factors would you take into account when deciding between these colleges, besides finances (that’s a given)?</p>
<p>After accounting for price differences, I would go with the campus and location where you feel most comfortable. Campus visits are a very imperfect means of determining that, but if you go in thoughtfully they can be a source of information.</p>
<p>Alright then. Thanks for your advice. Any further opinions?</p>
<p>We took our daughter on a campus visit (our 2nd one) to the University of Minnesota last week. In addition to the regular campus tour, we also signed up for an engineering information session. During the engineering session, we were told that the University of Minnesota’s Chemical Engineering program has been consistently ranked within the top 3 in the country for the past several years. University of Minnesota is a real good value compared to the costs of most other schools. Your Freshman year you are admitted into the College of Engineering and then after your first semester Sophomore year, you apply to your specific engineering program. Yes, you do need a 3.2 GPA to automatically get into your specific program, but with my daughter’s other engineering schools (mainly Big 10 universities) it is competitive to get into your specific engineering anyway. They won’t tell you a minimum GPA that you need to get in because it depends on the who you are competing against for those coveted spots. One year a 3.2 GPA may be enough to get you into your desired program, another year you may need a 3.5 to get in - it just depends on the GPA’s of the other students who are trying to get into the program as well. My daughter’s 2 top choices are the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At Wisconsin, she could get a really high GPA and still not get into her desired engineering program. At Minnesota, she knows that if she gets a 3.2 she will get in. It is becoming a very big factor for her and one that is leading her towards going to Minnesota next year. That and the merit scholarships she received is making Minnesota a very attractive choice for her.</p>