<p>Hello everyone, an those with experience with any of these programs weigh in? All campuses are different, daughter liked all 3... Trying to pick "the one" with strong program. Good support for kids to have academic success, good support in getting coops, research and internships, AND is a school where grads are sought after! If I were a company which schools would be on my list, ranked 1-3, to recruit from?</p>
<p>Thanks all....</p>
<p>Purdue BME follows this pesky enrollment management process meaning if your D doesn’t score a 3.2 - maybe higher - GPA her first year she could be assigned to another engineering branch. Having said this, and as a Purdue engineering grad myself, Purdue would be a good choice if money is no object or if you’re in-state or if she has good aid. Clemson is also very good.</p>
<p>What is your D’s intended major in engineering? What area of the country is she most likely to live in after graduation? Will she be in the Honors program at any of these schools? The answers to those questions would impact the choices.</p>
<p>My dd is currently in Pitt’s BME, there isn’t any enrollment management at Pitt so after the freshman engineering program - students are free to choose a specialty. The BME grad school ranked #15 by USWNR in '13. The BME program offers a few tracks - which was important to my dd who was looking for cellular BME and not more device-related tracks. As I have posted elsewhere, Pitt has a lot of research going on and ranks #6 in national NIH funding - it was very easy for my dd to secure research opportunities as early as her frosh yr. That was pretty key for her. </p>
<p>Sorry, overthedge…my d is interested in biomedical engineering… Not sure where she will live, we are in NJ, but she is open to the west coast, Chicago, and the east coast…not participating officially in the honors college. Turbo93, we heard about the 3.2 requirement. If she doesn’t make that, how are they assigned to other engineering branches? Are the branches ranked in order of difficulty? What would be the lowest branch? Are they given a chance to see what they are inteested in as well as where they qualify? At this point we haven’t gotten money from Pitt or Purdue, but we have no choice but to suck it up big time if the program she ends up with will pay off, literally in the long run…she is interested in coop and doing research too, hopefully paid research if that is possible… So amandakayak, there is not gap requirement at all to transfer in to their “specialty?” What adjectivs would you use to describe the school’s personality AND what adjectives to describe the engineering programs? Thanks all! Lots of food for thought…</p>
<p>No idea how they’re assigned, the enrollment management policy is relatively new (wasn’t there in my days). Purdue full pay is quite pricey, and Purdue is not always generous. From browsing their blurb, it seems to me that any of the affected majors will be tough to get with < 3.2 incl. BME (for sure) then ME, CHE, AAE, ABE, then the Hoi Polloi which includes IE, EE, ECE, etc). I’d clear it up with an advisorperson beforehand.</p>
<p>“Lowest” branch - and interestingly very highly ranked - I am guessing would be IE (I did grad IE there). What really impressed me with Purdue was not the difficulty of classes (I found them relatively easy at the grad school level) but the caliber of students. I mean, even the average students were very good, and the good students were phenomenal. A couple of years ago I got to review class projects of a class I took and was completely blown away by the quality of project work. They were good! </p>
<p>Pitt is another great choice here. I know a couple people who went there and they’re a very good school and they have a medical school which for BME could be very useful. The downside is dealing with Steelers fans 8-| </p>
<p>Not much about Clemson, I know they’re a solid engineering school and is in my student’s list for graduate school. </p>
<p>Since I’m just the parent here, not sure if I can characterize Pitt in a few adjectives. Hope you had a chance to take the engineering tour when you visited - the new facilities were very impressive to me, esp. compared to other engineering depts. we had seen. My dd had a real laser focus on getting involved in stem-cell research and by doing a little digging, we could find a great deal of people working in stem cells across the engineering school, medical school, chemE, bioE - all over. Other schools didn’t have much of that at all - and what they did have, seemed geared to summer REUs only. She’s working in a lab now assisting a phd candidate on stemcell therapies for stroke - which is pretty thrilling for her though looking at slices of rat brain tissue doesn’t seem too appetizing for me. </p>
<p>What I like about the engineering school is besides the typical freshman schedule, they take a seminar which introduces all the various depts, career opportunities, etc. The second half of the year, kids working in pairs choose a topic and prepare a scientific research paper (not their own research, something of interest to them) - which culminates at the freshman engineering conference (which is this weekend actually) where there are awards for best poster, best presentation, best paper, that sort of thing. It gives them a taste for what it would be like to be in that engineering discipline. They choose their major at the end of the semester. From what I hear from my dd, there’s a lot of cooperation and collaboration in the curriculum, it isn’t cut-throat. </p>
<p>No complaints about Pitt here, son is graduating and receiving his Computer Engineering degree in a few weeks. It was a good fit for him.</p>
<p>Thanks all! Amandakayak, I heard that there is a lot of cooperation, and sort of got that vibe on visits there…@Dakota, did you and your son have that same collaborative, cooperative experience?</p>
<p>My D goes to Purdue. Majors are not so much assigned as limited by availability. It is my understanding that you must pass your FYE courses and you will be able to choose your first 3 choices of engineering disciplines. This is done after your first semester and is contingent on passing FYE. With the exception of BME a 3.2 generally guarantees you will get your first choice of majors. BME is very competitive so they don’t guarantee it. It is limited by the number of “seats”. A lower gpa will likely limit the majors you will be likely to get your first choice. </p>
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<p>… usually not much of a problem</p>
<p>Hail, Purdue!</p>
<p>I have no experience with the other universities, but I graduated from Purdue. Great, great university. Great engineering programs. But the GPA is tough. Purdue is consistently ranked as one of the hardest grading schools and one of the few schools where grade inflation has not occurred. The average grades are the same now as when I went there many years ago. Still worth it! BOILER UP!</p>
<p>Thanks all! Such great info… On the other side of the coin, can you guys comment on the reality of balancing activities outside of the classes? Daughter is interested in marching band though leery of time commitment, even though is much less than what she did in her very competitive high school band…she is interested in playing club basketball, played for our high school, and trying crew… Thoughts? All schools seem to have so many other great things to do!</p>
<p>DD and I recently had an engineering tour at Pitt coordinated for about 4 prospective students and their parents. The tour was very impressive and let by 4 current students across all engineering majors. They mentioned in an off hand way everything they are involved in and even mentioned the band in particular saying that a very high percentage of marching band members are engineering students. I got the impression that a balanced life is possible, even in engineering, at Pitt.</p>
<p>It is an issue of time management. Our D is in the Honors college, plays in the symphony orchestra, is involved in Woman in Engineering, does work study, arranged interviews for and interviewed for co-op positions and ushers for performances. Engineering is an intense course of study, however, it can also attract very motivated people. One thing she has learned since graduating HS is read ahead and go to class prepared. Often what you’re tested on is what you teach yourself not what a professor teaches you. </p>
<p>@ontocollegegal - my ds (chemE jr. at Pitt) has been in the band all 3 yrs, in a band frat, also vp of a campus political club - it was hard freshman yr to balance but the band really is a big part of his social life. </p>
<p>@amandakayak, we have never heard of a band frat. Can you explain? How is it different from a group of band kids who are friends…do they have a house etc? My engineering kid loves marching band but worries about the time commitment…it woudl be a great social outlet though, as in high school.</p>
<p>Wow, that was from a long time ago. Yes, there are a number of band frats - no they don’t have houses but they do service for the marching band as well as band-related community service. For ex. they helped host a band competition for the local high schools - ran the concession, sold tickets, etc. Here’s one - <a href=“http://www.pittband.com/kkpsi/index.php”>http://www.pittband.com/kkpsi/index.php</a> and there are a few others - <a href=“http://www.pittband.com/mky/”>http://www.pittband.com/mky/</a></p>