<p>You missed my point entirely. Turning wrenches and working on rigs is only one aspect of engineering. Design, analysis, and problem solving are equally “engineering”, even if they’re not performed in the framework of a traditional plant position.</p>
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<p>VT graduates tend to have more applied degrees than in other schools, even at the PhD level. But that doesn’t prevent them from offering PhDs, and it doesn’t make their PhD’s worthless, just more applied. </p>
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<p>Then Clemson? That’s not something I can answer for you. I would go to the more well known school, especially if it’s cheaper. But that’s what makes sense for me. It could be an entirely different situation for you.</p>
<p>For example, I knew two twins from North Carolina (true story, this isn’t a hypothetical). Both got into UNC for nearly free. One went to UNC and one went to West Virgina. At face value, the one that went to WVU made a horrible decision - spending much, much more to go to a lower ranked school. For four years, the one that went to UNC spent time with his high school friends, doing high school things. He never graduated. The other one (who later told me that he went to WVU to “escape high school”) did extremely well, graduated with a 4.0 GPA and had some good research. He was then accepted to a top 10 PhD program. </p>
<p>So, at the end of the day, you just need to do what you think is best for you. We can’t make that decision.</p>
<p>Just because you’ve hired many excellent engineers from UVA doesn’t mean it’s “a much better program than VT.” I understand how your experiences are relevant, but they are, after all, only your experiences. </p>
<p>BTW, UT graduated only 30 less engineers than A&M did last year, so your “sheer numbers” argument is another example of one skewed by personal bias.</p>
<p>“The problem is that it’s a “the grass is greener” argument - how do you know which school will result in better performance?”</p>
<p>Rocket science? The environment/community you find yourself more excited and stimulated by. Which takes approximately… hours, to figure out. </p>
<p>“An average student at VT will be better off than an average student at Clemson.”</p>
<p>The difference is outrageously negligible. </p>
<p>“And for someone to turn down UVA to go to Clemson - hopefully she either has a full scholarship to Clemson because otherwise I can’t see that bet paying off. VT to Clemson is one thing, but UVA is a substantially better school than Clemson.”</p>
<p>It’s deliciously hypocritical for you to say this, and then turn around and tell your UNC twins story.</p>
<p>"Those Princeton Review rankings are a joke. A school will win “#1 drunkest students” one year then win “#1 least drunk students” the next year. It’s all about who they poll from that school that year.</p>
<p>Honestly - put no faith in those rankings, whatsoever."</p>
<p>It’s hilarious that you use a ridiculously irrelevant argument to bash those rankings, and then turn around and call UVA a ‘substantially “better”’ school then Clemson… based on… another dubious set of rankings. That. You. Yourself. Called. “Completely”. “Wrong”.</p>
<p>You’re one of those people who really likes to hear himself talk, aren’t you?</p>
<p>“You missed my point entirely. Turning wrenches and working on rigs is only one aspect of engineering. Design, analysis, and problem solving are equally “engineering”, even if they’re not performed in the framework of a traditional plant position.”</p>
<p>And I can say with absolute certainty that a UVA grad has no advantage over a VT grad in any of those regards.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I have many more years of experience and thousands of more interviews than you, so that makes it a very relevant experience. </p>
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<p>A&M puts a very high percentage of engineers into industry, whereas UT puts a much, much lower percentage (actually a minority). So in the manufacturing industry, A&M does have sheer numbers in it’s favor.</p>
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<p>Not necessarily. You can’t judge the entire campus life in such a short period of time. For all you know, he could go to Clemson, which at first blush seems to be a more pleasant campus, but not make any friends or find any activities he likes. Similarly, he could go to VT, and after awhile, find a small student group or organization that fits with his personality well. It’s difficult to determine.</p>
<p>What a person should do is self-examine why he/she dislikes one school and determine how the other school will address that situation. I’ve known several students to take the attitude that “College X is too much of a party school and no one is like me” only to go to College Y and determine he has the same problem. In the end it wasn’t the college but the student that was the problem.</p>
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<p>Not in my experience. You’ll see very different employers come to both schools. Care to share the basis for the “negligible” comment? Is it just a guess </p>
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<p>Actually, if you read my post, you would have seen the difference is based on personal observation of the graduates. But, I guess that’s the current “twitter” generation - too lazy to actually read something longer than 140 characters. Opps, sorry: “140 chars”</p>
<p>Hi I want to do Chemical engineering at Rose Hulman. Can you tell me what minors would be suitable along with this major? I like biology also. But some say environment related minors would go well. please advice.</p>
<p>I looked at the job placement stats and companies that recruit at both schools that recruit at Clemson and VT and I determined that since the companies were all the same and from the South, there is no significant difference between the two schools academically if I want a job. The courses at the same for civil engineering are the same anyways</p>
<p>“Not necessarily. You can’t judge the entire campus life in such a short period of time. For all you know, he could go to Clemson, which at first blush seems to be a more pleasant campus, but not make any friends or find any activities he likes. Similarly, he could go to VT, and after awhile, find a small student group or organization that fits with his personality well. It’s difficult to determine.”</p>
<p>Dude. It’s not really that big of a mystery. There are big and little pluses & minuses for every city you could visit, for example - that doesn’t mean it takes more than a day or two to figure out whether you’d rather live in San Diego or Detroit. </p>
<p>“Actually, if you read my post, you would have seen the difference is based on personal observation of the graduates. But, I guess that’s the current “twitter” generation - too lazy to actually read something longer than 140 characters.”</p>
<p>Your personal observations of the graduates??? How anecdotal is THAT? Are you familiar with the concept of self-selection? Because if not, I can explain it to you. This has VERY little to do with the schools, and MUCH more to do with the people that migrate there in the first place. And, at any point, feel free to stop projecting - that Twitter comment was a reach. Ad hominem is not a pretty color on you.</p>
<p>“Not in my experience. You’ll see very different employers come to both schools. Care to share the basis for the “negligible” comment? Is it just a guess”</p>
<p>The difference between academic programs at ‘top’ schools and those at middle tier schools are slight to moderate, despite what the academic hype machine would have you believe. Again, the big difference is the people you become surrounded by. If there really was an astronomical difference, than every Fortune 500 company would be spearheaded by Ivy League grads. It’s been shown that 1st tier admits who turn down those institutions end up making equivalent incomes as peers who actually choose to attend those places.</p>
<p>And we’re not even talking about a top school vs. a middle tiered one.</p>
<p>pierre0913, at the end of the day it’s all about you finding a job, that you like, with the degree you have, right? Whether it’s Clemson or VT that is going to put you in that position is your call. I suggest you research the facilities and the coop programs and see what recruiting is like from both schools. Also, most people go to college so that they can have a comfortable future so i’d also look at starting salaries.</p>
<p>OK just to get this straight I am a virginia resident. And let me tell u…VT is a GREAT school for engineering. Its definitely the best in the state. UVA is also know but that is more of a liberal art school than engineering. Just about EVERY adult I have talked to in the engineering field here raves about VT. It is a great school, hands down. I’ll put it to you this way…I want to go into nuclear engineering. Problem is, there are no schools that offer nuclear in VA. However, I would still be perfectly content with going there, even though it didn’t offer my field specifically(I would have to take mechanical). Thats how good of a school it is.</p>
<p>Now I don’t know much about Clemson…I admit that. But from what I can tell Clemson is like UVA in the sense that it is not well known specifically for its engineering. It is still a VERY respected school but not as much as VT is in engineering. The only thing I see that it beats VT in is the student life. Princeton review ranks it VERY high in student’s social life. </p>
<p>Overall here’s how I would look at it. Clemson is well respected (just not for engineering), costs more, and has a great student life. VT is well respected (for engineering), is cheaper, and still offers a solid student life. In the end…Student life or Engineering prestige? </p>
<p>But do remember. This is a GREAT problem for u to have. Not many ppl get to have a choice between two awesome schools. You are a lucky individual. Good luck, whatever your choice may be!</p>
<p>Then what is Clemson known for? Engineering is by far their largest department and their bread winner.</p>
<p>You know, it’s the blind leading the blind here sometimes. College kids that know little to nothing other than their immediate surroundings spouting off.</p>
<p>G.P. doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and it’s becoming abundantly clear. I’d take anything he says with a grain of salt at this point. He’s lost all perspective.</p>
<p>The ironic thing is that you’re the one without perspective. You’re a VT student that apparently thinks VT is one of the best engineering schools in the world. The fact is that it’s not. It’s a fine school, but it’s not a Top 10, or even Top 20 school.</p>
<p>yes, yes, yes. I know Im a biased person. I stated that in my first line…“Im a VA student”. And I never said VT was a top 10 school. ur assuming there. In my opinion Its a top tier “middle round” school. and yes, clemson may have a big engineering program but what school doesnt that offers engineering? Engineering is/will always be a large population. Point is, just because it has a large population doesnt mean their “good”. And let me explain good. Good can ONLY be used when comparing it to something else. When comparing it to tech(tech is ranked 27th by WORLD NEWS and clemson is ranked 90th) it sucks. I know these rankings have got to be taken with a grain of salt(as does everything in life) but a difference in 60 ranks is simply a big deal. If it was only 5 or 10 ranks then I would say they are relatively equal…but NOT 60. </p>
<p>O and btw. Clemson has 867 engineering students while tech has 1,936. No matter how u slice and dice it, clemson fails in comparison to tech. So it does not have a well respected/good(or whatever word u want to use) engineering dept. Now if u compare it to a community college then of course it is good. Statistics will never lie to u. I am obviously not the blind leading the blind…just a student pointing out facts.</p>
<p>P.S. Yes I know I am using graduate rankings and not undergraduate. Undergrad does not go far enough in ranks to see either tech or clemson. So I used Graduate. And lets be honest…if someone has a good graduate program then u know their undergrad has got to be just as good or close to.</p>
<p>O and G.P. I think ur the one with the lost perspective. U obviously adore UVA…which would explain ur pestimism with Tech(UVA and Tech are big time rivals for those of you who dont know).</p>
<p>Actually, I don’t. I didn’t attend either school and I’m not from the area. I don’t follow either in sports. I simply understand the differences between the schools and took an objective view Since that disagrees with your opinion, you’re attempting to rationalize why my opinion doesn’t conform to your preconceived notion. </p>
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<p>Your argument doesn’t really make sense and I’m having trouble following it. VT is larger than Clemson, so it’s a better engineering school? </p>
<p>With respect to all engineering schools, Clemson is a good school, and so is VT. Neither are a top school, and you’ll have a very difficult time finding an objective person that will agree with that statement. VT is a better school than Clemson in my opinion, and has the advantage of being in a state with more jobs. Meanwhile, Clemson is too close to Georgia Tech, causing competition.</p>
So…what did you decide? I went to Clemson for Graduate School (Masters and PhD)…loved it so much…I have stayed! And…this weekend is Clemson vs. Notre Dame! Go Tigers!