I am planning on taking engineering (probably mechanical) and am unsure about the difficulty. I was wondering if it is a bad idea to go to a school where I would be like one of the last in. Or should I plan on going to a school where I would be like middle of the pack?
All engineering is difficult. I would instead focus on schools that have good records with internships.
Sounds like reaches (possibly bottom of the class depending on stats), matches (middle of class), and safeties (top of the class). The common advice is to apply to a few of each.
If I get into a reach is it better to go there even though I may be a bottom tier Student or the middle where I can be more involved @nw2this
Its up to you. It sounds like you have a preference for being in the middle. Nothing wrong with that.
Lower the admission standards, higher the number of students weeded out.
I personally would pick a school that you felt was an academic match to you. The professors are going to teach to the speed of the group. If you are at the bottom, you will always feel like you are running faster than your peers to absorb the material. So, being in the middle sounds like a fine idea. Especially since you will have to pay money to retake any class you do not pass.
Not really. It will always happen to some extent, but this isn’t high school. Professors will leave students behind if they have to do so. There’s a certain minimum amount of material that must be covered in order to lay the foundation for future courses (and for accreditation) and professors aren’t likely to compromise on that. That’s one reason why less selective schools often have higher attrition.
So less selective schools have a higher drop out rate of engineering majors? I would imagine that less selective schools would be more likely to grade based on curves and more selective ones would not.
At less selective schools, there are more weaker students who cannot handle the workload and course rigor of an ABET-accredited engineering program, so the percentage of students leaving engineering tends to be higher. This also applies to college in general; less selective schools tend to have worse overall graduation rates.
You’re not going to get a bad education at any ABET accredited school… Period… ABET sets the bar, and that bar exists at a level where both industry and academia feel confident graduates will be adequately prepared for their careers. That is the reason accreditation exists.
Once you understand that concept, a whole world of college options will open up for you. Ultimately, your success as an engineer will depend more on your level of motivation and work ethic, and less on the prestige level of the school you attended.
Can that be pinned at the top? 