<p>So i am still a high school student and i am trying to think ahead of my future.. i really want to get in one of the top colleges or atleast some college thats great! i want to major in aerospace engineering and i was just wondering which college i should try to get in for this particular type of major</p>
<p>and i am also considering about double majoring in physics/Computer science and such and i was wondering if thats doable since i am also majoring in aerospace engineering</p>
<p>I don’t personally know much about aerospace engineering, so my opinion won’t count for much. However, if your stats are good but maybe not up to par for Ivy League/MIT/etc., I may have a suggestion. I have a friend (AP kid with SAT ~1750, which isn’t great for CC, but.) who wants to major in it, and his top choice is Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. My father, an instructor for Flightsafety International, an internationally respected training center for Gulfstream, also went back to school recently to finish his bachelor’s, and that’s where he went. Several of his colleagues also attended there, so from what I understand it is a generally well-respected school within professional aerospace circles.</p>
<p>If you have the stats and financial ability to attend Stanford, MIT, Georgia Tech, or such well-respected engineering schools, however, those would probably be your best choices.</p>
<p>The choices for a good Aerospace (AERO) college are pretty limited. My kid’s university, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO), has one of the top AERO undergrad program in the country. Here are some great links to get you excited:</p>
<p>Aviation Week & Space Technology, the largest multimedia information and services provider to the global aviation, aerospace and defense industries, recently named Cal Poly first in the nation for industry workforce recruiting. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2010/August/Recruit.html[/url]”>http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2010/August/Recruit.html</a></p>
<p>Cal Poly Engineering swept first-, second- and third-place awards in the undergraduate and graduate student design competition sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2011/September/aircraft.html[/url]”>http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2011/September/aircraft.html</a></p>
<p>Another school to try is California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Cal Poly Pomona, the sister school of Cal Poly SLO, is located in the heart of Aerospace country in Los Angeles and has significantly easier entrance requirements. The program there is still in the top 10 nationally for engineering in its category. We like both schools.</p>
<p>Both schools are public and relatively inexpensive and could be a great leg up to your preferred industry. If you are a California resident, which I am hoping you are, tuition will not be that much of an obstacle. Otherwise it will be OOS prices. Still not bad, but somewhat more expensive.</p>
<p>Cost of Attendance Cal Poly SLO:</p>
<p><a href=“http://financialaid.calpoly.edu/_finaid/coa1112.html[/url]”>http://financialaid.calpoly.edu/_finaid/coa1112.html</a></p>
<p>Cost of Attendance Cal Poly Pomona:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dsa.csupomona.edu/financial_aid/costs_even.asp[/url]”>http://www.dsa.csupomona.edu/financial_aid/costs_even.asp</a></p>
<p>Other top AERO schools are:</p>
<p>Georgia Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Tech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tied), and Purdue University. these came from the article above from recruiters. I strongly recommend that you take their rankings seriously as AERO jobs are hard to land in a bad economy and recruiters are a good information source.</p>
<p>Also, both Cal Poly’s have excellent internship programs. Both Cal Poly’s, but especially Cal Poly Pomona, place a lot of folks at the famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Cal Tech.</p>
<p>Other top Aero schools (which don’t offer PhDs) include Embry Riddle and the Air Force Academy.</p>
<p>Embry Riddle largely gets its reputation for “aero” because of its flight training and aeronautical science programs…not really its aeropsace engineering programs.</p>
<p>You can use [Accredited</a> Program Search](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramSearch.aspx/AccreditationSearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramSearch.aspx/AccreditationSearch.aspx) to look for schools which have aerospace engineering majors.</p>
<p>Note that some schools have a mechanical engineering major where aerospace-oriented courses can be chosen as in-major electives.</p>
<p>Check out the link that ucbalumnus posted. It led me to 65 ABET accredited AERO programs nationally. This is a great resource. If you want AERO then you must choose a program with accreditation in order to get a good job. This is especially true as the projects that aerospace engineers take on are generally high stakes endeavors where safety and lives will be on the line. Employers want engineers that they can trust. This begins with graduation from an accredited program.</p>
<p>The top three schools for undergraduate aerospace engineering are MIT, GT, and Michigan according to USNWR.</p>
<p>[Aerospace</a> / Aeronautical / Astronautical | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-aerospace-aeronautical-astronautical]Aerospace”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-aerospace-aeronautical-astronautical)</p>
<p>^ That is for schools that offer a PhD. The list for schools that don’t offer a PhD is Embry Riddle and USAFA.</p>
<p>[Aerospace</a> / Aeronautical / Astronautical | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-aerospace-aeronautical-astronautical]Aerospace”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-aerospace-aeronautical-astronautical)</p>
<p>^^^Are you saying Embry Riddle=MIT?</p>
<p>I’m saying “cherry picking” the listing you like (PhD programs) and not disclosing there are other “top of” lists is disingenuous.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that AE is a subset of the Mechanical Engineering field. Lots of engineers who work for Aerospace companies has B.S.M.E. degrees. Check the undergraduate course listing at any school you’re interested in.</p>
<p>“I’m saying “cherry picking” the listing you like (PhD programs) and not disclosing there are other “top of” lists is disingenuous.”</p>
<p>So with that logic Alabama = NY Giants in football. Gotcha.</p>
<p>Re: [Aerospace</a> / Aeronautical / Astronautical | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-aerospace-aeronautical-astronautical]Aerospace”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-aerospace-aeronautical-astronautical)</p>
<p>That list has only 3 non-PhD schools with aerospace engineering (the two ERAUs and USAFA). Where are the others (listed in the ABET accreditation list), such as:</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO
Cal Poly Pomona
Capitol
Daniel Webster
SDSU
SJSU
Tuskegee
USNA</p>
<p>RJK, so you believe only PhD programs are the equivalent of pro teams?? Glad you’re the arbiter of college goodness.</p>
<p>UCBA, I have no idea why USNews did not include those other schools. It doesn’t make sense, particularly since USNA would be in the same pool as USAFA.</p>
<p>RJK…are saying that for an undergrad program in AE to be very good, it has to also have a top PhD program as well…otherwise, not worth mentioning?</p>
<p>^^^They are worth mentioning of course. I was told I “cherry picked” the TOP schools in aero engineering. If you feel that ER is the equivalent to MIT in this area of engineering, then that is your opinion.</p>
<p>rjkofnovi quote:
^^^They are worth mentioning of course. I was told I “cherry picked” the TOP schools in aero engineering. If you feel that ER is the equivalent to MIT in this area of engineering, then that is your opinion.</p>
<hr>
<p>Are you talking to me? I have no idea about ER… except that it has first listing on USNews for schools without PhDs. I was thinking of some of the strong regional schools that might be strong in AE. As for comparing to MIT…I didn’t know that there was a set benchmark for comparison. If so, then few can be on the list. </p>
<p>That said…do we even know if the OP has MIT-quality stats? If not, it may not be wise to use MIT as the school which all possible schools must measure against. </p>
<p>If the student has good-but-not-elite stats, then he might consider SLO for a rather low cost OOS public for AE. And, if he needs aid (and will qualify) then he needs to look at the few privates that meet need (or close), but don’t require tippy top stats. Those may not be the highest ranked for AE, but there might be some good ones.</p>
<p>I think we need more info from the OP to find out how strong a student he is …if he’s taken the PSAT or any other tests, etc…and any budgetary concerns.</p>
<p>
Uh, no. I thought you were a more careful reader than that. I said you cherry picked your listing, PhD programs, when there is another listing published by the same company that has top aeronautical engineering programs. If you believe that you can only get a good aero degree at a school offering PhDs, fine. We’ll just agree to disagree.</p>
<p>Just in case the OP cared to weed through the above suggestions…</p>
<p>My oldest son graduated from ERAU (Prescott Campus) with an AE degree, astronautics option, and also minored in math and computer science. It was a great choice for him for a variety of reasons; the curriculum was rigorous and he had plenty of opportunities for research. Many aerospace firms recruit there and most of his fellow AE grads had jobs lined up after graduation or went on to top graduate programs. My impression is that ERAU has a good reputation in the AE industry, well beyond just producing commercial pilots.</p>