<p>Im going to transfer from Rutgers, I could def get into SDSMT i think. I have a 3.1 gpa and will have 40 credits by the time i trasnfer so i doubt my highschool gpa will matter much. I got a 1660 on the SATS anyway.</p>
<p>And im not scared of the rigorous curriculum, my sister did engineering and she told me you get used to it. I’m more interested in the career field afterwards.</p>
<p>Just FYI:</p>
<p>Socorro is only about ~79 miles (~1 hour) from Albuquerque, which isn’t that bad. I know it sounds far to you east coasters, but out here, it’s not bad at all. In fact, it’s easily do-able for a friday night dinner/shopping trip.</p>
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<p>SD Mines is more like $23,000 per year:
[ECOA</a> - Undergraduate](<a href=“http://www.sdsmt.edu/Admissions/Financial-Aid-and-Scholarships/ECOA/ECOA---Undergraduate/]ECOA”>ECOA - Undergraduate)</p>
<p>Here are the top 14 mining engineering schools, in alphabetical order:</p>
<p>Colorado School of Mines
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Formerly University of Missouri-Rolla)
Montana Tech of the University of Montana (Formerly Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology)
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Pennsylvania State University
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Arizona
University of Kentucky
University of Nevada - Reno
University of Utah
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
West Virginia University</p>
<p>If you intend to transfer, try to follow the curriculum for mining engineering using courses at your current school or community colleges. Math and physics for engineering majors should not be hard to find, but you may have a harder time with specialized mineral engineering courses (though courses like introduction to materials, statics or solid mechanics, computing for engineers, etc. should not be too hard to find).</p>
<p>I’m from the east coast and I have never heard of the South Dakota School of Mines.</p>
<p>I have seen Colorado school of mines on the web several times. If you want it to be at least somewhat known, go with the Colorado school of mines.</p>
<p>Wow i was going off the campus tour video. Damn prices really went up over the past few years…</p>
<p>@ucbalamus. Is it possible to go to my community college for winter clases and transfer credits from there to Rutgers? If so that’s amazing im def going to do that for calculus.</p>
<p>There will be about a $2k tuition and fees increase for 2013-2014 and the $17k figure from the video and also published on their web page as the current COA, leaves out $4k for transportation and personal expenses. That is all included in ucbalumnus’ figures.</p>
<p>@post #24</p>
<p>Don’t fall for the common “I never heard of that school” clap trap. As has been stated by others South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is known in engineering circles for it’s rigorous education and for the career success of its alumni. It’s also received some national attention as an educational bargain. It’s a small school in a western/midwestern small state, so no surprise that the average Joe is not familiar with it.</p>
<p>By the way, the folks at Payscale.com have certainly heard of SDSM&T. Check out their new ranking of the best “Return on Investment” colleges in the U.S.A. Once again, SDSM&T is among the leaders in average starting salary of new alumni. So it looks like more than a few major employers have heard of SDSM&T. Maybe not well known in Silicon Valley or the Mid Atlantic states, but big companies such as 3M and Dow Chemical, as well as NASA and the U.S. Armed Forces, are familiar with SDSM&T and like their graduates when it comes time to hire new employees.</p>
<p>Are you from South Dakota or been there? I’m just curious about the social scene at this point. Will i pretty much be bored as hell? I like the outdoor thing, I like biking, walking around, and just chilling. But i honestly also do like the occasional “Blame-it-on-the-alcohol” kinda nights lol.</p>
<p>BTW: I have gained a lot of knowledge from this thread and am so grateful for all of you.</p>
<p>I’ve been to Rapid City a few times, most lately during February. It has its own charm but will be different than life in NJ. I nearly moved the family there (from Seattle area) back in 2001, was even looking for good bird-dogs when the negotiations fell through. As you have found, the college is one of the best bargains around. It gets quite a few students from CO - out-of-state at SDSMT is cheaper than in-state at Co State or CSM.</p>
<p>Yes, parties will be there, and with the scarceness of females, probably wilder than you are used to.</p>
<p>Re: #28 and Payscale.com</p>
<p>SD Mines does well on Payscale because it is heavy with engineering majors. Note that most of the highly rated schools in its listings are engineering-heavy.</p>
<p>That said, it is a good inexpensive choice for mining engineering, despite Payscale somewhat misleadingly exaggerating its value.</p>
<p>I do not know anything about Rapid City, but University of Arizona is ranked pretty highly for mining engineering. I go there now, and I could only assume that Tucson has a better “scene” than South Dakota. I can find a party pretty easily here. And U of A also has more girls in it’s student population, if you’re a guy that’s probably a good thing. Even though Tucson is practically Mexico (literally a 30 minute drive to the border), we do have Mount Lemmon that gets some snow for skiing, and the weather is not that hot (it might be for an east coaster though). Tuition wise, it is about 25k a year there for an out of state student.</p>
<p>Lol idk how my dad would feel about me going litterally to the other side of the country just for school. I might as well go somewhere closer tbh lol. And when you add housing and fees its more like 40k out of state.</p>
<p>Michigan Tech had a mining engineering department for a long time, for a while they didn’t offer a degree because of lack of interest but have recently started to offer degrees in mining again. They have a well respected department in geological engineering which I hear is similar. (S has friend who has this major, he has a very good job in the mining industry). </p>
<p>Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of the school, the people in the mining industry know the schools and I would not worry about employment. </p>
<p>Have you looked into WVU, it’s not that far from NJ. I do not know any particulars but I know that WVU will offer instate rates if they do not offer your major in your state. I would look into that. I have no idea if they do that for residents of NJ.</p>
<p>^^ I visited Michigan before and thought most of the neighborhoods and areas around the campus’s were a little to run down and ghetto. But I’ll look into the WVU thing. The thing about WVU is, most people who think of WVU relate it to just a great party school. And yeah I kinda realized it probably doesnt matter where I go, i just want to go to an area where I wont have to TRY to focus but I can still go out when I have free time.</p>
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<p>I’m surprised that no one else latched onto this. If rigor was any part of your decision to change, I doubt you’ll find engineering any less so. In fact, engineering may be more demanding.</p>
<p>I feel I have to put in a plug for my undergrad alma mater: University of Alaska Fairbanks. It has a really good mining engineering program and COA is about 27k to start, but after 2 years you can apply to become a resident and the COA drops to about 13k per year.</p>
<p>[College</a> of Engineering and Mines: MinGeo Home](<a href=“College of Engineering and Mines | College of Engineering and Mines”>College of Engineering and Mines | College of Engineering and Mines)</p>
<p>it was a factor because I came from a 2.7 gpa in highschool and got thrown into a system where I actually had to study and do work to pass. I also took biology and chemistry at the same time which really screwed me. But i settled in second semester and pulled a 3.2 which is really good considering my highschool performance.</p>
<p>Back on topic: My dad just told me I’ll pretty much have to go to South Dakota if i want to do Mining so I guess it’s done. Just applied hope I get in.</p>
<p>Petroleum and mining engineering put a person in very specific parts of the country. If I were you I would research where you can get a job in those fields because you’ll probably be working in those areas for a while. I read Reno’s site a bit, and it looks like they actually send you out to some of the mine sites. Do you want to work for a small company that operates a small mine, or work for a huge company that has mines on several continents. If you do choose mining, I know newmont.com and barrick.com both do internships every year. I used to work as a haul truck driver for newmont and made close to 60k, so I’m pretty sure an engineer starting out would make at least 80k. I think my buddy who is a geologist makes that after 5 years. Nevada isn’t for everyone though, I’m not really a fan myself.</p>
<p>So i’ve been admitted into South Dakota School of Mines! Kinda excited i think lol. But man do I want to go to Colorado. I would have to apply for fall 2014 so I dont know if it is worth it? Colorado Mines is on the outskirts of Denver and I’ve heard Denver is a fun up and coming major city. I would be able to get my gpa up to a 3.4-3.5 next semester. Do you guys think I should take South Dakota for spring or wait till next fall for colorado.</p>
<p>I can always borrow the money so idc but SDSM&T is sooo cheap. But Colorado is ranked an even better investment. </p>
<p>Any opninions?? I am not entirely a city boy but I do like going into the city every now and then.</p>