I am interested in getting comments and opinions on various engineering schools in Ohio; I am not considering The Ohio State University at this time only because of its large size. (I am aware of websites such as http://best-engineering-colleges.com/ and the ABET website; I was hoping that people with first-hand or second-hand knowledge could chip in.)
Specifically, I was hoping to get comments and opinions about engineering programs at other universities in Ohio in regard to the following:
(1) Overall reputation of the college/school of engineering, and how it compares to engineering programs at other Ohio universities
(2) Reputation of specific departments and/or engineering specialties within the college/school of engineering, and how they compare to specific departments/engineering specialties at other Ohio universities (e.g., best mechanical engineering program, second best chemical engineering program, third best civil engineering program, etc.) I am specifically, but not exclusively, interested in those engineering disciplines that might apply to robotics, if that helps.
(3) Relative difficulty of coursework
(4) Job placement success
(5) Pros/cons for each college/school of engineering (i.e., why would a student want to study engineering at this university, or not?)
(6) Pros/cons for each university (i.e., why would a student want to attend this university, or not?)
^ Oh yes, I agree; but too big for what we are looking for. This thread is not intended to be a slam of OSU at all, I am just looking for something smaller in size.
In all seriousness, two Ohio schools hit my son’s radar (and we are from Oregon), one just to dig a little deeper and one, he actually applied to.
Miami of Ohio has a reasonably good engineering program, a great honors college and is highly focused on undergraduate education, since they don’t have doctoral programs. It is medium sized and has a nice campus. He didn’t apply because he didn’t think it was worth paying more than our state flagship to go there.
Case Western Reserve was the pleasant surprise. It is small and has a very good engineering reputation. Both the school and Cleveland exceeded our expectations. Plus, they are very generous. He received a $100K merit award.
Other than the loving, modest, low key OSU sports fans I would not dismiss OSU because of size. Columbus, OH is a great place, lots of options, and at the end of the day in engineering, the OSU name helps immensely. I work in the Midwest and we have lots of OSU grad coworkers to harass during sports season. At the same time I’ve only met one from Case Western and two from Cinci.
Definitely look into Case. We were pleasantly surprised by the engineering program and the nice merit scholarships (in 2010… not sure if still the same)/
The University of Cincinnati is a Ph.D. grating university which has a full complement of engineering degrees and is not as big as OSU. I also second Miami, I know several faculty who are quite good there and it is a solid engineering program.
@eyemgh: I guess the royal “we” slipped out! Case will go on the list.
@turbo93: I grew up in SEC country, and I know lots of Bama grads; so I’m used to being around “loving, modest, low key sports fans”!
Thanks for all the input so far! Does anyone know anything about engineering at Ohio University, University of Toledo, University of Akron, and University of Dayton?
The University of Cincinnati and the University of Toledo both have mandatory coops. UC tends to have the better reputation of the two, however, engineering is one of UT’s top programs and I consider it a very good overall program. If you’re considering ChemE then consider U of Akron. It probably has one of the better ChemE programs in Ohio. U of Dayton has a good affiliation with Wright Patterson Air Force Base and is a growing university. Ohio University is investing in it’s engineering program. They received a large donation 7 or 8 years ago and are using at least part of it to provide engineering scholarships. If one is interested in MechE and wanted a small conservative school out in the middle of nowhere you can check out Ohio Northern University. All these universities are ABET accredited and while tOSU and CWRU are probably the top two engineering programs in the state the others are well worth considering.
My D13 had to choose at least one Ohio university to apply to (we are in state) and she chose U of Toledo. She liked the campus best and they had the best engineering information session. The engineering campus is rather mid century but nice. I made her apply to OU and she received $8000 in an engineering scholarship in addition to other scholarships. She ended up at Purdue and is cooping. About 1/4 of the students she coops with are from U of Cincinnati the rest from a variety of schools ranging from U of Louisville to U of Missouri and of course Purdue.
You are wise to include job placement rates in your selection criteria. You’ll find despite the fact that OSU has the highest rated engineering program in the state, their engineering placement rates are very poor. I haven’t checked all of the Ohio schools, but UC, Miami, and UD all have much better placement rates.
–parent of an unemployed May 2015 OSU engineering grad with a 3.1 gpa
I was an unemployed grad in January after I graduated, but had gone back to take some graduate classes at a local university.
By April, I had an excellent job … so don’t despair. That excellent job has led to an excellent career in a field I like much better than my major.
Cause was the collapse of the chemical engineering market in the mid 80s.
OSU has a great national reputation … why do you think their placement rates are poor ? I would guess more people go on to grad school than the other schools you mention.
I keep giggling about this thread, it’s like the artist formerly called prince.
Why Ohio ? Are you looking for in-state tuition or just really proud to be a Buckeye ? You are lucky, Ohio has 4 good engineering schools public + Case if you get a scholarship (still big $$ but I think admissions and scholarships keep getting more competitive) and want to stay near home.
@buzzlightyear3: Where can I find the engineering job placement rates for the different schools? Is this part of the Common Data Set on the college website, or do I just search elsewhere on the college website? (Or is there another, independent website that has this information?)
@PickOne1: In Ohio there seem to be lots of good engineering school possibilities within a reasonable driving distance.
These surveys from OSU are 5 years old, which is sort of during the great recession, and not for engineering. I am still really doubtful that OSU is below average on job placement, but like all big state schools their career office may not be the greatest … but their alumni network and reputation should be very good).
and they are for students a year from graduation, so my guess is the OSU student above will have found something that makes for an acceptable first job (and given that your first job is a learning experience and that you likely don’t have huge financial obligations, I am pretty generous with what makes an acceptable first engineering job, mostly having people to mentor you and a decent work environment at a decent salary).
Great Materials Science Engineering at U of Akron. U of Dayton is very good in ME. Engineering at CWRU is overall quite excellent. I have heard nothing but praise about engineering (and Chemistry) at U of Cincinnati, not surprising given the school’s proximity to the Proctor and Gamble Company. I like Ohio University in Athens as a whole but my layman’s opinion is that it brings up the rear among engineering universities in Ohio. Tried to get Lake Jr. to apply to OU engineering as an out-of-state applicant (they have a record of good merit aid for engineering majors) but he wasn’t interested.
The most recent year published (2014) does look better. The stats for 2013 are terrible. I’m looking at the percentages of students who are neither employed or in grad school. You will find UC, UD, and Miami placement/grad school acceptance rates are much, much better. I don’t know why OSU is so much worse. I suspect it’s because of a lack of engagement by the faculty and staff. My son tried to get both internships and research opportunities but was unsuccessful, so that’s definitely hurting his job search success. His experience was his advisor was very poor in connecting him with opportunities (sent him to offices that didn’t seem to exist), professors wouldn’t respond to emails, and promises of opportunities to get involved in research never materialized. Certainly there are some students at OSU who are successful… My son certainly owns much of the responsibility for his current situation. I believe though the staff is more engaged with students at some of the other schools. (Freshman daughter is at Miami–in business and not engineering–but already her experience has been the polar opposite of what my son encountered at OSU.) All that said, my son loved OSU and is still very passionate about his major. I’d still recommend one of the other schools except for students who are sure to be super persistent in pursuing opportunities with little school assistance.
This timing description seems way too close in for typical employment which may explain the fairly low percentages, again I think your son should keep looking without feeling particularly unsuccessful, he has almost 5 months until the next crop of graduates …
Timing of the survey
We survey the graduating class several times prior to commencement, at commencement rehearsal, and again within three months after commencement.
That said, large state schools don’t always do that well on engagement with students … Rutgers was similar …
What was his major ? Aerospace job market is tough … but he needs to keep on trying with the big boys and with the smaller suppliers … and maybe try marketing a broader ME type degree to other technical fields of interest. Getting an OSU aero grad might be appealing to someone who typically can’t attract high end talent, and for example, aero mechanical and general mechanical design or analysis is not widely different. Try looking at profiled employers and industries on some software packages like Nastran or similar, especially if he likes that kind of thing.
Also if he has friends who are getting jobs in areas he is interested in, he should at least make sure he is LinkedIn and his friends know he is still available. I don’t think he should be ashamed or hiding in any way.
My mom was really worried too … but at the time aero was hiring so they took a chance on hiring a ChemE.
I would not dismiss OSU because of size. Columbus, OH is a great place, lots of options, and at the end of the day in engineering, the OSU name helps immensely. I work in the Midwest and we have lots of OSU grad coworkers to harass during sports season. At the same time I’ve only met one from Case Western and two from Cinci.