Son got into his first college today for mechanical engineering 
All of the schools he has applied to are less competitive (appropriate for his grades/test scores), but ABET certified. In terms of skills that will be most beneficial to him as a young professional, are there any things we should be looking for when comparing curricula? Are there value adds that would be most important in terms of internships, study abroad programs etc? This is a new world for us!
Thanks!
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Iād say fit so size, weather, comfort all those things. Class size/schedule - for example WPI is 7 week terms. Where do they feel right ? Which campus works for them , etc cost/budget issues, etc etc.
Who has clubs of interest whether automotive, aviation, rocketry, etc. ?
Available electives, etc. ? Are there sub areas of interest like a MECHE might have interest in manufacturing etc.
Good food/dorms? Distance to home?
You can check career outcomes but students today more and more find positions on their own via handshake, indeed, or LinkedIn. Many schools have job fairs too.
My son had 5 offers by xmas at a low rated school. Works with kids from high rated schools. Interned with them too so youāll be fine most anywhere if the student hustles.
As for abroad, a few schools integrate into engineering but many donāt. But schools have summer trips, spring or winter break trips, etc so there will be chances for engineering or elective.
Good luck.
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My D is a chem E so not quite the same but hereās what she looked for when she was doing a deeper dive into the four year plans of study:
- Was there a first year engineering design class? (That was really important to her)
- Hands on learning vs more theoretical classes? (This may be a bit harder to parse out and will require looking into the syllabi if they are available)
- Are required classes offered every semester? (This can be important if a student is doing a co-op or going abroad in terms of course sequencing to graduate on time)
- Quantity and frequency of electives?
- How is the senior design course structured?
Also important to her was how generous the school was in accepting AP/DE credits towards gen ed requirements.
She also looked closely at what labs, shops, and maker spaces were available to undergrads.
The strength of the career center - what services were offered, number of career fairs/year, industry partners, and if there was a well supported co-op program.
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In terms of academics, consider the following:
- Curricular organization. For example, some may have a traditional āefficientā organization where math and natural science are first, followed by engineering science, followed lastly by engineering design. Others try to incorporate more design work early to ensure that students get design experience earlier in the program.
- Calendar format: semesters, quarters, or other types of terms may matter.
- Volume and nature of humanities and social studies general education requirements.
- Class size (particularly lower level courses) and format, which may matter to some students more than others.
- Subarea electives available at the upper levels. E.g. some departments may offer more aerospace or vehicle related upper level electives than others.
If co-ops (where the student may take a semester off from school at a major-related job) are desired, consider whether the course offerings allow a student who is off by a semester to continue to make progress toward graduation, instead of being delayed by an additional semester.
Some colleges (particularly at the state flagship level) have engineering majors filled to capacity. If that is the case, it may be difficult to change to another engineering major, or students may start as engineering undeclared and have to meet a high GPA or go through competitive admission to enter their majors. This is less likely to be an issue at less selective colleges.
With highly sequenced prerequisites, engineering majors can be difficult to include study-abroad semesters into without delaying graduation.
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I canāt imagine studying abroad as an engineering major if you want to get out in four years. I went in with credit for a few classes and I still had to take a couple of summer school classes to get out āon time.ā
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Understood. I know some schools have 1-4 week summer programs these days, this is likely what he will look for.
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Lots kids go in the summer time. Outside of their class time. Some combine some classes with abroad venturing also. My son went on a engineering study abroad to France with Michigan engineering. Itās common there.
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My D did a āMaymasterā abroad after her freshman year (a month in Italy taking 2 non engineering classes). It seemed like many colleges offered shorter study abroad opportunities over winter break or over the summer for those students who couldnāt be away a full semester. The only engineering students my D knew that went abroad for an entire semester were part of a special global engineering program and they were majorly derailed by Covid.
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Thank you! These are all great things to consider. Especially the senior design course, thatās not even something we have on our radar. I work in the healthcare space and our older kid followed a similar path, so the engineering world is entirely new to us. I really appreciate the guidance!
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Thank youā¦Love the idea of clubs! I just looked up a few of the schools and they have clubs that do automotive design, which he would LOVE, so that will definitely be something we will look at going forward!
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You might look at schools for Formula SAE. My kid did EcoCAR - their site is down for maintenance but itās anyone from Ga Tech, Alabama, Ms State, UC Davis, WVU and more.
Some schools will have automotive ties too. A Purdue Michigan with the Big 3. Kettering too. Alabama / Auburn / Ms State / Kentucky / UTK with the import brands as much of automotive has come south.
But you can go automotive from anywhere.
Hopefully this link works later.
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have two engineering kids (one ME) at two different public schools. i donāt have much else to add; most of the above comments are spot on.
I will say - the classes are HARD. donāt expect state schools ā that arent the highest ranked schools ā to be easy.
However, one of the schools offers a 4.3 for an A+ which has helped one of my kids with his overall GPA! GPA is important when looking for jobs. Iād also add - if your kid isnt super strong in a subject that he/she might have AP credit for, take the class again; start from the beginning.
my ME kidās school and co-hort has a focus on internships every summer you can get one, although she has a study abroad stipend. Sheāll use it for a winter-term I think. she thinks sheāll try new zealand!
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Everyoneās recommendations are great.
I will add that an individualās success in engineering is largely related to their horsepower and work ethic. The school will make a little difference at the margins.
My son has been fortunate to work on two elite teams. His coworkers were educated all over the planet a few in big name programs, but most in random state schools.
Heāll do well if he works hard and takes advantage of the opportunities in front of him.
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For a course that is an important prerequisite to other courses, using the collegeās old final exams for the course to check oneās knowledge will allow a more informed decision about whether to use AP credit to skip the course, do so but review a few topics, or not use AP credit to skip the course.
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This advice is all terrific, thank you all so much!!
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If your son is interested in autonomous vehicles, Auburn does have the GAVLAB with undergrad research positions and graduate assistantships which waive tuition and pay enough to get off parents dime while they earn their masters. I can confirm they will have many offers before graduating if they have good grades, not easy but a lot of fun at best campus in the south! My son was an Aerospace bachelors at Auburn and there are few graduate assistantships in that department but Mechanical has a lot more - not just in the GAVLAB, but lots of others as well. Hereās a link if interested: Join the Team
Also, just for fun if he or any friends are marching band members or just from the engineering side of things since the marching band worked with AU Engineering to make the lighted shakos that change to the beat - here is the Metallica halftime show from 2 weeks ago - Auburn is competing in the Metallica halftime challengeā¦I saw it live, just awesome. https://youtu.be/9zZJdNhynYQ
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That sounds so awesome. Jealous of kids who figured this out earlier. He is just figuring out that engineering is his thing (mom and dad might have encouraged joining clubs etc all along 
). Just not sure he has the grades for a program like that or the desire to go so far from home!