Confused about Engineering Colleges

[Neenie]

<p>Btw georgia tech is by no means a safety school. I only say that because one may look at the acceptance rate last year of 52% and think that. This year the acceptance rate dropped to 39% and it will probably be less next year. A friend of my d’s thought GT was a sure thing for him bc he has a legacy (father) and decent stats. He got deferred. He was then convinced that he would get in at regular decision but he was then wait listed. Nothing is a sure thing in this process!</p>

[OsakaDad]

<p>Like Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Virginia Tech is both a hands on and research institution. However, I believe that it is more hands on focused like my kid’s school.</p>

<p>Here it is in their own words:

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 215 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 30,000 students and manages a research portfolio of more than $450 million.

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<p>Georgia Tech on the other hand seems to identify itself as a research institution as its first priority. </p>

<p>Here it is in their own words:

The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation’s top research universities, distinguished by its commitment to improving the human condition through advanced science and technology.</p>

<p>Georgia Tech’s campus occupies 400 acres in the heart of the city of Atlanta, where more than 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive a focused, technologically based education.

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<p>Most schools will be very, very upfront on where they fall in orientation. Many schools do both and it is not entirely clear at first. However, each school will always lean one way or the other. My kid’s school Cal Poly, SLO has “Learn by Doing” as its motto and hands on learning is in the school’s DNA. However, it is also dedicated to research and often involves undergrads in that process.</p>

[OsakaDad]

<p>You may want to add Cal Poly SLO to your list. It is a beautiful location on the California coast near pristine beaches to surf and beautiful mountains to hike. The school’s motto is “Discere Faciendo” or in English, “To Learn by Doing.”</p>

<p>Here is their statement:

Cal Poly is a nationally ranked, four-year, comprehensive public university located in San Luis Obispo, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on California’s Central Coast. It is a distinctive learning community offering academically focused students a hands-on educational experience that prepares them for today’s scientific and technical world.

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<p>Some basic rankings info:

U.S. News & World Report
For the past 20 years, Cal Poly has been rated the best public-master’s university in the West by U.S. News & World Report, according to its 2013 “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook.</p>

<p>Cal Poly placed sixth in the magazine’s overall list of the West’s best universities, including both public and private institutions, that provide “a full range of undergraduate and master’s-level programs but few, if any, doctoral programs.” U.S. News ranks colleges that grant doctoral degrees, such as those in the University of California system, in a separate category.</p>

<p>Cal Poly’s College of Engineering program ranked second among public engineering programs, bested only by the U.S. Military Academy, for schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or a master’s. A number of College of Engineering degree programs ranked high in the Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs in their individual specialty categories. The university’s industrial and manufacturing, computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering programs were each ranked as the top program at a public university in their respective specialty categories. Cal Poly’s civil and environmental engineering program was ranked the second best program at a public university.

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<p>Links:
[Prospective</a> Students - Admissions - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions)
[Prospective</a> Students - Admissions - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions)</p>