Decision Time: MechE

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I've been admitted to the following colleges (the estimated prices per year after merit-aid are listed beside):</p>

<p>Rensselear Polytechnic Institute: $42,000
University of Rochester: $40,000
Case Western Reserve University: $30,000
Rochester Institute of Technology: $20,000
University of Buffalo: $10,000</p>

<p>I know a lot of people say that the 'fit' is what matters the most in choosing a school. I've visited all, except Case Western (going next week), and I can see myself attending all of these schools. I get a long well with just about every group of kids at my school and am not worried about there being too many 'geeks' or w/e, though I would like a reasonably active social scene. </p>

<p>As for academics, it seems RPI and CWR are the leaders in engineering among these schools, though UB puts up a solid prospect for engineering too. I've heard great things about UofR and RIT from people where I live, and I'm sure they'd be fine schools to attend as well. My dad sort of warned me away from RIT due to their heavy emphasis on co-ops rather than undergraduate research. I'm hoping to attend grad school, though I can't say for sure until I get through undergrad. Would this affect my decision in any way? It seems silly to drop 40k a year for undergrad if I'm going further, but I may be wrong. </p>

<p>I'm really just looking for any sort of input to help me think about this before I send in my final decision. All are within reasonable driving distance, though RPI is somewhat tedious for a day trip. Anything else I should be considering?</p>

2

<p>The first thing I would consider is debt threshold. Graduating from college with as little debt as possible is one of the most significant factors that might affect your future earning potential. Finding a balance between a solid education and a manageable budget will be critical.</p>

<p>The next thing I would consider is whether I’m more interested in a practical career or a research career. If I’m more interested in working for XYZ Industries developing new products for mass production and/or existing products, then I’d concentrate on getting as much co-op experience as I can; on the other hand, if I’m more thrilled with the thought of working in cutting edge research then undergrad research experience will be more beneficial to me.</p>

<p>Finally, attending or not attending graduate school depends heavily on whether or not I am tired of academia/tertiary education at the end of my undergrad studies. If I end up going to grad school, then I’d try to save $ on my undergrad in order to go to an expensive, top graduate school.</p>

<p>Note: institutions such as RPI, MIT, Caltech, etc. are recognized more for their graduate schools than their undergraduate schools.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the feedback, Enginox. At this point in my life at least, I’m definately more thrilled with the thought of working in cutting edge research.</p>