<p>Now she got 6 schools accepted and is kind of decided where to go. I just want to see what other people think before I pay for the deposit on one. Here are the admitted schools with out of pocket cost per year (including loan) after scholarships/grant. We did not pick any full ride schools for NMF and I think we may afford (with some stretch) up to $25k per year (including loans).</p>
<p>Northwestern University, McCormick (~$23k according to NPC and after NMS).
Purdue University, Engineering ($23k or less)
UIUC, ChemE ($48k, can omit this)
University of Michigan, CoE ($19k, $9k if commute)
University of Minnesota, College of Sci & Eng ($15k or less after NMS)
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Engineering pre-admit (up to $41k, no scholarship info yet, may omit this as well)</p>
<p>Bare in mind that although Chemical Engineer is my D's intended major, but who knows if she will switch to another engineering field later.</p>
<p>What do you think about these schools with primary interest in Chemical Engineering and their associated costs?</p>
<p>No offense, but if your daughter knows where she wants to go, why would you care would anyone on here thinks? All things being equal let her go to where SHE thinks she has the best chance to be happy and succeed. Good luck.</p>
<p>Chemical engineer parent here. I don’t know these programs specifically, so can’t offer any recommendations. However, one trend I have noticed is that many schools have evolved the traditional chemical engineering program to include other, and in my opinion much more interesting, areas of study. </p>
<p>The traditional curriculum focused on petrochemical industry process design, process control, unit operations, reaction kinetics, reactor design, etc. Today, many schools have expanded to include an emphasis on biotech (many programs have been renamed “chemical and biomolecular engineering”) as well as micro and nanoscale processes. I haven’t done a comprehensive look, but from what I have seen not all programs have broadened their scope in this fashion. It’s worth digging into the course offerings, concentrations available, and research interests of the faculty to make sure they fit your D’s interests.</p>
<p>Son graduated last May with a degree in mech e. He does say now after the process he would probably (if he were to do it again) major in chem e. But as the above poster stated with a focus on nanoscience, or biomolecular engineering. Other son (he has a biochem, micro and genetics degrees) says the same thing regarding the mech e vs. chem e. Same son has a buddy with a degree in chem e who works for a mining corp. and travels the world. LOVES his job.</p>
<p>Which one does your daughter favor? I also agree with the above poster leaning towards michigan, great school at a FANTASTIC price esp. if something goes south financially and she needs to commute or just wants to commute. $9K or LESS if she commutes for a world-class education! Same son with the STEM degree also has an econ degree from a far away school and he said after the 4 years away commuting wasn’t as BAD as he imagined… So much so when he had to chose his med school, he had a few to pick from he turned DOWN the ivies for the local med school and for b-school. Something to be said for having a strong support system when grinding through tough academics. And not necessarily true for everyone but for someone who had the chance to experience both.</p>
<p>She has great choices and will probably be happy wherever she ends up at. If it were my kid, my top 2 choices would be Michigan and Northwestern. Michigan because it’s close and a great deal and because you know it’s a great school and great reputation. I am not ver familiar with Northwestern but S had a good friend who went there (incidentally is at Michigan for grad school). I suspect it would have a different feel. Lots of kids from all over at Michigan but more so at Northwestern. Smaller, campus more compact. </p>
<p>Both schools will have great opportunities for research and internship and jobs. Don’t see much of a difference. The difference will be if she wants to experience a different place, UM is close and she will have more kids from her HS there. My only problem with UM is that campus is spread over AA and I’m not really fond of the engineering campus. That’s just me though. </p>
<p>I personally am not fond of Purdue. One of my problems is that although you are admitted to the college of engineering you have to take your freshman classes and then apply to your speciality. Based on your GPA it will determine what department you can apply to and be accepted to. I think chem eng has one of the higher GPA requirements. I know she is a great student and this is probably not going to be a problem. But I wouldn’t want to chance it and it can cause undue stress. Purdue loves this and I thought that it felt like a survivor of the fittest and not very welcoming. </p>
<p>Another thought for me is the location. West Lafayette is not easy to get to and is one of the worlds more boring drive. It’s really nice to be able to get home easily. She is going to have a tough schedule and it would be nice to be able to get home easily. AA is easy and also not that hard to get home from NW. Now that there is the megabus, it’s easy and inexpensive. </p>
<p>But hey, this is a good problem to have and there are no wrong choices. </p>
<p>Editing to say that S is a mat sci grad. I agree that there are many facets in chem eng and that if they are anything like mat sci depts (and I know they are) it does help to know where your interests lie. </p>
<p>Another thing to think about is the advising and the ability to graduate in 4 years. I can pretty much guarantee that the majority of kids at Northwestern will graduate in 4 years. One of the things we found out was at the price of these schools they are motivated to get you out in 4 years. D went to a highly regarded private school (meche) and she and all but one of her friends graduated in 4 years. I have not heard that this is true at UMich. I have heard from numerous sources that it it hard to graduate in 4 years. I have heard that it can be problematic to get the classes you need and that advising can be hit or miss. We found at smaller schools that you got the classes you needed and that you didn’t even need to worry about being shut out as they will make sure there is room for you. When we toured Ohio State for instance we were told that it was impossible for Chem Engs to graduate in 4 years and that they will have to spend at least one summer at school. Chem eng is one of the hardest majors to get though in 4 years, it does make sense to see how easily that it accomplished. </p>
<p>I would go with Michigan, or Northwestern (if she loves it.) These are good options to have; congrats to her. Let us know which one she has decided on. </p>
<p>Thank you all for the valuable input. I guess I need to look deeper into each program before making final decision. We will visit UMich again this Saturday for a ChemE session.</p>
<p>My son absolutely wanted to be a chemical engineer and applied to colleges on that basis, but since high school kids have so little understanding of engineering, his school had an intro to engineering course for all engine majors which reviewed different types of engineering…and he was a computer engineering major by second semester. So she might want to go with a school that she would like even if not doing chemical E.</p>
<p>I think Purdue and Michigan have the greatest variety of well-respected engineering types in case she decides Chem E is not for her(what’s the statistic? 50% change majors?) I remember the Purdue Engineering presentation where they talked about the class Muffy333 alluded to where you spent the entire year just going through each type of engineer, what they do, what it involves, etc. That would be helpful in high school!</p>
<p>Chem E is the best at U. Wisconsin and U. of Minnesota (both top 3 I think); however, other engineering fields are ok (top 20) but not as good. Wisconsin is also good at chemistry (top 10). U. of Michigan is slightly lower at chem E (top 10), but is stronger in other engineering fields, particularly EE (top 5). UIUC is sort of like U. of Michigan; very strong across the board in engineering. However, U. of Michigan has a better college experience imo and more cache’ in terms of prestige overall. One thing about Minnesota; it is COLD. I think it’s the coldest place in the country. </p>
<p>Purdue is a solid engineering school, but I have heard that it is kind of impersonal and has a reputation for being somewhat of a flunk-out school. I don’t know about its specific ranking in chemical engineering. I think your other options are better. </p>
<p>NU has a respectable engineering department (top 15-20 generally.) It has smaller engineering departments than a state school. But it may be geared toward a higher-level student and it has cache’ in terms of the school itself. It’s a bit like taking engineering at Princeton. Northwestern has maybe the best department in the country in material science and engineering, a field many in chem E end up gravitating toward. Some subfields in nanotechnology (a subset of mat. science) were actually pioneered there in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, so you can’t do better in that field.</p>
<p>What does your daughter feel about commuting to keep down the cost of Michigan? What would it cost if she chose to live on campus, so that you are comparing apples to apples? And what do you feel about her living at home/living on campus?</p>
<p>The reason I ask this is that a good friend of mine in Cincinnati had her daughter stay home and attend University of Cincinnati. It did not work well. The parents treated her like she was still in high school–did not want her staying on campus late into the evenings to go out with friends, go to club meetings or other activities, or even participate in study groups or on group projects–many of which get together late in the evening because that is when everyone is free at the same time. They wanted her home for dinner every night with the family at 6:30, so no late in the day or evening labs or classes. If she came home “late” too often, they took her car–and her parent would drive her to and from campus–she was grounded like she was 15 again.</p>
<p>In some families, college commuting works fine. In some families, there is not a choice. In other families, it can be a problem, especially if families don’t recognize the difference between the high school and college experience (and I am not referring to parties, but to scheduling, etc.).</p>
<p>I think that it would also build up resentment: if she could have gone to Northwestern or another school and lived on campus, she may really resent choosing Michigan if that means she doesn’t get the college experience. </p>
<p>Generally, I would suggest either Northwestern or Michigan. Both have outstanding overall reputations and great school spirit. </p>
<p>@boysx3
The cost with boarding and commute at UMich are listed on OP as $19k and $9k per year. She actually wants to apply to an residential program and therefore live on campus. I do think living in dorm is an essential part of college education, however, we do have the option for commuting. She is leaning towards UMich right now as we are more familiar with it, but we really want to hear more about the other engineering schools too.
Thanks again.</p>
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