<p>I also think your top choices are Michigan and Northwestern.
I would try to get more detail about each of the following;
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<p>Graduation rates generally tend to track admissions selectivity – the better the student body’s entrance credentials (high school GPA, test scores, etc.), the higher the graduation rates will be. In addition, public universities are more likely to have part timers and non-traditional students who would account for delayed graduation, or poorer students who take semesters off to earn money to complete their degrees (which counts against calendar time to graduation).</p>
<p>Northwestern’s four year graduation rate is 86%, while Michigan’s is 72%.</p>
<p>Minnesota offers a four year graduation guarantee: <a href=“http://www.academic.umn.edu/fouryear/agreement.html”>http://www.academic.umn.edu/fouryear/agreement.html</a> . However, many students do not make use of it, as its actual four year graduation rate is only 55% or so.</p>
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<p>At a predominantly residential university, living in the dorm frosh year is generally beneficial in helping the student connect better with the school and other students, and make better use of student services that tend to be more accessible to frosh living in the dorm than elsewhere. Also, the cost of Michigan on-campus is still cheaper than that of Northwestern or Purdue. But the commute option can be a backstop against unanticipated adverse family financial events in future years.</p>
<p>UCB is right about 4 year graduation rates often being a reflection of the student body rather than the ease of scheduling classes. However, I have heard that Michigan does have a problem in this area. </p>
<p>Still, I don’t think this is a good reason to not go there. </p>
<p>Daughter sounds very bright. Just make sure dad is not steering daughter but advising.</p>
<p>I would of course look at the high ranking most affordable programs and then see what would make another school’s program cost effective better or not worth the extra money.</p>
<p>Perhaps daughter likes two programs equally well, or close enough?</p>
<p>Stated revisiting one school for a ChE program. Sealed the deal or causing visit/revisit to other programs?</p>
<p>What does GC think? Do you know others at those schools and more specifically in those engineering schools?</p>
<p>Is there anything outside of the things reviewed that really is a plus for daughter or a real draw back for daughter on the top choices.</p>
<p>If both daughter and parents agree, you have a winner.</p>
<p>Post where she is going and what ‘sealed the deal’ or ended up being the things that weighed out the most.</p>
<p>What mobius911 wrote is really worth repeating AND 300% correct. Things such as bioremediation and biocatalysts is growing too.
" 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."</p>
<p>CE departments not making this move will fall behind. I recall reading that a CE professional society listed biological and nanoscale applications as the major areas of growth. ChemEs at our school are required to take molecular and cell biology to prepare them for this and are encouraged to take other courses in life and materials sciences. </p>
<p>I would say University of Minnesota if she wants to move a bit further from home. Great program for a good value.<br>
I would say Northwestern if she loves the school and it can be afforded without much debt.
I would say Michigan if finances are a concern.</p>
<p>I would vote for Michigan. The reason being that engineering degrees usually take more than 4 years. Especially if they end up doing a co-op or internship for a semester or more. If she goes to Michigan she could take classes in the summer and commute from home if she wants to. </p>
<p>This is a general question and I’m not sure what the answer is, but I wonder what the correlation is between the quality of the individual department and the quality/rigor of undergraduate instruction and placement after graduation, especially when the quality of the department is different from the overall prestige of the university. For example, Arizona State is not known as a great school and generally don’t have very many undergrads who were top students in high school, but I’m pretty sure they have a top 10 chemistry department. </p>
<p>The difference between the Big 10 universities is less stark, but is there any difference at all between U. of Minnesota’s chemical engineering program, which is top 3, and U. of Michigan’s? Obviously, the professor’s research is somewhat stronger at U. of Minnesota, I just wonder how that would impact the undergrads.</p>
<p>My D is a recent McCormick Grad in ChemE. She was also admitted to Purdue, UIUC, Rose Hulman and Iowa State. She chose NU after talking to a Prof at NU that did undergrad at UIUC. He explained that at NU you get more individual attention - you can get lost at the bigger Universities - and UIUC, MI and MN all are all bigger than NU. She did do Co-Op and study abroad, and had job in her field before graduation - she now makes more than me and wife’s salaries added together. Her younger brother is now a ChemE major at NU, and turned down MN and UIUC Honors to go to NU. So, size does matter, and bring that up in conversation with D. I don’t think there is a right or wrong here - just maybe a comfort zone. Good luck with the decision and IT’S GOOD TO HAVE CHOICES! </p>
<p>S1 will graduate from UMN this May with his degree in ME. Cost was the deciding factor for us as his NMF scholarships made it possible for him to graduate debt-free (something important to us). They do offer a 4 year graduation contract and if the student does his/her part, they will be out in four years (S1 chose not to do a coop, but rather summer internships). He loved his experience at UMN but it was exactly the type of school he was looking for (large, urban, good reputation). UMN DOES have an excellent rep. for Chem. E, but be aware that most of your DD’s classes will be large, even the honors ones. S1 is taking his final ME senior project class and there are 150 in this class!</p>
<p>Your D has some wonderful choices and except for Mich. and UMN, they are all very different. Purdue is known as engineering school so if your DD decides to go another way, it may not be possible. Northwestern is not known as well for their Chem E, but she probably will get more attention and have more opportunities. The students who go to Northwestern are also alot different than those who might go to the other schools (more “ivy type” kids). If cost DOES NOT matter, let her decide where she feels most comfortable (she knows). If cost is an issue, I would definitely consider the two state schools listed.</p>
<p>Thank you all for these helpful info.
Both my D and us have been leaning towards UMich mainly because we are more familiar with the school and live in town. We actually used to live on campus for a few years when my D was much younger. My D would also have a lot of friends going to UMich as most of the local students go there.
I have found out the UMich engineering scholarship renewal requirement to be GPA 3.0. Since we are in state, the need would be fully met even if my D loss the scholarship. In addition, to declare any engineering major at UMich, it only requires GPA 2.0 (except for BME). She is also interested in the Women in Science and Engineering Residential Program (WISE RP) at UMich. So, we have finally made the decision without waiting for the financial package from Northwestern. Hopefully she may get a little bit more money from the local scholarships that she is applying to make the cost even lower.
We went to the UMich Campus Day (admitted student visit) with a specific focus on ChemE yesterday. Their ChemE program is ranked #13 in the country but the job prospect is excellent. All the other dozen of engineering programs there are ranked within top 10, so we feel more comfortable even if she finds a new interest later on.
The WISE RP is a bit competitive and the application will soon open to the upcoming students accepted the admission offer already. This is the main reason we made the decision much earlier than the May 1 deadline.
Other than the higher cost at Northwestern, my D also does not like really like the small campus there. She has already declined the offers from UIUC and Wisconsin last week for different reasons. She will decline the offers from Purdue and UMN this week. We are still curious to see the FA package from NU before we reject the offer. Anyway, their FA package should be out within the next few days.</p>
<p>I am sort of stunned by the comment that NU has a “small campus.” It takes my son 20 minutes to walk from the northern end of the campus to the southern end, and he walks very quickly. 
Then again, NU does not have 40K undergrads in residence, so perhaps the UMich campus is really large comparatively. I understand that your D has already made her decision, so best wishes to her. </p>
<p>Great choice! I am certain you are happy to have it settled. </p>
<p>@momof3sons
I guess that may be related to our first impression there. My friend’s D actually loves the NU campus by the lake shore. When we visited the NU campus last Summer, we were shocked by the size and the quality of the room we met for the information session at the admission office building. Actually the size of campus does not really matter to me as I have studied in both environment, but my D may have a different preference. Purdue is another school we visited that has a smaller campus. However, their engineering buildings are very new and takes a major part of the whole campus. Anyway, the size of campus has little to do with the quality of education but the feelings of the student.</p>
<p>Just received the FA package from NU. The NPC is very accurate. The final cost after NMS would be $22k (including loans and workstudy).</p>