<p>So I've been accepted to 3 engineering schools that are all ranked basically the same (top 5-10 range), and I was wondering if I would actually get a better education at any them. For the record, 2 are large public unis, and one is a smaller private uni.</p>
<p>You’ll get an excellent education at any of them. I preferred a big university because I think there were more opportunities, but some people prefer a smaller school. Honestly, I would go to the most affordable one if it were me.</p>
<p>My biggest concerns academically are class sizes. How large were your engineering classes at UT? Are 100 level classes the only ones with >100 people?</p>
<p>You can try looking up the class sizes in the class schedules at each school. Even if sizes or enrollment are not listed, you can sometimes infer approximate sizes by noting how many lab or discussion sections are associated with each main lecture. Lab or discussion sections are usually 15 to 30 students.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Texas hides the entire class schedule behind a student login wall.</p>
<p>Once I got out of basic classes such as math and physics, the classes weren’t that large. I don’t recall feeling overwhelmed in them at all. I could always talk to the prof during his or her office hours.</p>
<p>My favorite class at UT was American History, with over 300 students! The professor was a gifted story teller, and I couldn’t wait to go to his class. He tried to convince me to switch my major from engineering to history! I politely declined. Anyway, I’m glad the size of that class didn’t scare me off, or I would have missed a good one.</p>
<p>Class sizes can vary significantly (as is evident in this thread) depending on the size of the school/program. At Embry-Riddle Prescott (~1,700 students), our largest class had 35 students, and that was a humanities class. All of the math, science, and engineering classes had 20 students or less.</p>
<p>I loved having small classes, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessary to do well. </p>
<p>I have had some teachers at my community college that were better than at a top ten private, especially in the intro math/chem/physics courses, which I will add, the private school with 5k undergrads (at the time), still had lectures with 200+ students in those classes (my econ101 had nearly 300). I usually joke that I never actually saw my physics I professor’s face because he’d just talk while writing on the board the whole lecture. That said, within the individual departments, you can get some really fantastic conveyors of knowledge (though still the occasional mego professors).</p>
<p>Honestly it’s just hit or miss no matter what you do, so in the strata of schools you’re looking at, you’re better off basing your decision on things such as technical elective offerings at the upper level, particular areas of research you could see yourself volunteering for, geographic proximity to a desirable employer or area you’d like to end up, or
whichever is the cheapest option.</p>