Our DS has been accepted for Electrical Engineering to:
UDel (honors)
UMass Amherst
Binghamton
Drexel (honors)
University at Buffalo (honors)
Wentworth
UPitt (EAGr) Honors
RIT
WPI
RPI
Stevens
Stony Brook
We are still waiting for the decisions from Cooper Union and Lafayette.
Appreciate your advice/suggestions if you have any experience with these schools for Electrical engineering degree.Thanks.
Our daughter got her degree in engineering and computer software (EECS) from SUNY Buffalo. She hasn’t had a problem getting any job that she wants, here in California, rising through the ranks, asking and getting salaries commensurate with her experience and her tech expertise.
Fit - different type schools And only choose from what you can afford
Assuming all are ABET (that’s a must), doesn’t matter. I don’t know Wentworth so not sure about its name recognition. But if it’s ABET it’s ok.
Her comfort matters . And your ability to not impact your life financially also matters.
Note WPI has shorter terms. Umass has the highest rated food in the country. Food is rarely looked at but let me tell you - these kids get low blood sugar, don’t eat. It matters. So you will find differences beyond size and environment.
All are fine. But different.
Hope one says to her - come here !! If one does and you can afford it then it wins !!
We will be visiting Buffalo next week to get a better idea. I didn’t realize that university at Buffalo degree is recognized outside of NY state. Good to know.
Did your daughter have any coops/internships? How were the professors? Please share all good and bad info. Thanks
Does cost differ or matter?
Any particular subarea of EE of interest? EE is a broad field, so some departments may have different strengths in different subareas like integrated circuits and electronics, signal processing and communications, electric power systems, control systems and robotics, etc… Some EE departments have stronger association with computer science and engineering (they may be named ECE or EECS) and have a greater emphasis on such topics as computer architecture.
WPI is the most expensive schools out of all so it’s not longer in running. We scheduled a tour but then decided to cancel it.
He went to UMass for engineering camp last year and after visiting other schools he decided that he wants a school within walking distance to stores and restaurants. But this opinion might change before May 1st.
He is more a hardware guy. Definitely not computer engineering. He is open to other suggestions. Which EE fields is more in demand these days? He will be the first engineer in our family so we are clueless. He is good at math and physics. Passed both APs exams with 5 and got 800 SAT math on first try.
All the schools are almost in the same ballpark after merit scholarships (WPI is the most expensive so not longer in running). SUNY schools are cheaper since we are in NY.
At the time, I think there were only four female students in the program. My daughter and another female student were the only ones that made it through the program.
She’s always been a very strong math student. She was admitted to all of her UCs and many top universities but, at the time, SUNY Buffalo had an affiliation with several medical school programs in upstate New York, which is what our daughter thought she wanted to do.
She changed majors after taking a biotech course in her freshman year. She struggled, at first, but went to tutors and then eventually was asked to become a tutor in electrical engineering.
She came home, to San Diego, and did internships at local engineering firms during her summers.
Every engineering professor knew who she was. She was asked to speak at several conferences for UB engineering, while a student at UB. She has accepted resumes from UB students and submitted them to her companies, for internships, in California during the summers.
She mentioned that UB area internships tended to focus on “power” engineering. I suspect because of Niagara, and the local engineering firms. Whereas in Southern California, it’s a little bit of everything.
When she was initially hired by the company where she interned, she felt that they may have been a little apprehensive because they weren’t familiar with the UB curriculum. It changed when she implemented her own system, organizing engineering acronyms, which was something she learned from one of the courses at UB.
She’s now a high-level manager, with 10 years of experience, she’s very much in demand.
She trains JR engineers because she knows how to explain things well. I don’t think people realize how underrated SUNY Buffalo is. We had no idea!
I forgot to add that she did do a fifth year in order to complete the computer software requirements.
Also, your child is already at an advantage, given that he’s very strong in math, and likes math.
Too many students go into engineering without the inherent math skills needed for this major. Many students drop the major because they’re in it for the wrong reasons: employment and pay. They don’t really know what engineering involves. It’s a lot of math and physics problems. If your child can quickly calculate math problems, in his head, then engineering is the right major for him.
May want to ask some EE departments and college career centers about job market demand. Of course, the demand levels of each subarea can and will change over time.
What sounds interesting to him?
Everyone will give you a positive experience. Our friends daughter went to RIT. Internship and job at Tesla for EE. Loved her experience. Had had 2 Jobs since due to her moving. Never has an issue getting jobs.
Go where it’s affordable.
Which math and physics AP exams?
Note that physics C may allow for advanced placement in physics for engineering, but physics 1 or 2 (non-calculus-based) generally does not.
For any AP score for which the college allows advanced placement for, it is a good idea for the student to check knowledge based on the college’s standards by trying the college’s old final exams of the courses that will be skipped. This can allow for a better informed decision to take the advanced placement, take the advanced placement but review a few things, or not take the advanced placement. (Students with 5 scores are more likely to be ready to take advanced placement than students with lower scores.)
He’ll get a taste of the options as he advances. Interests evolve over time, so there’s no need to get too committed yet. The exception might be if something sounds very interesting, and some of the schools don’t offer it. Even then, the die isn’t cast forever. Engineers are trained to learn. My son specializes in something that he never took any coursework in. All of his other training was so aligned, that it made it approachable. Now he could teach it. I agree with many others, pay attention to budget. Congrats!
Thank you so much for this incredible feedback. Your daughter should be very proud of her achievements.
How did she handle Buffalo weather being from CA? We are from NY and everyone tells us that it’s too cold down there.
I go back to fit. Bing is going to be different than SB or RPI or Pitt than Lafayette.
Set a top budget. Then figure which fits. You’ll eliminate many.
Wants a surrounding town, etc.
If it’s ABET and I’m sure all are then it’s fine.
Yes nationally SUNY isn’t a known brand but it won’t prevent employment. I mean you can make that statement about much of your list. But the people that higher are looking for ABET moreso than a name, except in few cases.
Good luck.
As per him, these two he is interested the most.
He took several civil engineering classes in HS (Autocad, concrete certification, etc.) and wants to try a different engineering branch. He knows he does not want chemical or computer engineering.
Physics 1, Computer Science Principles and Statistics. He is taking Calculus BC and Computer Science A this year.
Southwest Airlines.
The dorms there are very warm in the winter. Their breaks were long enough such that she missed all of the snowstorms because she was in California.
They have the tunnels, under the dorms, where the buses drive through to pick up students and deliver them to the Starbucks entrances. So that was cool! We had never seen that before!
She wore sandals to class, ugh!!! She had a mini surfboard attached to one dorm room wall. Her room decor was completely SoCal-themed. Obviously, she was in a Single. She had a huge “wall sticky” that they sold in San Diego, with palm trees, tiki torches, hammocks, etc. She had local menus from SD taco shops with her highlighting of what foods she missed and would eat when she came home.
They gave unofficial tours of her room, while she was in the room, because the tour guides had heard about the nutty California kid with the cool surf themed room.
My son applied for Mech E at Cooper I can’t seem to find a date of acceptance anywhere.
Their website says 4/1 is the decision date for regular decision. Albert Nerken School of Engineering | The Cooper Union