My son applied to the engineering school (wants to major in aerospace) and will likely be admitted to the Honors College(he’s interviewing for the Presidential Scholarship). I read that one has to maintain a 3.5 GPA in order to remain in the Honors College. My question is, how hard is it to maintain a 3.5GPA (not sure how they’re calculating/what letter grade that is equivalent to) in the UB engineering school, and specifically in mechanical/aerospace if anyone knows, while also taking the honors classes. Thanks!
Well, not going to that school, but I am trying to figure that out myself for AeroE + Honors. I have to keep a 3.5 GPA to keep my main scholarship (a full-ride once I make NMF), so I don’t want to overload myself too much. Please post if you find out how to do that. Thanks, and best of luck to your son!
Grading is pretty straight forward. A, A-, B+, B, etc. translates to 4.0, 3.67, 3.33, 3.0, etc. Some courses scale grades, others don’t. How hard it is to maintain an average, of course, depends entirely upon the individual.
My son is a sophomore EE major who puts his grades first, and his average is at or just above his high school average. In high school he went the AP route, and that has helped him get off to a good start, but he feels it’s mostly about work ethic. He has friends in various engineering departments who possess varying degrees of work ethic (some better than his, some worse), and that is often reflected in their grades.
As in most engineering programs, particularly at large universities, classes the first year or two are often big with recitation classes on the side. This suits some learning styles, but not others. Later years tend to have much smaller classes. Generally speaking, engineers need to be self directed at times and team players at others, so I think it’s reasonable to say that this actually good preparation.
Regarding Honors College while doing engineering, I really think it’s all about the individual as well. My take is that if you were to take full advantage of any college experience, you would mix in some combination of interesting classes outside your major, research, travel, volunteer, etc, which is pretty much what honors is. To me, Honors College simply advises/guides/pokes/prods the student down this path, which she/he may or may not have done or her/his own.
If your son is planning/expecting such a college experience, then doing honors (which has some nice perks, as well) while doing engineering makes a lot of sense. If he’s interviewing for the Presidential Scholarship, he obviously has very good grades and test scores. Assuming those are the result of a work ethic that he plans to carry forward, he should be in good shape.
Thank you JustListening very much for your thoughtful and detailed response. If your son at Buffalo? If so, how does he like it? Is he in the Honors College?
Yes, he is at UB, and is in the Honors College. He likes both very much, and is sure he is at “the right place”.
UB is big, and has plenty to offer. Engineering is very good, in both breadth (11 majors) and depth (well rated departments). (I’m not familiar with many specifics on the aerospace department.) It’s a research university, and receives substantial research funding. As you look at engineering curriculums across schools, you’ll see that they are quite similar, as there is not much wiggle room in what has to be taught. His professors have been very good, his classmates are smart, and the UB facilities and resources are excellent.
There’s plenty to do on campus. He’s in a couple of “fun” clubs, and is active in a couple of engineering activities. He’s been to a bunch of concerts and shows on campus (typically free, or at least cheap), and likes the basketball and football games. He’s getting to know Buffalo. North Campus (which houses engineering) is in Amherst with plenty of malls, etc, around, and he has been into Buffalo numerous times, and to Toronto. He’s fine with the weather. He’s used to winter, and finds it’s wind more than cold or snow that’s an issue. He’s planning on a semester abroad next year, and may get involved in research next semester.
Honors College has meant an extra layer of advising (he has an honors advisor and an engineering advisor), first crack at registering for classes, and generally feeling like a part of a community within a community. First semester, the students are involved in a Buffalo community volunteer effort (there are several to choose from), that really gets them out into the UB and Buffalo communities.
As at any big school, it’s easy enough to get lost in the shuffle, and it’s really up to the student to seek things out. As I mentioned in the previous post, Honors can provide a path for those that want to get involved. You do have to maintain the GPA, but otherwise I think it’s more about broadening your experience.
Thanks again for more great info JustListening, really appreciate it! If my son attends UB, I’m wondering if’s better to live in the honors community housing or the engineering community housing (I believe there is such a thing ) in terms of having others around who are taking the same classes to study with. Do you and/or your son have an opinion on UB engineering vs Binghamton, or vs any other schools he was considering? Also, we are from NYC, wonder if there are many city residents? My son is an avid snowboarder so he is happy with cold and snow. Great that your son can do a semester abroad while doing an engineering curriculum, how is he working that? Thanks again and sorry for so many questions!
You’re welcome.
Freshman honors are co-located within Governors (where there are also non-honors students). I believe Governors is the oldest housing on campus, so it’s not luxury accommodations, though I’m of the opinion that a dorm is a dorm. Engineering community housing is in Prescott. Governors is close to the “academic spine” as it is called, so it’s a short walk to class on a cold morning, though it’s pretty isolated from the other housing. Prescott is a larger, less isolated community, though farther from classes. He was in Governors last year with honors, and is in regular housing in Prescott this year. Frankly, either is just fine.
While in honors housing, he was on a floor that was all engineering and sciences majors. The way the buildings are designed, though, you’re never going to be far from people both in and out of your major. First year, all engineering (and most science) majors are likely to be taking the same courses, so study partners are going to be close by. Although it’s hard to generalize, the honors housing is more likely to be studious, and I think he’s glad he went in that direction for freshman year.
There are lots of threads on CC regarding UB vs. Bing for engineering. I do not wish to raise a ruckus, or wish to offend anyone in their choices or beliefs (people get pretty defensive about this stuff), but I can tell you what our experience has been and our analysis of the decision. He applied to UB and Bing, as well as others. Ultimately, it came down to those two. Bing has a more pleasant campus (in my opinion), and the admissions stats (SAT, etc.) of Bing overall are clearly higher, and overall Bing has a higher ranking. Bing has fewer engineering majors (4 or 5 believe) than UB (11). The engineering rankings, though, aren’t close - UB is much higher (while understanding that the rankings game is often a silly one).
Bing has a significantly higher NYC population (close to 70%, I believe), vs. around 30% for UB. 30% is still a lot, but I would say Buffalo and UB have much more of a midwestern feel to it than an east coast feel. Buffalo has suffered like much of the rust belt in the last 50 years, but in the last few years has had significant investment made into it, primarily through state investment (huge in investment in UB medical facilities, and a huge solar manufacturing facility). UB is a key player in most areas of the revitalization. Bing also is a key player in revitalizing the southern tier, but there’s just so little there. They lost out on the casino lottery, and fracking was shot down. Buffalo has problems, but there’s a lot there to build on, and it’s clearly reviving. There’s just nothing in Binghamton.
While visiting on accepted students day (a Saturday), he was unable to visit the engineering building at Bing (locked up - very strange). He met with an engineering dean at Bing (he was leaving the school at the end of the semester). After listening to my son’s questions, he recommended UB. We took a day to visit UB, wandered the halls of the engineering buildings on our own, and were stopped several times to see if we had questions or wanted to see anything. We did the engineering open house, which was terrific.
Bing (like Geneseo) has a reputation in our area (upstate) as the “it” SUNY school, with good reason: it’s overall admissions stats and rankings are the best in the system. It is clearly a target school for the NYC area. For a number areas of study, it’s the best in SUNY. I think UB plays a somewhat different role in its community. It’s an engine of change in Western NY, and if you are there on a given day during the semester, I would say it has more of community/public university feel to it than an ivory tower feel. I sense UB’s overall lower stats are a result of the inclusive role it plays in the community (the student population there is, purely anecdotally, the most diverse I’ve seen of the several dozen schools we’ve visited in the last several years with our kids). But its engineering rankings are clearly better.
I’m entirely certain you will get a good engineering education at Bing, and I’m not in any way bashing it. But my son found UB to be a better choice for engineering. My younger son (also engineering) has applied this year to eight schools, including UB, but not Bing.
And regarding the study abroad question…
Engineering is very open to the idea of study abroad. Study abroad can be challenging for engineering because so much of the curriculum is prescribed. However, UB has defined a number of programs with curricula that fit in with the UB progression. Depending on your major, your personal progression and the study abroad you choose, you should be able to go without skipping a beat, though it requires planning ahead with your advisors.
I can’t thank you enough JustListening for your very candid and detailed response. What you’ve written pretty much confirms what I’ve gathered, but good to hear it from someone with first-hand experience. Our daughter graduated from Binghamton last spring (English major) and it was a great school for her, but our son has very different interests. He was admitted to Bing also and I would love for him to go there, but realize that as far as engineering goes Buffalo is the stronger choice. Since neither myself or my husband are “science” people, Im just trying to do what we can to help him make the right choice. We’re really looking forward to visiting UB and hearing about the honors college. Thanks again!! And good luck to your sons!
Hi Daisy,
Thought I’d join the discussion.
Son is a recent UB engineering grad!
UB has an amazing engineering program as well as all health sciences. Engineering is ranked with SB with Binghamton trailing. Binghamton’s engineering program is much newer and that may be why. While son was accepted to many schools (all he applied to actually) both public IS and OOS as well as privates, he was very impressed with the labs he saw on engineering student acceptance day (in spring). His choice where to attend (any school he wanted, no loans.) Son felt it was a great school/program and a wise economic choice.
The dept has a job fair for both internships and post grad employment on campus each fall. Son got both summer internships through that. He had 3 job offers before winter break Senior year.
He was able to do research, paid and unpaid on campus. Joined the engineering clubs.
Honors program- son was offered honors program but as all schools that offered this to him, he had no interest. Honestly, with the double engineering major I don’t think he needed it and we didn’t care one way or the other if he accepted it. (Other son was Honors Program and worked for him but different school and majors for him.)
Son graduated in 4 years with dual degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering. He went in with AP credits but still had to take 4 or 5 gen eds which he took freshman year and then online over the first summer (from Farmingdale and Eric community). Following that it was all required classes. Son socialized freshman year and likely less after that as he was always busy studying ( at least when I called).
Travel to UB is easy. Direct flight on Jet Blue to JFK. Continental (Delta) for LGA. We mostly use Southwest out of Islip (Long Island). Plenbty of NY and LI kids at UB…
Son had no problem maintaining high GPA and keeping scholarship. He did however work very hard and kept up with all work. Quite a few of the kids that started the program with him did poorly but seemed to be partiers.
Feel free to ask any questions you have. We felt the engineering program at UB was great and prepared him for his career.
Forgot to mention:
Son never had a problem getting into a class he needed.
Freshman year the kids were broken into sections so you were with the same 12-13 kids so you got to know thjem and form study groups or at least have contact with them.
Son is now in first year at a top Masters Mechanical Engineering program, distance learning, while working full time. He was accepted at all 3 highly ranked grad programs he applied to.
Thank you so much Crazed and Just Listening! All great info. My son really wants aerospace so schools like Purdue, U of MD and Georgia Tech are high on his list (he’s accepted at Purdue but hasn’t heard back from the others yet); so far he’s also in at Northeastern which is interesting because of the co-op program. However, can’t beat Suny tuition, esp with possible merit aid. Obviously Buffalo doesn’t rank with those schools and one can debate the importance of rankings anyway, but I have seen one ranking of aerospace majors where Buffalo ranks # 20. I see Buffalo has some sort of co-op course in their catalog, but doesn’t seem to be much info on so assume it’s not very developed, do either of you have any intel on that? I.e., do many students do them, do they do them during the school term rather than summers, if the school helps with it, etc. Crazed we’re your sons internships on Long island? Wondering if downstate employers, esp ones from NYC, recruit from the career fairs (though aren’t aerospace related companies in the area I don’t believe). Also do Aerospace companies, esp big ones like Boeing, Northrup, etc recruit there? Do your sons know of any kids who were apple to do co-ops or internships at aerospace companies, or landed jobs with them after graduation? Also if you care to share would be interested in hearing what schools your sons chose Buffalo over and why.
Daisy,
I’ll have to ask my son about LI or metro NY recruiters.
First summer internship (between soph and junior years) was near UB. He was able to move into his on campus apartment early (instead of late August). They loved him and kept him on doing things for them. 2nd internship (between Jr and Sr years) was in Pennsylvania. The company called him over Thanksgiving break to set up an in person interview at their offices. They had someone else call him to set up his flights, limo, and hotel!!! They picked him up and drove him to the interview, (full day) and had then drove him to the airport. Yes, they hired him for the summer and gave him and the other summer interns a housing stipend in addition. The other interns were from schools all over. He shared an apartment with a student from Virginia Tech. They offered the interns full time jobs upon graduation that summer so he went into Sr year knowing he had a job offer. Son ended up at another company, more hands on design which he wanted. (His GF with a different engineering major, also did really well and stayed with her summer intern employer each year and accepted a great job offer from them.)
Schools son applied to included RIT, Syracuse, VT, Delaware, UB, Binghamton, I can’t remember the others. He wanted East Coast, with a campus.
I’ll ask my son about aerospace. (I know he really likes that.) He was in the AAIA club that builds an airplane and centers an international competition to fly it. He skipped the trip Jr year but went with the group to Tuscon, AZ his Senior year. You can google it. Very cool!
You also may be able to google the list of employers who were at the last fall engineering job fair.
Seems like GPA and any experience works well on career fair resume.
Scroll down for Design Build Fly.
So cool! Thank you crazed!
Daisy1409, you asked about co-ops at UB…
I would describe it as they allow or accommodate co-ops, rather than require or even encourage them. The program is there, and if you want to set one up you can. It is not institutionalized though the way it is at, for example, Northeastern, Drexel, RIT, or Stevens. Rather, UB is a research university. It all depends on what you’re looking for.
My general understanding of the distinction between co-ops and internships is that co-ops exist during the academic calendar, typically extending either before or after a semester to create an extended period (six months, usually) on the job. Usually, you don’t take any classes in that time period. Internships are usually during breaks, though may also be part time during the semester, when you take a full (or close to full) class load. In effect, you take time off from school for an extended experience in a co-op, but don’t for an internship.
Co-ops are good for experience, exposure, and job offers. But internships are as well. It just comes down to how you want to structure your college experience. By definition, co-op programs take longer than four years. Usually, if you do two co-ops while in college, you can expect it to take five years or so, though you typically only pay four years tuition (be sure to read the fine print before committing, though).
During the “great recession”, co-ops rose considerably in popularity, as they offer an extended work experience, and the “leg up” that can provide. Northeastern, for instance, has clearly ridden the co-op wave up the rankings ladder in the last ten years. As students/families have looked for a hedge on the education investment dollar, Northeastern became more attractive, and their admissions numbers have reflected that.
Before signing on to a co-op oriented program, or even using it as a criteria for selecting a school, I would carefully consider whether it’s what you’re really looking for. It’s a good way to get experience, but there are other ways to do that (internships, research, part time work), and one should be aware that a co-op schedule is different.
@Daisy1409 Did your son get the Presidential Scholarship?