D has been accepted into engineering . She is interested in aero/astro as of now but could change her mind later. UW is in-state for us and she got half-off at USC. That makes USC equal to GA Tech in terms of cost. So the order in terms of cost is UW, USC, GA Tech, and Rice. Rice does not have aero so she is accepted into mechanical engineering. Rice is the smallest school (7k students) while UW and USC are the largest schools (45k students). GA Tech is in the middle with 30k students. UW and GA Tech are public while USC and Rice are private.
Questions:
In terms of jobs and careers, does any of these schools tower over the others?
How easy is it to change majors within engineering at these schools? We visited USC and they made it sound very easy while we have heard it is difficult at UW.
Which school exerts more academic pressure? We have heard some negative stories about GA Tech.
Which school has more supportive faculty and more collaborative environment for learning?
She has some food allergies so which school is better at making dietary accommodations?
UW is literally 10 miles from our home. We would like her to be close to family and are wondering if any of the other colleges are worth going so far away.
Rice is the smallest school and people usually say small private schools provide more personalized attention. Is it really true? Is it worth it to go to Rice over other schools and pay almost 20k per year more?
It’s hard to answer many of these without first hand experience at all of them, which few, if any, will have.
My opinion, based on my experience as an engineer and extensive research for my D, who is now a MechE sophomore, is that GA Tech clearly stands out - it’s a top 5 school.
But the others are 20’ish, so also very good schools.
If you want her to be close to home, GT and Wash seem to be the options. It doesn’t make sense to travel far for a comparable school. You’d have to visit both, spend time talking to everyone, see how they feel, and decide whether the distance is worth the difference (if any, or if it even favors GT).
I’m not an engineer, but if Rice is going to cost $20K more and doesn’t even offer the type of engineering your child wants, I really don’t see the point of considering it above other schools that are better fits.
My DH hires engineers at his company. He is looking for ABET accreditation and relevant work or internship experience…and a desire to learn on the job.
He doesn’t care at all if the applicant went to a top 20 school…or not.
From your post, it seems like financially and logistically UW is most convenient for your family but you have better options. Rice is most suitable yet most expensive. GIT and USC are good and rather affordable. IMHO USC seems like a good solution for your situation unless she doesn’t want a huge school.
It’s a good dilemma to have as there are no bad choices here, you can’t go wrong.
My nephew attended Rice. He was from the East Coast and had barely heard of it. He did a double major in Bio and Biomedical Engineering. He email a couple of profs about research over the summer and met them during orientation week and started doing research right away. He loved the Residential Colleges there. It seemed like a very warm and nurturing place. He did very well there. Had great summer research jobs. Got his PhD from MIT recently. I can’t say anything about the other places. Congrats on so many good choices!
Washington’s well-resourced department has about 200 undergraduates and very close ties to the industry, as I’m sure you know from living in the Seattle area.
For Aerospace, Rice has historically close ties to NASA. USC is situated near many of the private sector aerospace companies both old school and new wave. But realistically, any of these schools will open whatever doors she wants to go through.
Any of those schools are good and have good reputations. My brother is an engineer, who went to UCB and UW, tells me the same. UW’s and USC’s (and I am sure the same for Rice, GT) engineering are very competitive to get into. You can’t go wrong with any of them. Maybe the deciding factor should be costs and location. Many engineers may end up working around or near where they graduated from at college. Congrats to your D.
Jobs - GT has lots of companies from all over that hire students for internships and coops.
2). Change major- after fall semester class drop date you are allowed one free change of major. After that depending on the major certain requirements must be met in order to change. IE, Mech and CS seem to be the most difficult to switch to from my knowledge as they are the most popular.
GT is very rigorous. Hard to compare.
Food allergies- I think it depends on the exact situation. I would speak with the school’s nutritionist. GT’s food is nororiously bad. MY child was excused from the meal plan due to medical issues based on an approved disabilty by the state. My child cooked in the dorm but it was frustrating as kitchens were communal and students tended to leave messes behind. However GT is in midtown with other food options. There is a publix right by tech square and a big whole foods is opening not far from campus. Living off campus really helped with the food issues. However, rents are very expensive.
personalized attention I think depends alot on the student as to whether they seek out relations with their professors. Its not a school that coddles but provides many opportunities for students who seek tutoring.
If your D ends up at your UW (I went to another UW, thank you for putting the whole name in the thread title) please have no expectations for her to come home any more than if she were thousands of miles away. I ended up 8 miles from home (thank you internet for decades later easy calculation) but was a world apart. Seattle is a great place to be. She definitely needs to visit GA Tech- Atlanta is a very different climate and culture than Seattle. Sounds like Rice is off the table because of other great choices costing far less. Large U’s are composed of many smaller units- you get to know students and faculty in your major.
@wis75 D is not interested in considering UW as it is a big university :neutral: She is inclined towards USC as she has gotten scholarship. Georgia tech seems like a very rigorous school so kind of lower now in our preference. Now also considering Johns Hopkins which we had earlier ruled out. Hence, I have posted a separate question now asking USC vs JHU. Thanks for your input.
Visit the colleges and attend their overnight accepted student programs if possible. Owl days is great at Rice, don’t know what accepted student programs the others have but staying overnight gives the best feel for the schools.
Another consideration is time zones and cities surrounding the campuses for undergrad. Three hours difference east to west coasts, although having the kid be east is better than our parents/kid difference.