<p>Accepted into the honors programs at Maryland, Pitt, and into the IDEAS program at Lehigh, but am intrigued by the engineering school at Michigan since it has the pedigree that might translate into better opportunities down the road. Maryland is in-state for me, so there are obvious financial advantages there. Pitt had a great feel to the campus and the Swanson engineering school is getting a new building. Lehigh has the engineering pedigree and I can pursue my bassoon studies there as well. Any advice between these schools would be welcomed.</p>
<p>What kind of engineering?</p>
<p>Right now, Aerospace, but am vacillating between that and Environmental.</p>
<p>If money is a factor, Maryland would be your best option. If money is not a problem, I would go for Michigan, but Maryland is also excellent either way (particularly in Aerospace Engineering). That’s a tough call.</p>
<p>Thanks for your perspective. Am one of three kids and we will all be in college at the same time at some point, so money does enter into the equation.</p>
<p>Interesting Program you got into at Lehigh:</p>
<p>[Lehigh</a> University - Academics: IDEAS Program - Home](<a href=“http://www.lehigh.edu/~inideas/index.html]Lehigh”>Integrated Engineering, Arts, Sciences Program at Lehigh University)</p>
<p>[Aerospace</a> / Aeronautical / Astronautical - Best Engineering Schools - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/aerospace]Aerospace”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/aerospace)</p>
<p>Best Engineering Schools Specialty Rankings: Aerospace / Aeronautical / Astronautical</p>
<p>Ranked in 2010</p>
<p>1 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 4.8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 4.8
3 Stanford University Stanford, CA 4.7
4 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 4.6
**5 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 4.5 **
6 Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN 4.3
7 Princeton University Princeton, NJ 4.0
University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL 4.0
**9 University of Maryland–College Park (Clark) College Park, MD 3.9 **
10 Texas A&M University–College Station (Look) College Station, TX 3.8
University of Texas–Austin (Cockrell) Austin, TX 3.8</p>
<p>US News and World Report Overal Rankings of Major Universities</p>
<p><a href=“undergraduate%20enrollment”>I</a>*</p>
<ol>
<li>Michigan <a href=“26,000”>I</a></li>
<li>Lehigh<a href=“4,900”>I</a></li>
<li>Maryland <a href=“26,000”>I</a></li>
<li>Pittsburgh <a href=“17,000”>I</a></li>
</ol>
<p>USNWR Undergraduate Engineering Rankings
7. Michigan
23. Maryland
40. Lehigh
51. Pittsburgh</p>
<p>Student/Teacher Ratio
Lehigh - 9:1
Michigan - 12:1
Pittsburgh - 15:1
Maryland - 18:1</p>
<p>Averaga Math SAT
Michigan - 690
Lehigh - 675
Maryland - 665
Pittsburgh - 635</p>
<p>Graduation Rates (6-year)
Michigan - 88%
Lehigh - 85%
Maryland - 82%
Pittsburgh - 76%</p>
<p>Alumni Giving Rates
Lehigh - 33%
Michigan - 17%
Pittsburgh - 15%
Maryland - 12%</p>
<p>Thanks! Appreciate having all of those criteria in one place. I am not quite sure what to make of the USNWR rankings. The student to teacher ratios are quite telling, though.</p>
<p>Any other opinions on this? Thanks!</p>
<p>Bump!! Is Michigan that much better than Lehigh or Maryland?</p>
<p>You’re going to get the same type classes everywhere often using the same textbook, so it really comes down to fit and your priorities. </p>
<p>If you’re going engineering, that probably means grad school eventually and Maryland would be the low-cost option. All fine schools though.</p>
<p>Maryland if costs matter and Michigan if they don’t.</p>
<p>I would go with Maryland. Aerospace is one of the strongest engineering programs at Maryland. With in-state tuition, I would choose Maryland over Michigan. I think only the very wealthy would pass up the savings in tuition. My cost-benefits analysis suggests Maryland.</p>