<p>With some of the big public schools my son is applying to for Engineering, we have been hearing about a prevalence of profs who are difficult to understand as well as many who are excellent researchers but not good teachers. Can I get any insight from those of you in Engineering or who know people in Engineering (specifically Mechanical) as to your experience? I realize there is going to be some problem along these lines at every major university but I wanted to see how prevalent it was at Vandy and whether it has been a real problem for you. Thanks.</p>
<p>My D doesn't seem to be having any issues with the Engineering profs at Vandy (rising junior). If I recall correctly she did have some challenges with her gen chem teacher (foreign, hard to understand). I don't believe it is possible to totally avoid those situations. I would much rather have a hard to understand prof than one I can understand but sucks...</p>
<p>I absolutely agree, but if you have a combination of both problems (hard to understand and sucks), it can be a real challenge.</p>
<p>Yeah. I can see that one being an issue. I'm sure someone more familiar will chime in.</p>
<p>I can't tell you about Vandy specifically, but I CAN tell you that this was a problem in engineering when I was in college 30 years ago! We had a study group that compared notes for one of our programming classes, just trying to piece together enough of the lecture to have a clue what was going on. My H has hilarious stories about his Mechanics prof. I have heard many such stories in the years since. I am not sure it can be avoided.</p>
<p>Although my son graduated from A&S, he began his academic life as an engineering major. His calculus class was taught by a new professor who was originally from an Eastern European country and who had come to Vanderbilt via somewhere in the Middle East. Her mastery of spoken English was a challenge and she obviously lacked good mentoring in terms of assistance in developing a syllabus, etc. After I returned from Freshman Family Weekend (which has now been merged with Parents' Weekend), S told me that rumors were rampant about the complaints that Dean McCarty had fielded about this class during the session he hosted for parents. The following week, two veteran instructors were assigned to take the class over from this new professor. Knowing what reasonable expectations for faculty were, as well as those standards required for accreditation, I sent an e-mail to the dean expressing concern over the situation and the possible impact on my son's grade as the instructional focus changed due to this new team teaching assignment. I was so impressed by his response. </p>
<p>In his first year as dean, Dean McCarty took time to address my concerns over how performance would be assessed in this difficult situation and to investigate my son's individual standing in the class. He asked me to identify a convenient time to discuss the situation via phone and called me on Halloween night. While I handed out candy to trick or treaters, I spoke with the Dean for approximately 20 minutes about what had gone wrong with this class. He was genuinely interested in explaining how this situation arose. Evidently obtaining university level faculty in mathematics is increasingly difficult and schools are forced to look abroad for faculty. When the language barrier for this instructor became apparent, the professor was removed from her classes and enrolled in a special program that Vanderbilt has for improving language proficiency for foreign born faculty. Dean McCarty emphasized that the university couldn't afford to dismiss otherwise qualified faculty and that they were committed to helping these teachers overcome their challenges in the communications area. This was definitely one of my most reassuring experiences during the time I have been a Vanderbilt parent; in fact, it was the only time I had any interaction with the Vanderbilt administration during the time my children have attended. I don't know of a school at any level from community colleges to top 10 universities that can guarantee stimulating lecturers with outstanding language skills, but Vanderbilt certainly seemed determined to work to improve such situations.</p>
<p>Dean McCarty has recently been promoted to the position that Chancellor Zeppos held before his promotion. I can understand why.</p>
<p>here's the deal. i went to georgia tech for a year and then transferred to vanderbilt for engineering. while i was initially doing biomed i changed to mechanical because i didn't like biology; i'm really glad i did because i really have no interest in it. the teachers are very good, and many are very willing to help you in some classes, however, in others, you have to find other methods of help. it is possible to succeed, and no one has to be a genius to do so. down south (where i live), vanderbilt's engineering department has a stellar reputation, whether it is at NASA (where i have worked, and the employers were vanderbilt grads as well), or other places.
if your son purely wants an engineering school, to be surrounded by engineers and such, choose a michigan or georgia tech. rankings mean nothing, and going to two good schools, and summer schools at UAH, a local engineering university, i can very confidently tell you that the name of your school doesn't matter in engineering. additionally (while i know that wasn't your question), succeeding at vanderbilt in the engineering department is challenging for a few reasons:
1) atmosphere is not friendly to engineers (they aren't hostile, it's just not a Tech or some place that fosters the nerdiness that is required of an engineering school). similarly, the administration wants to push their A&S department to the top because it is renowned, and they kind of forget about the engineering, while it has excellent potential.
2) the teachers are hit or miss; just like at Tech or UAH, it seems that you either have a teacher who is a researcher, or a teacher. you can't be dedicated to both (except Dr. Dongquing Li, who is a world renowned nanofluidics expert and an excellent sophomore thermo I teacher).
3) the TA's can be elusive, as well as tutors/tutoring sessions. it requires a very disciplined student to succeed, but the results are VERY rewarding--you learn everything, even if the other students cheat for their grade (it happens everywhere, but it ****es me off to no end)
4) bar none, the engineering college is the most competitive. in other schools at vandy, there isn't much to compete in; you either know the material or not. engineering, conceptually, requires the fostering of a very visual mindset; hence engineering is learned the hard way.</p>
<p>ergo, i suggest that you send your son here for a class or two to visit.</p>
<p>remember: 1) teachers at EVERY major university are hard to understand
2) the people are very, very segregated into either very preppy frat boys, or brainiacs who engineer alternative energy sources for fun. not much of an exaggeration, but i am in the middle so it is possible, but not frequently found. i'm not boasting, because it isn't really great, but it was hard for me to adapt as a transfer. so, i will suggest also that he doesn't transfer, regardless of where he goes.</p>
<p>i hope i helped</p>
<p>pmrlcomm your daughter might have had Polavarapu for gen chem?!</p>
<p>i would also like to interject that many students complain about professors because they give such low grades. i had a calc 3 professor last semester who was from israel and was perhaps the most brilliant person i have ever met. he was excellent at teaching, but his standards for his students were exceptionally higher than those of the students themselves. consequently, few students fared well in his class and gave him terrible reviews because they didn't recognize whether they learned anything or not (possibly because they didn't).
so again, it's pretty much a school that fosters a sense of required interest on behalf of the student</p>
<p>Phillips for gen chem 1 and rosenthal for gen chem 2. Maybe I'm mistaken and it was Calc?</p>
<p>Not a clue.</p>
<p>Thanks Cowboy for all the helpful advice. From our research we have heard from a number of sources that rankings don't matter for getting jobs in the world of Engineering. Particularly in my son's case, since he is applying for a Navy ROTC scholarship, he won't even be in the private scetor for at least four years, so I wouldn't think by then the school would matter much. The one thing he was concerned about is if he decides to go to grad school after his commitment to the Navy. Do rankings matter much to get into the best possible grad school?</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>no problem; i'm actually in navy rotc here at vandy as well so pm me if you have any questions regarding that. nrotc is a different world, but it is pretty cool. the good thing about vandy is that if your son wants to pursue medicine, there is a very good chance that he could do it through nrotc. also, we have had a good number of marines, pilots and some SEAL candidates (which is very rare--the SEAL part) graduate in the past few years.</p>
<p>cowboy, I am thinking about doing the marines, and possibly double majoring in engineering and HOD, I will be a freshman next year, I am really not sure about anything. As of now I am going to be an HOD major. However, I am thinking about picking up mechanical engineering, or possibly doing the PLC for the Marines, I am wondering what it would be like to be double-majored with eng. and HOD, too hard?</p>
<p>no, it wouldn't be too hard, but you can't really just "pick up" engineering; it requires a lot of dedication but if you're up to it (and if you're up to the challenge of being one of "a few good men" i imagine you will be able to), you can do it. it depends on how good you are at math/science, i think it would be a satisfying combination. PLCs are a good bunch, but NROTC offers similar options too so you may want to check that out. you can always get an NROTC scholarship up to your junior year. talk to the office:<a href="mailto:nrotc.recruiter@vanderbilt.edu">nrotc.recruiter@vanderbilt.edu</a>
we have a new marine officer instructor that i haven't met but the unit is good overall.
pm me if you have any more q's
jamie</p>
<p>oh and to Mr. Donovan, grad schools should accept you for a few reasons: 1) vanderbilt engineering is considered to be prestigious, regardless of the fact that it isn't as popular at engineering. also, being a naval officer is considered to be a great honor, and looked upon as a good thing by grad school admissions (as it should be)</p>