engineering question

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Anyone know how the WPI engineering program, most notably the ECE, is?</p>

<p>Also wondering...what do you guys think is better?
1. Paying a lot of money, going to an elite engineering school like Cornell, being basically a "little fish in a big bowl", stress, school troubles, etc. but leaving with that elusive Ivy degree OR
2. Save some cash, go to a good engineering school (ie. a school like WPI), maybe do the honors program, leave with a good degree, maybe spend some of that saved dough on a Graduate education (which I've been told can be a lot more important than undergrad)</p>

<p>Just wondering on your opinions...</p>

2

<p>Tough question.</p>

<p>I will say this though. I agree that your graduate school education may be more important than undergrad; however, most grads students are able to obtain some fellowship that pays for their tuition entirely. At Georgia Tech for instance, every grad student in engineering receives a fellowship to cover their expenses.</p>

3

<p>This is exactly the dilemma my son and I are trying to figure out. He's a NM Semifinalist and looking at several "full ride" offers at "Tier 2" schools. However, as is well established on this board (Thanks!), the Cornells, Purdues, MIT's, etc. don't give any money at all. I'm pretty much of the opinion that we take one of the full rides, and worry about the prestige of the school in the advanced degree arena.</p>

<p>Please, if someone has a compelling argument against the easy money / mediocre school choice, present your facts!</p>

4

<p>I'd say, it depends on the career.</p>

<p>--If engineering, pay for the cornell's and mit's...pedigree will help!</p>

<p>--If medical, go for the easier school and get a higher GPA. But remember, Cornell offers a 86% med-school placement rate with a GPA above 3.4 -- but getting a 3.4 at cornell may be like getting a 3.75 at other schools, so again you're in a dilema!</p>

5

<p>Olin College of Engineering gives admitted students full tuition scholarships. The quality of their education is right up there w/ Cornell, Purdue, MIT, etc.</p>

6

<p>If money is an issue, look into top schools like Cooper Union and Olin which are tuition-free.</p>

7

<p>Does anyone have information about Olin? I'm really intrigued but I can't find a whole lot on the internet outside of their website and Wikipedia. I don't know if I'd be able to get in, but it'd definitely interesting.</p>

8

<p>same here.. i need info on olin and these schools: </p>

<p><a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/unranked/eng/eng_brief.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/unranked/eng/eng_brief.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I cant find a lot of info on them ..like how they compare with other schools.</p>

9

<p>Don't all ABET accredited engineering programs offer mostly the same body of knowledge? Yes, I know you will find more geniuses at some schools than others, but aren't the course offerings similar?</p>

10

<p>There are a couple of Olin students who post on this board, maybe they'll see this thread.</p>

<p>My daughter is a junior at Olin. I can try to answer some questions.</p>

11

<p>I made another thread in college search, cause I dind't want to completely hijack this thread.</p>

12

<p>Im also around if you have questions, and im heading over to the other thread now. (Olin Student, class of 09)</p>

13

<p>OH DAD,</p>

<pre><code>I would definately encourage your son to take the best full ride offer he can get. I'd give that advice to anyone. The engineering program at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith gives 25-30 full rides each year and we get some great students who realize that they can always go to graduate school to get the "prestigious" school. And when they do that they report back to us on how much they miss us!
</code></pre>

14

<p>OH_DAD,</p>

<p>My son is also a NMS Semifinalist and we have long been contemplating the same question about possible big scholarship vs. big name university.</p>

<p>My son is interested in mechanical or civil engineering, so his choices may not apply to your son's situation. </p>

<p>We cant afford the price of a Cornell, MIT or similar school, though we could probably scrape up enough to pay for about half. That would still leave my son with a massive amount of debt. </p>

<p>As a 51-year old parent, I have experienced economic and employment conditions where it would not be good for your economic well being to carry such a large amount of debt. We can all hope that we will not see economic disruptions like during the '70s and 1990-91, but nobody can be sure what the future holds.</p>

<p>In summary, I am advising my son to strongly consider the long term economic impact of his decision and make sure that the college he decides upon has plenty of other strong fields to choose from, in case he decides engineering isn't for him. I agree with you that it makes sense to save the bucks for the advanced degree, if possible. </p>

<p>Good luck to you and your son!</p>

15

<p>"This is exactly the dilemma my son and I are trying to figure out. He's a NM Semifinalist and looking at several "full ride" offers at "Tier 2" schools. However, as is well established on this board (Thanks!), the Cornells, Purdues, MIT's, etc. don't give any money at all. I'm pretty much of the opinion that we take one of the full rides, and worry about the prestige of the school in the advanced degree arena.</p>

<p>Please, if someone has a compelling argument against the easy money / mediocre school choice, present your facts!"</p>

<p>OH_DAD, probably depends on the kid and the major; but I'll give it my best shot.</p>

<p>In my family's case, one kid chose expensive elite LAC. For his major and goal (science and eventual PhD), there's no doubt in my mind he would not have had the opportunities he's had if he had chosen the easy/mediocre route (and that was one of his choices). His choice was exactly right for him, based on what he wanted: excellent UG teaching and mentoring, myriad research opportunities on and off campus (has two articles published in top peer-reviewed journals with a third pending), professional exposure (conference presentations), outstanding career guidance, peer group. His goal is a top grad school, and he's right on track. How do I know this? Because he attended one of those "other" colleges while he was still a HS student. No comparison.</p>

<p>OTOH, other son went the easy/mediocre route (CS major) with full ride and then some (an extra $4,000 per year) at what is probably a third-tier state school. He did an internship while an UG and even graduated a semester early. At 23, he has a job with the top defense contractor at a decent salary (mid-$70s). His employer will fully pay for his (well-respected state) grad school (MS for now and probably eventual PhD). His choice was exactly right for him, too, based on what he wanted.</p>

<p>As I say... depends on the kid and the situation.</p>

<p>Best of luck to your son whatever he decides!</p>

<p>Oh, and one other thought. There's no shame in changing course once you set sail. That's why God made transfer applications. :-)</p>

16

<p>OH_DAD, and others. </p>

<p>This is how I see it:
Education is not something you can return to a store or "ask for your money back" - it's not something you should put a price on. Though monetary issues are important, they should be second to education. The amount of knowledge you obtain in college has no price. </p>

<p>For engineering, the meer fact that I'm surrounded by bright engineers (I'm at a top-teir engineering school) gives me motivation to study hard and learn more. Outside of the classroom we discuss engineering-related things and so on. I do not think this happens at a state school - pretty far from it (or so I hear from my friends). I'm a freshman, but I'm already in 2 different research labs and have made a pretty good impression on some professors I'll have down the road.</p>

<p>I chose the road that will lead me to debt, but I also chose the road that will lead me to knowledge; and that, in my opinion, is the most important thing in life.</p>

17

<p>I'll add something from my personal experience. I went to an expensive private school for my undergrad, a large top-10 research school for my graduate work and I now teach at a small state school that focuses on students more than research dollars. They are all very different but yet in many ways are the same. The curriculum is about the same. The students are pretty similiar too. And all three can give the same degree. But the sticker price was a lot different. In the end I don't think the expensive school was worth the added price. But don't tell that to my mom!</p>

18

<p>To me the people at every school are different. You will be challenged by a different group of people at every school. You also get different levels of challenge. I know if i had picked Colorado School Of Mines over Olin or MIT I would have lost out on a level of Challenge. Even If I had gone to UT Austin. Yes, they are all hard, but some are harder than others. Some prepare you better for grad school. Some also have more of a place were you will be a name and not a number (ie Olin which is why Im here). You have to find a blance of enviroment, challenge, price, and any other factors you want in there. Then you will find the place. Dont go somewhere will you will be miserable for the next 4 years. The more you hate the place, the less likely you are to do well in my veiw.</p>

19

<p>
[quote]
In the end I don't think the expensive school was worth the added price.

[/quote]

I have heard this sentiment from other adult friends and family members who attended expensive, elite engineering schools. Of course, they can say this with the hindsight of maturity and career experience. OTOH, I don't know anybody in engineering who regrets taking the big scholarship for undergraduate studies. I think the longer you are in the real world, the less critical the elite undergrad experience seems.</p>

20

<p>I would point out that the more expensive and prestigious the school, the greater the guarantee that you will actually graduate. Maybe you won't graduate with top grades, but you will at least graduate. Now of course this doesn't hold for all cases (notably for any school whose name ends in the words "Institute of Technology"), but the general trend is clear. </p>

<p>The truth is, a lot of cheaper schools, especially the public schools, don't really care very much about whether their students graduate or not. Their attitude seems to be that if you do well, great. If you don't, oh well, that's your problem. And the absolute worst thing you can do is choose the cheaper school, only to flunk out.</p>

<p>Lest you think this is a hypothetical situation, let me tell you about a guy I know. He chose Berkeley on a free ride via a Chancellor Scholarship over some very nice cushy private schools. He then promptly proceeded to flunk out of Berkeley. Both he and I strongly suspect that if he had gone to one of those private schools, especially at Stanford, he probably would have graduated. He wouldn't have graduated with top grades, and he would have graduated with substantial debt, but hey, at least he would have graduated. That's a LOT better than his current situation. He can't go back to Berkeley because he was academically expelled. No other reputable school wants him either because he was tossed out of his previous school.</p>