<p>I'm a rising senior considering applying to Vandy ED I to the school of engineering with an intended major of Mechanical Engineering. I visited the school in April and absolutely loved it. The only thing that has me concerned is that the ranking of the school of engineering is not as high as other schools that I am considering (Univ. of Texas, GT, UIUC, Purdue, and Rice). If anyone could give me any info about how the school is viewed by employers and the engineering world, that would be great. Thank you for your help!</p>
<p>The school of engineering is ranked like 30. It’s on the rise, faculty is improving and there is an incredible new engineering building being planned.</p>
<p>If you’re going to let the school “only” being ranked 30 deter you… well you have some pretty high standards! Keep in mind how many engineering programs there are out there…</p>
<p>Core engineering curricula just aren’t that different across schools. Most rankings you’ll see are for graduate schools, not undergrad, and undergrad rankings tend to be pretty poorly constructed (often just ‘peer review’ rankings and just tend to reflect the grad school’s ranking). For undergrad, going right into the workforce, the school’s prestige probably matters more than the undergraduate engineering rank. Getting into a more selective school means you’re the cream of the crop, and employers respect that, regardless if the specific undergrad program is ranked 5 or 40. </p>
<p>That being said, you may find it easier to find internships or get recruited into, say, petroleum from a UTexas or Rice. Some schools are just better established in certain industries.</p>
<p>Bottom line of this long post, you’re crazy if you let the “engineering ranking” deter you from Vanderbilt for undergrad. It should be one of the least important factors in your decision.</p>
<p>^^
S will be studying Engineering in the fall. He was accepted to schools higher on the list, but where you study is more than a ranking. Any school in the top 75 or so is just fine. Vanderbilt offered him the opportunity to also pursue his love of music. At some of the other “top” engineering schools that would have been a lot harder to do. So for S, Vandy was the right fit.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that it would be really cool to study engineering at one of the best schools in the nation with a rich history of research and innovation but consider that at Purdue there are more students on campus in just the school of engineering (about 10,000) than there are total undergraduates at Vanderbilt (and GT has 8,000+ while UT has 7,000+ engineers). </p>
<p>Might there not be some advantage to swimming in the smaller pool at Vanderbilt, so to speak, having smaller classes, getting more individual attention from the professors and being part of an overall incredible university like Vanderbilt that is not exclusively known as an engineering school (like GT or PU) where you can interact with fellow students from all over the nation (not just Indiana, Georgia or Texas) who are studying a wide variety of subjects?</p>
<p>I can personally tell you that a Vanderbilt Engineering degree is very impressive with employers. As Pancaked mentioned, it may be easier to get certain internships at schools known for certain disciplines. I am in the chemicals business, specifically refinery chemicals, and most people I encounter are quite impressed I went to Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>S is 2/3 of the way through his first semester at Vanderbilt studying Mechanical Engineering. The first semester course of 3 modules where students explore 3 different engineering disciplines has been excellent. It has confirmed S’s desire to study mechanical engineering. We had the opportunity to meet one of the professors during parent’s weekend. He clearly knew our son and discussed the opportunities available to him with us.</p>
<p>S has also been able to pursue his love of music. All in all, happy kid, good academics, what more could we ask?</p>
<p>As an update both my friend and I have had no issue securing internships in various engineering disciplines. A lot in oil/gas, I guess because the industry is so huge and open to interns.</p>