Engineering Schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I know there's a million of these posts around but I have yet to see anyone say anything about some of the "other" eng schools, MIT/Stanford/Cornell/etc all seem to be thrown around a lot but hardly anyone mentions:</p>

<p>Northwestern
Columbia
Case Western Reserve
any state "IT" school (VT, IIT, etc)</p>

<p>I know NW is good, but a lot, like Columbia and CRWU, have good rankings and reputations but no one says anything about them. Am I wrong in thinking these are good schools or what?</p>

<p>I guess while I am posting I could ask for advice on where to go too...
Will probably score 2100+ on new SATS, 3.8ish unweighted GPA (+AP and honors courses), varsity lacrosse, minority, various clubs/marching band/etc...
I'd say all around I am an average above-average person...</p>

<p>I'm thinking of applying to MIT/Cornell as my reach schools and UVA/VT as safeties (since I live in VA and instate acceptance is pretty high)
Everyone says RPI is pretty easy to get into and I plan on applying there and WPI along with Columbia... Anyone have any advice on where else might be a good place to apply to? Interested in either Chem/Aero/or Materials engineering....</p>

<p>Thanks for any help</p>

2

<p>make sure all the programs you are considering are ABET acredited. If not, the degree may say "engineering" but you're not considered an engineer by industry.</p>

<p>Next, contact schools you are considering and find out about the internship and coop programs; how many students get placed thru them, who recruits on campus, etc. This tells you whether industry sees the school as a good source. Don't just let them tell you "we have" the program; everyone does, but at some the "internship program" is a binder in the career center, help yourself.</p>

<p>Finally, considering that between 1/3 and 1/2 of all students entering college as engineers switch to another major, I wouldn't recommend going to a school you wouldn't attend if you were not majoring in engineering.</p>

3

<p>If you mean a nationally or regionally rated engineering school where the highest offering is a bachelors or masters and where undergrad students are NOT taught by foreign and hard to understand TA's in extremely large (200+) classes then look at:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.sandiego.edu/usdengr/assets/docs/CBENG.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.sandiego.edu/usdengr/assets/docs/CBENG.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>(Unless of course your 18 y/o is sooo smart that they can teach him/herself and it’s really the school DECAL you're after. Hey! It’s been known to happen, especially around here).</p>

4

<p>I know you didn't mention this, but if you're thinking Aero...</p>

<p>University of Colorado at Boulder!</p>

<p>Surprisingly good at engineering behind all of the scandals and what not. :P</p>

5

<p>RPI would be a Good Fit/Safety for you. If you are seriously considering RPI, see if your High School offerers the Resselaer Medal. If not see if they can contact RPI and set it up. Each affiliated high school chooses one Junior as the annual recipient, and if the recipient of the Medal applies and is accepted by RPI, they automatically get a $60,000 scholarship ($15K per year). This is independent of any other need or merit based aid sought. My son's High School offers the Medal and he has requested to be considered for it. We will find out by the end of April if he gets it. We are also looking at CWRU and understand that they also give a lot of merit aid. The other schools my son (1380 old SAT, 3.8GPA) is considering are:
REACHES: Cornell, CMU, JHU, Cooper Union, Northwestern
FIT/SAFETY: Rose-Hulman, Penn St, U Md, Purdue, UIUC, Michigan, Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, Va T, and U FL.</p>

6

<p>try MIT, and Georgia tech. but i think RPI isn't that easy to get into..</p>

7

<p>MIT is the best. Take a look at Michigan, UT-Austin, UIUC and Purdue ... all have excellent programs in Aero/Chem/Mat.</p>

<p>I was gonna suggest CMU, but do they even have a program in Aero?</p>

<p>I wouldn't recommend JHU or Cooper Union over the above if you are quite sure about Aero/Chem or Mat.</p>

8

<p>I'd recommend taking a good look at Purdue. It would be a good safety for you and, if your SATs are up there, you'd automatically qualify for some merit aid. Their aero and mat/sci programs are highly regarded and as for their marching band, well... it's the Big 10!</p>

9

<p>Skraylor,</p>

<p>Just in case you are not aware, not many schools have aero. Northwestern is one of those that DOESN'T have it. Northwestern does have top-3 program in mat sci (in fact it pioneered the field) and it's undergrad chemE is pretty good (top 15) also.</p>

10

<p>Skraylor, Columbia is a great university, but it is only good in Engineering. Most people in this forum are more likely to recommend top 10 or top 20 programs. Columbvia is not considered a top 20 Engineering program...neither is Case. </p>

<p>Here's a look at the top programs in the fields you are considering:</p>

<p>Aerospace:</p>

<h1>1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>2 Georgia Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>3 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>

<h1>4 Purdue University-West Lafayette</h1>

<h1>5 California Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>6 Stanford University</h1>

<h1>7 University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign</h1>

<h1>8 Princeton University</h1>

<h1>9 University of Texas-Austin</h1>

<h1>10 University of Maryland-College Park</h1>

<h1>11 University of Washington</h1>

<h1>12 Cornell University</h1>

<p>Chemical:</p>

<h1>1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>2 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities</h1>

<h1>3 University of California-Berkeley</h1>

<h1>4 University of Wisconsin-Madison</h1>

<h1>5 University of Texas-Austin</h1>

<h1>6 Stanford University</h1>

<h1>7 University of Delaware</h1>

<h1>7 University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign</h1>

<h1>9 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>

<h1>10 California Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>11 Princeton University</h1>

<h1>12 Georgia Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>13 Purdue University-West Lafayette</h1>

<h1>14 Carnegie Mellon University</h1>

<h1>15 Cornell University</h1>

<h1>16 Northwestern University</h1>

<p>Materials:</p>

<h1>1 University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign</h1>

<h1>2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>3 Northwestern University</h1>

<h1>4 University of California-Berkeley</h1>

<h1>4 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>

<h1>6 Cornell University</h1>

<h1>7 Pennsylvania State University</h1>

<h1>8 Georgia Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>9 Carnegie Mellon University</h1>

<h1>9 Stanford University</h1>

<h1>11 University of Florida</h1>

<h1>12 Purdue University-West Lafayette</h1>

<h1>13 Ohio State University-Columbus</h1>

<h1>14 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute</h1>

<h1>14 University of Pennsylvania</h1>

<h1>14 University of Texas-Austin</h1>

<h1>14 University of Wisconsin-Madison</h1>

<h1>18 Johns Hopkins University</h1>

<p>Case and Columbia are not ranked among the top 25 in any of those 3 fields.</p>

<p>Schools that are strong in all three include:</p>

<p>Cornell University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Purdue University-West Lafayette
Stanford University
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Texas-Austin</p>

11

<p>With due respect to Alexandre, I would not get too hung up in this ratings thing. IMO, it is way over-blown in these forums.... I say this with 20+ years of experience in engineering and as a hiring manager for the world's leading aerospace company. There are <em>many</em> excellent engineering programs out there. My advice is to attend a school at which you will be happy and can excel. The undergraduate years are times to explore and figure out what you are really interested in....you can focus in graduate school if and when the time comes. You <em>absolutely</em> should not get a mind-set that if you don't get into a top 10 ...or top 20....or top 50 undergraduate program...that you are a failure. That's complete nonsense. The vast majority of successful engineers didn't attend such schools. As an example....we have two interns working for us this year.....both did well at UCF (a so-called 3rd or 4th tier school), and both were excepted into graduate school at MIT with full rides. Again, you need to find a school that you can afford (obviously), will enjoy, will be motivated by, and ultimately will make you excel. This is really about you and not the school.</p>

12

<p>UIUC and UW-Madison have fantastic engineering programs. They are also strong in liberal arts so you wouldn't be getting a one-dimensional education.</p>

13

<p>I recommend checking out Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering near Boston. It's only 3 years old, very selective, rigorous, hands-on engineering program with an emphasis in also studying entrepreneurship (students can also take classes at Babson Business School, Brandeis and Wellesley). It's extremely small but the result is a very close-knit, supportive community of like-minds. It also pays full merit scholarships worth around $30,000+ per year to each student.</p>

14

<p>do you work for olin? onlyamom?</p>

15

<p>Olin looks to be a great school, but they are looking for individuals with close to 2400 SAT's and 4.0 GPA. They are trying to steal students from MIT. Hundreds if not a few thousand aps for 125 acceptances and 75 admittance.</p>

16

<p>No, Jeffl, I don't work for Olin. My son was accepted there, MIT and Caltech. We didn't take Olin seriously when we first heard about it - not until we really looked into it and visited - so I just think people considering engineering should know about it.</p>