Does anyone have any feedback on SCU’s ECE program? Our son is strongly considering attending because of the small class sizes, accessibility to professors/research/internship opportunities, Silicon Valley location and staying close to home (we live in California). He was also awarded a decent merit scholarship.
He’s also considering Purdue FYE and UIUC for EE. We are aware that these are prestigious top 10 Eng schools but concerned about class size, not being able to get the classes he wants, and lower 4-year graduation rates. Would he be crazy to give one of these up in order to attend SCU? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
What are his career goals? (He may not know yet, and that is ok.) I think it is totally reasonable to prioritize fit (e.g. location closer to home and smaller classes) over ranking.
It’s great to hear from someone whose kid attended the school. Can you tell me a little more about their experience at SCU?
Were they able to find internship opportunities? Was the school intellectually challenging? Did they find professors to be easily accessible? Any idea how Silicon Valley tech firms regard SCU graduates?
Santa Clara has a very strong reputation all over the Bay Area. SCU students are definitely challenged in the classroom and are prepared for the workforce. Unlike some larger universities with larger graduate programs, SCU Professors are dedicated to undergraduate education.
As someone who graduated from one of these large research universities, I really appreciate your comment about professors being dedicated to undergraduate education. Thank you for your valuable feedback!
I can’t speak to SCU, but S2 recently chose to go to a lesser(but still respectable) ECE program over one of the schools you listed, and for some of the same reasons. Purdue and UIUC don’t need me to sing their praises…they are top schools in ECE…but S2 really dug deep, and after getting over the excitement of going to such a highly ranked school, felt that the teaching and support, especially in the first few semesters, was better at the school he chose.
I wouldn’t worry about low 4 year grad rates. Purdue, especially, has a very strong Co-op program, which usually defers graduating till the 5th year.
As I told him, it is nice to have to have some great choices.
Last week we visited the UIUC and Purdue campuses in an effort to help him reach an informed decision (he’d already toured SCU). Ultimately, it really came down to fit/atmosphere and where he felt most comfortable.
He committed to SCU yesterday and is incredibly excited to start this next chapter. Thank you all so much for your feedback.
