From UNM/NMT to Cooper Union?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Greetings,</p>

<p>I'm currently a high school senior and I will be attending either UNM or New Mexico Tech this coming fall. I haven't really decided what I wanted to do until recently (which is robotics or something similar) and so I did not research on engineering schools. With that said, I applied to all state schools (I live in NM) and decided I can just transfer my sophomore year to Cooper Union (if I do get in, that is).</p>

<p>Though, I do have a few questions about this...</p>

<p>I have read the [in]famous Low GPA from a Top Engineering School thread. I saw a post by a CU student about his and his peers' dismal GPA (below 3.0s). If that is the case, wouldn't it be better if I stay here at NM and get a 3.5+ GPA? I also saw another post about how depressing CU was compared to Ohio State... That concerns me as well since I really would not like to be depressed during college (who does?). The main reason I also want to stay here in UNM is the study abroad program which I would like to do if I do stay here. BUT if I have to endure 3-4 years in CU to get a good job in EU afterwards, would it be worth it? Also, how much merit does CU have outside of New York and the US?</p>

<p>tl;dr: Would it be worth it to transfer to the prestigious CU considering I eventually want to work in the EU?</p>

<p>P.S. I want to move to the EU because it's where many of my family is.</p>

<p>Thank you for reading this.</p>

2

<p>First of all, no school is outright depressing. You can go to the most “boring” school and have an amazing experience. You can go to the best “party” school and have a dismal experience. It’s all about what YOU make of the experience.</p>

<p>You can get a 3.5+ GPA at any school. You might have to work harder at some rather than others. Many employers implement a 3.0 cutoff for new graduates where they won’t even consider applicants with sub 3.0 GPAs. So, if the options are a 2.8 from CU or a 3.4 from UNM then UNM is going to be a better choice. However, if you work at it you should definitely be able to get a GPA north of 3.0 and closer to 3.5 without totally committing your life to nothing but studying.</p>

<p>Most schools are going to have the most merit in the geographical area surrounding them. Some transcend this to varying degrees, the best example being MIT. Companies tend to recruit most heavily at colleges near them and colleges where they’ve had good previous experiences. So, a degree from CU will be more valuable around NY because NY area companies will come to CU looking for graduates. This is not, by any means, to say that you will be stuck in the NY area for the rest of your life. You will have plenty of opportunities to work elsewhere, but graduates of schools in that elsewhere will have more opportunities to work there than you. Companies local to a school will also be more familiar with it and be more sympathetic to a low GPA if the school is noted for such.</p>

<p>What’s more important is that you go to a school that you enjoy and that won’t leave you in a substantial amount of debt. If you enjoy the atmosphere and experience of your school you will most likely do better. Not having massive student loans to pay back one day is something you WILL be grateful for later in life.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your reply PurdueEE. :slight_smile: It’s clarified some about my doubts for even applying to CU. The one major reason I would like to attend CU is because it’s in Manhattan. The city life appeals me and I originally come from one of the global cities (I like to say I can survive in a big city).</p>

<p>I’m also concerned about the debt because even if CU does offer full tuition covered, the housing and incidentals are quite costly. Here in NM, I got tuition covered as well but housing is considerably cheaper (half the price).</p>

4

<p>The Cooper Union is a great school, but (here’s the catch) it’s not a great school for everyone. If you pick a random 18 year old from across the country and put him at Cooper, chances are he won’t be happy.</p>

<p>It’s a school for people who know what they want to study and are passionate about it. You have few choices for majors and you really need to pick it when you’re still a high school senior. You can’t skate by on just your intelligence like some people did in high school; you’ll need to put in lots of hard work to succeed.</p>

<p>It’s a school for people who like being independent and can take care of themselves. You’ll be living on your own in the city just like any other adult. Anybody expecting an environment similar to any large state flagship campus will be very disappointed.</p>

<p>All that being said, I enjoyed my four years there and it’s helped me through my career so far. </p>

<p>Like any other school, local companies will flock to local schools. Engineering grads do go on to some nationally recognized companies too though. I’ve listed some from this page ([Engineering:</a> Outcomes](<a href=“http://career.cooper.edu/students/eng/placement.php]Engineering:”>Engineering: Outcomes)) that I recognize myself:</p>

<p>BAE Systems, ARUP, BASF, Barclays Capital, Boeing, Bovis Lend Lease, Citigroup, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, Ford Motors, Fujitsu, GE, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Google, IBM, JPL, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Lockheed Martin, McKinsey, Merck, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, NASA, Northrop Grumman, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Raytheon, Turner Construction</p>

<p>I highly doubt people in Europe would have heard of the Cooper Union though. It’s just too small of a school to be noticed an ocean away. On the other hand, would they know NMT over there either?</p>

<ul>
<li>Cooper '07</li>
</ul>

5

<p>@ken825: Thanks for your input. Answer to your question, I don’t think NMT would be recognized in EU either but its low cost makes it more appealing to me. Parents have told me outright they would not support me for college (one graduated from Heidelberg, debt free so they expect me to do the same), especially since I’m choosing a major that will not prepare me for pre-med (not that I want to do pre-med anyway).</p>

<p>Though, I assume that having a starting job (or internship) in a recognized company here in the U.S. could help me to move to EU. And after looking at that list you gave, I think CU can help me get my foot at the door.</p>

<p>May I ask what your major in CU was?</p>

<p>I’m planning on doing EE (which I heard is a difficult major there…).</p>

6

<p>I was a civil engineering major.</p>