<p>I've accepted to all of these colleges and I'm having a dilemma deciding....I'll be majoring in civil engineering. How would you guys decide (and why)?</p>
<p>yea how about Case vs CMU vs Duke vs UMD-Colelge Park vs UPitt of ChemE, (assuming i get into Duke and CMU)? sorry im kinda hijacking ure thread firai but i saw Case so...</p>
<p>I would suggest that you visit as many of the schools as you can to help make your decision. My d visited all 6 where she applied (she started the spring of her junior year and visited a couple multiple times) and it was the "feel" of the campus as well as the reputation that helped her decide. We visited both Gatech and Rose-Hulman.
Gatech is larger state school (about 17k students) in downtown Atlanta (urban, lots to do in city) but with a collegiate feel (major football/basketball games and other activities). It has larger class sizes for early classes with TA involved in teaching (like most larger colleges) on a semester system.
Rose-Hulman is a small private school (about 1.5K students) in Terre Haute, IN (rural, 60+ minutes from Indianapolis) with more of a family atmosphere. It has smaller classes that are all taught by professors on a tri-mester system.
They are completely different both in acedemics environment and campus atmosphere ("feel"). Also Rose-Hulman costs about $10-15K more a year (out-of state).
I have no direct knowledge of the other two.
It will all depend on what type of college experience is best for you. If you have time, visit as many as you can. It will give you a much better basis to make your decision.</p>
<p>KountingSheep987, you evil hijacker! ;-)</p>
<p>workingforblue, thanks for the advice. As much as I want to, I simply don't have any vacation time (with the exception of weekends...I guess I can go to one of the campuses for a weekend) between now and summer to visit any of the schools. But I definitely agree that visiting the campuses would give me a much better picture of how my next 4+ years may be.</p>
<p>I have a son graduating from Rose-Hulman this year (Computer Engineering), and a daughter who is a freshman at Case Western (Biomedical Engineering). Neither one is a partier, and they are very happy with their decisions. My son got very involved in activities like the film club, the campus newspaper, and the residence hall association. I would never have imagined him getting involved in those kind of activities, but he loves it...</p>
<p>My daughter decided not to go to Rose because their biomedical engineering program is new and she wanted a strong existing program. She also wanted lots of opportunities for music...Rose does offer some music activities, but nothing like Case does. She chose to get involved with a new volunteer campus emergency medical service, is in band, and has gone to several concerts. Neither my daughter nor my son wanted to get involved with Greek life, so I can't give you insight into that...Both campuses seem to have lots of activities going on...movies, ski trips etc... </p>
<p>The two colleges are very different. Rose is a couple of miles away from a small city, and about an hour away from Indianapolis. It is very quiet...Case is on the edge of Cleveland in a museum district area. Case is definitely noisier...there is a 5 lane road through the middle of campus and there are two hospitals basically across the street. We were afraid that it would be too noisy, but my daughter adjusted quickly. This is a city, so my daughter tends to not go out alone at night, but there are lots of restaurants nearby, so they do go out in small groups. You need a car at Rose to get to town...a car at Case is not necessary. Case is right on the bus and train lines...she even takes the train right to the airport to fly home at breaks...it is even possible to get to Target, Walmart and some malls via the bus/train.</p>
<p>Both engineering programs seem to be top notch...My son has been very happy with the advising that he has received (both in choosing classes, and with career services--he has two job offers to decide upon.) He will graduate within 4 years...many of his friends there actually graduated early. Rose definitely offers smaller classes, and a more personal touch, but my daughter has not had a problem with Case's class sizes. Her largest lecture has been about 200 people, but recitations are small (some recitations are taught by Teaching Assistants). Rose definitely is a close family-type atmosphere...at Case there are many different types of people with different interests...students at both colleges have to work very hard... </p>
<p>We found that it was very difficult to get an on-campus job at Rose if you are not on work-study. They seem to reserve all of the jobs for work-study students. The work-study students didn't have a problem getting a job. Case has lots of on-campus jobs, and lots of research opportunities. They also have an on-campus minimum wage of $8.50! My daughter already has an office assistant job that will hopefully turn into a research position next year.</p>
<p>Rose's weather is warmer and less snowy (and windy) than Case (look up lake effect snow!!)...Rose has a much smaller campus...my son can run to class in about 5 minutes...it takes my daughter about 20 minutes to get from her dorm to her classes, but she actually has found that it is relaxing and good exercise...busses are available, but she chooses to walk. Rose-Hulman and Case Western are very different, but both are great...I can't give you any advice about Civil engineering, but I hope this helped you see the differences between these two schools...</p>
<p>kosha, thanks for the valuable insight. From the advice above, I believe that I will enjoy an urban environment (Case & Gatech) more.</p>
<p>i have got accepted to rose and i wud like to have some inside info other than the stuff we get from magazines etc....i would also appreciate if u cud tell me the average number of people who go on from rose o graduate from top mba schools like wharton etc...thank you sir</p>
<p>kosha,</p>
<pre><code>Excellent analysis of the two schools. Rose is definately stronger in Engineering but there are so many other factors that should go into the decision.
</code></pre>
<p>In my opinion, Rose is not significantly better than Case in engineering, just different. My daughter at Case has had incredible professors teaching her classes, has a great on-campus job and loves the college. She is getting a wonderful education that couldn't have been repeated at Rose because of the very specific specialty within biomedical engineering that she is interested in (bioelectric engineering). The close proximity to research hospitals is an incredible opportunity for her. She is very interested in performing research and getting a PhD someday and already has had the opportunity to talk with grad students who are willing to give her advice and support. She wouldn't have had that at Rose. Even though Case is a bigger school than Rose, she has gotten to know some of her professors very well and has a sincere respect for what they have accomplished...and they have gotten to know her too because she is a serious, involved student. </p>
<p>My son had a great experience at Rose, but there were disadvantages of going to a small school that focused mostly on engineering. He thrived in the Rose environment, but he was not interested in research, nor was he necessarily interested in going for a higher degree...some of his fellow students did get involved with research, but it was not a high priority for him.</p>
<p>My husband has been an engineer for 24 years. He was very comfortable with both choices our children made for colleges. I often have posted that the student needs to explore the options that the school offers and find the school that fits them best...just because a school offers a PhD does not mean that their education will be short-changed. A school that offers a PhD offers different experiences than a school that doesn't, but it is not fair to compare Rose's #1 ranking among colleges that do not offer a PhD, to Case's ranking among PhD universities.</p>
<p>Kosha, you are probably right about biomedical, it's likely better at Case-Western, sounds like they have a nice setup. But overall Rose is a far superior engineering institution.</p>
<p>I've known quite a few engineers at Purdue who were from Ohio because there is not a great engineering institution in the state. There are some good ones like Case-Western but no great ones. It sounds like Case might be great in that one area though.</p>