George Mason Engineering

My son was accepted OOS. I have a couple of questions: 1) Can anyone give insight into what daily life would be like with the dorms on the main campus and engineering being at a satellite location? 2) How large are the classes typically in the 101s as well as the engineering programs? 3) How well regarded is the Volgenau School of Engineering, as say compared to NC State or VA Tech?

Which engineering program at GMU is he interested in? GMU students have access to local internships. Some students are able to work and take classes at the same time. GMU has a shuttle bus to the metro to get to DC and other areas of VA where there are alot of IT jobs. Most of the engineering classes are held on the main campus. Some of the engineering programs allow a student the option to obtain a bachelor’s and master’s degree in 5 years. (accelerated for strong students)

VT is also good for engineering but it really depends what your son is planning to major in. For example GMU has cybersecurity engineering which I believe VT does not. I believe at VT everyone does general engineering the first year and then has to apply to their concentration by end of the first year.

D was accepted to both programs but chose GMU and just graduated this past May.

https://cyber.vt.edu

@sevmom Thanks for posting.

If your son plans to work in this area then GMU is known to recruiters here. It really depends on which area of engineering he is looking into. VT is a much bigger engineering school but we found GMU to meet all our requirements and D was very happy in her program. Her professors knew her by name and because she was part of the honor’s college she had priority registration which was very helpful.

Thank you, that is helpful. Which program was your D in? We love the DC area, so that’s a plus!

My son is a freshman (computer engineering) and so far all classes have been on the Fairfax Campus. It looks like at least for Fall of sophomore year, all classes will be on the Fairfax Campus. I believe only some engineering disciplines have classes at the Manassas satellite campus and I’m guessing that would only be for upperclassmen and grad students. There is a shuttle that runs between the 2 campuses. Overall, the engineering school at GMU is very well-regarded among recuiters in the DC area. A good friend is a director at Northrup-Grumman and she says they love hiring CS and engineers from GMU because they are so well-prepared.

I agree with @100lucky1 The local IT and consulting companies recruit heavily at GMU career fairs. The engineering graduates are very much in demand in this area. When D started her job she had recruits from very well known colleges in the same position she was recruited for. If you graduate from the engineering school employment prospects in this area are very good. The best thing is that students have the chance to work part time locally since there are so many employers in this area while also attending school.