Good Social Life + Engineering Rigor?

College Search & Selection
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<p>During High School, I had a crappy social life. My parent's over-protection and laziness kept me at home all the time, and as a result I developed crappy social skills and developed a low self esteem. It wasn't until Senior year until I realized I wasn't a classic cliche high school loser and I was only "alone" because I never smiled or talked (A "popular" girl asked me out to my surprise, and I eventually found out a ton of girls physically liked me, I was just incredibly awkward to hang around. Even now I don't know how to act in social situations).</p>

<p>I wanted to turn it around, but as a senior in hs with no car I am pretty much a lost cause. So in college I planned to have a large social life.</p>

<p>Okay now onto my predicament. Because I did nothing other than go home and study, I have great grades and score. Probably not/low-lier Ivy Caliber (3.7, 33, 2050, and lol, no extra currics other than community service which was a nightmare because I did nothing other than work), but still great. I really love physics and math, and I want to go into engineering.</p>

<p>About 6-7 months into the college application process (today) I realized that my top choices really sucked for social life. RPI and WPI (accepted to both), both have a 7:3 boy/girl ratio (and RIBS?) and while I thought Carnegie Mellon (my now fluttering first choice) would be a great place to go thanks to their HSS/drama program (which I though would attract women) and all the wonderful letters they sent to me described how active their school was, I read on studentreviews.com some rather discouraging reviews about social life.</p>

<p>Now before I torment myself for another four years, I was hoping to gain some input on some schools that were strong academically (engineering-wise) but were not invitations to social suicide. At this point I may have to keep these schools in the back of my mind when I want to transfer. Also, some social schools I got accepted to/applied to are Umass Amherst, Stony Brook, Northeastern, George Washington (and maybe Cornell?).</p>

<p>Thanks, and I would really appreciate some tips so I do not become a pasty-faced drone for the rest of my life.</p>

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<p>i feel ya RewindYouLostMe! I’m in a somewhat similar situation, I went to an all girls school since 7th grade and I never had “traditional” high school experiences and now I’m really regretting it. (and i’m also looking to major in engineering)</p>

<p>I would choose Cornell out of all of the schools that you mentioned. I’ve heard from many sources that if you join greek life, you’ll be FINE socially. PLUS cornell has an awesome engineering department!</p>

<p>on a side note: RPI’s social scene is kinda gross. (i went on a recruit trip and it was umm interesting…)</p>

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<p>Wisconsin. Penn State, Michigan, Texas Austin</p>

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<p>Vanderbilt, USC, Rice, UVA. Also agree with barrons’ suggestions of Michigan and Penn State. </p>

<p>I’d say Cornell’s your best bet socially too. If that 33 is on your ACT, it’s way better than your SAT and you should just send your ACT (if you end up transferring).</p>

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<p>I actually think that tech-oriented schools, despite their reputations, are often good choices for a prospective engineer who wants a social life. Here’s why:</p>

<p>When you’re in a “normal” college, yeah, there’s usually a pretty active social scene. Probably more so than at your standard tech school. But guess what? The people sustaining that social scene are largely not engineers, or any other major that’s known to be very time-consuming. Unless you are smart enough that you can breeze easily through the engineering program, you, an engineer, are going to have to spend more time doing schoolwork than most of your friends in their less-demanding majors. There are going to be many times when they go off and party and you either have to stay behind while everybody else is having fun, or sacrifice your schoolwork and risk getting into serious academic trouble. And your friends may pressure you to pick the latter option, or simply make you miserable by talking all the time about how much fun they had while you were working.</p>

<p>At a tech school, the social scene might be a little less vigorous, but everybody’s in the same boat! People will plan fun social stuff around the common necessity of studying, people won’t pressure you to drop your schoolwork on the floor. You’re still going to get left behind sometimes, when your class happens to be the one with a project due, but just as often you’ll be on the other side of that scenario. And when everybody’s <em>done</em> with work at a tech school, let me tell you, they know how to party.</p>

<p>Plus, it sounds from your description like you are kind of undersocialized. That’s fine, so was I. At a “normal” school, a lot of people will think that you are a weird loser for this, and you may have trouble developing your skills. At many tech schools, most of your fellow students are in the same boat, and they help each other along and won’t reject you for it. Most people I knew at MIT thought it had a phenomenally good effect on their social skills (and, having watched some of them through their undergrad careers, I would agree with them).</p>

<p>If you want good engineering and a more conventional social life, look into Georgia Tech. I’ve actually heard reasonably good things about Carnegie Mellon’s social scene, though it depends on what you want out of it.</p>

<p>I’m currently a MS student at Northeastern, and I actually think it’s a good balance of what you are looking for, so I agree with that choice.</p>