Hands-on Engineering Programs

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

I just thought I’d throw this out there to see if anyone can give us some new ideas about possible colleges to suit S17. We’ve done the college finder and other tools and haven’t found them extremely helpful. He is planning to major in mechanical engineering and would like to find an ABET program of a suitable size that will allow him lots of hands-on opportunities, including co-ops/internships. He is not as interested in research at this point. Actual school size is less important to him to than the size of the engineering program, and he would like to enroll directly into the engineering school where possible.

Sorry this is so long. I’m trying to answer the questions I see most often come back from frequent posters.

Here’s the basic info.
GPA: 3.88/4.0 unweighted; 3.9 weighted
ACT: 33 C (34 superscore); 36 science subscore
Rank: Just outside of top 10% unweighted; just inside top 10% weighted
Possible NMSF (above current highest predicted range)
Few advanced courses offered at his HS but will have AP Calc and AP Lang (senior year); Honors English (freshman); some DE credits including three years of intro to engineering courses

ECs: Band (marching, jazz, pep, concert) - 4 yrs.; section lead - senior year
School and rec soccer - 4 years (will not play in college)
Soccer referee - 4+ years
Part-time jobs - 2 years (ongoing)
Tech club - 1 year

Home state: Iowa
Preferred location: None specified. Parents would prefer something fairly easy to get to, but can deal with other situations.
Preferred school type: Probably leans most toward mid-size suburban, but would consider larger, smaller, urban or not-absolutely-remote rural. No required religion classes. Doesn’t care about big-time sports or Greek system. Specific engineering program is more important than entire student body. He’s a kid who tends to go with the flow and get along with everyone.
Other: Interested in honors programs but it will depend on actual program requirements/benefits. If likes overall honors program, would probably like to live on an honors floor.
STEM-only schools are on the table.

Budget: Will be full pay outside of merit awards, but since S is planning to major in engineering, we would need a strong program to pay more than either in-state ($10,000-$15,000/yr after auto merit) or Oklahoma or Alabama on NMF scholarship.

Previous college visits:
Iowa State (good option but engineering program, and mechanical engineering program specifically, too large)
Missouri Science and Technology (liked the school; hated the food)
Kansas State (OK, nothing exciting)
South Dakota State (summer camp experience, seemed OK)
Oklahoma (liked engineering program, NM staff and honors college)
Oklahoma State (liked engineering program, wasn’t a fan of honors college, campus seemed too spread out)
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (summer camp experience, possibly too small, possibly too hard to manage transportation)

Will also apply to Alabama if receive NMSF

We have a partial application list, but I would like to see what others recommend.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

2

Every student has to develop his or her own criteria as to what’s important beyond academics. For some it’s weather, some outdoor activities, some food. They are all important because they are the criteria of the individual student. I say this just to warn him about putting too much emphasis on campus food. It will likely be bad at almost every state school and many of the private schools. With that said, many students move off campus their second year. Food is then completely in their hands (and budget).

As for schools, there’s a handful I’d add, because my son was looking for the same thing…Cal Poly (where he ended up and roomed with an ME from Iowa as a first year), WPI and Utah.

Utah is a little bit of a curve ball because it seems like any other large, but not giant university, but ME recently revamped their curriculum. It’s called the Spiral. Look into it.

Honors are not a big deal for Engineers at Cal Poly because all the classes, even labs and discussions, are taught by professors and most of the classes are small.

Good luck!

P.S. My sister went to school in Rolla. Good school, but it is in Rolla. Just sayin’. :smiley:

3

You probably want to read this discussion on how engineering curricula may be structured:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19856247/#Comment_19856247

If that is of concern, browsing the sample four year schedules or roadmaps for each school’s mechanical engineering major may help make the decision.

4

@eyemgh Thanks for the tips. We’ll look into your suggestions.

I really hope MoST has fixed their food situation. Maybe it was a temporary thing. We’ve had our share of dining hall meals, and I’ll just say the food on our visit was bad enough that I told H if I had been in charge of visit day I would have had lunch catered or even ordered pizza just to avoid that being the reason kids wouldn’t attend. It became very clear why refrigerators were provided for all dorm rooms, which students were required to live in with a meal plan until they had achieved a certain number of credit hours (I think it worked out to 1.5-2 years).

5

@ucbalumnus Thanks for pointing me to that. I should clarify my original post. I understand (as does S) the need for learning theory first. His concern is avoiding an impacted or otherwise overly large program for this very popular major so that he has more opportunities to get his own hands on a group project, participate in ECs, have more contact with his instructors, etc. Maybe I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that in very large ME programs, there is only so much lab time/space available, so some students simply don’t get as much opportunity for that as others. And this may not be a problem until junior year, but he may as well start out somewhere with a smaller program.

6

My son and I did just as @ucbalumnus suggested, reviewed a LOT of curricula paths. I can tell you there are a lot of sacred cows that are simply wrong. For instance, you might assume that engineering at a LAC like Bucknell or Lafayette might expose the student to more liberal arts. In fact they don’t. Their liberal arts exposure is similar to most of the rest of the ABET acredited programs. (as a side note, they might be around more LA majors, if that’s important to them, and depending on what school they’re comparing them too). You might also assume that a student would be better off at a school that doesn’t offer PhDs, so there can’t be a heavy reliance on graduate students as TAs. This can be false too. Some doctorate granting programs offer nurturing undergraduate experiences. Lehigh is a good example and although we didn’t research it, Iowa State has that reputation. Some of the non-PhD granting institutions are simply lacking toys. Lab space is expensive and important. You could probably fit all of Swarthmore’s labs into one of Cal Poly’s 80+ labs. So, there is, based on the criteria your family is using, schools that fall into a sweet spot.

BTW, I should have mentioned Lehigh in my previous post. We visited, but my son didn’t apply, so I sort of forgot about it. :frowning:

7

“Iowa State (good option but engineering program, and mechanical engineering program specifically, too large)” - Keep it on the list. Underclassman classes are often large even at small-ish schools, so maybe no difference there. I suspect your concerns about lab time/space are not a big deal… other will need to confirm that.

What he will find with a large engineering program is lots of techie EC with project experience. I went to a 3000K student school, mostly engineer/STEM majors. I learned a lot in class, but I also learned a lot on the side in MIni Baja (all terrain vehicle) club. Another point is that larger engineering programs draw more recruiters for summer internships and post-grad jobs. So like eyemgh, I think you should not rule out your in state program :wink:

8

Thanks @colorado_mom We haven’t ruled out Iowa State completely and it’s a great engineering school, although it’s lower on the list as he could attend a smaller program for less money OOS with auto merit. We know about these programs; I was hoping to get a few ideas of schools we weren’t as familiar with. :slight_smile:

9

OP you and your son do have a big task ahead of you to decide which college is best for you. No matter which college you choose, if your son decides it is going to be good for him, it probably will be. You learn the culture, and because you don’t know anything different, it all seems to make sense and is good. Making good friends will also make or break the college experience.

Given that:

  1. Most of the schools you listed were state schools. Don't rule out the private colleges because of cost. They may have high sticker prices, but most will offer pretty good scholarship money and thereby make them about the same and sometimes less than the state schools.
  2. Colleges publish something called the "common data set" and it has a wealth of statistical info. Use google to find it for the colleges you are interested in. A couple of very helpful parts are the admission stats; the graduation rate stats (including the percentage who graduate in 4 years as opposed to more than 4 years); and what the college uses as selection criteria for admission.
  3. College is expensive and going to a college with a decent 4 year grad rate is important (unless you are filthy rich)
  4. Co-ops only delay graduation. I don't really see the value in them unless you really need the money while you are in school. The best thing is to get out of college and get your career started and get paid at a college grad rate rather than typically lower co-op rate.
  5. Internships are good and it is better to have one than not. However, doing on-campus research over the summer with a professor (or something similar) is just as good. The relavant skills in an internship or research project that I was looking for as an engineering manager hiring college grads was; did the applicant know what is was like to be responsible and be ready to work an 8 hour day. The details about the job we taught the new hires.
  6. There are so many colleges out there it is hard to choose. My son went to Cal Poly and my daughter to WPI, both in mechanical engineering. I like both. Be aware that one will make a ton of friends in college and will probably want to locate near them after college. Choosing a school in a location that one might want to live in after college can be a consideration. It was for my two kids. (BTW, it wasn't for me, I went to school in Boston and then moved to California to work but that was more a function of where the jobs were in my field)
  7. Choose a college that will challenge you but it is best not to be too much below the midpoint of the class. GPA is important when going on to grad school and finding that first (and sometimes subsequent) job.
10

Graduation rates do tend to correlate to admission selectivity, which is no surprise (stronger incoming students are more likely to graduate in 4 years, or at all).

11

@ucbalumnus, Cal Poly is an outlier in that regard. ME admits just over 10%, but 4 year graduation rates are low. There is an inherent explanation for some of it. The curriculum is 200 units where the regular Cal Poly curriculum is 180. Even a quarter beyond gets lumped into 5 years. There have though been some challenges getting classes. That’s largely been improved with a change in the registration system and more sections being opened.

12

I haven’t studied grad rates but I’m sure there is a correlation to admission selectivity (or more like ability and caliber of student population).

I was somewhat taken aback when the head of the ME department at Cal Poly stated their 4 year grad rate was 15% when my son was an incoming freshman. He went on to say that their 5 year grad rate was 85%. Well, my son did indeed take 5 years to graduate as did most of his peers that I met. ME was “impacted” major and class availability was the issue.

A couple of years later when my daughter was looking into schools, I did look up the school’s 4 year grad rate and asked about it during the admission briefings. Selectively similar schools did have varying grad rates. In general, the private colleges did have a better grad rate as you would expect as they do a better job at class availability. If I am paying all that money and the class isn’t available then I’m not happy. DD ended up at WPI, a private school, with a fair amount of scholarship aid and a good shot at finishing in 4 years, which she did (was actually only one class short of graduating after 3 1/2 years).

The CA state schools are doing better with their grad rates from what I’ve heard as having students remain on campus limits the number of admits they can have in their future classes, so my numbers are probably way out of date for Cal Poly.

13

Check out Valparaiso, Marquette and Mikwaukee School of engineering for smaller engineering schools with great facilities. All have scholarships to offset the sticker price.

14

Other schools I know a lot about (but not ideal in this case):

1)- Colorado School of Mines - intense, lots of projects etc (usually expensive for OOS)

  1. Olin - super intense, project-based curriculum (too teeny for most student / half tuition scholarships for all but still pricey )

  2. Case - excellent merit scholarships, many music opportunities (I’ve heard mixed feedback about co-ops etc, still might be pricey with scholarship)

15

Here are another couple to consider, both of which tend to offer good money for your kids stats. And if he is a NMSF finalist, UC offers a full ride, even for out of state kids.

U of Cincinnati: integrated co-op, they adjust scholarships to the 5 year requirement that comes with co-op.

Miami U (OH): one of those “no PhD” schools focusing on undergrads with a new and growing engineering program. Spoke with some of my son’s friends who are there for engineering and they (and parents) are happy with it.

16

Here is a calculator that calculates expected graduation rates based on admission characteristics of the frosh class:
http://heri.ucla.edu/GradRateCalculator.php

Here is a related research paper:
http://heri.ucla.edu/DARCU/CompletingCollege2011.pdf

17

I have a recent WPI grad and can recommend. The school definitely fits the “hands on” description. the curriculum incorporates two major projects. Good merit aid and grad in 4 years are also pluses. RIT RPI Northeastern and Boston also have similar attributes. RIT and NEU are co-op schools. For reasonable OOS cost and decent food check out Kansas. They offer auto merit scholarships for OOS, engineering facilities are very new, many new dorms, and food was good. KU is big but not huge and the engineering school itself isn’t quite so big. Recently visited with second S.