<p>hello, i am an intl. student who has no idea about the following universities. I applied to these unis based on ranking of their engineering program, but choosing the right college has to based on several factors other than mere ranking, so i request you to help me out.
I applied for Mechanical Engineering to the following uni's.</p>
<p>My choices:
University of Washington-Seattle<br>
(admitted major: pre-engineering) (uw gives direct admission to mech. eng. major to only 5% admitted students)</p>
<p>Purdue University- West Lafayette (admitted major: First year engineering) purdue admitts all students first to FYE and then to required major if we get 3.1 GPA in freshman year. (edit)</p>
<p>University of California- Davis (admitted major: Mechanical Engineering)</p>
<p>Please post replies with regard to my admission status in these uni's. (becoming mechanical engineer is my goal.)</p>
<p>Money is less of a concern than education quality.</p>
<p>Replies based on following grounds will be appreciated:
Employment opportunities after graduation.
Education quality.
Other opportunities you would like to discuss.
Your overall opinion. </p>
<p>EDIT: in my opinion admission to pre-engineering seems risky considering that i have been offered to my major at other uni. comments in this regard will be valuable to me.</p>
<p>@dishkyaoon. Good nick man!(indian?)
I am in the same boat as you. I got into some really good colleges and now i cant decide.
I am having a hard time deciding where to go.</p>
<p>First of all, its unfair to compare superlatives. All the colleges you mentioned above are really good. Now, i think, is the time to consider other factors. Look at the locations. Look at the weather etc etc. West lafayette is definitely not urban, but purdue has an awesome engineering school. It all boils down to your own preferences. </p>
<p>Do not go to a school because its ranking is slightly higher than the other. I am also trying to convince myself to stop looking at the rankings. (But i cant help it!)</p>
<p>@BHhazy I think I can prepare myself for the exam as long as I have the book which focused in that area and has some example questions similar to exam. So, will that be possible to do during purdue FYE</p>
<p>I talked to a current student there. He said its fine as long as you dont mess up deliberately. Actually purdue accepts a lot of academically incompetent students. So the students who are ‘weeded out’ are not ready to study the rigorous engineering. Some dont want to take responsibility(like they party on weekends before exams :/) then how are they supposed to pass! So as long as you maintain a decent work ethic, you ll do fine :)</p>
<p>Washington mechanical engineering (and other engineering majors) require competitive admission to enter if you are not a direct admit. No specific threshold is listed other than the minimum GPA for consideration, but the listed minimum GPA is not necessarily sufficient for admission to the major.</p>
<p>I would go with UC Davis or U WA because Purdue’s grades are killer. A high percentage students simply don’t make it to their second year and among those who make it, not all can choose their majors. I think it’s not worth the risk, even though it’s cheaper.
In addition, UC Davis or UWA have a more balanced campus life since they offer almost all majors, whereas Purdue is closer to a tech school, but depending on how Techie you are this may actually be a plus or a minus!</p>
<p>Unfortunately you probably need to eliminate Washington. My understanding is that not all qualified students will be accepted into Engineering because of space constraints. I wouldn’t risk it. Check for yourself, but that’s my impression.</p>
<p>For Purdue, if it is guaranteed if you are in Engineering with 3.1 then that is viable. If you are quite sure of yourself. </p>
<p>I think location-wise Davis has it beat, but I’m a Californian so I am biased with the state and the weather, and side trips to San Francisco.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 actually, was leaning towards Purdue because it’s cheap and is more focused on engineering. But u said that their grades are killer, would you elaborate that in my context. (context: i am O.K. at math example: i had 730 in sat math and 790 in sat subject math level 2…physics i like it but chemistry i hate but can score marks if i give it some time )</p>
<p>For first year classes, should not be a problem. I think the above poster is right that some who are trying will be weaker students and they will wash out. Just don’t be overly ambitious with your schedule until you get used to how easy or hard it is going to be for you there. Are you from an English speaking country or English is very good?</p>
<p>Hey you can always set up a meeting with your adviser and let him guide you to select classes wisely. With correct number of classes and subjects you can pass the FYE at purdue. Nobody is going to stop you if you take the easiest of all classes in your freshmen year, just because you need time to fit in!
I hope it makes sense </p>
<p>3.1 is typically not hard to achieve, it’s very typical for college students in the US. However it’s much harder at Purdue. 3.1 is not so typical at Purdue, many students get C’s. Now some of the students are not prepared for college and account for the F’s and D’s, but even hard workers get C’s and B’s. 90% students return after their first year but only 37% graduate in 4 years - although it’s often normal for engineering students to graduate in 4 1/2 or 5 years it’s still a larger discrepancy than usual.
FYE students don’t select classes. Their schedule is pretty much set for them, based on which Math class they test into (and English, if necessary): Calc I and II, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering Design or Honors Engineering Design I&II (Honors recommended), Fundamentals of Speech Communication (not required 1st year but required for many upper-level engineering classes!), Chemistry II or Biology or CS, and I’d recommend you take one or two from “Communication accross cultures” OR Interpersonal Communication OR Intro to American Studies since those classes are rather easy so you can “pad” your GPA AND it’ll help you understand American culture, communicate with classmates, and “fit in” better.
You sound like a great student so it may well be possible to achieve that average since you seem better prepared than most. Since there’s a money factor, I suppose it’d make a difference for your family. IF it does, you should indeed take Purdue and be very dedicated to ensure you’ll get that GPA. </p>
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