She is trying to make a decision between the undergraduate engineering program of these three schools - seems like a decision would be so much easier in non-COVID times when could spend time visiting!
Her majors if she attended each would likely be:
Carnegie Mellon - Electrical and Computer Engineering
Georgia Tech - Aerospace Engineering
Rice University - likely ECE or maybe mechanical
(But after some time in school maybe will change?)
Things that are important to her:
An environment where students are supportive of each other rather than competitive - based on discussions with some students at Rice this seems to be a real strength there, not sure whether environment similar/different at other two
Being around people who are smart - I imagine that would apply to all, but looking strictly at avg SATs seems GT lower than the other two in this regard
Facilities / opportunities for research - at first glance from a distance, GT seems to have a lot there with respect to facilities, but hard to tell strengths/weaknesses of each in this regard remotely
Ability to get internships and job placement - do any have an advantage over the other in this respect? Canāt find good data to judge - does it exist somewhere? Is it possible that Riceās location could give an advantage here if certain industries are growing in Texas? Do all three have similar reputation with respect to prospective employers, or does one provide an advantage over the others with respect to gaining employment?
So with those being her most important factors - any reasons favor one of these three over the others?
Rice probably has best quality of life of the three.
If sheās set on Aerospace then GT.
If sheās not sure I would look how easy it is to switch between the different engineering disciplines. Kids do it pretty easily at GTā¦at least the first switch, not sure after that.
Have you visited the campuses? We just went down to GT yesterday, toured inside some of the facilities, and spent a lot of time on campus. We saw the aerospace buildings from the outside. LMK if you have any specific questions!
Overall, we were blown away with how beautiful campus was, how friendly the students were, and how smart/put-together those we spoke with were, without being pretentious or āgeekyā. The opportunities they spoke of were incredible. My DS will likely be committing there next week! Touring Cornell this weekend just to be sure heās 100% set on GT.
(disclaimer - I donāt know anything about CMU or Rice!)
With an interest in aerospace engineering, it might be better for her to major in an undergraduate degree with broader applicability such as mechanical engineering rather than specializing so early in the process. She will need to go on for graduate study in engineering, which seems like the better time to specialize.
Rice offers aerospace engineering at the graduate level. CMU does not offer it at all. With the Space Center in Houston, there are numerous private subcontractors located there as well (Lockheed-Martin, United Technologies, etc.) This would seem to be an advantage for Rice for internships as is its reputation for a strong learning community that is supportive and collaborative.
All 3 schools have very bright students, great reputations, and excellent facilities, so they are all well positioned for job placement.
We have not yet visited anythingā¦not sure we will be able to travel from NY to each of Atlanta + Houston + Pittsburgh in this decision period, and concerned about limitations on entering buildings that would mean the trips would not be as worthwhile as we would like. But if she canāt make a decision based on remote research we might try some quick trips.
Well, it is a public uni- neither Rice nor CMU have an instate mandate
But seriously- GTās engineering program is in the top 10 with CMU; Riceās is in the top 20. I donāt see how an higher overall admissions rate would indicate less-smart students in engineering.
Splitting hairs here ā¦
Iād pick all three ā¦ but if I had to choose, Iād order them: CMU, Rice, GT ā¦
Rice edging out GT because of fit ā¦ sizeā¦ flexibility, happier student body
We visited all three for my sophomore son whoās at Georgia Tech. We were not fans of CMU. He didnāt even apply. Their response to my sons inevitable tour question āwhat do you do for fun?ā was we go to Pitt. Not the right answer. One of his best friends (smart, social, athlete) from high school ended up at CMU over Georgia Tech. He was very torn but both of his parents went to CMU. He has been pretty miserable.
I forced my son to look at Rice when we were in Texas looking at UT. My brother and sister-in-law both went to Rice and loved it. My son said it was too small. He was surprised at how much he liked it. It is small but full of kids with lots of personality and they have fun! Lots of great traditions and academic support. We met with a girl from his school a couple of years older and she addressed some of his concerns about the size. Even though you live in the same residential college for four years, you have the opportunity to serve on the board of another college and meet all of those people as well. We both decided it was a pretty cool place. It is in a very charming area of Houston, the museum district, with lots of adorable shops and restaurants that are walkable from campus. Most kids have to live off campus one year and there are lots of cute houses that they rent right next to Rice. Everyone I know who has gone to Rice has loved it. If you think it is a fit for your daughter, I am sure she would be happy there!
As far as Georgia Tech goes, that was my sonās choice and it was perfect for him. First we are in state which is hard to beat. Second he didnāt want anything less than 15,000 people, and also wanted division one sports and a big-time athletic conference. He was interested in Greek life and being in an urban setting. He is a civil engineer and GT has the number 1 civil engineering program in the country.
As far as the intelligence of the student body, thereās no difference. There are a whole lot of valedictorians with 1600 SATs at Georgia Tech, and there are a whole lot of people like the poster above that turned down ivies to go to Georgia Techā¦ Any difference in test scores if there even is one (Tech hasnāt published those for several years) does not consider the fact that it is a division one sports school and has hundreds of athletes. My son was one of those valedictorians I mentioned at a rigorous private school and he says all the time how many smart people there are at Tech
As far as undergraduate research goes, I canāt speak to that. My son is working on a vertically integrated project VIP about self driving cars and those sorts of research opportunities are widely available. Not sure how available it is to work in a lab under a professor for an undergraduate? I would think those would be more widely available at Rice because of its size but I honestly donāt know how difficult they are to get at Tech because my son was not interested.
Your daughter has three great choices that are all three very different! Her job prospects from all schools are excellent so that wouldnāt even be a consideration to me. I would urge her to go where she thinks she might have the most fulfilling 4 years, as you only get to go to college once.
Glad you enjoyed your visitā¤ļø Very hard to beat Atlanta and Ga Tech in the springtime. As I mentioned above, I have a current sophomore at Georgia Tech and it has been a wonderful experience even with Covid. Heās had a great time, done well in school, and has had no problem getting in person internships even with Covid. Excited for your son!
Georgia Tech is the best for aerospace in terms of facilities, networking opportunities, and access to other top-tier engineering programs should she want to switch out of aerospace. There are quite a few kids there who turned down Ivies - my student has 3 friends who also turned down MIT (not for financial reasons). GT places far greater emphasis on GPA and HS course rigor than it does on SAT/ACT scores. For what the assurance of someone you donāt know is worth, I can assure you nonetheless that the place is stocked with absolutely brilliant students.
This is an oft repeated myth on CC. Most of the people who work in aerospace, which employs all sorts of engineering specialties, DO NOT have graduate degrees. The new Director of the International Space Station has an undergraduate degree onlyā¦from Georgia Tech.
No one would ever know the difference. My son graduated with a 3.7+ from a school with an average graduating GPA of 2.7. I asked him if it was intelligence horsepower that separated the high GPAs from the mean. He said, no, everyone is smart, itās work ethic and curiosity.
The most important first decision to make is AE vs EE. Sure, she can change if the schools make it relatively easy, but these are fundamentally very different. Both can work in aerospace if thatās her ultimate goal.
