<p>My son has narrowed down his choices (mechanical engineering) to either the University of Texas - Austin or the University of Wisconsin - Madison. We live in Indiana. While I believe that these are both great schools in great cities (and that he will be happy wherever he ends up) I would REALLY appreciate the thoughts of the engineers, alumni and current students regarding the pluses and minuses of both schools.
Texas has given him a $5,000 a year scholarship (IF he can maintain a 3.5 GPA) and does have Honors housing, which seems like a good option for him. Wisconsin requires all students to apply to their Engineering College after I think at least two semesters. Hopefully he could make whatever the GPA cut-off is for mechanical engineering, but I assume it is very competitive.
I realize that he will have to work very hard in this major at either school, but does anyone have any information on how hard it is to get help if you need it and whether one school might have a stronger "weed-out" approach in general? We will be visiting both schools again this month to get a better feel, but I really appreciate any thoughts you all might have.</p>
<p>I currently go to UT and I must say it is an amazing school. The education I am receving is superb and the engineering program, if im not mistaken, is one of the best in the nation. Both my roommates are becoming engineering and I think they really enjoy it (maybe not during exam time but they definitely will not regret it in the long run). </p>
<p>In addition to the campus, Austin as a city is also incredible; I think your son would really like it here. There is so much to do and so much to see. I have never been to Indiana but I cant picture it gets much better than this. Warning - it probably does get much hotter down here, but we have a lake :)</p>
<p>Honestly, it should come down to fit and finances, as both are fantastic schools in fantastic cities. After the visit, just see where he feels like he fits the best.</p>
<p>I agree with boneh3ad’s advice.
UW’s campus is also on a lake, the city itself is on an isthmus between two of them. Summer isn’t as hot, but winter is colder. There’s a lot of school spirit and sports, probably the same at UT. I don’t think the cutoff for Mechanical engineering is over 3.0, it might be 2.5 actually, it’s not one with a limited capacity like biomedical. Not sure since I’m not a ME.</p>
<p>Purdue University would have been much cheaper than those two options and its a powerhouse for engineering. 3.5 GPA will be pretty hard to keep for an engineering student. </p>
<p>To back on topic, UT-Austin and Wisconsin are both great colleges for engineering. Madison is a little bit more selective (1860 UT-Austin average sat vs 1900 Wisconsin-Madison) but there will be no difference in education. Your son should be able to decide easily after the visit.</p>
<p>A 3.5 GPA is hard to maintain. It does not matter how smart, prepared or how hard working your son is, there are some external factors that can affect your GPA negatively which are beyond your control sometimes, regardless of your abilities. </p>
<p>Some classes are designed to “weed out” bad students, like General Chemistry for Engineers, Classical Physics I, Calculus, I and II- sometimes getting a B can be extremely hard- your son would have to maintain mostly A’s, a few B’s, and absolutely no C’s in order to maintain a 3.5 GPA.</p>
<p>First year of Engineering is stressful enough just trying to survive, I guess it would be very stressful if he absolutely had to maintain a 3.5 GPA- Not impossible but I would not sign up for that.</p>
<p>Why not go to Purdue, a highly respected school for engineering, assuming it is less expensive with in-state tuition?</p>
<p>Yes, 3.5 GPA to keep the scholarship does make it a significant risk; is the $5,000 critical to maintaining affordability?</p>
<p>As far as “weed out” is concerned, any of the earlier courses in a sequence of prerequisites is inherently a “weed out” course.</p>
<p>I’d assume the student simply didn like Purdue and/or finances aren’t a problem. I can’t really blame them. Madison and Austin are two amazing cities while West Lafayette is somewhat… bleh.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your comments - they are definitely helpful. Just returned from a trip to Austin with my son and I believe a decision has been made. (UT is the one.) It is an incredible school in a really vibrant city. Impossible not to like (and I tried really hard). (Don’t love the thought of my kid being two plane flights away!.) </p>
<p>Regarding the 3.5 GPA requirement to keep the scholarship, the advisors at UT did admit that this would be difficult. I know he will try very hard to do it, but if he falls short of it and loses the scholarship, we would definitely be able to make up the difference and keep him there. (Assuming his grades are not in the tank.)</p>
<p>Wisconsin was my first pick, but I am not the one who is going, so…</p>
<p>And regarding the inevitable Purdue recommendations - yes, we are very familiar with the school. Son also got a $4000 a year scholarship from them, Honors Engineering, etc., but since we can afford to let him go out of state, can you seriously compare West Lafayette with Austin or Madison? Both Texas and Wisconsin are recognized as being among the top public schools in the country (“public Ivies”) because they are so strong in just about every subject - not just engineering, business, pharmacy, ag. </p>
<p>Although they are all giant schools with all kinds of students attending, it has been our impression that more of the students at Texas and Wisconsin are interested in the world around them - politics, etc. I know I will get slammed by Purdue alumni, but after looking at it and talking to former and current students, we’ve seen that the overall mindset is far narrower there. Obviously the main focus is getting a great education and being prepared for a job in the real world, but an important part of college (to us) is being exposed to other students in all disciplines who work hard and are smart but also might be somewhat liberal thinking and have a little more imagination.</p>
<p>In that last post, I mean to say that it SEEMS like the mindset at Purdue is overall a narrower one. I know I could be wrong - this just our impression. Purdue is an awesome school, I know their engineering is totally top flight, I just think that Texas is also a great school and a better fit for our son.</p>