I know ISU has a good engineering program but I need to know how good it actually is. Obviously it is not as good as Purdue or UIUC but is it comparable to Minnesota, Penn State, Colorado, or Colorado State? If not, what are some schools that are on the same level as ISU for engineering? I’m very interested but don’t know a whole lot about the school…any comment is appreciated!
@dingyin714. We were very impressed with ISU engineering. Concerning rankings, you can get those from US News. Without looking, ISU would be slightly below Minnesota and Penn State, and above Colorado and Colorado. Based on reputation, ISU has been a top engineering school for a long time and has a great reputation. They have one of the largest career fairs in the country. ISU’s facilities are very good. Mechanical Engineering is the most popular major at ISU, and it is the largest ME program in the country. 97% of engineering graduates have jobs or are in graduate school within six months of graduation.
@dingyin714 My son is also considering ISU for engineering and trying to compare it to Purdue, Minnesota, and UIUC.
While ISU ranks lower than the others I mentioned, my husband (an engineering prof at a well-regarded rival school) feels ISU is quite strong in engineering. He generally bases his opinions on the grad students and (in some cases) professors with whom he has worked over the years, and doesn’t pay too much attention to the rankings. I think you should not worry that ISU isn’t generally comparable to the others on your list and choose the school that feels like the best fit in the end.
Have you visited any of the schools on your list? We’ve seen the other three I listed but are looking forward to visiting ISU next month.
I am probably a little biased but I believe ISU ranks with all of the schools mentioned above. A lot of the opinion is who you talk to and where they went.
You will definitely have a job graduating from ISU as I did in 1982 when I graduated in Mat E. I know many people from UMich, MSU, Purdue, UIUC that are engineers and they all are very good. Just as the engineers from University Wisconsin - Platteville are good.
The advice that @Mtriplee gave is absolutely correct about visiting all of the schools and determine which you like best regarding environment.
@Mtriplee I would say your husband is good barometer!
@CyclonesGrad @Mtriplee @Beaudreau Thank you all for the your comments! I will most likely apply! Visiting these schools are probably unrealistic for me bc. I am an international student living with a host family in California. We have visited Cal Poly SLO and it is another school on my list. I am so glad to hear about these great feedbacks about ISU engineering and am excited to apply! Are they any other schools that are like Iowa State and Cal Poly? Low cost but good education?
@dingyin714 One thing to consider about Cal Poly SLO. It’s a good school for engineering, but it’s very difficult to graduate in less than five years. One of my sons is a freshman at Miami University it Ohio in the Honors College and studying mechanical engineering. His roommate is from California and turned down CP SLO because it is so difficult to get required classes when needed. His parents told me that this was an issue throughout the Cal State and U Cal systems. According to the National Center, only 38% graduate in four years from CP SLO.
You might look at Arizona State and Arizona. Both offer pretty generous scholarships for top OOS students and have decent engineering colleges. You might be able to drive to these two for visits.
Fundamentally, if you are in an ABET accredited engineering program you can be assured that you can get a solid and salable engineering degree. It is, however, possible that if you are planning to return to your country after graduation, the position of the school in a well known ranking system such as USNWR is critical to you getting a good job independent of the true quality of the education that can be gotten in an ABET accredited program at a lower ranked university. This needs to be factored into your considerations.
You also need to look at which school fits you best and is most affordable. You might want a more undergraduate oriented university or a research university. In any case ISU is a fine school and an [url="<a href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities%22%5DAAU%5B/url”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities"]AAU[/url] member.