<p>Since I am planning on doing Mechanical Engg. I feel as if WashU may not be the best choice. I know it’s great for pre-med and biomed. engg. </p>
<p>So AsianGinger, why did you choose W over Penn, Michigan and Cornell all of which have excellent engg. I have visited Penn and Cornell and both are fantastic.</p>
<p>I guess I’ll go school by school…</p>
<p>I spent two weeks at Michigan last summer doing the Michigan Math and Science Scholars program. I LOVED the program, but I realized the the Michigan environment was too big for me to really do well there. In addition, I didn’t like the fact that the engineering buildings are mostly on the North Campus. You had to take a bus to get there from my dorm, and I didn’t like that it was so separate.</p>
<p>For Cornell, it was more about location. Ithaca is a great town, but I was looking for a bigger town or small city. Granted, St. Louis is in no way a “small” city, but when on campus I didn’t feel like the city was daunting or too “busy.” In addition, I am a Cornell legacy, and my mom (the alum) didn’t want me applying to engineering there.</p>
<p>Penn was one of the tougher ones to weed out to get down to my #1 choice, but it really came down to location for me. I live 3 months out of the year in Michigan, though I’m from Connecticut, and I just really love the Midwestern atmosphere. Penn and Wash U were neck and neck for me academic program-wise, campus -wise, etc. but I knew that I wanted to be in the Midwest. Obviously, that is just my personal preference, and is probably not the same for most others, but Wash U just feels like a less cut-throat environment that is still challenging and presents great opportunities.</p>
<p>I ended up applying to Wash U, CWRU, Villanova, Chicago, Michigan, UVA, and Notre Dame, but I withdrew most of my applications.</p>
<p>(It was actually the toughest to turn down Notre Dame–my dad is an ND superfan and it would have been like family treason to have gone to Michigan 
)</p>
<p>WashU has a unique feel to it. Its in the city but yet the enclosed campus and location felt somewhat surburban to us. Are there off campus areas the college kids like to frequent in addition to the Loop?</p>
<p>@AsianGinger: Did you consider Northwestern U or Princeton at any point? My d is interested in both of those. Their engineering facilities seemed on par with Wash U and she also enjoyed the local atmosphere just blocks from both of those campuses. </p>
<p>Regarding Michigan, she also did not favor the North campus location for their Engineering. Your comments about the college sports teams are funny. We try to give our kids the decision space but some of the bias is hard not to hide:) Plus, as parents, we too will get “peer pressure” or comments from our friends. It’s nothing we can’t handle- ha ha.</p>
<p>We will visit Cornell next month along with Tufts.</p>
<p>livn487 - In addition to the loop, I personally love a lot of the restaurants in the central west end (especially the dozens of italian restaurants in the hill). For a general reference frame, the CWE is the opposite side of forest park, near the med school. </p>
<p>Lots of students also go downtown quite often, but I’m too stuck-in-bubble for that (mainly because I don’t think it’s worth $$ to go to the bars down there when the loop is awesome).</p>
<p>Central west end looks like a really nice area. I’m so glad you mentioned it because it seems like an area my d would like to frequent. </p>
<p>We will have to remember to check it out if/when we revisit Wash U. I’m hoping there’s an Engineering Open House that might work for us. Does anyone know if the school holds one?</p>
<p>I visited Princeton, but just had that feeling upon walking around campus that it wasn’t the place for me–not sure how to explain it.
Northwestern was on my list of RD schools. This may sound like a stupid reason, but my best friend applied to Northwestern ED and, though I love her, I didn’t want to go to school with a high school friend. I wanted to be forced to get out of my comfort zone. But as far as Northwestern’s engineering program, I have nothing negative to say!</p>
<p>Can anyone give me an opinion on WUSTL BME vs. Northwestern BME? I’ve been accepted to both, yet I’m still confused</p>
<p>I might be a bit biased, but I believe wustl has one of the better BME programs out there. I don’t know precisely how northwestern compares, but I’m guessing the BME program is not better.</p>
<p>How does WUSTL BME compares to Rice ? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I am admitted to both and also selected for the Summer Biological and Biomedical research Program at WUSTL.</p>
<p>from perspective of parent of current female freshman BME major at WUSTL - </p>
<p>@MyChances1 @iozsan - Congrats on acceptance at Northwestern and Rice, as well as WUSTL. ALL of them have great BME programs, so you would be splitting hairs to compare them, or try to rank them. WUSTL is making a huge investment in Engin, and BME in particular; but then, that goes in cycles as well. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to look for other reasons to go to a particular school. Academic calendar (Northwestern is qtr, WUSTL semester; not necessarily better, just different), location, weather, $$, participation in sports, distance from family (not too close but not too far? - we live in Seattle area, so as a parent, I think Stl is too far). For my daughter, being able to participate in DIII sports was a crucial factor. Her team became automatic best buds, and a way to make the community smaller.</p>
<p>Good luck on your decision. Again, you should feel confident you will get a fabulous BME (or other major, if you decide to change) at any of the schools you mention.</p>
<p>@MyChances1: my d is also trying to decide between WUSTL and Rice (and 1 other school). Have you been able to visit campus to compare?</p>
<p>@mm4591: I agree with your advice. Do you have a read on how competitive it is at WashU (between the students)? My d is considering either Chem E or maybe EE.</p>
<p>Because Rice has residential colleges, the freshman really get to know students from all classes (Fresh thru Seniors). Therefore, there can be upperclassman around to answer/help with academic or social questions. I wonder how that is at WashU since the South40 houses mostly Fresh and Soph. It seems like the older students at WashU move off campus (over towards the loop I believe). Any perspective on this?</p>
<p>livn487,
WashU students are competitive with themselves, but don’t have a reputation for being cutthroat with each other. Can’t speak as well for engineering, but pre-meds tend to help each other.</p>
<p>It is true that juniors and seniors tend to be housed (on-campus) but in another location, and that some move off-campus. There might be some loss of information from all students not living in the same dorm There may, however, be a positive trade-off as freshmen may get to know their class-mates better. Upper-classmen at WU have always tended to move off campus, as housing was considered to be enjoyable, and was frequently less expensive.</p>
<p>Engineers tend to be a tight, wherever they decide to live.</p>
<p>^ Just to chime in: my experience with the engineering school has been incredibly collaborative with a “help your fellow students” attitude. I can’t count the number of times I’ve asked someone I barely knew for help with an assignment and they were happy to do so (and plenty of people have asked me for similar favors).</p>
<p>edit: livn- I’m in EE myself. marcdvl is also in the ese department, and I think he’d agree with me about the lack of cutthroat environment.</p>
<p>One of my sons graduated Rice in 2011 as a CS and EE major and my other son is graduating Wash U this year as an undergraduate business major. If anyone wants to PM me with questions comparing the 2 schools, feel free.</p>
<p>I agree, there certainly is no cutthroat environment. Which doesn’t mean things are easy, but you don’t have to worry about curves as much, etc.</p>
<p>ESE (and my other department CSE), are both excellent. The only downside is a lack of professor and courses at the higher level.</p>
<p>Engineering is hiring, so it should be fine by the time any of you got to junior year.</p>
<p>My son is also choosing between Wash U and Rice. Although he has done very well in the areas of math and science, he wants a general liberal arts education and is not ready to commit to engineering, although that is very likely where he will end up, given his interests/talents. He is concerned that Rice may be too “geeky” and not as socially comfortable, given that he was labeled as a nerd early in high school and spent the rest of the time trying to move beyond that label. I had some of the same concerns about Rice after visiting, although I also loved their “Design Kitchen” within the engineering program - I think the opportunity to create and build things is right up his ally. </p>
<p>I would love for him to have a multi-level supportive environment where he has lots of support and choices, including whether to party or not. It would be very helpful to hear your comparisons of the two environments.</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Ellen</p>
<p>Ellen – First, let me say that your son really can’t go wrong with choosing either school. Both are wonderful schools, with bright, collaborative down-to-earth students, amazing facilities and resources, and nice campuses. I also think both schools will provide him with plenty to do and lots of support, regardless of whether (and how) he chooses to party. Neither of my sons felt the pressure to drink at either school and had lots to do.</p>
<p>If I were to generalize, I would say that the students at Rice, on the whole, are geekier than the ones at Wash U. Now of course there are exceptions. Rice tends to have more students who are engineering majors than Wash U and Wash U tends to have more students who are pre-med than Rice.</p>
<p>I think Rice’s residential college system (and housing shared among freshman through seniors) and amazing orientation (O-Week), provides a little more support for getting students who might be on the shy side or more introverted to make friends quickly. My son who is at Wash U is more outgoing and got to be great friends with his floormates, who he is still friends with as a senior. But in comparing the strength of the orientation programs, Rice wins hands down. (And my Wash U son attended one of the optional pre-orientation programs too.)</p>
<p>The strength of Rice’s engineering program is also hard to beat, especially since it is undergraduate focused and provides amazing research opportunities that are available even to freshman. I know that Wash U’s programs are improving, but when my older son compared the 2 6 years ago when he was making his college decisions, Rice had stronger engineering programs.</p>
<p>Houston is also a more vibrant city than St. Louis, with growing job opportunities, low cost of living and terrific restaurants and shopping.</p>
<p>The comparisons only go so far though, as I first mentioned – both are great schools and will provide a solid education in a wonderful, supportive learning environment. Both of my sons have had great experiences at their respective schools and have flourished there. Except for the paying part, I’m sorry to see my son’s Wash U days end in a few weeks.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your son.</p>
Okay, so I found this thread as I was researching WashU Engineering.
I’m trying to decide between WashU and Georgia Tech for Industrial/Systems Engineering (secondary interests: Mechanical or Computer engineering). It seems that GT would be the obvious choice since it’s so highly ranked and regarded (and closer to home, TN), but WashU’s student culture and student-professor relationships are so great! I’ve visited both, and I can see myself doing well at either one.
I see WashU as a better well-rounded school, but GT a better engineering school. Most of all, Atlanta seems to have more technology companies in the city and is better represented in the engineering world. What do WashU’s engineering resources have that other engineering schools don’t?
Personally I am a huge fan of well rounded colleges vs. technical schools. My D loves taking other courses such as Italian, Philosophy, etc. She’s having fun taking other courses outside of her major. She’s also planning on studying in Italy. You cannot go wrong with either college as far as engineering goes… they are both highly respected universities. My D said her RA is working at the #1 software company in the world so you won’t have trouble finding a job as long as you keep your grades up. 
I would pick the college that fits you. These two probably differ quite a bit but I don’t know anything about Georgia Tech. However, my D has told me the three hardest fields of study are Architecture, engineering and medicine. So that means there is a high drop out rate so be sure to pick the college that offers other majors that you’d be interested in just in case it doesn’t work out. My D has experienced a 25% drop in her major in two years and the students that drop usually don’t like it or they couldn’t handle it.