<p>I've heard it is pretty intense, and how does it compare to other schools?</p>
<p>I'd perticularly like to know if it is harder than Cooper Union (since that's the other school I'm deliberating)</p>
<p>Considering that engineers have the highest median SAT scores and the lowest GPAs, I'd say hard. And, engineering is universally known as one of the hardest majors (physics being harder). And the pay is the highest, ie. if the business grads earning 40k fresh out of college could do engineering and make 50-65k, why wouldnt they? I doubt the average business major has (much of) an advantage over the average engineer.(Spew your fuzzy feel-good excuses, ye non-engineers.)</p>
<p>May your doubts be laid to rest by my high post count and arrogance culled from reading every third post about Cornell engineering.</p>
<p>Versus Cooper Union, I do not know.</p>
<p>lowest GPA's? how low are they?</p>
<p>and does anyone know the M:F ratio in Cornell Engineering? Particularly BioE or MechE?</p>
<p>I read on these fora that the median or average engineering GPA is 2.7. I cannot confirm.</p>
<p>The M:F Ratio is a little lower than 3:1. Are you male or female? Either way, why would it matter, when the university in general is about balanced?</p>
<p>How close would Cornell come to the rigor of Caltech? From what I've gathered, Caltech is pretty much as crazy as it gets.</p>
<p>The course-load of Cornell Engineering is pretty intense. I eould advise a reading of the Engineering hand-book and the major of ur choice's hand-book.
The students at College of Engineering are pretty hard workers, making it even more difficult.
Compared to CalTech, it is definitely as rigorous.
But that doesn't mean Engineers have no fun. If you balance ur schedule, I don;t see what'll sto pu from having a blast for the 4yrs ur at College.</p>
<p>2.7?! O_O</p>
<p>Okay... maybe not the place for me.</p>
<p>I'm female. I guess the ratio doesn't really matter that much to me, but it's nice to have things balanced. I'm trying to pick between Cornell, Olin college of engineering, WUSTL, and the U of WA, so I'm just comparing a few things.</p>
<p>Engineering is a difficult -- but not impossible -- major at any of the schools you have listed. You are doing the right thing by comparing them as they will differ in college atmosphere. You should, however, confirm data such as average GPA with the school itself if that is an important stat for you. One thing to consider is whether there are kids studying engineering at these schools who had attended your high school. If you can contact them (perhaps your GC can help here), they will have a good idea about how well your high school prepares kids for the handling the work in the engineering classes.</p>
<p>I've talked with my counselor, and they don't keep records of where students went to school. They do have a general idea of where students go (we've sent one to Yale, and one to Caltech last year), but as far as colleges go, the vast majority of students stay in-state. I don't think anyone's gone to Cornell, but I'll double-check. </p>
<p>I guess Engineering's a tough field. GPA matters when one is looking at grad schools, right?</p>
<p>My understanding is that grad schools look at GPA, GRE scores and undergraduate research. There are many opportunities for undergraduate research at Cornell.</p>
<p>Hmm...this is a tough question to get answered</p>
<p>The answer to an "how hard is..." question is very subjective. It usually depends on one's abilities and talents, how hard one is willing to work, and perhaps, on one's time management skills. For some kids, classes with a lot of reading or writing are harder than those classes requiring doing problem sets.</p>
<p>Olin is supposed to be really innovative (not to say elite). Cornell is more of the traditional engineering school, and college generally. The Wall Street Journal had a front page (in the second section) article on Olin awhile back. I would pick either Olin or Cornell, probably Olin. Olin's male:female ratio is lower, and is free. Olin is targeted to a more entrepeneurial type, but offers less choice in major.</p>
<p>I suppose Olin is more selective (zero tuition helps). They may tip the scales a bit for women, as suggested by huge variance in test scores (710-800 Math). It's difficult to tell. If they did, it's all relative to what other engineering schools do.</p>
<p>I suggest trying not to think too much of the difficulty, as it will be hard at any engineering school. Cornell and WUSTL are best in that they offer great alternatives should you decide to pursue another avenue.</p>
<p>ashernm, have you heard anything about the campus life at Olin? It is a very small school (fewer than 300 students). I wonder how that impacts the social life there. It is a great value though.</p>
<p>Yeah, I have to admit, Olin is tremendously different from any other school. Plus, I'm not terribly interested in entrepreneurship, although I have no doubt that Olin would prepare me well for anything I was interested in. They do tip the scales for women (females have 3x the chance of getting in), but this doesn't bother me. </p>
<p>However, UW's bioE program is #3 in the nation (with plenty of research opportunities), and I pretty much have a full ride there. WUSTL, after scholarships and finaid, is close to the same price as Olin. Cornell hasn't sent me a finaid package yet, but they've offered me the John McMullen Dean's scholarship, which is quite the honor. With all that in consideration, I'm hesitating a little on picking Olin!</p>
<p>Don't worry, the median GPA isn't 2.7. What ashernm is probably saying is that the median GPA for many of the large engineering classes (like Math 191/192/293/294 or Phys 111/213/214) is a B-.</p>
<p>Many of the smaller upper level classes are curved to a B+ or higher.</p>
<p>I went to undergrad from 1999-2003 and the median GPA is probably ~3.2 (actually it was ~3.0 when I started and it increased to ~3.2 due to inflation). I know for a fact that 70% of engineering students had a GPA of less than 3.5.</p>
<p>gouverneurmorris, what do you think is the best and most efficient way to study for the finals and stuff? can we get access to finals from past years and do they actually change from year to year?</p>
<p>Also if you are choosing between WUiSL, Cornell, UoWA, Olin, and Cooper you can have my 2c.</p>
<p>Cooper or Olin - consider these strongly but only if you really like engineering and have free tution. If you went there and didn't like engineering - it's transfer time.</p>
<p>WUiSL - Overpriced school that's only popular because USNEWS says it's top tier. I guess their medical school is nice, but they don't have much of an engineering reputation, IMO.</p>
<p>UoWA - Probably not a bad choice if money is an issue or if you aren't sure about engineering</p>
<p>Cornell - As good as Cooper or Olin for engineering but it costs alot. It also has a better national reputation with recruiters and employers. You also have plenty of options if you decided engineering is not for you.</p>
<p>Finals -</p>
<p>It really depends on who is teaching the class. I had one guy who taught this class year after year. His HW and tests were the same as last years, but then one day he decided to make up a new test. I probably got complacent and was in the wrong mindset to take the test - bombed it. Had I just concentrated more on the material I would have done better. I don't reccomend placing too much faith in studying old exams.</p>
<p>Thanks much!!</p>
<p>This really helps a lot.</p>