<p>I agree with the University of Minnesota suggestion; their ChemE program is strong and OOS scholarships are plentiful.</p>
<p>skateboarder-
snarf is right. what IS your problem? my suggestion: first, try spending a year at Tufts before you start talking like you know anything about it. second, if after that year you still can’t get past your self-doubting, or if you have given it a real shot and do not love the place, then by all means transfer. you should be having a blast for the next 4 years, wherever you go. you had choices to make; you made them; you have a nasty habit of doubting yourself (through no fault of Tufts where, as snarf correctly observed, you haven’t yet set foot in the classroom); and now you’re directing all of your self-doubting at Tufts.
pull yourself together and get your head on straight, or it’s a sure bet that you WILL have a lousy time, and it will be your own fault</p>
<p>Engineering programs are acredited by a group called ABET. So for engineering it is less important where you go to college than for many other majors. While the rigor may vary somewhat, and nobody would pretend San Jose State engineering enrolls students just as strong as Stanford 20 miles away, within the broad tier a college falls into engineering degrees are viewed as pretty much the same. What is very important when comparing peer colleges is to see whether they have a good track record of getting students into internships, and its also worth considering if they have a coop program. Working for a company before you graduate pretty much guarantees a job offer if you do well; they’ve seen you work for a summer or semester, as opposed to just talking to you for a few hours on interviews.
Not true; engineers start at a great salary with just a BS degree, so many in the field don’t have a MS. And while there are some companies that will pay for you to go to grad school, the heyday of those programs has been gone for 20+ years. Once upon a time you got a job at Bell Labs, they paid for you to go to school fulltime. Bell Labs is long gone… Many companies will pay for you to take classes part-time to get a MS. For example: in Silicon Valley Stanford has a big program with local employers, telecasting courses. Problem is that you do the homework yourself at nite; if you’re ready to give up 3-4 years of every workday nite and a good share of weekends doing homework, then go for it. But many find this too burdensome and don’t finish.</p>
<p>A MS is worth having, though, and many schools these days have a 5-year joint BS/MS program. I’d suggest giving a lot of preferences to these colleges, since it only takes 1 more year to get the MS.</p>
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<p>Actually, it still exists as part of Alcatel-Lucent. But it definitely isn’t what it once was.</p>
<p>I’m using the Internet as my therapist. I rant to it. It’s cheaper than paying for one.</p>
<p>Lehigh? Social life? Man something has changed ;-)</p>
<p>Conservative school with a conservative student body. Use to be party central due to completely open fraternity social scene. That’s changed. Located in a small ex-steel town. Overall a great place to get down and study, but social, nope. Also if financial aid is an issue look for more schools like it. Lehigh pledges to pay the way of anyone it accepts if money is an issue. Lehigh believes in funding its students whenever possible. There are others like this (I think Princeton and Stanford do the same). It also has one of the best placement services availaible.</p>
<p>Downside - Name is important. Lehigh’s name works back east, but go south or west and usually people just shrug there shoulders when they hear it. So what? When you apply for a job the resume review process starts with the fast scan to the garbage can. If you come from a name school you almost always pass this stage. If not, then something else on your resume must provide interest. It’s wrong, but it’s real. Here names do make a difference. Also often name schools have a broad and powerful alumni base that seeks out to employ their own. </p>
<p>Starting salary may be higher, but if you’re talented that usually adjusts itself fairly quickly.</p>
<p>Grad school vs undergrad. People will always weight your grad work more, as will you upon completion, but even here the name game plays. It’s easier going from a name school undergrad to a name school grad. But these are broad generalities, so your mileage will differ.</p>
<p>But don’t let economics hold you back. The bigger the name, normally, the more they’re willing to spend to get great students. I had 75% of my education paid for by the school undergrad, and virtually all of it paid graduate. Concentrate on grades and scores, get some great recommendations and then try for every school you like. Hopefully the money will come. Good luck</p>
<p>MIT will take care of your tuition if your family earns less than $100k per year, and it doesn’t get any better than MIT for engineering. ANYWHERE. EVER.</p>
<p>^^ Yeah, but the OP wanted a good social life too.</p>