I had recently applied and been accepted to both Howard and FAMU. Thankfully they both offered me full ride scholarships to attend their four engineering program, however I am torn between the two. The major difference between the two is that Howard is in a better city and only has Chemical engineering (Not my top major) and FAMU is the college my family and sister went to, its located in Florida (Same state I live in) and has all the majors I could want (especially Biomedical and Industrial engineering). Could anyone give me some advice or what factors to determine when choosing a college?
I think you can work in the biomedical field with a degree in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering.
For an approximation of Industrial Engineering at Howard, maybe Supply Chain Management?
Consider what college GPA you need to renew the full ride each year.
I would pick Howard over FAMU everytime if finances are not an issue.
Howard ( usnews rank #116) and FAMU (usnews rank #135) are very close in Engineering ranks and FAMU has many more engineering students.
http://hbcu-colleges.com/engineering
http://rollingout.com/2013/07/08/top-10-hbcus-for-engineering-majors/
http://www.blackengineer.com/artman/publish/article_237.shtml
Ooh, tough choice. Personally, I would choose Howard. (For reference, I went to an HBCU too - Spelman. I have friends and colleagues who went to both Howard and FAMU, and considered both myself for college.)
The factors are up to you, really. Florida A&M has great engineering programs, especially given the shared engineering school with FSU. I have lots of friends who went to FAMU (it was pretty popular from my all-black high school - many of our teachers were alumni of FAMU) and majored in engineering and went to great graduate schools and obs afterwards. The social life in Tallahassee is crazy! In a good way, I mean. Tallahassee is a decent small city and a good place to be a college student. All my FAMU friends had an excellent time in undergrad.
However, FAMU’s biomedical engineering major is really a concentration in its chemical engineering major, and you could probably recreate or approach it by major in chemical engineering at Howard if you wanted and adding some classes in biology. And Howard’s school of business has majors in supply chain management and information systems and analysis; you could probably major in mechanical engineering and minor in one of those to approximate the industrial engineering major. Other than that, the two universities’ engineering offerings are really not that different.
But…Howard is the Mecca! Howard’s social life is also crazy good, with people traveling from all over to go to Howard’s homecoming (although to be fair - they do the same at FAMU). I do think DC is a better city to be in overall - more opportunities for internships as well as more things to do if you just want to get away from the campus scene for a while. Howard is also by far the better reputed of the two - it’s one of the top HBCUs, has great on-campus recruiting especially from companies that are trying to increase their diversity, and consistently does well in the big prestigious national fellowship competitions.
One smaller thing to consider is that if you intend to go Greek, the Greek life at both universities is intense but Howard’s, being the home of 5 Alpha chapters of NPHC organizations (plus the Beta chapter of another and a single-letter chapter of a 7th), is probably the most intense.
However, I am pretty sure that both of them do Fried Chicken Wednesday 
(Why does every HBCU do Fried Chicken Wednesday? Spelman and Morehouse did it, too.)
@BrothermanZ Congratulations. I would say FAMU since I feel their engineering program is a bit more robust and has what you’re looking for. Also your network of fellow alumni engineers will be greater with joining FAMU/FSU engineering program which matters when it comes to recruitment and networking for jobs. Howard is AWESOME but their engineering program isn’t better than the one FAMU offers simply put.
FAMU’s campus life and culture is similar to Howard’s but I think Howard is better for a couple of reasons. However, FAMU sports scene is better than Howard’s if you’re into sports.
Hope this helps.
3.0 at FAMU and a 3.3 at Howard
Thank you for the reply. Personally I see engineering as a stepping stone to what I really want to do (running my own business), but I’m glad that I won’t be losing much by choosing either options. I’ll go visit both colleges again to try to feel which vibe I like most
A top end scholarship student usually does not find a 3.0 college GPA requirement to be that stressful. A 3.3 college GPA requirement may be somewhat more of a concern, but not as much as a 3.5 or higher college GPA requirement.
First semester/year is the riskiest time GPA-wise, since you will be adjusting to college, and do not have previous semesters’ worth of GPA to buffer against one worse GPA semester.
After visiting both on accepted students day (and Scholars Weekend for HU), decide where you feel more at home. Your gut may have to lead you on this one if financially they are equal. However, though you have full scholarship offers to both be aware of the travel cost and logistic, as you live in FL.
As another posted, Howard is ‘The Mecca’ and carries a lot of weight in many regards, but FAMU will not hinder you going forward. If it has the stronger engineering program, than clearly that needs to be considered as well.
Have you visiting both? Have you visited the engineering departments?
Congratulations on your choices!
@ReturningFavor I visited FAMU a bunch of times. Heck the people at the engineering building and financially aid office know me, by extension of my sister and parents. I plan to visit FAMU and Howard sometime in February and tour the schools and see the area. TBH the only reason I choose engineering is because of my love for math and physics. I wouldn’t mind working on big projects for a job, but I also have an affinity for business (hence why I considered Industrial engineering). I just figured you don’t need a business degree to do business
Correct, many people go into business jobs with degrees in something else.
Industrial engineering could be a good major for you if you like math and statistics and want to apply it to various business processes.
IMO I would choose Howard. You will have way more internship & shadowing opportunities being in DC.
I would love to know which school you choose. Best of luck in deciding.