Input on Schools with Aerospace Engineering Majors

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am a rising senior, searching for colleges with aerospace engineering majors. I have no preferences when it comes to location and size. For now, I am just sifting through colleges with good AE. </p>

<p>My Preliminary List:
University of Washington (in-state)
University of Michigan
Purdue University
University of Illinois
Georgia Tech
University of Virginia
University of Alabama</p>

<p>MIT
Princeton
Cornell
University of Southern California (USC)
Case Western
Syracuse(?)
Embry Riddle, Daytona Beach</p>

<p>Stats
3.97 GPA, unweighted
34 ACT Composite, 34 on all sections</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Volunteering
Varsity Soccer and Frisbee- 3 years
Guitar for 7 years
Ranked Chess Player/'Varsity' Chess Team Member
Biker (longest ride 200 miles in 2 days)</p>

<p>Case Manager for Nonprofit ~ 100 hours
Peer Tutor at School and the Library ~ 100 hours
Math Instructor at Summer Camp for Middle Schoolers ~ 50 hours</p>

<p>Any and all comments on these schools or other schools I should be looking at would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Cost constraints?</p>

<p>University of Washington is a fine choice at in-state cost and good in-state financial aid. It is also near a major aerospace employer, if you are interested in working there.</p>

3

<p>I would definitely go with University of Washington since its in-state and Boeing is right there.</p>

4

<p>I would replace Virginia with Maryland; they have a much stronger program. One thing to consider about Embry Riddle is what you’d do if you decided in a year or two that AE, or engineering generally, is no longer what you want to do. (I’m sure you’ve heard the statistics regarding how many students change majors, some multiple times.) If money is not an issue you might add Penn State as a safety. You’d be a candidate for their Honors College and the program has broken into the top ten.</p>

5

<p>The U-dub has great engineering departments. Be warned however, that Freshmen are not admitted directly into the College of Engineering. If I am not mistaken, you have to apply after the fall/winter quarter of your sophomore year once you’ve finished the university core. Also, I wouldn’t attend UW as an out-of-state student just because Boeing WAS ONCE headquartered in Seattle. Boeing hires engineers from all over, plus, Boeing now has major operations in South Carolina. Therefore, I expect Boeing to emulate BMW and establish significant ties to southern engineering schools.</p>

<p>If you get significant merit aid, you would likely do just as well in Aerospace Engineering coming from Iowa State, California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo, Purdue, RPI or Illinois Institute of Technology, etc. or even Kansas University. Kansas is a state where Boeing has long had company facilities.</p>

6

<p>Your stats would get you a lot of merit aid from Florida Tech, or Florida Intstitute of Technology. I mean, with your stats you probably want to go to somewhere very prestigious but Florida Tech is in Melbourne (a friggin beautiful beach town) and their aerospace programs are top notch, and since they are so close to NASA there are opportunites for interships/jobs there</p>

7

<p>You have Bama on your list and that’s likely a financial safety for you since you’d get:</p>

<p>Free tuition from the Univ for your stats
2500 per year from the Col of Eng’g.</p>

<p>The state of Alabama is home to the second largest research park in the nation…Cummings Research Park…lots of high tech companies there.</p>

<p>Are you also a likely NMF? What was your PSAT? </p>

<p>How much will your parents pay? You’re own UWash might be a safety if you’re low income or your parents will pay. It might not be if you don’t qualify for the aid your family needs.</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>Wichita State also has aerospace engineering.</p>

9

<p>Boeing has been laying off engineers in Seattle. I don’t know how this will affect internships. (I know at least one student who started a new job there after graduating in May.) It has always surprised me a little that UW has never been able to parlay their proximity to Boeing and otherwise desirable location into becoming more of an AE powerhouse like Purdue or Georgia Tech.</p>

<p>[Up</a> to 700 engineers at Boeing losing jobs | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times](<a href=“http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020807818_boeingengineeringlayoffsxml.html]Up”>http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020807818_boeingengineeringlayoffsxml.html)</p>

10

<p>Thank you all for the helpful replies! My financial situation is fortunately excellent- my parents are generously paying for my college.</p>

<p>@Lakewashington
thanks for the input, I’m having trouble deciding which private schools to apply to. Thoughts on case western vs cal poly vs Florida tech vs iit? </p>

<p>Also, does anyone know who else gives excellent merit aid besides alabama?</p>

11

<p>^^
Alabama is the highest ranked school to give such generous merit. </p>

<p>however, since your parents will pay wherever you go, then merit you’d get from Purdue (about $9k per year), would be nice.</p>

<p>GT and UIUC are too unpredicatable about merit.</p>

<p>Are you a likely NMF?</p>

12

<p>@mom2collegekids
Good to know, thanks. Yes, likely NMF.</p>

13

<p>Check out Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. This is an article from Aviation Week:</p>

<p>Cal Poly Named the Nation’s Go-To University for A&D Recruitment</p>

<p>The Day One readiness of Cal Poly graduates has landed the school at the top of the rankings in Aviation Week’s Workforce Study category of go-to universities.</p>

<p>Aviation Week and Space Technology’s annual study has been a mainstay for aerospace and defense (A&D) industry recruitment, planning and trend analysis since 1997.</p>

<p>It is the second consecutive year that Cal Poly has been named No. 1, although the rankings were divided into three different ranking categories this year.</p>

<p>New for the 2012 study, Aviation Week used three lenses to examine the schools most likely to supply the science, technology, engineering and math talent needed for the future: 1) the preferred, go-to schools for hiring quality grads; 2) the universities where A&D hired the most graduates; and 3) the schools young professionals believe give them the edge in being hired and promoted.</p>

<p>In that order, the troika of schools at the top includes Cal Poly, Iowa State University and Georgia Institute of Technology.</p>

<p>“‘Go to’ so aptly encapsulates our graduates’ ability to ‘go do,’ ”said Debra Larson, dean of Cal Poly Engineering. “The ranking validates the college’s Learn by Doing paradigm in real world terms – and by an industry sector that’s at the fore of the future. We are immensely proud to be recognized as a leading resource for highly skilled graduates who are trained, ready and inspired to help take these industries to new levels.”</p>

<p>According to Aviation Week, a major concern among industry respondents is the lack of high-level knowledge and experience needed for many positions in A&D: “[There’s] the need for people who can dream and create; develop new technologies, products and services; and connect the dots between what is possible and anticipate the next need.”</p>

<p>Those needs, said Larson, “are the very areas in which Cal Poly graduates excel.”</p>

<p>The graduates agree. In addition to its standing among recruiters, Cal Poly won high marks from recent grads, placing third among schools considered to have “made a difference” in young professionals’ career success.</p>

14

<p>There is a big National Merit scholarship sticky thread at the top of the financial aid and scholarships forum. So are lists of other automatic and competitive full tuition and full ride merit scholarships.</p>

<p>For National Merit Finalist, Texas A&M has a good scholarship.</p>

15

<p>Well, if you do make NMF then, Bama will also give you:</p>

<p>free housing for a year (including the private bedroom honors dorms)</p>

<p>$3500 per year stipend</p>

<p>$2000 study abroad money</p>

<p>A 5th year of college that you can use for study abroad or for grad school or 5th year of undergrad. In other words, if you did a semester abroad, you could take $12k of your tuition and use it towards that…plus the other money.</p>

<p>iPad</p>

<p>Plus you’d already get the free tuition for four years plus $2500 per year. So, you’d be getting $6,000 stipend per year! Plus all the rest!</p>

16

<p>Don’t forget Embry-Riddle Prescott! Great campus (beautiful area too), and they have upgraded many of the facilities over the past decade, as well as added a bunch of new labs and buildings. </p>

<p>IMO, Prescott offers a much nicer environment over Daytona Beach.</p>

17

<p>DS is beginning AeroEng at Bama.</p>

<p>One of his suitemates chose Bama over UDub because, even as an in state WA resident, he could not afford the UDub package vs Bama with full tuition scholarship.</p>

<p>Many have tried to talk my son out of Aero and into the more generalized Mechanical. I would not restrict your list to just Aero. </p>

<p>Penn State – as a PA resident, we still found IS tuition to be too high. And Schreyer’s is a wonderful honors college, but more difficult than an Ivy league school for acceptance.</p>

<p>Embry is also a very high cost school.</p>

<p>Just be certain to go thru cost issues with your family before applications so that you are not applying to all high cost schools.</p>

18

<p>

</p>

<p>Compared to other private schools (or even out-of-state public schools), Embry is actually relatively affordable. </p>

<p>Take for example: </p>

<p>[UC</a> Santa Barbara (out of state)… Total cost of attendance: $53,551/yr.](<a href=“http://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/CostOfAttendance.aspx]UC”>Cost of Attendance - UCSB Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships)
[USC</a>… Total cost of attendance: $62,245/yr](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/undergraduates2/costs.html]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/undergraduates2/costs.html)
[UCLA</a> (out of state)… Total cost of attendance: $52-55k/yr](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/budget.htm]UCLA”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/budget.htm)
[Embry-Riddle</a>… Total cost of attendance: $41-42k/yr](<a href=“Tuition and Estimated Costs | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott, AZ”>Tuition and Estimated Costs | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott, AZ)</p>

19

<p>I have thought about maybe switching to mechanical, but for now I am only applying to schools with both mechanical and aerospace. </p>

<p>Thank to all of the input, i am now also considering for private schools: embry, Cal Poly, USC, MIT, Princeton, florida tech, and IIT. Any thoughts on other private schools I should consider?</p>

20

<p>Why don’t you post this in the engineering forum? There are some very knowledgable folks over there.</p>