Is Choosing a Tippy Top Engineering School of Vital Importance?

I’ve always maintained that fit and drive are far more important than rank. Recently, I learned about NASA’s Multidisciplinary Aerospace Research Team Initiative (MARTI). It’s one of NASA’s most prestigious internships. Below are the participants from 2016 and 2015 at Langley. There are LOTS of schools represented that never even enter the discussion here on CC. I’m not advocating that all schools are the same. Rather, if a student doesn’t get into one of the hot names, it doesn’t sound the death knell for a decent career. We probably put far too much focus on too few schools.

2016 NASA MARTI at Langley:

Lindsey Carboneau, Software Engineering, FL Gulf Coast University

Andrew Clark, Computer Science, U. Texas San Antonio

Bradley Conn, Computer Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology

Drew Cruz, Electrical Engineering, U. Texas, Arlington

Ben Hargis*, Mechanical Engineering, Tennessee Technological University

Josiah Michael, Electrical Engineering, U. of Wisconsin Platville

Konrad Nowak, Aerospace Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology

Matthew Powelson, Mechanical Engineering, Tennessee Technological University

Lauren Schlenker, Aerospace Engineering & Physics, U. of Minnesota

Nick Villanueva, Aerospace Engineering, Mass. Inst. of Technology

2015 Summer MARTI Participants:

Adam Bass, Aerospace Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology

Zach Bassett,* Aerospace Engineering, University of Texas, Austin

Melinda Darrow, Systems Engineering, Southern Methodist University

Peter Finch, Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Alex Flock, Engineering, Kent State University

Matt Holdren,* Aerospace Engineering, Case Western University

Henry Kwan, Mechanical Engineering, University at Buffalo

Derya Tansel, Electrical Engineering, University of Florida

David Vutetakis, Electrical Engineering Technology, U. of North Carolina, Charlotte

*denotes team lead

Nope. A “tippy top” (I really don’t like that term) program is not needed. I have folks ask me about engineering programs for their kids and they are sometime surprised when I tell them just go to NCSU (in state for me). If they don’t like NCSU, then UNC-Charlotte (in the list above) is fine too.

Regionally for me, the big engineering schools are NCSU, Va Tech, GA Tech, and Clemson. And as far as I am concerned they are interchangeable for undergraduate work. Sure, schools like MIT, etc, produce some top notch work, but that’s because there is a concentration of top notch students. Those students would do top notch work at any good school.

There are some majors where the particular school can be a big factor for employment. But with engineering, most ABET accredited programs should provide good job opportunities. As ponted out, there are often minore regional preferences because companies are most familiar with the closest programs.