<p>I'm a senior HS student in state of WA.
Okay, so I applied to 12 schools. Got into 10 of them and I'm waiting for 2 more. </p>
<p>But I've narrowed down my choices to 3: </p>
<p>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
University of Washington - Seattle
Pennsylvania State University - University Park (Penn State)</p>
<p>I am majoring in civil engineering. </p>
<p>I've seen the rankings, but any opinions on all the colleges?
I know that UW and PSU constantly rank within top 20 for undergrad. civil engineering.
RPI was the 1st ever technological school in the US and also the 1st school to issue a civil engineering degree in the US so it has the most experience.. but it's only ranked 25-30ish nationally.</p>
<p>Any opinions or where YOU would go if you were me, would help! Give me reasons why too!</p>
<p>Did some quick searches, only renassalaer came up on the rankings. I applied there under civil as well, but it is so over priced. If you have the money to spare, its a good choice, but personally I would stay in state for the tuition. Thats why I’m planning to sir at uc san diego</p>
<p>HJKIM - here is my parental advice given to you just as I am giving it to my daughter who is also debating between RPI and a few other schools (for a different major though):</p>
<p>It’s your undergrad degree, so once you have the list narrowed to decent schools that have good departments in your intended major, it just doesn’t matter from an educational perspective. (This is obviously just my opinion, and I’m sure others disagree.) So then ask yourself some questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Does money matter? If so, go to the school with the lowest COA of merit, need based aid, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Would I rather spend 4 years in Washington, Pennsylvania or New York?</p></li>
<li><p>Which of these schools offers the sports, EC, musical, fill in the bank opportunities that I am looking for outside of studying</p></li>
<li><p>What size school do I want to go to?</p></li>
<li><p>Assuming you visited all of the schools - At which school can I see my self happily spending 4 years (taking into account things like the student body)? </p></li>
<li><p>Do any of the schools have special academic programs that make them more appealing than the others academically? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>These are all good schools, so pick the one that you can afford that you will be happiest and stop worrying about rankings. Hopefully when you applied to schools you did it with a mindset that they all had good programs and that you would be happy to attend any of them. </p>
<p>Congrats on all of your acceptances and let us know what you decide!</p>
<p>To @heartarrow,
I think you are mistaken. haha. University of Washington-Seattle is ranked around 19th and Penn State University-University Park is ranked 14th for undergraduate civil engineering.</p>
<p>Any other answers?</p>