<p>Hello, this is my first time posting here and was wondering if you guys could help with my predicament. Right now, I have a presidential scholarship to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University but at the same time, I hold an AIMS Scholarship (plus potentially more) to the University of Arizona. My problem that I'm having is that I'm not sure if there really is such a MASSIVE difference in the end if I went to U of A instead of Embry-Riddle. Would I be less successful? Would I be looked at by fewer companies than if I had just went with Embry-Riddle? I am just feeling that I need to "test the waters" of college life and know that this is something I REALLY want to pursue before I go and spend 35,000 a year when I could be having my full tuition paid for at U of A. And honestly, I don't believe I am quite ready for Embry's intensity level quite yet. I am just really nervous that this decision will affect me becoming successful or landing a decent job. And the area of engineering that I am looking to go into is either Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering. Thank you for taking your time to answer and/or read.</p>
<p>Is it possible Embry-Riddle could open a couple extra doors? Sure. Is it worth $140,000? No. You will get a decent job from U of A (as long as you do what you are supposed to do) and either (a) have money for a decent vehicle and a down payment on a house or (b) have no debt. Besides, if you don’t go to U of A, you will ask yourself the rest of your life if you missed something.</p>
<p>I’m a University of Arizona grad (but not in engineering) so I’m biased to recommend you go there! I can’t speak to Embry-Riddle, no first-hand experience there. But Arizona has a good reputation in a lot of areas and having full tuition paid is always a good thing.</p>
<p>Upon further reflection I wanted to add - my brother-in-law earned bachelor and master engineering degrees from UofA. I think his undergrad was in Mech E. I don’t remember the exact name of his master degree, but he was studying reliability engineering. He currently works for Honeywell in their aircraft instruments group. When I was a student there I knew a few folks from the dorms who were aerospace engineering students. </p>
<p>I don’t really follow the engineering schools reputations, but I know when I was going there years ago UofA had a good reputation. Maybe not quite as splashy a name as Embry-Riddle and some others, but their grads got good jobs. </p>
<p>Also, I made an off-hand comment about the scholarship, but you really should consider the financial side very carefully. As geo1113 said, having no debt (or a much smaller amount of debt) is almost always better than paying for a big name school. I had a full tuition waiver at UofA but took out loans to help pay for room & board, etc. My parents helped pay that off, but even if they didn’t the loan amount was much smaller and easier to manage than if I had to pay for tuition as well (I was an out-of-state student). You don’t want to start off your adult working life putting everything you make into loan payments.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision. Bear Down!</p>
<p>$140,000 in debt?</p>
<p>I will PERSONALLY block your entrance into the Embry-Riddle parking lot and give you a one-way ticket to the airport nearest the University of Arizona.</p>
<p>the opportunities that would be available to you after college depend on much more than just the name of your school. The experience you gain from internships and co-ops during college can play a big part in this. Embry-Riddle lists a sampling of companies that offer internship/co-op opportunities to their AE students:</p>
<p>AAR Corp.
Advanced Composite Solutions
Aerospace Corp.
Continental Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Gulfstream Aerospace
Jacobs Technology
Lockheed Martin
MTU Engines
NASA
Piper Aircraft
Rolls-Royce
SuperJet International
United Space Alliance
US Airways
World Airways
XCOR Aerospace</p>
<p>I suspect that many of these companies recruit at other colleges besides Embry-Riddle and that similar types of internship/co-op opportunities exist at Univ. of Arizona. I haven’t found any list of companies that recruit on their site but that might be one thing to look at in comparing these two schools.</p>
<p>You should not and probably can not take on that much debt. Save your money.</p>
<p>Yes, save the money. I know nothing about Embry-Riddle, but I gather that it is well known in aeronautics. Even so, I’m pretty sure UofA would serve you well. If you really are concerned about opportunities, get in touch with aerospace at UofA and ask to talk to a prof or student (or both). They’ll have a biased opinion, of course, but they’ll also be able to give you firsthand information.</p>
<p>Honestly, you will get pretty much the same quality of education at U. Arizona as you will at Embry-Riddle and you will be a much more well-rounded individual. Even if costs were equal, I would personally choose Arizona out of the two. Part of going to college, in my opinion, is getting that college experience, and Embry-Riddle, being 100% aerospace focused, will probably not give you that.</p>
<p>If you are that apprehensive about the difference in education, maybe it would help to know that I have personally worked with a couple of the faculty in the aerospace department at Arizona and the ones I have worked with are excellent.</p>
<p>Go to UofA. There are times when an engineering degree from a private university can be worth it. Embry-Riddle is not one of those times. A BS in engineering is about the same from anywhere save MIT or Stanford or something. 140K is the kind of debt you take for medical school, not a bachelors degree.</p>
<p>man, thank you guys so much for getting back to me. You guys have been a great and rational influence within my decision. It’s really nice to know that I can come to forum’s such as this and get true though-out answers. Thank you guys so much!</p>
<p>I would argue that UofA is a better academic program, a better social experience, and a far better financial investment.</p>
<p>You will find that there will be more than a few “academic stars” at U of A that made the same decision. You will not regret the decision. DS also has a similarly wonderful offer from the U of A, but his other options are more like $10k more a year and are a good fit for him. You know your kid, but I would expect that you would meet more people than just engineering types at U of A, and that would make for a better experience.</p>