<p>Can someone please list advantages/disadvantages of an engineering degree from a large research institution(Georgia Tech, U of Michigan, Purdue) vs. a smaller school that specializes in engineering(RHIT)? Please touch on industry views, research and co-op opportunities, and ability to get into top grad programs.</p>
<p>RHIT is fantastic if you can swing it financially. Small classes, individual attention, no TA’s, and they average multiple job offers for grads, often before they start Senior year. They also have a Ventures program that is located very close to campus, which involves industry coming in with specific tech problems, they get paired with RHIT students, and then they troubleshoot or develop solutions in a joint effort. Sounded pretty hands-on to me.</p>
<p>RHIT has very good placement success. For CS, we spoke to students that had already worked the prior summer at Amazon, Google and Microsoft, to name a few of the biggies. Their Career Fair was extremely well attended–I believe the number was 240 companies this Fall, and filled the gymnasium.</p>
<p>Downsides for RHIT: Very few girls; Expensive tuition, with, historically, less than stellar merit aid.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>If you are looking for a small engineering focused school with a lower list price, you can look at South Dakota Mines and New Mexico Tech.</p>
<p>RH is an outstanding school. BUT the downside to it…almost all the students have the same focus. Family member went there for two years, and couldn’t get past that issue. Plus the location wasn’t exactly his cup of tea. He transferred to a flagship U to complete his degree, and got his masters at a flagship U as well.</p>
<p>There are lots of schools in between large top 10 engineering, and small tech schools. Think Lafaette, Lehigh, Villanova, University of Hartford. All have great abet accredited engineering programs…but with a more diverse population of students in terms of academic interest than schools like Rose, etc.</p>
<p>My fiancé is a 2012 Rose grad. He really liked the small size of the school and the emphasis that professors placed on teaching undergrads. Although there are a few grad students at Rose, he didn’t feel like he had to jockey with them to get the attention of his instructors. Now, you’ll find a lot of fine professors at larger schools, but the publish-or-perish research environment that characterizes many of these universities is not present at Rose. That’s not to say that you can’t find plenty of research to be involved in, and many of his friends did, but teaching comes first, full stop. </p>
<p>It’s worth noting that yes, people are extremely focused on STEM subjects there. The only humanities subjects are a fairly limited selection of classes offered in an attempt to broaden the curriculum, although you can minor in some of these areas (people frequently walk away with Japanese or German minors, for example). However, this emphasis on engineering still leads to diversity on campus. My guy hung around with the uber geek crowd, but there was a substantial population of sports lovers, video gamers, and the like. You’ll be able to find a crowd there, regardless of your interests. </p>
<p>The price tag is indeed staggering, which is part of why I didn’t end up there. I have to say that the education is worth it if you like the environment and can make it work in a financially responsible manner. My fiancé managed to score a few fine internships, including at RHIT Ventures, and was recruited by big names in his field (i.e. Amazon). He took out $40k+ in loans, as I recall, but as of this month, they have all been paid off. Every last one. His Rose education and the wonderful experience he had were both worth it.</p>
<p>My DS is an EE major and goes to Georgia Tech. He is very glad he is going there. He is currently doing research. There are a ton of opportunities at GT.However a lot of kids change their minds about what they want to major in. So if you have any doubt about being an engineer I would look at large universities that offers a variety of majors instead of a school like GT or another STEM oriented college. </p>
<p>If you’re looking for “small engineering schools,” you also have to add Harvey Mudd and Olin to your list. I am not sure your kid’s stats/what he’s looking for, but in my mind, they are also among the “top” of the small engineering/tech LACs.</p>
<p>Other less competitive (and usually less expensive) options of the same ilk include Colorado School of Mines, which though classified as a “national university,” only has about 4,000 undergraduates (and 1,000 grad students), so I think it belongs in this category.</p>
<p>What kind of engineering is he interested in? Not every school offers every program (obviously) and there are some schools that are really strong in one area (or vice versa) that might surprise you. Does he know?</p>
<p>One idea: I have been playing around recently with the LinkedIn University search feature. Your son can select the industry (or even the EXACT employer) that is his dream job and search, even down to the job type – it will show you the top (in descending order of raw number) alma maters of folks working there. [Yes, there are a ton of caveats – this is self-reported data, people could be lying, it’s not proportional but raw #s, etc. etc. etc.] So, for example, I selected “mechanical engineer” at Boeing in the U.S., and the ‘top’ employee alma maters are Univ. of Washington, Univ. of Southern California, Washington State Univ., Washington Univ. in St. Louis, Seattle U., UCLA, Purdue, Univ. of Missouri - Rolla, Penn State (State College), and Georgia Tech. </p>
<p>For fun, did it again with “Engineer” (non-specified type) at GE in the U.S., and I get:
- RPI
- Georgia Tech
- Penn State - State College
- Univ. of Louisville
- Univ. of Cincinnati
- Purdue
- Ohio State
- Virginia Tech
- Univ. of Florida
- RIT</p>
<p>Consider the whole school atmosphere. Some like big/small/N/S/E/W and many other factors. As above- consider the variety of majors available, both engineering and otherwise. Look at the probability of getting into the specific major- some schools limit numbers because of space limits (of course top students likely don’t need to be concerned about this). Campus culture matters- some are very Greek oriented, some sports heavy… Climate? No need to only consider schools who are heavily represented at any corporation if other factors are liked.</p>
<p>Pros and cons- does the student want a large or small school? Would it be fun to be around nonengineers? Would it be fun to take more exotic electives than standard ones? Ask the same questions regardless of major- why a small LAC versus a university… It all depends on the individual.</p>
<p>My nephew goes to a big school, and is in the engineering dept, lives in an engineering dorm, joined an engineering fraternity. All his classes this year are math, science or engineering. He does have many non-engineering friends, but knew most of them from high school.</p>
<p>My daughter goes to a small (3300) tech school. Two of her suite mates are non-engg/sci majors, and although the school is more than 75% engg/sci/math majors, she knows a lot of the ‘other’ kids. Two of her classes this semester were non-STEM classes, but in the future she’ll have few options for electives. I think both daughter and nephew have the same books for calc and chemistry, so the education seems similar.</p>
<p>She likes her school, but I think his is the more traditional college experience - big football, lots of electives to pick from, pretty even girl/boy ratio, big name entertainment, big student government, big facilities, big big big.</p>
<p>Sometimes the smaller tech schools are near a bigger school and the students who want some of the things a big school offers can get that experience vicariously. Colorado school of Mines is only 45 minutes from Boulder, and back when it was only 10% female, the boys from Mines got their dates from Boulder.</p>
<p>From a hiring perspective there is no difference.</p>
<p>Many engineering firms hire locally. The acceptance to some top UG for engineering is not the focus, the focus is surviving at ANY UG in engineering program. It is not easy, no matter where you go.
Being surrounded by engineers and being a spouse of an engineer and formerly engineer myself, I agree 100% that “From a hiring perspective there is no difference.”
So, choose the school that fits you personally from many prospectives and if it is a tuition free for you, then it is a huge benefit.</p>
<p>…from the “free” prospecitve, Case Western is not mentioned for some reason. It is very well known for a very strong engineering program and great Merit awards to top kids. In fact, my own D. recieved $27 / year (she was pre-med, not engineer), which left only a balance of $5k / year for us to pay. She has chosen to attend a public state of full tuition Merit. For comparison, Cinci / OSU awarded her such a small Merit that we did not consider them in decision making. </p>
<p>I know it’s not a top school, but does anyone know how good Wichita State University is? I’m going into aerospace engineering. </p>
<p>I was also going to mention Case Western as it is strong in Engineering but is also strong in liberal arts.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great responses. My son is interested in EE. He attends a small school and is very comfortable in the tech-e environment. Personally I went to a Big Ten University(not for engineering) and my first math class had over 600 students with the break-outs taught by TA’s. I don’t think he would do well in that setting. Cost is scary though at RH.</p>
<p>There are plenty of other smaller programs in addition to RH. </p>
<p>Where else is he applying? </p>
<p>Albert, how many times are you going to ask the same question in multiple forums? You’ve been asking about Witchita State for about a week and I have seen competent responses to your questions. You need to do more research yourself if you need additional information.</p>
<p>Lots of factors involved… and factors (for example small/limited) that is a pro for one student may be a con for another. Try visiting a few schools to get a feeling for which atmosphere is the best fit for you. </p>
<p>Olin and Cooper Union tuition are half-off (roughly half the other privates) if you can get in. Both are small.</p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, SDMines and NMTech are also small engineering schools that are cheap.</p>
<p>WPI has a bunch of scholarships than can knock the price down if you get them.</p>