<p>My son was accepted to the following schools and we are quickly going insane trying to decide how to narrow the choices down and come up with reasonable options:
UCSD - biomedical engineering (biotech option) $20k yr
UCLA - chem engineering $20K yr
UC Berkeley - Engineering Undecided (meaning he can select just about any major as a junior) - $20K yr
UC Santa Barbara with Regents Scholarship (Net cost will be $9 to 10K per yr)
UMich - chem engineering (out of state, no merit aid $38K yr)
Duke - engineering $40K
Northwestern - engineering $44K yr
Rice - engineering $35K yr
University of Pennsylvania - $40K
WUSTL - engineering - $40K
USC - engineering maybe with a $30K scholarship; but maybe not since he hasn't heard yet.</p>
<p>If he were totally sure that he wanted to become an engineer, we would just go for the top quality engineering program and be done with it, but he is not sure at all that he will wind up as an engineer. He is good in math and science and wants to start out with engineering as a probable good fit. He is thinking that he will get his undergrad engineering degree (maybe a Masters, too if he stays with it) and then go on for an MBA. That is the most likely scenario for him but all could change if he doesn't like engineering. This makes it very difficult to decide on a University and we are going around in circles all day attempting to decide where to visit in April (he says 4 schools max is all he can visit without missing too much school). Help! This seems like a nice problem to have but it is still a dilemma. He knows he does not want to go to med school (just mentionning this because of the biomed engineering acceptances). All input is welcome! </p>
<p>Alexandre, if you're there we could really use your help.</p>
<p>If he is looking for engineering and business, did he apply M&T at Penn? If not, is transferring into the program an option? If it is, that's your school!</p>
<p>Duke, UPenn, Berkeley, and Nwestern are the best overall schools. I was in a similar situation as your son in that I applied as an engineer but wanted a good overall school bc I was unsure, and I seriously considered Nwestern and UPenn before settling on a different school.</p>
<p>Of those schools, Northwestern and Berkeley have the best engineering programs, but UPenn and Duke are slightly more prestigious for liberal arts stuff. Duke doesn't have much breadth in its engineering and while UPenn SEAS has more to offer than Duke, it isn't as strong as Northwestern engineering. </p>
<p>I don't know much about the UCs or Berkeley. Berkeley has an OUTSTANDING graduate reputation but the same doesn't necessarily hold true for its undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>So you have...
Northwestern - good overall, stronger in the engineering
UPenn - great liberal arts, weaker in engineering
Duke - great liberal arts, it's good in the few engineering disciplines it focuses on and is weak on the rest
Berkeley - don't know much but it's the best UC probably</p>
<p>Assuming he does well, he shouldn't have a problem getting a master's or MBA coming from any of those schools. Your son will have to do some soul searching, but I'm sure the visits will help him cross off at least one or two off his list.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Congrats to your son and good luck.</p>
<p>mominva ... thanks for your post. Unfortunately, he did not apply to M&T at Penn. It was a mis-step on our part. I am told it is very hard to transfer in (like they only take about 5 people each year and the competition is very tough ... somewhere in another post I read that the transfers have average a 3.9 GPA coming out of their freshman year). I think he might be able to dual major and get a Wharton degree along with his engineering degree if he takes a heavy load of courses and attends summers.</p>
<p>shizz ... thanks for your post. It is helpful to hear a recap of each of the four schools you describe. He has decided to visit Northwestern, Penn and Duke and is still deciding on one other to visit. Berkeley is within one hour of us so doesn't require a trip. Berkeley is the best-of-the-best in engineering but he is apprehensive about going to a very large research university (he hears about huge classes, lots of TAs, no personal attention, harsh grading and curves, etc.). But the UCs are a real bargain for us in-state Californians so mom likes it!</p>
<p>Yeah, I didn't really add anything extra that you probably don't already know because it's going to come down to your kid deciding what he wants to put more emphasis on - strong liberal arts or strong engineering?</p>
<p>Here are some helpful things to remember. Find out how easy it is to transfer schools or double major across schools. Don't settle for an adcomm answer because they all say "it's easy no problem." Find out from current students. Also VISIT VISIT VISIT. The visit is what clinched it for me.</p>
<p>Hey deuxenfants. To tell you the truth, I don't know too much about any of those schools up there besides Rice. I just wanted to say I would seriously consider it at least to visit. It has a great campus and atmosphere, and it's a top notch institution. (Called the "Harvard of the South" by fellow Southerners). It is a good engineering school, but also has strong liberal arts and science departments. Good luck on your decision!</p>
<p>Deuxenfants- congrats to your S on his great acceptances! Wanted to add that at Penn, your S can still do a concentration or take other B classes at Wharton while at SEAS. I think their BioE is also more highly regarded than the other engineering disciplines are. NU's engineering program also allows for business classes to be taken and is strong in both areas.</p>
<p>USC is a real " up and comer" in E and, as you know, well-regarded in B.
Don't see any advantage of UMich over Berkley and cost would be much higher. The way I see it, your S's decision probably comes down to cost (which may or may not be a factor) and fit. Glad he'll be making some visits-I'm sure that'll help him make his decision. Good luck!</p>
<p>From the schools on that list, I would pick from UC Berkeley, Duke, Northwestern, and Penn. UCSB and USC (with scholarship) would also be considerations if cost was a huge factor.</p>
<p>Something that I think alot of you are missing is that the reputation is not the only factor. There isn't one school on that list that is capable of providing a great education... granted you may have to work harder at one over another but the opportunities are available. IMO your son should pick the school that would offer the best quality of life. I believe that to have a great learning environment you have to be happy with your surroundings and living conditions. You've got a wide variety of schools and maybe narrowing down the region, size, and cost of school would help you decide. </p>
<p>My s. is a Mech Engineering and Physics major at Rice. Also planning to throw in Managerial Studies degree in there too. Also exploring Entrepreneurial leadership. He is thrillied with the small size of the school and the availability/accessibility of the faculty. He looked at a lot of the top tier schools, and chose Rice ED. You have a lot of great school on your list. Tough call. Rice's new president's goal is to make Rice's engineering program #4 inthe nation. He's also got a lot of ideas/plans for the bioengineering program, and increasing the interface with the medical schools across the steet. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>jym626 ... thanks for your post. It really helps to hear from someone who has current info on the engineering school. I just spent a couple of hours perusing the Rice website and the university keeps looking better and better. I also read some of the info posted about Rice's new president (his address to this year's incoming class as well as some interviews) and he comes across very well. My son is looking forward to Owl Weekend as a way to really get to know the school and see how he feels there.</p>
<p>deuxenfants-
Happy to help. I am sure my s. would be happy to email/chat/ whatever you need with your s. Feel free to pm me and I'll give you his email.
One of the things my s. liked best about Rice from the get-go is the residential college system, like Yale and Oxford's. Can't say enough good things about it. He wanted the family/community feel and it is there. Each college has a faculty couple (called the College Masters) living in a house attached to the college. They bring snacks and drinks to the colleges intramural games, host brunches, study breaks, etc at their house and are just there if you need them. There is also an RA couple living in an apt in the college as well.
Rice has distribution requirements, but no required classes outside your major, another big draw for my s. He really didn't want to deal with a language requirement, if he could help it. This (a language requirement) was one of the things that moved a school down on his list. Funny, though, today he told me he was thinking of taking a language course!!! I guess if it isn't required, it is more appealing.</p>
<p>He also wanted small classes , and did not want 2 years of big lecture hall, core, required classes. He also wanted a school that focused its education on the undergraduates, but had the teaching and research facilities of a university with a graduate program. Rice fits the bill all the way around!! Let me know if I can answer any other questions. Oh-- as an aside, my s spent 2 summers at Duke, so had a bit of a feel for it as well. Big draw at Rice compared to Duke-- air conditioned dorms!!!</p>
<p>jym626 ... thanks so much for your post and your offer to put our sons in contact. I will probably take you up on that sometime before he goes to Owl Weekend. Right now, I am making airline reservations to see four schools in a five day period and it's making everyone's head swim at our house. My son is taking mostly AP classes this year and all his finals are the last week of April followed by AP tests the following two weeks. He is very stressed about taking ANY time off school in April but has to if he is to make an intelligent decision come May 1st. I guess we should have done more visiting last year and over the summer.</p>
<p>deuxenfants, I'll add my endorsement for Rice. My son is a freshman who just declared his majors in mathematics and computation and applied mathematics. jym626 is correct in the advantage of the distribution system. Students have the opportunity to take courses in their major(s) right from the start, which certainly made my son extremely happy. Next fall he's scheduled for 4 math classes...and thinks he's died and gone to heaven. Good luck with your decision.</p>