<p>mantori.suzuki - aside from the fact that, if he wants a really focused engineering program, with few gen ed requirements, MSOE can meet that. </p>
<p>I do have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by some advice given by the Carthage admissions rep (of course, it was given with the intention of reminding them that this wouldn’t be an issue at Carthage) to the family, which is… if he changes his mind about his major and is at a place like MSOE, he may have to start all over. If he’s at a LAC and changes his mind, he’s likely to have at least some gen ed requirements under his belt that would count toward a new major. </p>
<p>It is kind of a risk you take when you choose a place like MSOE or ITT.</p>
<p>I will defend Purdue Cal in that the enginieering students do have much higher stats than the average student there. Our 3 and 4 ranked students for the last two years are in engineering there. What I like is that the kids that start as engineering there seem to stay with it, as the kids that go through the weeder classes at Purdue Lafayette have been falling through the wayside. </p>
<p>S knows some graduates from UW Platteville in engineering and he thought they were very happy with their education.</p>
<p>We toured Bradley and were very impressed with the school and their engineering school. One plus for Bradley is that it is in Peoria which is the home of Caterpillar, and the school has a lot of ties with Cat. S interviewed with Cat and although he did not get the job, it would have been his #1 choice. Their engineering trainee program is top notch and unique (according to S). He was impressed with Cat at every part of their hiring process. Bradley also has a good business school which would be an option if he decided not to pursue engineering. </p>
<p>We also toured IIT. I loved the urban feel and the campus. Mies van der rohe designed the campus and it’s a love or hate relationship. I personally loved it. I hear the neighborhood is better on one side than the other. The El runs right through the campus so it sure would be easy to get home. Its been a long time but I’m pretty sure they offered my S quite a bit of merit aid. He liked the school and talked to the track coach. It would have been a nice fit, but I think it didn’t offer the major my S was pretty set on.</p>
<p>One thing for your friend to ask is how many kids come from the Chicago area. The one thing about many Michigan colleges are that they have mostly kids from their state. If there are many kids from the Chicago area at Calvin, he shouldn’t have a hard time getting a ride home. I know she’s thinking that she will have to go and get him but between ride boards and knowing kids on campus, its usually easy to hitch a ride home just about any weekend you want.</p>
<p>I think some people are writing “ITT” when they mean “IIT”. ITT is a for-profit technical school with campuses across the country, like University of Phoenix. IIT is the Illinois Institute of Technology, a traditional university in Chicago focusing on science and engineering.</p>
<p>Spoke briefly with my friend tonight. Her S visited Valparaiso today and really, really liked it. So much so, that she thinks he is now motivated to study and retake the ACT and take the SAT, so she is thrilled! Her H had to take him since she was working, and she sounded a bit disappointed that she didn’t get to go, especially after hearing how much he liked it.</p>
<p>Luckily, the Chicago area has a sufficiently high number of Indians that IIT-Chicago can be confused :-). Valpo takes the ‘small college’ approach to higher ed, but the location leaves a bit to be desired culture wise if one is coming from a larger city.</p>
<p>Valpo does have some wonderful restaurants, including Spanish, French, Mexican, Italian and Japanese. Students have a short drive to the Indiana Dunes beaches and Chicago is really not that far away with a car (or take the train). I live near Valpo, and we often go there to eat and shop. It has a cute little downtown and they often have festivals. Not city, per se, but not as depressed as many of the small towns we have visited in our search. Valparaiso does not give off the “depressed area” vibe that you feel when you visit Beloit or Knox.</p>
<p>Based on OP’s criteria, IIT should be on student’s college list for visit and review. Campus is perfectly safe, and less than 15 minutes from downtown Chicago via El. Students can bring a car, housing availability confirmed for all four years, generous financial aid, and relatively easy admissions for noted test scores. Program is much stronger than UoI-Chicago, Calvin, and Valpo.</p>
<p>I should mention that back in 2006 (!) when our son was looking at schools for engineering, I was put off by the reputed fact that the IIT library had NO nonfiction.</p>
<p>Which leads me to this: when a 17 year old decides that he/she wants to go into engineering, what does that mean? A good percentage of freshmen who specify engineering as their major subsequently change their minds.</p>
<p>Our son did graduate BME. But I am glad he was on campus with many who had other interests.</p>
<p>I would LOVE to share what this means, but since this is not my kid, I don’t think it’s my place to do so. I will say that what he wants to do with a degree in mechanical engineering is one of most specific and unusual things I’ve ever heard a 17-year old kid say they wanted to do in life. I can’t share it because, if this kid has any of the most remote association with anyone who reads this board, he would be very clearly identified. He did his research to find out exactly what he needs to study to be able to have this career, and mechanical engineering is it. </p>
<p>If anyone really feels the need to know, please feel free to PM me. </p>
<p>higgins2013 - while you may be correct about the safety of IIT’s campus, how many kids do you know going to a school spend the entire four years without leaving campus. At IIT, you really don’t want to leave campus, unless you’re going somewhere in a car or on the El. It is not a safe area to wonder around on foot… I know, I got my master’s degree not far from IIT and spent many years traveling that area.</p>
<p>terriwitt, my wondering about a generic 17-year old’s conviction that he/she wants to be an engineer was nothing more than that. I mentioned it only because it could be beneficial if there were other options at whatever school such a student were to choose. Not knowing the individual, such observations may or may not be germane.</p>
<p>Oh, I know mafool… I agree with you, that being on a campus that offers other majors is a variable the family needs to take into account, which is why I suspect he will end up at a school like Valpo as opposed to MSOE. </p>
<p>I’ve just never heard of any kid who was quite so specific about such a narrow area of mechanical engineering! It just kind of baffles me (as I think it does his mom, too!). But if he does change his mind (even within engineering), I think it would be in his family’s best interest if he were at a school that had other options so he wouldn’t lose so much in a transfer.</p>
<p>I’m glad the young man liked Valpo. I take a group of students there every year to their art museum because many of the works fit in so well with our curriculum. While there we also get a campus tour. It is a lovely campus, and the new student center is beautiful. The students are very friendly as well. Ditto everything MizzBee says about the restaurants/town.</p>
<p>triwtt: I graduated from IIT, lived on campus for three years, and my IIT friends graduated from various programs. IIT also has excellent architecture, industrial design, and computer science programs, and sufficient arts/sciences professors to fill general ed requirements. IIT isn’t flashy, and not savvy regarding its college marketing and self-promotion, but it has a strong reputation among Midwest industry and business. (It also has a business school and a law school.) It has the least traditionally-designed campus of American colleges, but don’t necessarily “judge the book by its cover”. Its worth serious consideration and a visit on a open house day.</p>
<p>I should add that I spent five years on campus total, was never mugged or robbed (can’t say that for my UoChicago friends), walked around on campus at all hours of the day and night, and took both the El and had a car on campus. Should note that I’m female too, and I attended IIT when CHA’s public housing projects still lined Dan Ryan expressway (Stateway Gardens/Robert Taylor Homes) and zero gentrification had occurred east of IIT in the “Gap” neighborhood between IIT and Lake Michigan. I spent a fair amount of time at UoChicago/Hyde Park for nightlife/dinner/film society viewings.</p>
<p>I would like to say a word about the “other” programs at IIT. [full disclosure I am a professor of physics at IIT as well as a parent of a college-bound high school senior] While Engineering, Architecture and Computer Science are the biggest majors on campus, there are degrees in the basic sciences, business, psychology, and social sciences too. They are smallish programs and that gives students an excellent chance to get to know the faculty and get involved in research. Speaking for the physics program, our preparation for graduate school or a job in industry is as strong as any other school with our students getting into top graduate physics programs all over the
country. The difference between IIT and some of the other schools mentioned in the thread is that we are a research-intensive university with M.S. and Ph.D. programs, not just undergraduate degrees.</p>
<p>I second higgins2013 statements about campus. I have never been mugged in 29 years and the surroundings are much improved with the Chicago Police Headquarters just off campus, a lot of gentrification nearby, and good public transportation access (CTA and Metra). An urban campus is not for everyone though.</p>