<p>My son has been accepted into several schools for Mechanical Engineering. He is also waitlisted at WPI and RIT (RIT waitlisted him for mechanical engineering - however they did accept him into their Computer Science program and have offered him spots in other engineering disciplines. Ironically they have also given him the largest merit scholarship of all schools. He is choosing to remain waitlisted for Mechanical Engineering as that is his desired major).</p>
<p>Of the schools he is accepted to, 3 seem to fit his school choice criteria of:
* A school where he sees himself comfortable and happy
* A good, quality education, with a strong Engineering study support system
* A sincere sense of strong Professor/Staff/Student relationships --- with student success being the #1 focus
* A strong, active extracurricular community, with multiple options for him to have social outlets outside of the engineering universe</p>
<p>The 3 schools remaining on his list: Syracuse University, University of Pittsburgh, UMASS Lowell. He really likes Syracuse and PITT, and even likes UML although I wouldn't say it is his first choice. But we both agree we were very impressed with UML facilities and the Engineering program seemed to be very strong. They actually appear to have more and better equipped labs than the other 2 schools, and a very hands on program. We still have some research to do to better understand the support system and the staff/student relationship, but right now we did like what we saw.</p>
<p>So now taking cost into consideration it makes the decision very difficult. UML is considerably cheaper as we are residents of Mass. So the questions are:</p>
<p>Would we be putting him at a disadvantage if he got his education at UML vs Syracuse or PITT? Or to say it another way - what would he get with a degree from SYR or PITT that he wouldn't get at UML? Would he be getting an inferior education at UML? How much, if any, weight does a college have when it comes to getting a job or overall perception in the Engineering industry? </p>
<p>Answers to these questions or any insights on these schools would be much appreciated, need to make a decision soon as time is running out!</p>
<p>UML is a great school at an exceptional value. The ppl I know who went there have consistently done very well in life - parents and current grad’s alike. Perhaps the others have more national name brand recognition. However, IMHO engineering is one field where your degree defines that you have mastered a certain, well defined body of knowledge. So the degree carries a lot of weight. On the other hand, Syracuse or Pitt would be larger schools with a more diverse learning environment. Is that important to your son? Also, Pitt is a very urban campus and Syracuse is a well defined lovely college campus situation. What is your sense of how important either of those things are? Is it worth the extra $$? I guess what I’m saying is the engineering itself will be similar from one place to the next as it is ABET certified and certain subjects are required no matter where you go. So then the question becomes is the lifestyle of the college important enough to pay for? I think that’s your decision point. Good luck deciding; I think you have no bad decision here =).</p>
<p>*Would we be putting him at a disadvantage if he got his education at UML vs Syracuse or PITT? Or to say it another way - what would he get with a degree from SYR or PITT that he wouldn’t get at UML? Would he be getting an inferior education at UML? How much, if any, weight does a college have when it comes to getting a job or overall perception in the Engineering industry? *</p>
<p>Lowell has an acceptable ranking for eng’g and appears to be most strong in MechE and CivilE. Are their programs ABET accredited? If so, that school should be fine. </p>
<p>Eng’g grads get paid the same no matter if they grad from SU or Lowell. </p>
<p>We have a local univ that has eng’g rankings similar to Lowell. Those grads don’t have any trouble getting well-paid jobs. </p>
<p>What are the STEM facilities like at Lowell? Is it all old stuff or has there been facilities investment?</p>
<p>Where else did he apply?</p>
<p>Agree with the above posters in that the program matters more then the name of the school. If your son wants to stay in the area it can be an advantage to go to a more local college.</p>
<p>I attended UML for engineering grad school in the dark ages. I also hire new college graduates from UML. They are definitely expanded the campus and upgrading buildings. The engineering program is very solid, the city of Lowell has dramatically improved its image over the past decades.</p>
<p>The school draws from a very local area, and many of the students live within 30 minutes of the school and go home on weekends, or commute. Since the campus is spread out over the city, I am not sure how the extra curriculars are for engineering students.</p>