Olin vs Rice vs Cooper Union for MechE

<p>Hi all, our S has been fortunate enough to be admitted to a bunch of great schools, but many are out of his financial reach (MIT/CMU/Mudd) so we've narrowed the list to the great but more affordable options of Olin, Rice and maybe Cooper Union. We won't hear about his CU admission/rejection for another week or two, but if we get good news there CU will clearly be on our list, so I'm just going to ask the questions now and hope I don't jinx him. He wants to do MechE with a career goal of saving the world (i.e., energy and sustainability focus). My question is basically, which of these places will best position him for an entry job in his desired career or a funded slot in a top grad school?</p>

<p>We were able to visit all 3 places, although our CU trip was only a walk-by over the holidays when everything was locked up. My wife and I have both lived in Boston and NYC, so no general info needed there. We already know what we like about these schools, so most of my more detailed questions below focus on areas which are either unknown or of concern based on what we've seen so far.</p>

<p>Olin's project-based approach has great appeal to my S, but even at half tuition it's the most expensive of the 3 and would cause some financial stress. They clearly have a great record at placing kids in entry jobs or good grad schools, but it seems like much of this is in software rather than ME. (No career aspersions intended, I'm a SE myself, but that's not what my son wants to do.) This leads me to wonder whether the emphasis on team project work (which is so appealing to Microsoft and Google) might come at the expense of being a bit light on the teaching of traditional ME technical knowledge and skills. I'm sure our son would fit right in at Olin and absolutely love it, but my question is will he be an employed ME or in a good ME grad school after he finishes?</p>

<p>Rice is our mid-priced option thanks to some very generous merit aid, which is always flattering -- it's very nice to know that someone else thinks as highly of your kid as you do! Having changed majors twice myself as an undergrad, I think it also stands well in comparison with Olin/CU as a broader university. Our concerns here are that the ME curriculum does not seem as exciting as Olin's, and that it's more of a regional school (albeit a very good one). I have gotten the sense from other postings here that entry jobs are highly focused on the local oil industry, which is very much NOT what my S wants to do. If true, this would make it all the more important that he get into a top grad school elsewhere, but I have no idea what Rice's track record is on that point. Some of the specialty labs sound very interesting (like the Smalley nanoscience center), but does an undergrad have a prayer of getting anywhere near one, either through course work or a research internship? Finally, the residential college scheme sounds interesting but it's unclear whether it's Hogwarts or Animal House -- some comments here and prominent mention elsewhere of the Beer/Bike event don't sound hopeful in that regard.</p>

<p>Our questions about CU focus mainly on NYC and curriculum. It seems to be very well-ranked (tied with Olin on USNWR's engineering undergrad-only list), and of course free tuition is great. This would be the most affordable place on our list if my S is accepted (fingers crossed!!). My guess is NYC rent and expenses would be about $20K/year -- does that sound about right for a frugal student living in a safe neighborhood a reasonable subway ride away? My wife lived in Columbia U apartments and I lived in the Bronx
(Kingsbridge) when we were in grad school there. We loved it, but we came there in our 20s after a few years in other big bad cities. My son comes from a very different, more sheltered environment. We know he'll love NYC eventually because he's like us, but it's not clear that he'll love it at 18. Does CU just throw you out of the dorm after freshman year with a list of brokers' phone numbers, or do they make more of an effort to help? Our S is a reasonably social guy who will probably do as well as anyone at finding good roommates within CU, but I'm pretty sure he's not going to be up for dealing with brokers on his own one year from now. CU curriculum is another concern -- we don't know much about it other than from comments here which seem to dwell on its grueling nature. Our S is very smart and works very hard, so I have no doubt he would get through it, but hopefully his college experience will be something more than boot camp. For anyone out there who attended CU, did any of you actually enjoy your course work or did you merely survive it? I want my son to still love engineering when he finishes school. Finally, like Rice CU seems to have something of a regional focus -- many of the students are from the NY area and most entry jobs also seem to be in NY. Will my S be able to get an interesting job far away from NY on graduation, or will he be viewed favorably when applying to top grad schools not near NY?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for slogging through to the end of this, and I hope I haven't offended anyone from Olin, Rice or CU with my pointed questions. We like all 3 of these places or I wouldn't be here asking about them. Any and all comments greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Olin is very small so I suspect the depth in Mech E will be less than Rice. You should ask how many Mech E students there are per class. It’s also not a full university like Rice. On the otherhand, Olin will be more of a tight knit group and the profs will be more focused on teaching. Cooper Union is really a commuter school. It’s a great program, especially since it’s free, but not a real “college experience”.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info, LakeClouds!</p>

<p>Hi engdad808, it seems like you have a very talented son. I am a cooper grad myself, and if your son is considering it, there is one main important thing: know what you are getting into. It is a great school, but also very limited, has no campus life, and as you put it, its “boot camp”. You have to work extremely hard and college is not fun. Although tuition is covered, there are other expenses (like housing), which can add up. Rice is a great school and is very well respected in the engineering world. They also offer a broader curriculum, and there would be more classes for your son to choose from. It is also not as challenging and he could still have a life outside of his books.
Olin is also a great school, I dont know too much about it but whatever i know is best summed up by lakeclouds’ response</p>

<p>Wow! Congrats to him on getting into these super selective schools!
We looked at Olin too and while we liked the innovative curriculum, we felt the school was WAY too small. My husband was also a little concerned about the long term financial position of the school since it is so new, but we didn’t analyze it further since he didn’t get in. I would vote for Rice.</p>

<p>Congratulations to your son, he has some great choices!</p>

<p>Has your son contacted Olin’s admissions office? They can put him in touch with many ME grads and I bet they would be happy to talk to your son about Olin’s ME program. </p>

<p>My son, Olin '12, knows many ME grads who are doing quite well. They are working at Google, Boston Dynamics, startups, and other top companies. One of his friends is at MIT for his PhD.
My daughter, Olin '09, did Olin’s ME program until junior year and then, because of a class that piqued her interest in design, she changed her major to a general Engineering degree with a concentration in Product Design. She went on to grad school and then entered the job market in '11 and had no problem securing her ‘dream job’.</p>