<p>How is SHC (Schreyer Honor College) compared to other engineering colleges?
I was accepted into Georgia Tech, UT Austin, and UMinn. I was wondering if any one here could give me some feed back on this. And I plan on majoring in mechanical engineering</p>
<p>2010 NRC Graduate School Rankings for Mechanical Engineering</p>
<ol>
<li>Georgia Tech</li>
<li>Minnesota</li>
<li>Penn State</li>
<li>Univ. of Texas</li>
</ol>
<p>You do realize that SHC is the general, university honors college and not engr-specific, right?</p>
<p>@Grcxx3, ya I do know. I was just wondering how these schools compared so I could make a better decision.</p>
<p>bagels314 - then you need to be asking about Penn State’s Engr program compared to the other schools, not SHC.</p>
<p>@Grcxx3, Oh okay, I get it. Thanks for the correction.</p>
<p>I think there is a big question of money here, and what kind of experience you are looking for. What are your expected expenses at the different schools?</p>
<p>I am pretty familiar with SHC, and it CAN have some significant impacts to your engineering education - priority registration, research opportunities, improved networking, scholarships, etc. There is also a significant labor cost associated with it - minimum GPA, a minimum number of honors course, a thesis requirement.</p>
<p>cosmicfish - no question being part of SHC (or any honors college) is a big advantage. My son is a freshman at Penn State (Engr) and in SCH and it has definitely been a big help - especially with helping to get classes scheduled around the Blue Band time restrictions. But as you said, it is a huge commitment in itself.</p>
<p>I know that georgia tech is ranked higher than penn state. I was just wondering if the opportunities provided for me at SHC will outweigh it.</p>
<p>I’d say that you should take into account factors other than the academics of gt and psu shc. They are both top engineering schools and when getting a job, I don’t think going to one school over the other will make that big of a difference. I’m a sophomore engineering student at psu and I didn’t get into shc for some reason even though I had the grades, and am currently carrying a 3.93 gpa. I know that it would be considerably lower or I would be considerably more stressed if I was in the honors college. I have ‘heard’ that the honors classes are much harder. So consider the fact that it would probably be tougher in shc.</p>
<p>Honors courses at PSU can vary wildly. Although I was not in the program, I took several honors courses (like the professors). Most of them were a little harder and faster than the regular courses, but one was MUCH harder and took up 3 hours of my time every single night.</p>
<p>As for the opportunities in SHC, it really depends on what you want to do. Most of the advantages of the program exist for those aspiring to grad school - you get more advanced courses, research opportunities, and the opportunity to write a thesis. If you want to go straight into industry I do not see much of an advantage.</p>