Any advice will be much-appreciated. My daughter hopes to eventually work in the Space program and is deciding between Penn State - Schreyer Honors College, Georgia Tech, Purdue and the University of Alabama. All would be oos. She is also anticipating grad school, either for engineering or med school as a fall-back plan. Additionally, she is by nature a shy person who has always had trouble connecting with her peers. However, she desperately wants to find like-minded individuals, make a few good new friends and be involved in on campus activities like dance and rec soccer. She is an excellent student but needs to improve her time management skills. Here are her considerations:
Penn State - While not quite as highly ranked in Aerospace as GT and Purdue, it’s not far behind and being in Schreyer Honors should increase her caché for grad school. She has visited a few times and LOVES the campus, the engineering facilities and the atmosphere. She finds the school spirit and “cult” of Penn State appealing. A good friend will also be attending and would even likely room with her in the honors dorms. It is about 3-1/2 hours from home and she likes that it isn’t too far. Total cost will be about $37,000/yr but potential still exists for more merit.
Georgia Tech - It’s Georgia Tech. Enjoys cities so being in Atlanta is a plus…though a little concerned about campus safety. Has not been able to visit campus. Unhappy that social life on campus seems to be very Greek-focused and that it has the smallest percentage of females at barely more than one third. Has a close cousin who will be attending and starting at the same time. Pretty far from home in NJ. Requires flights to and from except for moving in and out. Cost will be about $47,000/yr.
Purdue - Seems to be the most Astro-focused of the Aerospace options…a positive, but not guaranteed to get into that specific focus. Never visited. About 11-1/2 hours away. Concerned about being in “the middle of nowhere.” Cost will be about $39,000/yr.
Alabama - Never visited. Furthest from home, requires flights. No interest in Greek life which is a concern as it seems very Greek. Seems almost like a Penn State of the South but not as strong an Aerospace Engineering program. Cost will be about $16,000/yr, which is why it’s in consideration.
What Purdue and GT have going for them are super strong industry ties. Both schools bring a huge number of companies to campus every year and the career centers are top notch. Even for a student interested in grad school, engineering is one of those fields that internships and co-ops are super important. Those would be my top two picks and for aero, would give the edge to Purdue.
My D is a second year chem e at Purdue. We’ve been super impressed. I’ve posted a number of very detailed responses lately (which unfortunately I don’t have time to do right now) but if you search me on the site, you’ll see my responses.
Purdue is in the middle of nowhere BUT, W. Lafayette is a bustling town with everything your student would need. 1 hour from Indy, 2 hours from Chicago.
ucbalumnus, she will likely take out $5500/yr in loans but no more. We will cover the difference but with all that is happening in the world right now, we are concerned about job security…and we have 2 more children who will be starting college in 4 years and 7 years, respectively, so we hope to keep the spending as reasonable as we can.
Aerospace engineering has relatively narrow job and career directions, but those same employers also hire mechanical and other engineers. She may want to consider whether studying mechanical engineering (or other engineering relevant to her interests in aerospace) with aerospace electives could allow her to pursue her interests in aerospace but allow for more other options if the aerospace industry has a downturn when she looks for jobs.
I would suggest Penn State if cost is not a huge concern. Schreyer Honors College is one of the best honors colleges in the country and there are a lot of perks for this elite cadre of students. Penn State has a tremendous alumni network and also hosts huge job fairs. If your daughter likes the “cultish” quality of Penn State, she will be one of the many happy students in Happy Valley. I think being 3 1/2 hours from home (as opposed to farther away) is a definite plus. Not too close to home, but much easier to transport the student and dorm furnishings and to reach the student in the case of an emergency.
If cost is an issue, Alabama is an excellent choice.
I agree that aerospace is a very narrow major and it’s usually recommended to add mechanical or electrical minor if one can.
The flip side of that is that many ‘aerospace’ jobs are with private companies that contract with dept of defense and many to most of those companies are working at their regular pace today.
However, commercial aerospace may be taking a hit due to customers like airlines losing business and not being in a position to buy more aircraft. Military aerospace also has its business cycles, often depending on political events.
If you can afford it, I’d take either PSU Schreyer or Purdue.
Both are high opportunity/high reward and are the best value for money.
Purdue is higher ranked, has strong industry ties, and places especially well throughout the Midwest including Chicago, as well as nationally. Lots of internship&co-op opportunities.
PSU’s alumni network is very, very strong (“cultish” has upsides) and places especially well on the East Coast/Mid Atlantic, Boston to Pittsburgh, NYC, MD, PA, DC, Virginia. Schreyer is one of the best Honors Colleges in the country; it offers excellent courses (freshman 137-138 is superbly designed to be intellectually challenging and exciting), residential experience, and outstanding opportunities. If she chooses Schreyer, she could apply for Global, which is a hotel-like dorm section where students participate in “international news&culture” events. If she’s interested in international news, international actions, etc, it’s a great option because it’s like an honors-within-honors living learning community, hence, instant friends.
If she’s shy, I’ve been impressed with “Leadership jumpstart”, an experiential/hands-on Schreyer class: students apply over the summer (basically explain why they want to join :p), have a retreat before orientation, and work in small groups. The class only has 24 people and helps students develop “can do” skills and practically going from idea to project.