<p>I was recently admitted to the University of Pittsburgh in the Swanson School of Engineering in the Honors College. However, I was also admitted to the College of Engineering at both Penn State and Syracuse.</p>
<p>I am hoping some current or alumni from the Swanson School can help me with my question. I visited Pittsburgh a few days ago and the program seemed extremely competitive and hard. I feel like i would just be studying and freaking out about how hard the classes were if i went to Pitt. Is this true? How is the work load?</p>
<p>I know that Penn State and Syracuse are a little easier, by means of Engineering, and i know i would have more time to enjoy the college life.</p>
<p>Do you guys have any thoughts? Should i pick academics over social life?</p>
<p>My two engineers at Pitt do have to work hard (one BioE, one ChemE) but have found time to get involved in organizations (PittBand, band frat) and still have a social life. I don’t think any engineering program is easier or harder since accredited programs are pretty much standardized. </p>
<p>@GrayHen I’ll address your question from a location and cost point of view. What is your bottom line cost from each school? SU is private and expensive, which I’m sure you are aware of. They do have a nice campus. I’m from the Syracuse, went to Le Moyne and my son attends Pitt. If I were to make the decision today, I would go to Pittsburgh in a minute. As they say at Pitt the City is your campus. Having grown up, lived and visited family often, I can honestly say that there’s not a lot going on in Syracuse except SU sports. For the lost their Symphony two years ago because of financial reasons, and the economy is just not good. In Pittsburgh you will have MANY times the opportunities for internships which is something to consider, and over all there is just so much more to do!
I agree with amandakayak that engineering is not easy wherever you go, so I wouldn’t bet hung up on Pitt being more difficult than Penn State or SU. </p>
<p>The last thing I would describe SSOE as is competitive. It is <em>extremely collaborative</em>. Loads of study groups, homework groups, working together in the computer labs, email chains, etc. I never felt like I didn’t have a friend in any of my classes whom I could turn to and get help from (even true at the graduate level, I made friends with a classmate simply because I missed a class and emailed him asking for the notes, now we’re pretty good friends). </p>
<p>As for how hard it is, that depends on your strengths (physics vs. math vs. chem for example), the type of class you take (UHC vs. non), and major. Personally, mechanics isn’t my strong suit, so I always found my MechE classes harder. However I liked chemistry and metallurgy, and really enjoyed my Materials Science classes and never found them difficult at all. </p>
<p>Work Load: Also depends on what you’re used to from high school initially. I went to a high workload high school, so my first year of engineering was a bit of a breeze for me, even with UHC classes. But if you’ve never had to self-discipline for work-life balance you will find it difficult. One thing I never let myself do was wait until the night before a HW assignment was due to start it. This is a key mistake I think many people make in college. In HS, generally you can get away with it because the HW is directly what you learned in class or examples from class etc. In college, especially SSOE, your homework may not have been directly covered in class, it could be based on theory you learned that you now need to apply, or something entirely new. Start early and go to office hours. In my entire undergrad career I never pulled an all-nighter because I didn’t procrastinate.</p>
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<p>You’re going to college to (theoretically) get a good education and secure a career for the future. What do you think the answer to your own question should be.</p>