<p>I want to study chemical engineering (undergraduate), and these are my options:
UIUC ($28,866/year)
Northwestern ($24,625/year)
Michigan ($33,262/year)
Wash U in St. Louis ($14,748/year)</p>
<p>Is the price difference at WashU worth the trade off in the quality of education for engineering. Also i heard some rumors about changes in the Chemical Engineering department at WashU, does anyone have any details?</p>
<p>Thanks for the input!!</p>
<p>...would someone please tell me why Wash U has suddenly gotten a rep as being a risky place to study engineering? Any articles out there on this, or is it all "I heard from a lady in the grocery store that Wash U's engineering program is ______" sorts of rumors?</p>
<p>Being in a state of transition is one thing, but departments go through states of transition all the time... What's up, really? This has to have come from somewhere... Any Wash U engineers reading?</p>
<p>The only thing I've found is on their homepage saying that the department was newly created (Energy, Environmental, and Chemical engineering). I'm assuming it was just chemE before? Perhaps potential chemEs didn't like the new emphasis on sustainability? Only speculation though.</p>
<p>They also recently combined the civil, mechanical and aerospace departments into one (and only offering structural engineering instead of a broader civil engineering program). I'm guessing the envE folks got moved to the chemE department. This came from a wikipedia article.</p>
<p>What would have made these merges necessary? Personally, I don't see this as an improvement, since they'd probably cut some of the more specialized courses.</p>
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They also recently combined the civil, mechanical and aerospace departments into one (and only offering structural engineering instead of a broader civil engineering program).
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<p>Okay, that's pretty drastic... Probably where all the hullaballoo is coming from...</p>
<p>I wouldn't think that the new combo of ChemE plus whatever would be too detrimental to the program overall, so OP, have you visited? It seems like it'd be a good place to check into. I have several friends who went there and majored in engineering, and they loved it.</p>
<p>With regard to the combination of civil, mechanical, and aero, and then I promise I'm done threadjacking... coming from a school like Rice, which is fairly similar to Wash U (so I'm told), I can kind of see them condensing the programs. We graduated 12 civs my senior year at Rice, and if Wash U is at all similar, they probably didn't have all those specialized courses to begin with. They're a member of the Mid-America Earthquake Center, and Professor Gould is really great... Concentrating the civ major into structures might have been a good move... I'm hesitant to pass judgment yet since I had to totally eat crow with regard to my original opinions of Mudd's single engineering degree, which I'm now really impressed with.</p>
<p>Go to Wash U in St. Louis.
Great school,great price.</p>
<p>You are looking at three schools in Urban areas vs one that is pretty rural.</p>
<p>Is the price difference going to remain in subsequent years?</p>
<p>Consider the size of your schools. </p>
<p>Job opportunities for engineers does not vary much, based on what school one attends.</p>
<p>If you would be happy at Wash U., go there and do well and you'll do fine.</p>
<p>What appears to have prompted these department mergers was aggresive cost cutting by the new dean - now resigned or removed from the leadership position and yet to be replaced. </p>
<p>I have noticed that environmental is often combined with civil engineering at other schools but I guess you could make a case to combine it with ChemE too - I don't know ?</p>
<p>It also seems that the leadership and many of the professors within this newer E,E+ChE department are coming more from the environmental side. </p>
<p>I think WashU shoud address what is (or is not) going on within this department as there seems to be valid concerns. When in doubt the easiest course for a prospective student is to simply go elsewhere.</p>
<p>Cressida, are you a current student at WashU?</p>
<p>You can definitely combine envE at chemE, but most programs combine it with civE. Some chemE graduates do go on to work as environmental engineers, so I don't think it's at all detrimental to envE's. </p>
<p>It doesn't look good for chemEs who aren't interested in envE though if the leadership is coming from envEs and not chemEs. Courses that may be offered now may not be in the future. I know this is typical at many colleges, but since the focus of the department is shifting, I imagine there'll be a drastic overhaul of courses offered. </p>
<p>I respectfully disagree with yucca. Under any other circumstances I would agree, but not here. You don't want to touch academic politics with a 10 foot pole. Also, you may be signing up as a chemical engineering major, but there is a very realistic chance that you may actually be learning environmental engineering instead. Why take that chance? You may think you're saving $15k, but you may also be wasting $15k if the program turns out to not be what you wanted/expected.</p>
<p>I don't think disbanding the civil engineering department is that much of an issue compared to E,E,ChE because you know what you're getting into. Who knows what the chemical engineering department will be like in 4 years... will it even exist?</p>
<p>Hunh... following up a lead on Wash U in another thread...
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/488805-big-ten-schools-vs-smaller-private-universities-engineering-2.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/488805-big-ten-schools-vs-smaller-private-universities-engineering-2.html</a></p>
<p>I'm going to try to track down my Wash U friends and figure out what the deal is. There's something odd going on. </p>
<p>Also would be interested to know where Cressida's info is from... first-hand?</p>
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1. The school is now without a dean after the last was forced to resign due to a rebellion led by faculty (with the support of students and alumni)
2. The finances of Wash U's engineering school - specifically - are a major problem and were the primary impetus for hiring the previously short-lived dean from outside the institution (i.e. cuts, financial housecleaning)
3. Student complaints about teaching quality in the program abound and are not typical of the rest of the university
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<p>If that doesn't discourage one from attending a school, I don't know what would. Sounds like WashU Engineering is a mess right now.</p>
<p>Please suggest as where should i go ? I am an undergrad junior transfer student and have been admitted into UIUC, U of michigan ann arrbor, and UT Austin. I am not able to decide as where to opt for. I am in comp science. So which will be the better option keeping all the things in mind?</p>