<p>Trying to decide between Rodman Scholars program at UVA SEAS or Cornell Engineering* Plan to major in CompE/CS with desires to enter grad school for MsPhd* Resident of VA, so partial to the milder winter and shorter distance from home; but will get over it, if Cornell's Engineering and college life experience is considered to be overall better* Visited both schools for overnights and enjoyed each (Cornell 's visit was during a mild fall day and UVA's visit was during a full-bloom spring day)*AA so support inside and outside of class is important (don't want to feel isolated)</p>
<p>Can any Rodmans or Cornell Engineering students/parents share their insights?</p>
<p>copter: my son is a first-year Rodman this year and a declared CS major. First, just my own personal view of the Rodman program: 1) it is a great honor and as a freshman, it provides good camaraderie through the special living arrangments (along with Echols scholars), introductory Rodman classes, seminars and some other special events. In short, a very good way to enter college. 2) it offers the 4-yr. advantage of priority course registration. Other than these, though, there is really very little practical distinction between Rodmans and non-Rodmans, their experiences after first year will be pretty much the same.
My son was also accepted at Cornell, RPI, WPI and a few others. He chose UVa for what he considered a friendlier atmosphere, smaller engineering school size, better weather, a respect for UVa’s traditions, biig-time intercollegiate sports, lower cost, and (I almost hate to say it) because his father went there. Cornell undeniably has a better academic ranking as well as a reputation for being a more intense environment; I honestly believe though that these things are far more significant at the graduate level, that for undergrad you should consider a combination of academic quality, undergrad focus, quality of life and availability of a range of activities. I suppose both schools can provide that, but for my son UVa just seemed more comfortable. Good luck whatever your decision.</p>
<p>PS- in case I confused you, in the above post I was specifically discussing why son chose UVa over Cornell (not really discussing RPI or WPI), since that seems to be the choice you’re looking at also. The other schools had their own sets of considerations.</p>
<p>Weldon gave a great overview of the first-year Rodman experience… let me just fill in some details about what upperclass Rodmans have (I’m a current second-year Rodman). My personal favorite part of the program are Rodman Seminars, which are one-credit seminars, which can be technical or nontechnical, taught by top professors and only open to Rodmans. The Academics Chair on Rodman Council sets up the seminars, and they’re almost entirely based on student requests – for example, this semester a friend of mine asked for something to do with the military (one of his interests), and our chair set up a seminar taught by the colonel of AFROTC at UVa about engineering in the military. I’m a big fan of RodSems because they let engineering students take lots of different interesting humanities classes, with great professors, with minimal time commitment (in terms of homework). Other than that, there are a couple other things that are pretty interesting:</p>
<ol>
<li>RodSquad, a program started with a grant from Lockheed Martin that trains Scholars about sustainability and home energy conservation, then sends them out into the Charlottesville area to conduct home energy audits. This was new this year.</li>
<li>Annual lecture series</li>
<li>A Rodman-only summer study abroad trip to Germany, sponsored by Volkswagon</li>
<li>Sustainability research grants</li>
<li>Impromptu social events (last weekend we played Capture the Flag on the lawn against the Echols Scholars, for example)</li>
<li>The Rodman name in general carries a lot of weight with professors and employers</li>
</ol>
<p>Rodman: Thanks for the details. Although I was admitted as a Rodman’s scholar and am definitely leaning towards UVA, I was also admitted to higher ranked engineering programs. I especially like learning that Rodman’s carries some weight with potential employers as well as professors. The RodSems sound great. One of the attractions to UVA for me is the opportunity to take numerous non engineering electives.</p>
<p>Wow helicoptermom2! I thought I was reading about my son - as he has the identical situation. He is interested in computer engineering/computer science and has narrowed his choices to UVA (Rodman scholar) and Cornell (McMullan scholar). He is having a difficult time deciding between the two. I think his heart is saying UVA because he loved his visits, and for many of the reasons you described in your post. But his head keeps bringing him back to Cornell because of the stronger program, and he thinks he should not turn down another Ivy (he will say no to Dartmouth). All I know is he must decide soon! Please let us know what your student decides (and why). Best of luck!</p>
<p>watch2sons,
Best of luck on your son’s decision. No decision here yet, but pulling for UVA because of the expected overall undergrad experience.</p>
<p>If there’s anyone here to speak for the “well-rounded engineering education” here, it’s me. I love it, it’s why I transferred from VT. Each program has their strengths, and Cornell is a well-known school. But so is UVa. </p>
<p>My advice to your sons is go with their gut feeling, wherever they think they’d be happy for four years, and maybe more. Both schools will give tremendous opportunities and who knows what the world will be like in four years in terms of jobs/markets/etc. You have to survive the four years and enjoy what you do for you to even think about post-grad opportunities.</p>