SMU Engineering....need advice

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>My opinion is that prestige does not matter for the top 50-70 schools or so, but once you get down to schools in engineering like SMU, it does become a consideration. Sure, you will get a good job from SMU if you get good grades, but you have to consider the cost of the private school and the fact that there probably won’t be that many recruiters at your school (especially since SMU’s size is smaller than that of UT or Texas A&M or even Houston and isn’t as reputable as Rice). Sure you will get a good job, but if you’re paying all that money, why not shoot for something a little better?</p>

<p>Just my two cents.</p>

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<p>@GP,</p>

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<p>Interesting, is it really much easier to get into Harvard’s, say CS/engineering programs, than schools like GaTech or Purdue for example?</p>

<p>I know one guy from my school with really high GPA (taking the normal load of classes) but no research experience, who got into GaTech’s PhD with funding, Stanford’s master program (rejected for PhD), and waitlisted at MIT. However, he didn’t get any guaranteed funding at Johns Hopkins for the PhD program he’s offered. This perplexes me since Johns Hopkins is a tier below GaTech in the engineering field. Shouldn’t JHS be offering a better deal than GaTech, if I followed your claim on Harvard and Rice?</p>

<p>please respond</p>

<p>thanks</p>

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<p>@pierre0913 …
I absolutely agree with you. I wouldn’t pay full tuition for SMU over full tuition at Rice or UT Austin. If you’re going to spend the money, you might as well attend the school with the best engineering reputation you can afford (as long as it’s a reasonable “fit” for the student).</p>

<p>OP’s son is a contender for SMU’s Presidential Scholarship. That’s a full ride. He hasn’t recieved the scholarship yet, but has been notified that he’s in the running for it.</p>

<p>Right now, my son’s first choice is SMU – just because he likes it so much – the people, the campus, the new buidlings, the enthusiasm there as they bring all their new programs “on line.” Anyway, my son also has amazing stats, and if he were to get a full ride at SMU, versus no scholarships or good scholarships that still aren’t close to “free” at the other schools, I think he would be wise to take the full ride at SMU and save his (my) money for grad school.</p>

<p>All things being equal in the cost department, I would agree that you might as well spend your money at Rice or UT Austin or any of the other great engineering schools outside of Texas. My son is going to apply to a whole lot of good ones – has already visited several, but he really loves SMU right now. (He’s a junior still.)</p>

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<p>SimpleLife, in your situation I would go to SMU too, I wasn’t aware that you were getting a free ride there. SMU is within the top 100 engineering programs in the country and that would be good enough for me as long as it’s a fit for him.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry, pierre0913, but I think I confused you (and maybe others).</p>

<p>My son is not the one with the potential free ride. He’s just a junior in high school and will be applying next year. But bringbackpluto, who started this thread, has a son who is a senior this year and who has been chosen to interview for the Presidential Scholarship (free ride) at SMU. The interview is the next step to becoming a finalist for the award. He may or may not get the award – but it’s a big honor, I think, just to be selected to interview for it, and it bodes well for massive scholarship potential at SMU either way. If my son were given a free ride at SMU, that free ride would trump a more costly education at a more prestigious school that offered less scholarship money – my opinion.</p>

<p>Sorry for the confusion! But either way, we do seem to be on the same page about this.</p>

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<p>I do have a son, btw, who went to SMU on a four year, full-tuition scholarship. Engineering is not his thing, and he did not get free room and board. But as you can imagine, we love SMU and are enormously grateful for his education!</p>

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<p>haha alright I must’ve gotten confused (over the 4 pages that this thread has spread out). sorry about that</p>

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<p>SimpleLife: Thanks for clarifying my situation, and it seems we agree. I too would not pay full tuition at SMU, etc. I am fortunate to have such a bright, motivated son; however, we are in that middle class category that will not qualify for much if any financial aid but don’t have the $ for an expensive private school despite modest living and diligent savings. As a result, we would be saddled with a huge bill for undergrad at any private or Ivy League school. My son is not a URM, and that cuts down on many scholarship opportunities; he would be looking at huge student loans. When looking at schools, my son decided to concentrate on those that reward students for academic merit. SMU is such a school. He has been offered very large scholarships at two highly ranked state schools, but they require him to maintain a higher gpa than SMU to maintain his scholarship. In addition, depending on what is finally offered by SMU, it may turn out to be cheaper than the state school. We, however, will not be making the decision solely on the cost of tuition…hence, this thread I started which asking for opinions on SMU’s engineering program.</p>

<p>For GP: I realize that the engineering program at SMU is not as highly ranked as UT, A&M, or Rice; however, I was wondering why Lockheed Martin decided to partner with SMU and have its Skunk Works program located there. Certainly, they must like the engineers that SMU is producing. Do you have any thoughts on this. </p>

<p>BTW: Happy New Year to all :)</p>

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<p>Happy New Year to you, too!</p>

<p>bringbackpluto,
It sounds like you and I are in the same boat financially. No URM status here either. Middle class category. Modest living and diligent savings. Still unable to afford much in the way of a college education.</p>

<p>My kids have likewise focused their searches on schools that give large rewards for academic merit. And the other big factor – all schools to which they apply must be a very good fit for them – that way, no matter which offer they accept, they’ll be happy with their school in the end. They know going in that money will be a huge factor in the final decision. That has worked out well for us in the past. This next kid (the hs junior) will be doing the same next year. I’m hoping the economy stays intact enough that colleges can afford to do what they’ve done in the past. You, and I, and lots of others on CC, are very, very fortunate to have bright, motivated kids who can earn good scholarships! You said it!</p>

<p>Our family does put cost of attendance very close to the top of the list for undergrad decisions. It’s not THE deciding factor, but it’s a big one. (One of these days, I’m going to get around to PMing you, pluto! Soon!)</p>

<p>We, too, were impressed that Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works has partnered with SMU. It seems to us that SMU may well be known as a great engineering school in years to come! I’d love to hear your thoughts, too, GP.</p>

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<p>Hopefully my advice will offer some help, seeing as how I’m currently enrolled at SMU as a first-year Electrical Engineering pre/med focus major.</p>

<p>I’m a part of the SMU recruiting team for interested engineering majors and like others have previously stated in this thread, SMU’s engineering program is in obscurity… however that was of the last decade</p>

<p>This new decade brings in our partnership with Lockheed Martin, the top defense contractor of our nation, as well as our pre-existing partnerships with Texas Instruments. Having just built Caruth Hall, a new addition to our engineering building complex, we open up the new Engineering Leadship and Innovation division of Lyle Engineering.</p>

<p>This division is specifically focused on providing students with ample experience under time constraints (as directed by Lockheed Martin based design projects) as well as providing students with an entired underground basement meant for free-form projects that students can use on their own free will.</p>

<p>I know that I’m just a first year student here at SMU and I have yet to fully experience the teachings of all that is the subject of Engineering, but I have been here long enough and talked to enough faculty and recruiting members here at SMU to understand that our Engineering department is growing to become highly respected in the Dallas area and soon to be the entire Texas and Southwest region.</p>

<p>SMU Engineeirng has seen a HUGE increase in applicants as well as accepted students into the department and as SMU being a private university, the enrollment towards the Engineering department is beginning to be capped next year at a specific amount of students (note that SMU prides itself on its 12:1 student to teacher ratio). This will only provide more competition and increased prestige for that stats of the accepted students.</p>

<p>SMU just hired Prof. Talley to head our Environmental Engineering sector, this is taken from the lyle engineering website</p>

<p>"Talley has landed at SMU with all the subtlety of a bunker-busting bomb. The career Army reservist and, until just a few months ago, prized engineering prof at Notre Dame is the latest and potentially most game-changing star hire by Lyle School dean Geoffrey Orsak. Talley’s mission: to shake up the department and help catalyze Orsak’s lofty agenda to respark the problem-solving imagination of engineers around the globe. Caruth Hall will be the epicenter of Orsak’s vision, home to what he calls “the world’s greatest innovation machine,” a collective of heavily funded institutes that will bring together thinkers and, most important, doers from academia and the private and public sectors to aid ailing and underserved corners of the planet, from West Darfur to East Dallas. "</p>

<p>SMU’s engineering department is very well connected with the millitary, that is to say one of our faculty members who heads the entire engineering department (I cannot remember her name though, I believe it was Delores) was actually once secretary of the navy for the US. Maybe this is why its hard to find SMU grads in the private sector, but I can assure you many US Government jobs are found connected here through our department.</p>

<p>I can say that my own roommate works a research team at SMU, I believe in biometrics, but also co-ops with the US National Security Administration.</p>

<p>Our Co-Op program prides itself with its multiple connections amongst Dallas as well as I previously stated, connections with the US Millitary.</p>

<p>So in closing, I know this is kind of a long post, but I’m here to say do not count SMU out. Lyle Engineering is soon to be a premiere engineering school in Texas, and I do understand that as of now it is in obscurity as compared to TAMU, Rice and UT.</p>

<p>However, SMU’s Engineering is a program on the uprise, and with the new addition of Lockheed Martin and the Caruth Hall of Innovation and Leadership, there is only one way for SMU’s Engineering program to go. SMU is full of potential for future engineers, and not to mention our Cox School of Business is one of the most prestigious in the state and attempts to provide Engineering students with dual degrees in Business Administration as well.</p>

<p>Email me at <a href=“mailto:asaucedo@smu.edu”>asaucedo@smu.edu</a> for any concerns or questions about SMU Engineering and I myself can help you or direct your question to someone in the actual engineering department itself who can help.</p>

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<p>Yay, meavs40! Thanks so much for weighing in! It was so good to hear from a current SMU engineering student!</p>

<p>My son is so excited about your program at SMU. It’s just those sorts of things that got him all fired up in the first place. That was an excellent, informative post. Thanks.</p>

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<p>I was comparing that school’s undergraduate program to it’s graduate program. It’s much easier to get into MIT’s MS program than it’s BS program, for example. Harvard has a very small engineering school and they look for people with very specific experience. </p>

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<p>There is actually not a debate. Everyone is in agreement that attending a less prestigious school is less prestigious. Hence the label. The point remains: attending a less prestigious school will cost your son. Going to UIUC instead of MIT will cost you. Going to TAMU instead of UIUC will cost you. Going to SMU instead of TAMU will cost you. Going to Lamar University instead of SMU will cost you.</p>

<p>The debate is: how much does prestige cost you, and does the tuition difference outweigh the prestige difference. That will depend on your perception of prestige (UT is more prestigious than UCLA if your goal is to work in Texas - UCLA is more prestigious in SoCal), your value for prestige, and your value of money (a millionaire surgeon has a different value of $100,000 in tuition than a $20,000/yr construction worker).</p>

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<p>The more prestigious schools will open those doors that are needed when you first graduate. That prestigious school may allow you to gain cutting edge experience (and higher salary) at an earlier age…provided that you keep doing great industry work.</p>

<p>Having said all of that…the prestige of your school matters LESS AND LESS as your proven work experience increases. Regardless of which school a graduate comes from, their ability to do the work AND remain a “lifelong student” will determine their success.</p>

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<p>The prestige of your school just gives you a head start in the job market, however like GlobalTraveler said, it will be based on your abilities as the years go on.</p>

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<p>@GPBurdell
Yes, GP, that is the debate … “how much does prestige cost you, and does the tuition difference outweigh the prestige difference.” Your words. And it’s basically the same thing I said: “How important is the prestige of the undergraduate school?” That IS the debate. I did not say there’s a debate about whether a less pretigious school is less prestigious. The debate is about how much the prestige is worth. There IS a debate about that … basically what you said, “does the tuition difference outweight the prestige difference?” You seem determined to argue. I don’t really get that.</p>

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<p>I don’t think he’s being argumentative. And from my standpoint, it’s NOT just “prestige” you’re gaining at a better school, it’s training and research opportunities, which are much more important in engineering than in liberal arts.</p>

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<p>Maybe my wording was not the best…</p>

<p>It is common on this website for people to make the assertion that all engineering schools provide the same education because all are ABET-EAC certified. Further, since all graduates from all engineering schools have the same education, they have the same opportunity for success. Therefore, a student, 10 to 15 years down the line, will end up in the same place whether that student went to Stanford or NC State. The conclusion is then made that there’s no reason to ever go to a private school or an out of state school, you should always go to the cheapest school.</p>

<p>That is the argument I am countering.</p>

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<p>Ah. I see. Well that was not the argument I was making. Thanks for explaining.</p>

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<p>Oh snap. I chose UIUC over MIT.
I must be losing at life.</p>

<p>To assuage my depression at this development, I’m going to go back to enjoying the Belizean vacation that I’m on right now as I take a week-long break from my gig with a top-notch structural engineering firm. :D</p>

<p>Waiter! Another pi</p>