Stevens versue Purdue

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>My son was accepted into Stevens for Mechanical Engineering and got about 18K in merit scholarship. He was also accepted into Stevens 5 year masters program. We're from northern NJ, so the Stevens campus is perfect. We can visit, or not, without a lot of hassle and cost. He easily can come home and visit whenever he likes.</p>

<p>He was also accepted into a few out of state schools, on the top of the list is Purdue (no merit money). Purdue has a very highly rated engineering program. But the cost and hassle with travel to Purdue is what is drving us to consider his other options, like Stevens.</p>

<p>What do you think? Assuming I can foot the bill for the added travel expenses, is Purdue's higher rating for engineering worth the hassle? Stevens rarely appears in the same rating lists with Purdue, and when it does it's much further down in the list.</p>

2

<p>It depends on his goals. If his goal is to live and work in New Jersey and the surrounding areas after he graduates, then it may not be worth the money or hassle, as I have heard Stevens has a good reputation in the area (I know nothing about it, myself).</p>

<p>On the other hand, no one from outside of the area has ever heard of it, so if he wants to go work for companies elsewhere, it may be advantageous to go another route.</p>

3

<p>From my view, Purdue would be the better option since everybody in the nation and overseas know Purdue is a great engineering school. But very few people outside of tri-state area know Stevens.</p>

<p>How about Rutgers? Did your son apply? It has a decent engineering college as well.</p>

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<p>I’ve heard of Purdue of course, it’s a top ten engineering school. Never heard of Stevens.</p>

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<p>I’ve heard of Purdue of course, it’s a top ten engineering school. Never heard of Stevens.</p>

6

<p>TomServo: I know that you have heard of Purdue but why did it twice at 7.17PM and 6.56PM?..just wondering.</p>

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<p>Stevens, as boneh3ad noted, is well regarded locally. I would say it has a better reputation than Rutgers in engineering. </p>

<p>The school to choose really depends on how your financial situation is.</p>

8

<p>I think Stevens has a pretty good reputation in NJ. (I am an engineering manager in NJ.) I have a friend with a son there, and he loves the school and the location in Hoboken, with the easy access to New York City.</p>

<p>While Purdue certainly has more national name recognition, I think Stevens is strong enough that the student’s personal preference and feeling of school fit or finances can be the deciding factor.</p>

9

<p>Something else to consider is social life and the entire college “experience.” </p>

<p>Engineering classes are the most rigorous classes at any college, and I personally think it is a good idea to have some way to relieve stress. What do the different campuses have to offer in the way of recreation/fitness centers, athletic teams, clubs, greek life, etc. </p>

<p>Also consider that the male to female ratio is significantly unbalanced as it is in engineering… Does your son mind going to a more homogeneous school (Stevens is primarily technical so approx 75% male) or would he prefer going to a school that even though engineering classes are primarily homogeneous, the school as a whole is more balanced (Purdue is only 57% male)…where general ed classes will allow him to socialize with a larger variety of students.</p>

<p>Another factor to take into account is that while you may not expect it to happen, there is a slight possibility that your son might decide that engineering is not what he expected and wants to change majors. If he attends a technical institute, what options would he have to change his major compared to a more broad-based university?</p>

<p>These are just some things that I would think about. </p>

<p>He should do an overnight visit at both schools to decide what feels more “right” for him.</p>

10

<p>BTW my intent was not to knock Stevens but to point out that if I, an engineering guy who knows the rankings and stuff, hadn’t heard of Stevens, then what might be a prospective employer’s reaction? If you have the opportunity to go to a top ranked school like Purdue, I think you need a compelling reason <em>not</em> to go.</p>

11

<p>how bout cost Tom? </p>

<p>It’s a state school known in the state. After his first job and he gets experience, it won’t matter that much where he went to school.</p>

12

<p>Cost could be a compelling reason. Isn’t that what I said? :p</p>

13

<p>I am a 50-something electrical engineer working for a well known semiconductor company based in San Jose. </p>

<p>My son will attend Steven’s this Fall. Contrary to what’s being said here, it is a great engineering school with a good reputation within the engineering community. Everyone I tell knows about the school. I have yet to come across anyone who didn’t know what it was. They may not have known exactly where is was, but certainly what it was.</p>

<p>I found several Stevens alum in our company because of my son’s news. People tell me who they know who graduated from Stevens. We have four that I know of so far. Two engineering directors (in different business units), a crypto engineer and a chip designer.</p>

<p>As for ranking, what are you talking about? USNews trash? They offer a subjective ranking which does not include ANYTHING related to the success of the graduate. No rates of employment. No starting or mid-career salary stats. Ridiculous.</p>

<p>Why not look at Payscale.com rankings. Stevens in #5 in the country. Purdue isn’t even on the list.</p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong. I really don’t like any rankings, but I’ll take real metrics on graduate’s success over opinions from guidance counselors. Purdue is a good school, no doubt about that, but not any better than Stevens. </p>

<p>I think your son should spend some time at each university. Spend the night and attend some classes if he can. Find out from the placement office what the hiring rate for engineers is at each university. Find out what internships and CoOps are available to your son. </p>

<p>Looking up statistics for Stevens on a website doesn’t do it justice. The comments about it being 75% male had me laughing. Yes, it truly is about three quarters male, but the place is just about in Manhattan! It is literally across the water from mid-town… with gorgeous views I might add. The PATH station is two blocks away. Within mere minutes you can be all over Manhattan. </p>

<p>NYC has everything and it is also a college town. Columbia, NYU, … the list is longer than my arms… Just look it up for yourself. A lot of the activities at these schools are open to fellow metroNY students. They intermingle quite a lot. They’ve got it all in the MetroNY area. The idea that Purdue would provide a more rounded experience is ridiculous.</p>

14

<p>I graduated from what was back then the #2 or #3 rated grad Industrial Engineering program at Purdue. The difference was not ‘good’ vs. ‘good enough’. The difference was the brand name professors with serious gravitas in academia and industry, the very well thought out curriculum, the volumes of hard but interesting homework, the research done, and the student caliber.</p>

<p>Having said this, Purdue is quite expensive if OOS, and the value proposition would work well for Stevens. But it’s kind of hard to compare the two.</p>

15

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<p>And on the flip side, I have yet to meet a single person who went to Stevens and the only reason I have heard of it is from these boards. Everything I see says it is a good school, particularly regionally. It will not have the nationally-recognized clout that Purdue has, and to suggest otherwise is silly.</p>

16

<p>OK. Please send your children to Purdue if you are unable to decipher value beyond the USNews ranking system. </p>

<p>I’ve been in the hiring process for years… decades actually… serving from a simply interviewer to “the” decision maker and everything in between. I have never once, nor has anyone else on the team, looked at a resume from Purdue and said “Hey guys! This one is from Purdue! We need to interview him.” You might have someone mention a candidate is from MIT, Harvey Mudd or Caltech, but beyond that… You’re not getting what you think you’re getting.</p>

17

<p>Maikai, hiring is regional. Here in Fly-Over country if your engineering degree is not from Big 10 it might as well be from the Starfleet Academy College of Engineering. My group of 15 people including the manager is 2/3rds Purdue and 14/15 Big 10 (darn the Bradley U guy). </p>

<p>Some schools have astonishingly powerful and connected alum networks, (Notre Dame, Duke, U Michigan, etc). </p>

<p>Depending on when you did the hiring, Starfleet Academy graduates like myself (before I went to Purdue) could or could not get into prestigious places. I started my career at a major industrial R&D lab where nearly everyone (and I mean nearly everyone) was from a CC top20 school. Needless to say I did not display my school colors all that often (Go Raging Cajuns :)). I got hired not because of the school but because of the research work I had done in college and my publications. But that was grad school.</p>

<p>Likewise, Silicon Valley had a huge number of Raging Cajun alums in the 80’s. Not so sure they’d get in now…</p>

<p>An undergrad from Starfleet Academy versus a big name school may have a chance if he/she has other ‘hooks’ like good internships, research experience, and the like. But in this day and age everyone has some internship experience and some research experience so oftentimes it’s the ‘intangibles’. Are the intangibles worth Purdue OOS tuition? that’s the question… In the long term they are, in the short term the near six figure difference in cost may not be worth it.</p>

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<p>It has nothing to do with the USNews rankings, which are absolutely flawed as most of us will agree. It has to do with objective measures such as national and international reputation, the types of companies who actively recruit there (Stevens appears to do well here, particularly locally, but Purdue wins on a national scale) and the breadth of classes offered. In comparing the technical electives offered, it isn’t even really close.</p>

<p>The bottom line is what I said in my original post. If Stevens fits the career goals of student in question, particularly if they want to stay local, then there is no reason to spend the money on Purdue. Otherwise, Purdue is hard to beat in terms of the program quality and opportunities available on graduation.</p>

19

<p>When you look at the profiles of engineering professors at MIT, Cornell, Georgia Tech, or even the top schools in Asia like HKUST, IIT, etc., you will find quite a few of them have completed their PhDs at Purdue. But you will need a lot of effort to find one who completed his PhD at Stevens. This is a strong indication that Purdue is much more reputable even in the academia. And this is also a strong indication that Purdue has a much stronger national and international reputation. This does not even have anything to do with USNEWS rankings.</p>

20

<p>You guys are a riot. You call Stevens, a school that a lot of kids entering Purdue engineering couldn’t even get accepted to, “Star Fleet Academy.” :-)</p>

<p>I’m in semiconductors and I’ll say I’ve visited my share of large companies in “fly over country”. It’s like stepping back in time. Moms bake apple pies and everyone roots for the home town team. I remember visiting one large private company (shall remain nameless) who hired exclusively from one University in PA. The founder went there, his son, his grandson, and almost every employee! Yeah, there is a lot of school nepotism in that part of the woods, but that’s a small sliver of the engineering world in this country.</p>

<p>In the mixing pots of the East and West Coasts, the hiring attitude you describe is simply not the norm. I’m based on the East Coast, but work for a major Silicon Valley chip maker. I am VERY aware of the hiring practices and filter methods we use for our people. They are nothing like you guys describe. </p>

<p>As for OOS Purdue being expensive, you’ve got that wrong too. It’s one of the cheapest good engineering colleges you can go to. It’s actually a deal and a half! It’s cheaper than EVERY school my son was considering… and easier to get accepted to! At an estimated $43K per year,
([Purdue</a> University :: Tuition and Fees](<a href=“http://www.admissions.purdue.edu/costsandfinaid/tuitionfees.php]Purdue”>Tuition and Fees - Undergraduate Admissions - Purdue University))
it’s about $20K per year cheaper than Stevens. My son’s cost estimate arrived from Stevens last week… $62,320. </p>

<p>With all due respect… Purdue is a great school. No doubt. I’ve said it from the beginning, but from the comments you guys have offered, you don’t know a thing about other schools and especially not Stevens. You’re fixated on that “big ten” idea, which is really just a propaganda product of the education machine. You seem to forget these places are businesses and the ranking system is rigged.</p>

<p>How can any education institution rank not include a single metric pertaining to the career success of their students? </p>

<p>The education machine may have the interior of the country bamboozled, but the coasts are a bit more savvy than that. We’re looking for good motivated people who can get it done, not for self serving school rankings.</p>

<p>“Star Fleet Academy”… ahhh… good one. ;-)</p>