Student Looking for Advice

Parents Forum
1

<p>Ok, I know this is a parent forum, but I need some advice.</p>

<p>Essentially, I recently applied to around 12 schools and have just recieved almost every decision. Now, I'm caught between a few decisions that seem almost too hard to make. I am pulled apart between my financial aid grants, the academic program, my potential future and the atmosphere.</p>

<p>This is where hopefully, you parents come in. Knowing my Dad, I think I can safely assume that 50% of parents become overly involved in the admissions process. My dad knows almost every place in the US News and World Report book, but I feel that his past history and experiences destroy my ability to get an objective opinion from him. So I will present my problem to you.</p>

<p>Background on what I need at a college:</p>

<p>I'm looking for a college with a sense of individual attention and an intellectual atmosphere, but I also want to have fun, be warm and get a good job out of college, to help me pay for grad school</p>

<p>I was recently accepted and will be considering the following schools:</p>

<p>Bates College, Colby College, Carnegie Mellon University (Institute of Technology) and Vanderbilt University (School of Engineering) </p>

<p>Each school has its advantages and disadvantages:</p>

<p>Bates-Intellectual Atmosphere, Maine is cold but very nice and I love lobster, small which means individual attention, however, it is a liberal arts college that few have heard of and I am not sure how great a liberal arts education is in terms of a future, Bates gave me 8000 however</p>

<p>Colby-Very similar to Bates, but they're more instructive and less artistic, more along the williams line, however, they gave me no money</p>

<p>Vanderbilt-my father loves engineering because he thinks it will get me a good job, but engineering is hard work and I am afraid of the competition; Vanderbilt is also full of greek life, which I despise, and I need an intellectual atmosphere, which I am not sure Vanderbilt has; however, Vanderbilt is warm and has a great bumper sticker name, Nashville is a great city, and maybe Ill like greek life</p>

<p>Carnegie-engineering, only 100000 times more difficult, at this school I'll be competing with students raised at birth to be engineers, and I feel like I'll fail out considering my faultering work ethic; its also too technical, but the engineering program is soo much better</p>

<p>If anyone has any input, please share</p>

<p>Thanks a lot.</p>

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<p>Do you want to major in engineering or not? I don't thing Bates and Colby have engineering programs (or am I wrong on this). It seems like this should be one of the major factors in your decision. If you are pretty sure that you may want to major in engineering, you should probably go to CMU or Vanderbilt, and if you find out engineering is not for you, you can switch to another field.</p>

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<p>What is your intended major?</p>

<p>Do you have any engineering-related hobbies? Examples include amateur radio, remote control airplanes, robotics, and model rockets. If you don't have an engineering-related hobby, you will be at a severe handicap in engineering simply because everything will seem like technical mumbo-jumbo. A hobby would make what you study much more meaningful. I know from experience.</p>

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<p>It sounds like you don't want to do engineering--probably best to knock the engineering schools off the list (unless I'm reading you wrong!). If you truly aren't sure, I'm guessing Vanderbuilt is more flexible than CMU (could be wrong about that, too!!). My S was considering engineering last year, maybe because he thought that that's what all who are strong in math/physics should do. But he ended up at a non-engineering school (Chicago) and now feels like he wants to do a math major, most likely. He is pretty clear now that he does not want to do engineering.</p>

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<p>I can sympathize with the Dad engineer-type with a strong push, as we have that in this household. S happens to want engineering, BUT we all three agreed that any school he applied to should have broad possibilities for majors, just in case engineering was not right for him after he dipped into it.</p>

<p>Does CMU have other majors which interest you (the other 3 are all quite broad-based, I think; in fact, I didn't think Colby or Bates was strong in engineering - am I wrong?). I had heard Bates to have strong technical programs.</p>

<p>Read EvilRobot's posts - he chose Vandy over Yale and is very happy. Doesn't strike me as the Greek-type. Or, better yet, PM him as he could be a great sounding board on Vandy's atmospher and specific questions you have.</p>

<p>Have you visited these schools? Bates and Colby are in my back yard, and I had always attached the "artsy" stereotype more to Colby, fwiw.</p>

<p>From what you have outlined, Vandy sounds like a leading choice: it has the engineering, which you can try if you're interested and will satisfy Dad; you don't feel as stressed about the intensity and competition as at CMU; it has good reputation in many fields if engineering is not for you. If you can satisfy yourself re Greek life as an issue, it seems to meet the needs you've outlined.</p>

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<p>The truth is, I'm really just not sure if I want to be an engineer. Hopefully I could just transfer in the Arts and Sciences program at Vandy. The only advantages engineering has is that it means decent money and a skill out of college, which I think just might be a necessity. That is why I applied to engineering schools. I feel though, that engineering might be too hard and extremely boring. I used to build and launch model rockets when I was in middle school, but then I became interested in other things. I think that engineering will be a lot less practical activities and a lot more derivatives anyway, and I'll be stuck listening to boring math and science teachers who teach useless material, which is what I've been doing. But in all honesty, I feel there is nothing more useless than a degree in philosphy or sociology, I already know how to think and speak in public, and who cares how the world works as long as you make money. (Cynical yes, but I recieved my first rejection letter from Bowdoin yesterday, and there all about the liberal bull%%%%) But I don't know if I could stand engineering. Does anyone have any insight as to what it is like?</p>

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<p>< I feel though, that engineering might be too hard and extremely boring. >
That's only the case if you can't relate to anything that you are studying.</p>

<p>< I used to build and launch model rockets when I was in middle school, but then I became interested in other things. >
That's good. If you never had engineering-related hobby, I'd advise you to steer clear. But the hobby you used to have would tie in to chemical, aerospace, and mechanical engineering. I know that academic departments seem to ignore this, but I think that having an engineering-related hobby is CRITICAL, because it allows you to relate to what you are studying rather than regarding it as a 4-year detention. </p>

<p>< I think that engineering will be a lot less practical activities and a lot more derivatives anyway, and I'll be stuck listening to boring math and science teachers who teach useless material, which is what I've been doing. >
There are laboratories. I'd recommend doing research, independent studies, etc. Just don't be content to merely sit through class, provide the answer on the exam that the professor wants, forget everything after the class is over, and repeat. The former is the behavior of a good engineer while the latter is the behavior of an incompetent one.</p>

<p>< (Cynical yes, but I recieved my first rejection letter from Bowdoin yesterday, and there all about the liberal bull%%%%) >
If you come up empty in the rejections department, then you didn't apply to enough schools. :) Oh, well. These colleges have the right to do anything they want, and students have the right to apply anywhere they want. </p>

<p>< But I don't know if I could stand engineering. Does anyone have any insight as to what it is like? >
I work as an electrical engineer. </p>

<p>Engineering won't be easy. If you can relate to what you are studying (and this is why I think an engineering-related hobby is critical), you will LEARN your stuff well, and you will be able to apply it. Learning by doing is critically important in engineering. You can't learn anything effectively merely by reading, sitting through the lecture, and doing problem sets.</p>

<p>There is a difference between a high GPA and engineering skill. It's possible to earn a high GPA but be a bad engineer. The students who merely have good study skills and Herculean persistence but no practical experience will graduate as the people who look great on paper but can't actually do anything. At an interview, they'll look like President Bush at the first debate. People with recruiting experience can tell you stories about vacuous students with near-perfect GPAs.</p>

<p>If engineering is worth learning, then learn it well, even if it means you have to sacrifice your GPA somewhat by taking harder classes or doing challenging projects that take up more time. In the real world, your productivity WILL be a function of your skill. But nobody will care if your GPA was 3.1 or 3.2.</p>

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<p>yOU didn't say what the financial implications were for CMU or Vandy.</p>

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<p>Plenty of liberal arts grads get good jobs out of college, and in the Northeast a Bates or Colby degree looks very good to employers. However, given the money difference I'd dump Colby. No reason not to go to Bates.</p>

<p>As for the uni comparison, if you are not fixed on an engineering career (or on studying theatre) I'd nix CMU. Vanderbilt has a strong liberal arts tradition and you'd likely be able to sample a variety of disciplines even as an engineering student. Frats and sororities are big there, but the school is big enough for non-members to manage just fine.</p>

<p>So there you have it: Bates if you want a small school with an artsy, enthusiastic and intellectual student body and are not really that interested in engineering as a career; Vanderbilt if you think that engineering is a likely career choice and you can handle a traditional southern university. Nashville gets the nod over Lewiston ME for entertainment options and weather, too. </p>

<p>Remember, most students do not go to college with their future all mapped out, nor should they. Use your college experience to help discover what you want to do when you graduate. How much money you will make is only one part of that decision.</p>

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<p>ditto reidm; Vandy has a great liberal arts program. You can try engineering and switch if it is not to your liking. Frats are big, but there is plenty of room for the non frat members.</p>

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<p>I'm told that at CMU it's hard to switch from one college to the other or to cross-register for courses. I'd go with Vandy.</p>