<p>Hi guys,
Im an undgrad student in Engineering technologyin a small university and i finally got my admission into Texas Tech University and Texas A&M university, but the problem is that i can't really decide which school to attend, here are some of my reasons:</p>
<p>i think Texas Tech has a good engineering program, and the school population is quite decent, which will give me a chance to interact well with my professors.I don't really have a problem with lubbock; although i wonder if the location will affect me in the long run interms of internship and job placement.</p>
<p>We all know Texas A&M has one of the best enginnering programs in the country.But i feel that population might be a problem.The classes are much more larger and i heard the engineering classes are really challenging. The school is close to Houston which is a good thing, and also a degree from A&M gives you better opportunities.</p>
<p>i definately dont want a school where i have to struggle for everything, i understand that college is not easy but i also want a life. Please i need your honest opinions on which school to attend, so i can make my decision fast. Thank you</p>
<p>Between A&M and Texas the decision was close for me, but between A&M and Texas Tech there wouldn’t even be any contemplation on my part, A&M by a mile.</p>
<p>You need to drop the idea of going to a school because you think it will be easier. Engineering will be relatively difficult no matter where you go. Furthermore, making life decisions based on what is easier is definitely not something you want to make into a habit.</p>
<p>Texas A&M has a much better recruiting footprint and overall reputation than Texas Tech. This is especially true outside of Texas, where the only thing Texas Tech is known for is the air raid offense and locking football players in equipment closets. In my opinion, you need a pretty good reason to go to Texas Tech over Texas A&M for engineering, for example if you just like the school better and feel more comfortable there.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that’s a fair statement. As we’ve shown in other threads, in some schools there is more material in the same class (up to 25% more). Further, there’s a big difference between teaching an application of double integrals and teaching the proof behind how a double integral works (which is helpful as it explains the inherent assumptions in the method).</p>
<p>If you just think about it practically - if engineering was the same difficulty at every school, it would be considered an easy major at the top schools (that tend to admit very intelligent and hard working students) and a next to impossible major at the very low tier schools. As it is, the retention rate is roughly the same across all schools.</p>
<p>I don’t know who that message was directed at, Banjo, but I know I didn’t mean to imply that engineering is the same difficulty everywhere. I realize it is quite the contrary everywhere. However, there is nowhere that it won’t be fairly difficult, as they still have to hit all the ABET material if they are accredited. The additional difficulty just depends on how much more in-depth they go.</p>
<p>My message was more about the OP’s general approach to life when it comes to choosing where to go to school or any other major choice. The path of least resistance is rarely the most fruitful.</p>
<p>As far as the basic concepts that are required under ABET, it will be the same. The extra 25% taught is just that…extra 25%.</p>
<p>I know on this board there will be two groups.</p>
<p>There will be the “Top-10 schools are the best and if you do not go there you won’t succeed” and there will the group who will not put as much stock into that.</p>
<p>I guess you all know which group I am in :-)</p>
<p>With 20 years in this mess…with no AP courses, no Calculus in high-school, not technically taking engineering until graduate school and work experience will quite a few “big dogs” in the defense, I can cheer on the “underdog student”.</p>
<p>There are two types of engineers in the world. One type learns a process then spends a career repeatedly applying that process. They memorize that 2+2 = 4 and if anyone asks 2+2 = ? they can come back with “4” faster than you can blink an eye. For these students, anything beyond the minimum is useless.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are engineers that understand the first principals. They understand why things work the way they do and how to manipulate them to achieve superior results. They design the processes that other engineers use and push back when people use them to make sure it’s the right process or if it needs to be tweaked a little. These engineers differentiate themselves from others based on that “extra 25%” and the theory-based teaching.</p>
<p>In some cases, like government work, the first group of engineers are just fine. They can have a nice and comfortable career. But in most cases, if you want to be successful you need to be in the second group. Going to a better school doesn’t automatically put you in the second group, but you’re much more likely to be in that group coming from a top school vs. a minimum ABET school.</p>
<p>Banjo, my guess is if we could quantify the relationship between the variables you’re talking about, we would see a much stronger correlation between your 2nd engineer and individual character than we would see between your 2nd engineer and school attended.</p>
<p>Character plays a role, but college plays a larger role. Some colleges give a much heavier dose of practice than other colleges and some college give a much heavier dose of theory than others. </p>
<p>If you haven’t been expose to much theory in your education, you’re going to have a very hard time looking at problems from a theoretical perspective after college.</p>