<p>My friend’s D just completed her Masters in Landscape Architecture at Harvard. You can contact Harvard’s School of Design and ask them which undergrad program they would consider as being strong.</p>
<p>hokiefan - being in the oil biz…I agree with drizzit. </p>
<p>In addition to major universities TX and OK (plus LSU and Colo School of Mines and Penn State), try looking at look at Univ of Kansas and West Virginia Univ.</p>
<p>hokiefan, I will add a plug for WVU. Our UVA engineering student was looking at oil companies as possible employers and noticed many have on-campus recruiting at WVU (but not UVA). His brother is majoring in biometric systems engineering at WVU and so far the workload at WVU appears to be as high or higher than what his brother experienced as a freshman at UVA, so not sure about having time for marching band. But, I have never seen our younger son so motivated or so happy. </p>
<p>Petroleum Engineering is an Academic Common Market major for Virginia, which means you would be eligible for in-state tuition at a number of schools that offer petroleum engineering as a major so you definitely want to check out that list. WVU is also generous with merit scholarships based on GPA and SAT–no essays, no recommendations, no application–just automaticly received based on a handy chart they put on their web site. Our costs at WVU are less than one-third of our in-state tuition costs at UVA.</p>
<p>You guys are terrific coming back with all kinds of info. Most of the schools you mentioned I knew had petroleum eng. but I wasn’t quite sure if one program was better than the other or how we could get marching band squeezed in there. My son has already talked with reps from LSU and UWV at a college fair. He seemed to like UWV better in terms of location but LSU can’t be beat for marching band and location near oil companies. I guess my worry is UWV is just too far from the major oil companies and there won’t be too much recruitement there. Since we are Va. residents I know we can get in state tuition at UWV and LSU due to the common market.</p>
<p>Most of the folks that live in my area are VT fans, so my son going to UWV would be a sugbect for another thread:) One of the reasons I’m seeking help on this website is most of the people I know only think you can get a great education at Vt or UVA (including school councelors). My son really wants to expereince some other part of the country if we can afford it. </p>
<p>Can anyone give me any tips what to look for when we evaluate these problems? I do have an older kid in college, but she is a liberal arts major in a small private school. So while I’m college savy and know about the financial end, this engineering thing is a whole new baby. Thanks again.</p>
<p>My local community college has a very good vocational engineering technology (or something like that) program. </p>
<p>Michigan Tech is very good for Engineering. From their Wikipedia page: "Undergraduate enrollment in environmental, geological, and mechanical engineering all rank in the top eight nationally, and the scientific and technical communication program is one of the nation’s largest. " </p>
<p>Western Michigan has a very good Aviation school. The Wikipedia page doesn’t make any mention of that but it says it’s one of the largest in the US.</p>
<p>Eastern Michigan is known (at least locally) for being a good college for education. I don’t know how it ranks nationally though.</p>
<p>When you see “Technology” at the end of a program, especially in an engineering context, be sure of what you will be getting. There’s a big difference in x and x Technology.</p>
<p>I know it’s not “Engineering” and is “Engineering Technology.” I included the word “vocational” to try to clear confusion about that. It’s an Associates Degree after all… People aren’t expecting the same thing as a BSE.</p>
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<p>You’d be surprised. I had to explain the differences in the engineering forum last week to a student that was asking about programs.</p>
<p>hokiefan, just a thought: go to the webpages of the major oil companies and see where they recruit. It may give you an idea of a college you haven’t considered yet.</p>
<p>“Can anyone give me any tips what to look for when we evaluate these problems?”</p>
<p>hokiefan, I’m no expert on this because my daughter is headed toward graduate study in the social sciences but it might be helpful to know:
~where do the kids in X program at X university get internships, are they paid or unpaid, ~where do graduates go - if they get jobs, what position title in what organization, or if they go to grad school, where are they?<br>
Not statistics or numbers but names of organizations and institutions</p>
<p>This isn’t directly comparable to your situation, but when DD was researching grad schools, she looked at these factors because it gave her a sense of where she could likely end up. With her programs, there was normally a list on each prof’s cv information but in scanning a few of the Pet E faculty, I didn’t see that sort of info. Perhaps it’s available through the Career Services center of the school or you might request it from the Department Head.</p>
<p>Good luck in your search! This is an exciting time for your family but so many things to think about too.</p>
<p>Both of my sons are computer engineering majors and are Juniors this year.</p>
<p>When they were making their choices we asked these type of questions.</p>
<p>Do most of your engineering students do internships or Co-ops? (both of their schools have Co-op programs)</p>
<p>How many students use the Co-op program?</p>
<p>Which companies do you regularly place students with for these programs?</p>
<p>Does your school host a job fair and which companies usually come on campus to interview graduates?</p>
<p>Are there opportunities on campus for an internship part time job? This was important to one son as he has a japanese minor and needed to go to summer school most summers to complete it all in 4.5 years. He is now working part time on campus for a major network equipment manufacturer. This counts as an internship if he wants it to.</p>
<p>My last advice is to not get wrapped up in University name as it probably doesn’t matter for the most part in engineering. I love the fact that engineering is more what can you do rather than where you went to school.</p>
<p>D’s boyfriend is doing his 2nd Bachelor’s at Missori Tech,Rolla …returned for an Engineering degree.They have been stellar for him to work with as a transfer,more mature student (26…took the reqs needed for enrollment at community college,1st B.S. was in Psych).In his first semester there he was able to join the Solar House project and get a meaningful role (something to do with wastewater/sewers…stuff he likes lol).Then he worked with the Career Center,honed his resume,attended the Career Fair,took a Co-Op which he is now finishing up (8 months, with a Mo.municipality,very meaningful projects,decently paid)He returns to campus this spring.I’m impressed with the education/career assistance he has received there.</p>
<p>Employers and grad schools follow engineering rankings by specialty in US News & World Report. Check out both graduate and undergraduate rankings:
[Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/engineering]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/engineering)
[Best</a> Engineering Schools - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools)</p>
<p>So much fascinating information in this thread! For the sake of more breadth (not particularly for me or anyone in mind), I’d like to ask about “hidden gem” programs in non-pre-professional majors. Or is prestige more important for the anthropology or philosophy major than for the engineer? I hope not.</p>
<p>Again, thank you for the wealth of info. As I mentioned before, I have an older child in college and our family is not driven by school name recognition. I learned many lessons on this website and we shot for a good program at a school tht could help us with merit aid. She is doing great. I’ll follow my instincts for my son also. I just don’t know much about engineering especially something like petroleum to to a good feel. I have been checking school websites and writing down lots of questions. I think one problem we may have in the future is we live in Va. and most of these schools are pretty far away, except for UWV. Visiting lots of options would not be too likely, but I’m sure we could swing a few visits to top selections.</p>
<p>Again, thianks for all the information and links. Since my son is a junior we do have time to poke around an keep gathering information. He has done his part by being a great student and he is also very well rounded. Now I’ll do mine and gather up facts that at this time he doesn’t feel are real important. Have good one.</p>
<p>Getting to this thread late, but my daughter is in a highly ranked health sciences program at a school that is in the lower half of the top 100 on USNWR.
She is working very hard and has met many friends who do, too. But similarly to engineering, any sort of health sciences program will be difficult no matter the school.
Her school is mid-sized, a nice compromise between the small LAC and the mega state school. It is an urban Catholic college, and for students who like urban settings, many of these types of schools offer these sort of selective programs.
As someone mentioned above, she could have gone the Honors Program route to meet even more academically-minded kids, but she chose not to, as she rightfully intuited that she would have her hands full with her program itself.</p>
<p>Keil asks a good question above. Most of these programs are pre-professional --Med Scholars/Law Scholars, allied health, engineering, business/law combos, whatever. “Hidden gems” in the humanities don’t exist in the same way, I don’t think, unless you evaluate Honors Programs overall or public LACs like Truman State in Missouri.</p>
<p>I secund Tulsa.</p>
<p>Hokiefan:
One small school with a Petroleum Engineering major is Marietta College in Marietta, OH. Not too far from VA. I have no idea how their program ranks, but they have a 100% employment rate for all their PE graduates each year. (D1’s cross country coach is an alumnus and kept trying to push her to Marietta.)</p>
<p>Great information here - fits in with what I was trying to look for my D. She’s a junior in HS right now - is currently thinking of biology (specifically genetics) as her likely major. She does love math and is wondering about biomedical engg - but she thinks she’d prefer general biology/genetics. </p>
<p>Any pointers to schools with good genetic programs? Is there a ranking of these programs anywhere?</p>
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<p>Great advice but I would add get statistics and numbers AND names. Schools and departments are notorious for emphasizing their token success stories…like the student who got a job with X or grad school Y…what they don’t tell you is that is one exceptional student from five years ago…I’ve even seen tippy-top schools I was extremely familiar with (as a grad student and faculty member) play this game.</p>