Alright, my options are quite limited after an abysmal period of college decisions. I am deciding between the above schools. My parents make good enough money to NOT quality for any financial aid. UIUC sent out award letters yesterday and said my estimated CoA is 50k/year. i assume cal poly will be 25k a year. and purdue i think will be 41k.
my parents want me to go to UIUC and pay 50k (which they will be paying), but honestly i dont think its worth it. id rather go to cal poly with a price tag of 25k. i know some of you will be saying, “if your parents can pay for UIUC, then why worry”. I don’t care whose money it is… i just dont think a public school is worth paying 50k a year.
my major is electrical engineering. also a guidance counselor told me that cal poly is too overcrowded and it takes about 5-6 years to gradaute. is this true?
anyway, which school has the best engineering program and job prospects?
Both Purdue and UIUC are great engineering schools. The CoA for Purdue should be $44k+ next year. I do agree that any of these 3 schools would be fine for engineering and Cal Poly SLO may be most cost efficient. Have you visited these campuses? They are very different in size and setting. UIUC and Purdue are within 2 hours apart that you can easily visit them in one trip.
Cal poly is best for engineering and job markets
@goscryu can you back that statement up with evidence. can you link me to where you got that info?
UIUC is one of the best engineering colleges. Just type in best engineering colleges. It is in the top 5 beating out Ivy Leagues. They are treated like royalty at UIUC. Do research on stats. Google, YouTube…all from UIUC
Those three are good engineering school. If you think your parents can pay the 4 years of school without a problem, then choose the school you want to be.
@glasssculpture i know the rankings. i also based my applications about that. Cal poly and purdue are also very good, and I wasnt sure whether the slight ranking differences (SLO might be significantly lower than the other 2) will make a huge difference in my job prospects.
Nope, it won’t.
That’s what you need to tell your parents. Going to awesome undergrad doesnt necessarily equate to a good paying job in your future(unless it’s like Podunk University)
@paul2752 what is podunk university. i tried googling it but found nothing really…
Oh, Podunk University is just a term for colleges that are were, are, will never be heard of. It’s not a real school XD
Here is the graduation rate data. Use it with caution as a more apples to apples comparison would compare Cal Poly to the engineering school at the other universities. Engineering schools average about 40% attrition rate, although some can be as low as 0%.
The US News engineering rank is not particularly interesting. If you read the methodology, it pretty much correlates to the size of the Phd program. You will have to dig much deeper than that to make an assessment of the programs.
http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/professionals/four-year-graduation-rates-for-four-year-colleges.pdf
Electrical Engineering is a broad field. Do you know what area of EE you are interested in?
I vote SLO. Great school!
@Mastadon I am not 100 percent sure, but I enjoy math so I was thinking of DSP. Also, I wanted to pick up a minor in math or statistics to see if that can open up more doors than just engineering (like actuarial science).
Have you considered computer science?
@Mastadon ehh, im taking a intro c++ class now, and im doing just alright. idk if it something i want to major in. also, if i do end up liking it, how hard would it be to switch to CS at cal poly? I know its VERY difficult to do that at UIUC.
Similiar situation. Accepted to Purdue (Undecided within Engineering) about $41K, Cal Poly SLO (EE) about $25K, Miami Ohio (Engineering Physics) about $30K and WPI (Engineering Physics) about $50K. At first, Cal Poly might seem like the best value. But this is diluted if it takes 5+ years to graduate (and they don’t offer 1st choice major). My impression is that Purdue is a national recognized program and the others are more regional. This might lead to better grad school or employment opportunities? But Purdue 4 yr grad rates are fairly low too. Does anyone have an opinion whether to go for 1st choice major? lowest cost? most prestigious? or highest 4 yr grad rate?