They’re all easy to visit on the same trip too. I would allow a day for each. Each has its charm. None ended up getting an app from our son, but Lehigh was close to making his list.
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U Minnesota Morris is that system’s public LAC (with about 1,500 students), and does have engineering, in case that is of interest @PurpleFaithful
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University of Minnesota Morris has pre engineering, which is a set of recommended frosh/soph programs for those intending to transfer to another campus to complete an engineering major in junior/senior years.
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Shouldn’t the new restrictions on out-of-state students at some UC campuses lower the acceptance rates?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/university-of-california-to-admit-fewer-out-of-state-students-11624923789
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The 18% threshold for OOS student enrollment is in affect currently for all the UC Campuses except the 3 campuses noted in the article which were set at a higher threshold originally than the 18%. The CA legislature is now adjusting all campuses to this level.
Yes, the acceptance rates will go down for OOS but the issue with the acceptance rate is they will probably remain higher than in-state since the yield/matriculation rate is much lower. Many OOS applicants end up not attending due to costs.
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Thanks so much for all the insight! I really appreciate it. Also, any insight into what the rankings mean or not mean when it comes to engineering programs? Also, any insight into Denver university’s engineering program?
Thanks!
I find rankings to be fairly specious in general, but especially for engineering. They all tend to use metrics that don’t translate well to the undergraduate experience or career outcomes. None speak to things like class size, who teaches them, equipment available to undergrads, etc. I tend to look at things like College Scorecard and compare salaries. Engineering is pretty egalitarian with salaries mostly determined by the location where someone ends up working.
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Curious what he didn’t like about those schools.
He felt the engineering facilities and depth of curricula were stronger at the ones that made the final list. He had good stats and so many good prospects that he didn’t want to expand his list. We were fortunate to visit them all too.
Gotcha. What were on the final list?
He applied to RPI (he was a medalist), WPI, Case, Oregon State, Utah, Colorado State, Cal Poly and Stanford. He got in everywhere, but Stanford, with good money. The final 3 were Utah, WPI and Cal Poly. He ended up at Cal Poly.
The list was unified by a bunch of things, but mainly good ME programs, at good value in locations with opportunities for outdoor activities.
The final three started in major first year and had a strong hands on component to the curricula. That was very important to him.
He had high enough stats to be competitive anywhere, but excluded many of the major names because he wanted a “typical college experience.”
Hope that helps. Remember though, every family’s list will be different because they all have different criteria. Best of luck to your student.
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@eyemgh If I may ask, why Colorado State rather than Colorado School of Mines? Value for money?
For one, no WUE. More importantly, Mines had a reputation as a grind. Accurate or not, there was no reason to consider any schools with that potential. There are so many good options.
What about Utah’s facilities stood out for you?
Agree w/@eyemgh on Mines’ reputation for being a grind. Not so hard to get in, but hard to get through.
Re-looking at this thread… how much is the budget? Maybe under the radar, Gonzaga offers merit, has small classes and big-time basketball (but no football). Very undergrad-focused. Chill environment. New STEM building just finished (Bollier Center) in addition to existing eng facilities. Has snow.
Here is a handy tool for looking up enrollment size of majors https://shinyapps.asee.org/apps/Profiles/ Not quite the same thing as class size, but I find it interesting. Need to scroll right to get to the totals. I assume roughly divide by 4 for major students per grade level, though I suppose any engineering major will have more freshmen than seniors.
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We liked the general campus and the dorms. The SPIRAL ME curriculum is innovative. Labs are nice and they were building newer ones.
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Do you think Mines is that much more of a grind than other engineering programs? I have an accepted student who is considering it and we have heard that, but have wondered if it is really that different from most engineering programs. Older student is at Rice (EE/CS) and it sounds like a grind for most of the engineering students, although perhaps a bit less for the CS students. I guess my question is that would Mines be that different from CU Boulder, Cal Poly, Bucknell, Lehigh, UW, etc? And, if so, why? Thanks for any light you can shed on this.
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I don’t want to answer for @eyemgh but no, Mines is not a grind. I think it’s time to dispel the idea that engineering is a grind. It’s a challenging curriculum, but it is fun and totally worth it. Is it easy? No. But that does not make it a grind. I don’t know much about the other engineering curricula you ask about other than CalPoly, and CalPoly is as fun and as challenging as Mines from my perspective.
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I agree that for most engineers, they like it so much it isn’t a grind. I know a lot of engineers, from all levels of schools, and they all liked where they went and liked their classes and like their careers.
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Funny, I recently read a thread on the SLO Reddit about “Why do engineering students look always stressed and depressed” about 5 days ago:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CalPoly/comments/r5evy9/why_do_engineering_students_look_always_stressed/
My D is not an engineering student, so no first or second hand experience.
My apologies, but I can’t remember if CC rules allow links to Reddit, so my link may get removed, but the Reddit post was upvoted 95%.