<p>I know very little about how one engineering school compares to another and would appreciate any insights from anyone who has attended or recruited students from there. Any comments on the faculty, which seems overwhelmingly foreign?</p>
<p>I’m really curious about this, too (though I’m an incoming electrical engineering major). Also, does the engineering curriculum leave a lot of room to take classes of other interests? Apart from the faculty, what type of facilities are there to accommodate engineering majors?</p>
<p>I’m an incoming electrical engineering major as well. I would love to hear more about the engineering program in general since no one really talks about it. I’m visiting campus and the college of engineering the week of the 22nd and I can give you guys some information and opinions.</p>
<p>freedom2succeed:</p>
<p>Thank you sooo much. We all would definitely appreciate it. Also, please try to find out what approach their engineering curriculum takes (ex: practical or theoretical) and also the latest advancements in their engineering department. It’s so hard to make a decision without visiting…</p>
<p>If anyone in CC can provide some new info about UM engineering, it’d be really great. :)</p>
<p>freedom2succeed:</p>
<p>Thank you sooo much. We all would definitely appreciate it. Also, please try to find out what approach their engineering curriculum takes (ex: practical or theoretical) and also the latest advancements in their engineering department. It’s so hard to make a decision without visiting…</p>
<p>If anyone in CC can provide some new info about UM engineering, it’d be really great. :)</p>
<p>This is what I can tell you:
Classes taught by professors, not their TAs.
-They do not concentrate a lot on research but on the practical aspect of engineering. They encourage students to get their BS/MS in 5 years.
- The do research to and the students that are part of the the research team get credit for their work on the paper they publish. Actually the professor said that you will have an easier time finding a professor willing to let you participate in their research team because the departments are small.
- You will be placed in a paid internship before leaving school (they say they have more internships than Engineers at the moment)
- You will have the opportunity to explore from several areas of Engineering
-Classes in Engineering specifically are small < 20 - They partner with companies like Microsoft, Oracle, etc…
That’s all I remember.</p>
<p>ddahwan:</p>
<p>Thanks for the information! Did you attend UM before? If so what year and major? :)</p>
<p>No, my son just got accepted and will attend. He is planning to major in EE but for now he is register as Undeclared (in the School of Engineering). The info I am giving you is from the accepted student day. They separated the students into Engineer first and then into EE so parents and students got a chance to ask questions. I am sure a one on one meeting is even better but I guess nothing beats getting the feeling for the school yourself. We live here so I is easy for us to decide. The only think I can tell you in favor of Miami is that students are happy. My niece is a junior at the Business school, my best friend has her son ( freshman) doing BME and he is also very happy. They are not party people so you can definitely get a good education here. My son comes from a very competitive private HS and every year more and more students opt to stay at the U. Last year my friends daughter did not go to Penn to do pre-med in Miami ( she got great merit money). She says it was the best decision she ever made.</p>
<p>My DS is going to Miami for engineering (BME) in the fall. David Poole, who is the admissions person for Miami’s College of Engineering, can provide more insights to you - as well as the chair of the dept you are interested in. We met with both David and the chair of BME and came away with the same impression as ddahwan. My DS picked Miami engineering over Lehigh, which is well known for engineering, especially in the northeast. DS is a serious student - not a party person, not a beach person - and we feel he will get a great education at Miami engineering. Of course he will enjoy the sunshine too :)</p>
<p>ddahwan and LINYMOM:</p>
<p>Thanks again for your insights! You’re all very kind. Ahhhhhhhhh, it’s so hard to make a decision without visiting!!! I think I’m going insane trying to visualize everything in my head, haha. I know NC State engineering is hard to beat, but the city of Miami and less students/TA’s is drawing me in to UM to even out the field.</p>
<p>Thanks LINYMOM. Can you give a little detail on what David Poole said that made a difference to you as well as what your son saw in Miami that led him to choose it over lehigh, which I agree has a very strong engineering rep.</p>
<p>First, we met with Dr. Ozdamar, chair of the BME dept. The kind of research he does and the research opps he talked about are of prime interest to my DS. That was really insightful. Plus, the chair of the dept gave us 40 min of one on one time. That’s telling. Then David Poole. He asked my DS about what other schools he was considering. Lehigh was one of them. David categorized Lehigh as “mostly engineering” while Miami offers a lot more (I know Lehigh is more than engineering, but that’s what it’s mostly known for). He also addressed why UM is better than DS’ other choices. I understand that he was doing his marketing job, but the fact that he was trying to convince us that DS should go to UM was impressive.</p>
<p>What really tilted in Miami’s favor over Lehigh for us:</p>
<ul>
<li>variety of research institutes at UM; CoE sold it really well</li>
<li>huge emphasis at raising profile of UM engineering, and I believe they are doing this through Pres Shalala and Dean of CoE, who is from MIT</li>
<li>UM wants DS - gave large academic scholarship; zip from Lehigh</li>
</ul>
<p>Lehigh is awesome for engineering. Can’t say anything bad about it. Impressive stats for graduates. DS even loves the Lehigh campus as it reminds him of his summer sleepaway camp in the Berkshires. But Miami engineers do well too. Lots of career opps (we stopped in the Career Center and asked). And in the southeast, which DS prefers. </p>
<p>We would have gone back and visited Lehigh again had DS received some sort of merit award. But since he didn’t, that’s an issue. Plus, when DS listed his pros and cons, it wasn’t even close between the 2 schools.</p>
<p>Thanks LINYMOM. This was very helpful.</p>
<p>I did engineering at UM for 2 years and was very disappointed with the whole engineering school. I ended up switching majors entirely and never looked back. Best decision I did at UM.</p>
<p>Driver23D: What else did you not like about the engineering dept. besides the instruction? How was the advising? </p>
<p>I believe they said all engineering grads had a job offer before graduating (and it has been the case for several years), if this is true then employers are hiring Miami Engineering students.</p>
<p>Driver23D you said you switched majors, where you in a BME pre-med track? Or where you doing just plain Engineering and decided to switch to something completely different?</p>
<p>Driver23D: Yes, please tell us why you were disappointed.</p>