It is down to MN and a more well known school, Purdue. Purdue has really impressed S2 and myself, but so has MN. He has been able to get in contact with students from Purdue ECE, both privately and on tours, and is well aware of it’s stellar rep and ranking. Have also gone on tours, both public and private, of MN’s ECE/ENG and has been impressed.
All things being equal, he would probably pick Purdue, but even then it would be close. MN is very convenient(he is a twin cities resident), and would give him more credit for AP courses, making it easier to take courses towards a Master’s in the 4 + 1 format should he wish. Things are not equal, however. Purdue is 65K more. Parents can afford it without borrowing- might have to drive older cars for a while and forgo some vacations, work some extra shifts, but it is doable. He will not have any debt.
We would appreciate any firsthand, or anecdotal experiences about MN’s ECE program. Things like quality of teaching and course offerings, the ECE student experience, how MN is viewed in the industry, and by fellow Engineers. Do you find the people coming out of MN to be excellent, above average, merely competent, , or…?
One difference between the two schools is that CS is a different faculty apart from ENG at Purdue, and in a different building. At MN, the CS dept shares a building with ECE, and ECE students can take CS courses easily, by walking down the hall, essentially.
Purdue has a very large ECE dept- around 1800 students. MN’s is smaller, about 450. You would think that Purdue would have better facilities, but MN’s are surprisingly good- better than the dingy basement location of Purdue’s ECE labs, where he would be spending a lot of his time.
You had me sold at UMN. What a great school.
I would not say Purdue is more well known. I would say - in rankings - which are what sells magazines - Purdue is listed higher.
Both are big, great names. They are obviously different environments and $65K is a lot of bucks.
Choose UMN and don’t look back.
Would I would caution you on, however, is taking AP credits. For engineers, you might consider retaking match classes. My son was given this advice at Colorado School of Mines and didn’t listen. He should have. That was the only one he struggled - withdrew and retook after a 5 in Calc AB. It was Calc 2 I believe.
Good luck.
I should have said Purdue is more well known for it’s Engineering, not that U of MN is not good, especially for ChemE. It’s the ECE dept in particular that I am looking at. Seems hard to find any information on it besides what is on their website.
Engineering aside, I would say that MN is the better all round school, I agree.
Thanks for the reply.
My son chose Alabama over Purdue - and he had merit at Purdue. And Alabama can’t hold even UMN’s jock strap - and he had a great internship last summer and will return this summer in his target industry. I questioned it at the time but I think he was right…because it was right for him.
UMN is in Minneapolis - it has near everything industry wise.
Great school. Good luck.