<p>Can anyone tell me about life as an engineering student at University of Utah? I am a potential Mechanical engineering - aero spec applicant. Are you/your kid happy with the program? Are class sizes large or are they smaller? Are there undergrad research opportunities and such? etc. etc. I just want to get a general feel for the life of an engineering student at university of Utah.</p>
<p>Thank you for your time!</p>
<p>Utah made my son’s final three (he ended up at Cal Poly). Although I can’t give you a student’s actual experience, he was impressed with the campus, department, facilities and in particular the Spiral curriculum to strongly consider it. They also awarded him great merit aid (1st year tuition free followed by three at in state rate). What was palpable there is that the students seemed happy. The U is largely a commuter school, with about 10k or so living on campus. Rather that it being a negative, the remaining on campus students are just closer knit almost like they are the full student body of a smaller school. The MUSS at football games is also awesome. Our final impression was of a good program that is likely underrated, at a good price. Sorry I can’t add more. Hope it helps some.</p>
<p>I really appreciate that, thank you! Its more information that what I have to go on. I haven’t had a chance to go up there yet. Its definitely a huge plus that even though your son didn’t go, he still thought highly of it!</p>
<p>If it is possible, school visits make a huge difference. It’s very tough to assess programs by just what can be found online. The benefit of seeing the facilities and talking with staff and students really can’t be overstated. </p>
<p>With that said, you don’t have to visit all 400 some ABET accredited schools. You can narrow your list using many factors, location, cost, school size, etc. Meaningful application of knowledge through labs, projects and clubs starting as a freshman was important to my son. He didn’t want the traditional enter as a pre-engineer and do two years of books only. Lots of programs are moving towards some hybrid and if done properly, not at the expense of theory. Utah completely revamped their ME curriculum after a major national think tank published a study about the high attrition rate in engineering programs. They are also rebuilding the ME department building. </p>
<p>Skiing is a bonus. There are 7 great resorts an hour or less from the U. It’s one of the few schools where you can ski without ruining a full day because the access is so easy. </p>
<p>Where else are you looking?</p>
<p>I plan on going up sometime in February. I have a significant other applying to the psychology PHD program at Utah and if she makes it to on campus interviews we’ll kill two birds with one stone and go whenever her interview is. </p>
<p>I am actually a second degree applicant. I was originally an engineering student, but transferring schools put me too far back to comfortably finish the degree in 4 years so I had to change majors. I will have to wait and see if I get placed into the pre engineering designation. I have about 30 engineering credits with a B or greater that I am hoping will help out with that but if not, it might not be a bad thing for me start out that way. When I was a freshman I was avoiding the same thing as your son though.</p>
<p>My list so far:</p>
<p>Utah, LBSU, Emory (applied physics 2+2), Lehigh, Bucknell, Drexel, NYU, SLU, Binghamton, Denver, Miami, URI, WASHU, RPI and maybe Carnegie. </p>
<p>I went to Purdue and graduated from Texas A&M in 2012. </p>
<p>You can be admitted straight into ME as a freshman at the U if your stats are high enough.</p>
<p>As for the rest, I can only comment on some. Lehigh had a great feel. Lots of school spirit, pretty campus, lots of engineering toys and very undergraduate focussed. Bethlehem has been hit hard, but it is rebounding. The steel plant is now a casino and it has an otherworldly, steampunk coolness to it I’ve yet to see anywhere else. </p>
<p>Bucknell is very isolated, but in a quaint, idyllic rural town. The campus is pretty. The program is completely undergraduate centric, but in comparison to its close neighbor Lehigh, really lacking in firepower. They just don’t have the same level of resources.</p>
<p>RPI, I hear can be a grind. The campus had pretty areas, especially EMPAC. It’s got to be one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever seen! Troy is just ok and it gets VERY cold in the winter. There is good skiing (fir the East coast) close by. It’s reputation is very solid.</p>
<p>Denver’s program is small, but my son has a classmate there that really likes it. I haven’t visited. My son eliminated it pretty early on due to the lesser resources versus other programs he was interested in.</p>
<p>The rest, I can’t shed any light on. How did you pick your list? I can’t seem to figure out the common trait amongst them.</p>
<p>Its amazing how you seem to know about the schools I know the least about and not the schools I know more about. You are definitely one of the most useful contacts I have made. </p>
<p>This all started because my girlfriend of 3+ years is applying to PHD clinical psychology programs so I figured I might as well go back and finish my engineering degree. As we applied to places I realized I wanted to make sure I got in somewhere to finish the degree and started applying separately as well. I was originally an engineer at A&M, but the class sizes were so big I got very disinterested. Didn’t fail out or drop out as seems to be the common story with people in my situation. With that said though, if there is a common theme, with the exception of a few, I applied to places with smaller class sizes. </p>
<p>It breaks down as follows:</p>
<p>We both decided to apply to Emory, Drexel, Denver, WASHU, SLU, Drexel, Binghamton, Miami, URI, and Utah (Common Theme is professor research interests for girlfriend and not in Texas).</p>
<p>LBSU I applied to as a sort of back up for myself. class size 30k and is pretty second bachelors degree friendly </p>
<p>NYU, RPI, Cooper Union (replacing Carnegie Mellon on my list), Lehigh, Bucknell for the smaller class sizes and undergraduate focus. </p>
<p>That is really good to know about Lehigh and Bucknell though. I couldn’t find a difference between them that was readily apparent by just looking at websites and posts. I don’t mind the isolation, I want to be somewhere that has an academic focus. Texas A&M was very large and had a lot of distractions. </p>
<p>I’ve heard similar about RPI from what I have read on posts and websites. I am definitely spending my spring studying to prepare, especially if I ended up being accepted there. I hear Cooper Union is similar.</p>
<p>Its good to hear someone who went through the Denver program enjoyed it. Its one of the schools I really like because it is small and private but past that I couldn’t find too much on the engineering program there. Denver and Utah are probably top two of three choices we would both go to if we both got in. The third pair would be if she got into Upenn and I got into Drexel. </p>
<p>Again, your insight has been so helpful, thank you so much!</p>
<p>If you’re still open to add two, at least to consider, I’d look at Cal Poly and WPI. Both are very hands on, UG centered and have small class sizes. Poly is in beautiful San Luis Obispo and WPI is about 50 minutes outside of Boston. As long as you’re at it, Case Western is worth a look too. </p>
<p>Cooper is a unique school. It is very competitive, but primarily because, until just recently, it was tuition free. It is small and under resourced. </p>
<p>Binghamton has a good reputation in general for UG focus, as does Miami, assuming we’re talking Ohio. I don’t know much about FL.</p>
<p>Wash U has been a good school far longer than US News has been touting it. I don’t know much about the engineering program though.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>WPI is perfect, I was looking for a school near the Boston area. I was thinking about both Cal Poly and Case Western. I really like Case Western’s campus and engineering programs, I had actually applied to their Law program a few years back and was wait listed. Cal Poly will give me something selective on the west side. </p>
<p>Thank you again for all the correspondence and advice! This gives me so much to refer back to in the Spring when I have to make a decision!</p>
<p>I think you’re doing a good job of making a well reasoned list to fit your needs. I’m sure you’ll land somewhere that’s a great fit. Good luck!</p>
Did you decide to go to Utah? If so, my son will be a junior there this fall and he is majoring in ME with an emphasis or biorobotics. Im sure he could answer any questions you may still have.
@terinzak Thank you for the response! I did end up deciding not to attend Utah and will be attending Drexel/RPI in the Fall pending credits offered. Thank you for following up though and offering your help!