<p>Yup son’s HS graduating class is 300 kids. 200 is pretty ok then, but do the engineering kids hang out together from the beginning, given that some come undeclared?</p>
<p>Being an undeclared engineer, you’re still taking most of the courses that the engineering school sets (if you plan to graduate in 4 years), so yes, you would still have them as your “peer” group before you figure out which specific type of engineering you want to choose. S was also an undeclared engineer but chose EE by the end of his freshman year. He actually likes that the engineering school is large enough that there are often several different instructors for a subject, so you can choose. </p>
<p>One problem with smaller engineering schools is that if you don’t want a prof/instructor and it’s the only one who offers the particular class you want/need, you’re stuck. This is something his friend who was getting his degree at LMU encountered & it made him want to transfer but his grades weren’t high enough for him be a competitive transfer student, so he stuck it out. It is one reason our S was very careful not to attend a U with a very small engineering dept./school.</p>
<p>USC/compsci gives lots of goodies (thumb drives, t-shirts, etc) S2 seriously considered it but went w/ UPenn instead (but it was really close and I wouldn’t be completely surprised if he ended up transferring at some point). Chances are they’ll ultimately end up in Cal anyway…</p>
<p>Yes, USC engineering has a lot of alums & gives it’s kids a LOT of stuff (free t-shirts, frequent receptions, etc.) S was amused at the volume of t-shirts & free food available in his dept when he 1st started, which he had been told about in orientation. Since he’s a size small, he sometimes gets the shirts that others don’t fit & ends up with even more than usual (gives them to D & her friends–can only wear so much at one time).</p>
<p>We are going for our first visit to WU on Thursday…as you can see we are down to the wire with our decision. USC is one of the top 5…my son is mixed on Rice which is south and warm to Wash U which seems very welcoming but cold ( not an engineering major but english or something like that). USC and then Tulane and Boston College round out what is left. Think he is throwing out the cold school in Boston but still is looking at Wash U which can be just as cold. We are a big football school family so think more of USC but he says he has our football team to pull for so can do without in college. That is what pulls our friends and family together 25 plus years later so I wonder how alum keep up when you don’t have that in a school. But…will see what Wash U is like in person and hope we can make this final decision by the weekend and move on. I think the decision for an 18 year old going somewhere without friends can be so hard as you want to know that the people you will spend 4 years with are the ones that will be your friends for the future and that you are happy and graduate with a strong network. Hard when most of your friends are staying in state and will be together. Can’t wait to see St Louis for the first time. Stay tuned.</p>
<p>^^ Goodluck with your trip, please come back and update us.</p>
<p>HImom, 3bysmom and others…its the 20th today and we are still in limbo about sons final decision. I know for sure that Washu campus vibe is hard to beat, but USC comes pretty close according to me. Even though we are paying full fare at both, it really is his decision, I just wish he would see that USC is a better college for his major!!</p>
<p>Our entire family feels the same…I guess we will see after the visit this week.</p>