<p>I am a highschool senior and the early action deadlines are coming up. I have set my mind on aerospace engineering (since I was 8 years old) and so know exactly what I want to do. Just wanted a last minute opinion before I finalize my choice of college and start my application. By the way I have done lots of research on aerospace engineering schools and know everything most websites have to tell so I am hoping for someone who is currently studying aerospace engineering or has graduated with a degree in this field to give a personal insight into the schools.</p>
<p>I am thinking of applying to University of Michigan in early action.</p>
<p>caltech and MIT are definitely great but it really hard to get admitted to them. I don’t think it would be a smart idea for me to make them my first choice. But I am still definitely applying to them in regular admissions.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m looking into aero engineering too. A couple of really great, likely a match (since I don’t know your stats) would be Georgia Tech and Purdue. GT’s got a pretty great location, top-notch program, etc. I haven’t visited, but my dad’s an engineer and he’s definitely vouching for it. Purdue is in-state for me, so I know as lot about it and have visited. Their aero program is arguably one of the strongest, and they have a direct working relationship with NASA in terms of projects and research they do, usually during junior/senior year. Freshman year you have first year engineering, kind of a weed out year involving physics, chem, engineering research project courses, calc, etc. in the aero department, you choose by junior year I believe–maybe even sophomore–whether you want your degree to have an aero or astro focus, and then choose to specialize in two of the following: aerodynamics, design, dynamics and control, propulsion, and structures and materials. Just letting you know because some people hate that kind of setup. Huh. I just grabbed my aero/astro info brochure and it mentions that the problem is 6 in the country and “1st preferred institution from which the aerospace and defense industry recruits.” Did not know that. Now we both do.</p>
<p>Hey GB1904. Thanx for sharing this with me. As for my stats. It would be kinda hard to explain cause i m from a different education system (A levels if you know what that is) so lets just say that my grades are equal to a GPA of about 3.8 on a 4.0 point scale and right now i m studying physics, chemistry, psychology, math and literature that is about the same as APs and I have also studied biology, environmental management, and a ton of other stuff which you wont get. As for extracurriculars, i was the structural designer in the runner up team in the asian regional space settlement design competition last year (going again this year) and have won 2 gold medals and a bronze medal in 3 national level science olympiads.</p>
<p>California Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Pennsylvania State University-University Park
Purdue University-West Lafayette
Stanford University
Texas A&M University-College Station
University of Colorado-Boulder
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Maryland-College Park
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Virginia Tech</p>
<p>Aerospace Engineering is a sub-set of the Mechanical Engineering discipline. Many engineering schools do not offer an undergraduate AE degree, but nevertheless they attract AE recruiters to their campus career fairs. You’ll find that aerospace technology companies like Boeing, UTC and General Electric hire truck loads of Mechanical Engineers.</p>
<p>Michigan is a great university for engineering. There are others, which incidentally have less competitive admissions selection but nevertheless are targets of aerospace companies. By the way, financial aid will be hard to come by at most state universities.</p>
<p>U of Kansas
Saint Louis University
U of Alabama
U of Portland
U of Washington
Illinois Institute of Technology
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Case Western Reserve University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute</p>
<p>Embry-Riddle often gets overlooked on here because they are so specialized, but it is an excellent school for aerospace engineering with many ties to top aerospace companies and government labs. The Prescott campus is gorgeous too.</p>
<p>By the way, what makes an applicant attractive to graduate engineering departments are good undergraduate grades and/or work experience. In the engineering disciplines, it’s not particularly critical (but certainly important) regarding where you earned your B.S. Wherever you attend undergraduate school, try to engage in as much research or labs as practical. Lake Jr. is an underclassman but already has a engineering summer research job under his belt as well as participating in a research team during the academic year. He interviewed with at least two major aerospace companies last year. His university does not have an AE department.</p>