<p>im a decent student and I can get into the schools I want to like University of Maryland, penn state, boston university etc..... I want to be either a mechanical or an aerospace engineer which are basically the same thing....the thing is the only way I could afford schools I want to really go to is student loans and pray for a scholarship.... is it worth it paying for a private school for you undergraduate degree or should I just go to an ok school like SUNY stony brook and then go to a better grad school. I don't think I can financially afford both a private undergrad and grad although I have the option to. help me out!!! I really want to go to a good college since ive worked so hard in high school but not sure because student loans are gonna kill me afterwards!!!!! I live in NYC btw</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with going the SUNY route. However, if you have high stats it’s worth exploring some private schools too. They may have scholarship opportunities. </p>
<p>My advise is to minimize loans. Perhaps the govt $5500/yr is ok, but beyond that would be a burden. You can try chasing outside scholarships, but odds for winning them are low. Also they are usually only for one year. Look for college scholarships that would last 4 years (sometimes with a GPA minimum, which can be tough in engineering if set too high). Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree that you should minimize loans, and that a quality education can be had at many schools (including SUNY) with either no loans or only Stafford loans even in the absence of merit aid. In your case, I would look first at in-state publics (which will be comparatively cheap), second at privates (which are expensive but often have excellent financial aid), and lastly at out-of-state publics (which are expensive and generally have poor financial aid).</p>
<p>And don’t worry about grad school - if you cannot get a funded grad position in engineering, then you should probably not be in grad school. Get through undergrad with solid grades and some research experience and worry about grad school then. If you don’t have a good undergrad experience, grad school won’t even be an option!</p>
<p>Also I want to be an aerospace engineer. SUNY stony brook does not have an aerospace program. I know that mechanical engineering is similar and can work in the aerospace industry with a ME degree. Do you think that majoring in aerospace for undergrad is that important?</p>
<p>
No. You can easily work in aerospace with an ME undergrad. The only real difference is that it will be harder to get jobs doing certain things, like designing the frames. And you can always do aero in grad school.</p>
<p>Syracuse vs BU vs UMD vs penn state for engineering which one would you chose</p>
<p>No idea. I know one of those programs extremely well (having graduated), know one a little bit, and the other two not really at all. I am willing to offer an opinion if I have one, but I don’t really have the time to do comparative research for you.</p>
<p>IMHO, it isn’t that important that your degree isn’t aerospace when that is the field you want to end up in. I was a civil engineering grad and spent my entire career in aerospace, as a structural engineer. I worked on the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs primarily. Aerospace projects are many time large projects that require a lot of specialty fields. It doesn’t matter what the title is on the degree. It matters what knowledge you obtain.</p>
<p>Thank you both for the help. And hpuck35 working in the space shuttle mission?? Sounds like a dream come true. May I ask where you graduated from?? This is something that I would really be interested in.</p>
<p>I would do MD over BU in a heartbeat, not sure about Syracuse or Penn State.</p>
<p>In terms of education or the overall experience?</p>
<p>If your are in NY… why not add Clarkson to the list? (This is a shameless plug. It was my school, and I really liked it. It’s a STEM school, not as diverse as some of the others. Still worth investigating.) Also Case in Cleveland.</p>
<p>I know PSU and MD are both strong engineering schools, but they are expensive for out-of-state students. Not sure about BU or Cuse.</p>
<p>We visited Case with DS in 2010. DH and I (both engineers) and DS were very impressed with the program. The merit scholarship was one of the best on DS’s list.</p>
<p>High stats kids often get an “apply free” postcard, and the process seemed easy (Common App, I think).</p>
<p>I went to MIT but the company I worked for had graduates from almost any major engineering school you could think of. We also had all kind of majors as you really do need a lot of different specialties on those large space projects. I was a civil engineering grad with a specialization in structures. A lot of the structural engineers were civil types as you got a pretty good background in it in most CE programs.</p>