<p>I'm a senior at a Baltimore City Catholic School and I'm going to enroll into in an "undecided" engineering program in the fall of 2008 and I am very confused about where I want to go. </p>
<p>My choices are VT (Virginia Tech), University of Delaware, University of Maryland-College Park, Penn State University - University Park, and Lehigh University.</p>
<p>If anyone had any opinion or advice about which school they would pick and why that would be great. (I've visited each school atleast once except PSU)</p>
<p>Lehigh has a very exclusive Greek scene with heavy drinking, according to a current student that I know. She said that the parties thrown by frats regularly exclude non-Greek students and the Greek scene is almost the only way to have a social life (other than a sports team, and even the sports teams are, generally speaking, associated with a frat or sorority).</p>
<p>UDelaware has a good reputation, and every UMD-CP grad I've met has lots of 'Turps pride.</p>
<p>personally i would go to Penn State, but thats mostly because I know people who have gone there or plan on going there. My friends who have gone their say the school is great.</p>
<p>thanks man....lehigh is actually my last choice but i decided to through it on there anyway....really leaning towards either udel or vt right now but i still havent visited PSU which i've heard is amazing</p>
<p>hey I'm a senior at UMCP. I was an excellent student in high school and originally felt that I should go to a top school, I applied to six schools all great but UMD was my only safety the rest were schools I could or could not get in to...like UPenn, UVA, Duke, Emory, and Vandy...only got into Vandy and Wlisted at Emory. But before I even heard back I was excited about MD esp its solid business school. I got into the honors program and that was excellent as well. Being in state it made so much sense to come here considering it was so much less, plus I got some money. After it was all said and done, I think it'd have cost over $120K more to go to Vandy than to UMD. Even if I had gotten into UVA which had been my first choice, itd have been hard to decide. But I don't think its worth going to an out of state public school if your state has a good one already unless the programs youre interested in are much better at the other school, or if the other school is a top 5 public (UVA, MICH, Cal, UCLA) Of those three, to be honest UMD makes the most sense. And without a doubt it has a better reputation than VT and U Del. It's pretty much the same as PSU. </p>
<p>The only real drawbacks are the housing situation on campus has gotten pretty bad, and the actual town of College Park with the exception of the tiny downtown area isnt that nice. But being so close to DC is a real plus and the campus itself is great. Def come out and visit. Best of luck though!</p>
<p>yea im gona be a maryland fan for life since i grew up here but the thing is the $$ isnt a problem because my parents both work for Johns Hopkins or a branch (APL) and with my grades JHU pays for 1/2 tuition (each parent). i had visited umd and its cool with the sports teams and the tradition but i really liked VT and UDel comparing students and campus. i know each school i'm looking at has an excellent engineering program (umd being ranked the highest by far) but i'm not to concerned about going to a top engineering school and more interested in the overall picture. Udel - great campus, beautiful girls, great social scene. VT - excellent engineering program, amazing campus, amazing school spirit/athletics. i'm just not sure i'm just gona visit all the schools over again and flip a coin i guess</p>
<p>UMD is a far better school than UDel, and better than VT. VT's location is awful (in the middle of nowhere in the southern part of VA), DEL is atleast close to Philly. </p>
<p>I think all of those positives you mentioned are positives with UMD...the campus at MD is very nice, I love walking on the mall in the spring well anytime but spring especially, the buildings are nice and there is a lot of construction going on that improves the campus. If you're interested in engineering, the new Kim building is world class. Engineering as you stated is very highly regarded here. Our rec center and student union are also really new and top notch. Girls here are great looking, sure there are plenty of unattractive girls, but thats the case anywhere. There are tons of good looking girls. Social scene is lively. School spirit and athletics are great too, I can't imagine going to a school with poor athletics/little school spirit. UDel isn't that good in this regard. I really think making your decision on a coin flip is a mistake. Everyone I know is happy at MD. And just because money isn't a problem doesn't mean you should pay more to go to a lesser school. Best of luck with your decision.</p>
<p>Go terps!!! I can honestly say that i'm biased. Former Hagerstown Hall resident. Are you Mt. ST Joe's or Cardinal Gibbons grad. My best friend in high school first went to VT. He invited me down for homecoming weekend what a blast. I enjoyed the small town of Blacksburg, but even he needed time to get away from the constant studying. He ended up transferring to College Park. And as Dorothy said " There's noplace like home."</p>
<p>Have you checked out this great website, Live</a> Video U : College & University Live Online Video Search & Student Guide It's got interviews with students from tons of colleges talking about their schools. I think it's super helpful to hear from someone who goes to the school you're considering! It's like an insider perspective of campus life. Plus, it's got lists of colleges and universities broken down by size, rank, state, region, and majors, so whatever you're looking for you can sort your options.</p>
<p>USNEWS 2008 Engineering Ranking Compilation
Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)</p>
<ol>
<li>Massachusetts Inst. of Technology 4.9</li>
<li>Stanford University (CA) 4.7</li>
<li>University of California–Berkeley * 4.7</li>
<li>California Institute of Technology 4.6</li>
<li>Georgia Institute of Technology * 4.5</li>
<li>U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign * 4.5</li>
<li>Cornell University (NY) 4.4</li>
<li>University of Michigan–Ann Arbor * 4.4</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon University (PA) 4.2</li>
<li>Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)* 4.2</li>
<li>University of Texas–Austin * 4.2</li>
<li>Princeton University (NJ) 4.1</li>
<li>Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison * 4.0</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University (MD) 3.9</li>
<li>Northwestern University (IL) 3.9</li>
<li>Virginia Tech * 3.9</li>
<li>Pennsylvania State U.–University Park * 3.8</li>
<li>Rice University (TX) 3.8</li>
<li>Texas A&M Univ.–College Station * 3.8</li>
<li>Columbia University (NY) 3.7</li>
<li>Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. (NY) 3.7</li>
<li>Univ. of California–Los Angeles * 3.7</li>
<li>Univ. of Minnesota–Twin Cities * 3.7</li>
<li>University of Washington * 3.7</li>
<li>Duke University (NC) 3.6</li>
<li>Ohio State University–Columbus * 3.6</li>
<li>Univ. of California–San Diego * 3.6</li>
<li>Univ. of Maryland–College Park * 3.6</li>
<li>North Carolina State U.–Raleigh * 3.5</li>
<li>University of Florida * 3.5</li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania 3.5</li>
<li>Univ. of Southern California 3.5</li>
<li>Harvard University (MA) 3.4</li>
<li>University of California–Davis * 3.4</li>
<li>University of Colorado–Boulder * 3.4</li>
<li>University of Virginia * 3.4</li>
<li>Arizona State University * 3.3</li>
<li>Case Western Reserve Univ. (OH) 3.3</li>
<li>Iowa State University * 3.3</li>
<li>Lehigh University (PA) 3.3</li>
<li>Univ. of California–Santa Barbara * 3.3</li>
<li>Yale University (CT) 3.3</li>
<li>Brown University (RI) 3.2</li>
<li>Michigan State University * 3.2</li>
<li>University of Notre Dame (IN) 3.2</li>
<li>Vanderbilt University (TN) 3.2</li>
<li>Washington University in St. Louis 3.2</li>
<li>Dartmouth College (NH) 3.1</li>
<li>Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick (NJ)* 3.1</li>
<li>University of Arizona * 3.1</li>
<li>University of California–Irvine * 3.1</li>
<li>Colorado School of Mines * 3.0</li>
<li>University of Delaware * 3.0</li>
<li>Univ. of Massachusetts–Amherst * 3.0</li>
<li>University of Missouri–Rolla * 3.0</li>
<li>University of Pittsburgh * 3.0</li>
<li>Auburn University (AL)* 2.9</li>
<li>Boston University 2.9</li>
<li>Clemson University (SC)* 2.9</li>
<li>Colorado State University * 2.9</li>
<li>Drexel University (PA) 2.9</li>
<li>Illinois Institute of Technology 2.9</li>
<li>Northeastern University (MA) 2.9</li>
<li>Tufts University (MA) 2.9</li>
<li>University at Buffalo–SUNY * 2.9</li>
<li>University of Illinois–Chicago * 2.9</li>
<li>University of Iowa * 2.9</li>
<li>University of Tennessee * 2.9</li>
<li>Worcester Polytechnic Inst. (MA) 2.9</li>
<li>Kansas State University * 2.8</li>
<li>Michigan Technological University * 2.8</li>
<li>Rochester Inst. of Technology (NY) 2.8</li>
<li>SUNY–Stony Brook * 2.8</li>
<li>University of Utah * 2.8</li>
<li>Washington State University * 2.8</li>
<li>Oregon State University * 2.7</li>
<li>Polytechnic University (NY) 2.7</li>
<li>Syracuse University (NY) 2.7</li>
<li>University of Cincinnati * 2.7</li>
<li>University of Connecticut * 2.7</li>
<li>University of Kansas * 2.7</li>
<li>U. of North Carolina–Charlotte * 2.7</li>
<li>University of Oklahoma * 2.7</li>
<li>University of Rochester (NY) 2.7</li>
<li>Clarkson University (NY) 2.6</li>
<li>New Jersey Inst. of Technology * 2.6</li>
<li>Oklahoma State University * 2.6</li>
<li>Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ) 2.6</li>
<li>Texas Tech University * 2.6</li>
<li>Univ. of Nebraska–Lincoln * 2.6</li>
<li>University of New Mexico * 2.6</li>
<li>Brigham Young Univ.–Provo (UT) 2.5</li>
<li>George Washington University (DC) 2.5</li>
<li>Louisiana State U.–Baton Rouge * 2.5</li>
<li>University of Alabama * 2.5</li>
<li>Univ. of California–Riverside * 2.5</li>
<li>University of Houston * 2.5</li>
<li>University of Kentucky * 2.5</li>
<li>Univ. of Missouri–Columbia * 2.5</li>
</ol>
<p>Archbishop Curley '08...other side of city but gota love the MIAA...thanks for all the help...im goin to engineering open houses for VT and UMD in april and visitin UD in a few weeks again....still have to make it up to PSU tho</p>