<p>My son was accepted in Georgia Tech, Clemson, Pitt, Penn State, Miami, and Purdue. Waiting to hear from Virginia Tech and Bucknell. He's having problem deciding where to go. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is among the best in the group, but from what I hear the atmoshpere there is horrible. If I were him, I'd have it narrowed down to Penn State and Virginia Tech, and then it comes to a question of does he like a more city life, or a more country-ish life. Although Penn State is probably considered better than Tech, my personal preference would be Tech.</p>
<p>Purdue engineering is awesome too.</p>
<p>Don't discount Clemson</p>
<p>What kind of engineering is he interested in?</p>
<p>congratulations to your son on some fine opportunities. My strongest suggestion is to visit each school, preferably for an overnite stay. The admissions office can arrange this with a volunteer host. Really spending time at a school, talking to other kids in the cafeteria, and so on, can let you know if you'd be happy at that school or not. It would also be helpful to look thru one of the college guides, such as "Making It into a Top College" by Greene, that gives extensive tips about what to look for on college visits.</p>
<p>The second thing I'd suggest is to consider which schools he'd be happy at if he decided to leave engineering. This is actually a fair bet, so as a tiebreaker consider if he'd want to stay at that school if he wasn't an engineer. "With a few notable exceptions, U.S. engineering schools typically have attrition rates hovering between one-half and two-thirds." reports an industry newspaper, EETimes (<a href="http://eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041%5B/url%5D">http://eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041</a>)</p>
<p>Also look into the internship and coop programs. Students who have actual experience before graduating are in much more demand, and they also usually get an offer from the intern/coop employer. Not only that, but doing this lets a student really find out if engineering is right before graduation.</p>
<p>Like psquared, I have some misgivings about Georgia Tech. Their graduation rate is 12 percent lower than you would expect according to US News. I think this is consistent with the idea that the atmosphere is horrible. In contrast, Penn State has a grad rate 10 percent higher than you would expect and Clemson 9 percent higher. Virginia Tech has a grad rate 8 percent higher than you would expect and Purdue 7 percent higher. I believe the underperformance-overperformance rating in US News has validity.</p>
<p>Where would he like to live and work? That should be a factor.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is the best Engineering program of the bunch, but as some have mentioned, it is a very tough environment. Purdue is next, followed by PSU...and both have a pleasant collegiate feel. Virginia Tech is also quite decent in Engineering and its campus is quite scenic...albeit slightly rural. </p>
<p>Bucknell has more of a LAC feel to it. Its Engineering program is respected, but not as much as Georgia Tech, Purdue and PSU.</p>
<p>Pitt is a good school and Miami and Clemson are decent, but none of them are that good in Engineering. Those would be at the bottom of the pile if I were interested in Engineering.</p>
<p>I would recommend your son visit all the schools and decide on his own which suits him best.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input. We visited all schools except for Georgia Tech, which we will in March. He's not sure what type of engineering to go in to. He's good in math. Got 800 on SAT. Like to see him go to a school that will give him opportunities after graduating.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is 75% men, i don't know if he is aware of that or if he cares. Bucknell is an excellent school. It's a good size, has a pretty campus, and has some great engineering. I also got accepted into Pitt, Clemson, And PSU. PSU is the best out of those 3, but i dont know if your son wants a school with 40000 students. I saw Clemson....beautful campus, but academically not as strong as the other schools. Pitt is a great city. It is safe and clean with lots to do. It has great computer facilities. I'm also waiting from VT, and i will probably go there because it has great technology and strong academics outside of engineering if i wish to switch majors. PSU has that too, but Virginia would be closer to where i live.</p>
<p>If applied to PITT, also try the CMU (carnegie mellon) across the street. More focused and selective. CMU probably a little bit more $, but on a percentage basis, CMU won't be that much more.</p>
<p>To late for CMU but maybe a transfer next year.</p>