My son intends to major in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Mechatronics and Robotics. He has been accepted as a freshman at the following. Which university do you advise he enrolls in?
University of California, San Diego
University of Washington, Seattle (Interdisciplinary Honors Program)
University of Colorado, Boulder (Engineering Honors Program)
University of Toronto
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Cost differential / amount of debt required?
Direct admit to Mech E, or is there a transfer process at any of them?
Direct admit to Mech. E. Not really concerned about cost differential
These are all very good schools. I even like all five locations. I do not know how they specifically rank for “Mechatronics and Robotics.”.
I believe Washington has the better robotics program.
You aren’t likely to find anyone that can compare all those schools. Even comparing them two at a time will make for a confusing comparison. And your son’s idea of what makes a “good” school can and probably will differ.
So, what do you do?
Look at his test scores and GPA compared to the range of accepted students. You can find this kind of info, typically, in each school’s common data set. You want to be challenged but not struggling. So, I’d shoot for fitting in a little above average.
Weather is a big factor. Can he take the rain in Seattle; or the winters in Toronto; etc.
They all seem to be around the same size schools, but how about the number of students in the ME department? Too few students and class offerings may be limited. Too many students and class availability may be an issue. Call the ME department head and talk to him/her.
Look at the ME department website to see what kind of projects are being worked on. Each professor will typically address their ongoing research.
Look at the school catalog and what are the specific requirements for the degree. How do those compare to what he is interested in?
Have you visited the schools? If not, read the student newspaper (probably available online) to get a feel of what is going on around campus. You’ll have to look at older editions as they are probably all doing online learning at this point.
No matter where he goes, if he takes a positive attitude and makes friends, he will enjoy his college experience. Engineering school is tough, so be prepared to study.
The ASEE profiles have some enrolled frosh HS stats information specific to the engineering division for colleges that do divisional admissions. Unfortunately, the stats include only SAT/ACT scores, not HS GPA, probably because HS GPA can be difficult to compare across colleges because each college can have a different way of interpreting or recalculating it. SAT/ACT scores tell only a small part of the story of frosh academic strength, but people seem to focus on them because they are more consistent across colleges than HS GPA or other measures.
http://profiles.asee.org/
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/8177/screen/19?school_name=University+of+Washington+in+Seattle
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/8124/screen/19?school_name=University+of+Colorado+Boulder
UBC and Toronto have entries in the ASEE profiles, but no SAT/ACT scores, presumably because Canadian universities do not require external standardized tests for domestic applicants. UCSD also does not have SAT/ACT scores in its ASEE profile for some reason.
Also, are you sure that Washington has direct admit to major? It has “Direct to College [of Engineering]” frosh admission, but students have to apply to their majors later, and “some majors will have more requests for placement than they can accommodate” according to https://www.engr.washington.edu/admission/directtocollege/faq . Find out from the CoE and ME department how competitive ME is during secondary admission to major.
Money should be a factor. If you’re a global banker, you certainly know how to calculate opportunity cost. I’m in no way suggesting that he choose the cheapest program, but if you look at the differential, invested over a career, that can be well into seven figures. Heck of a gift if he chooses a less expensive school.
Where does he live? Where does he want to live after graduation?