<p>Drexel has one of the best engineering programs in the country-- amazing co-op program that really helps students, great research facilities, the ability to minor in a completely unrelated field, recognized professors, BA/MS accelerated program, and huge scholarships for admitted students.</p>
<p>UVa is obviously a more respected institution, but, considering engineering as a major, why should one choose this school, which could be 4+ hours away, over Drexel, which is 1 hour away and in one of the coolest cities in the country (Philly)?
Why should one decide to go to UVa period? What are its best characteristics? Are there any negatives? Many alum have said that UVa students are somewhat elitist, especially when talking about VTech kids-- true?</p>
<p>Well I’m in a similar situation so I’ll give you my reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>UVa has a beautiful campus.</li>
<li>I heard the UVa had the first official engineering school in the US.</li>
<li>The students at UVa are generally very happy, which speaks for itself.</li>
<li>The engineering class are not too big from what I heard.</li>
<li>Almost every other academic field is superb.</li>
<li>UVa’s sport scene</li>
</ol>
<p>“Drexel has one of the best engineering programs in the country-- amazing co-op program that really helps students, great research facilities, the ability to minor in a completely unrelated field, recognized professors, BA/MS accelerated program, and huge scholarships for admitted students.”</p>
<p>Do you want us to try and convince you to come to UVA? You have just described Drexel’s program and if it sounds like a dream to you then you should def. go for it. UVA doesn’t need its students to be tooting its horn, I think its reputation speaks for itself.</p>
<p>collegeclassof2013 – agreed. Those are all great reasons.</p>
<p>I know UVa’s rep, it’s phenomenal. It’s been my dream to go to UVa, in fact. But college all comes down to education and preparedness, and I just don’t see how its engineering program matches up to Drexel’s, Drexel being a far less quality school all-around.
I want to know if UVa’s engineering program is worth pursuing. I want to know if UVa’s worth the OOS tuition and the distance. I can’t tell from what I’ve researched and seen.</p>
<p>To sum, UVa no doubt offers a great engineering education with top-notch professors and research opportunities. For most engineering majors, one co-op is offered. Accelerated BS/MS degrees are only accessible to students pursuing system engineering. But, you get the UVa stamp and the connections and perks that come with it.</p>
<p>At Drexel, all students, engineering and others, may complete three co-ops in five years. With the three co-op set up for engineering, students may obtain an MS within that five year time as long as they maintain a 3.3 GPA. During co-ops, students may take free courses that can potentially amount to a minor in a completely unrelated field. So five years, three co-ops, a BS and MS, and a minor. Incredible. But, the Drexel stamp is not at all what a UVa stamp is.</p>
<p>I’m just really confused and don’t know what to do. What would you guys choose?</p>
<p>I’d choose UVA. Better connections, probably higher salaries, you have access to a lot of top notch programs (like the Comm school), C’ville is great, etc, etc, etc.</p>
<p>As much as the “accelerated BS/MS program” is a nice gimmick, do realize you can do that absolutely anywhere. A typical MS program requires around 30 hours - which is doable in one year by itself (assuming you don’t get TA/RAship to offset cost) and you can generally take some classes as an undergrad and count them for the grad degree (yes, UVa lets you do this, you just can’t double count - either for BS or the MS).</p>
<p>i have a lot of friends at drexel since i’m from philly - drexel vs philly living atmosphere is TOTALLY different since drexel is IN philly and charlottesville is a college town. i would be more concerned about that. PLUS what if you change your mind about engineering - i know drexel does offer a few other majors but uva offers a whole score of other opportunities. but that’s up to you. on the other hand, i have a friend who goes to a co-op college and she pretty much HATES it but managed to swing a co-op with the gov’t so she has a job all lined up now at least (she has a 4.0 in EE).</p>