WPI, NEU, PennState, or Purdue?

<p>Hey, there. I want to pursue a degree in civil engineering. However, I'm not sure which college I would like to attend to. Personally, I was looking for bigger cities, but that's not an option if you are after an specific degree. Anyhow, I want a college that can provide me with independence (and when I say that I expect public transportation too), activity diversity, good education, and a good study abroad program. </p>

<p>So far, I know that:
-WPI has a good education system, its "city" is bigger than Pennstate and Purdue.
-NEU got good Location
-Purdue got good study abroads
-Pennstate and Purdue are ranked. I'm not sure about WPI, but I think it should be ranked too(someone please confirm)
-NEU(Northeastern) got good co-ops, but I'm not very interested in that.
-WPI is in top 10 best salaries.</p>

<p>Which would you choose and why? P.S Anyone who's gone around these cities and colleges, please leave a review and/or picture. Thanks!</p>

<p>Choose WPI. It’s a great school with a pretty good location and very efficient public transport system. It’s also near Boston so your near an amazing city. Since your interested in civil engineering, this would be the next best school on your list after Purdue. As for diversity, I’ve heard there is a pretty good mix of students and a healthy international student presence.</p>

<p>Good luck on your search!</p>

<p>All four of those schools are good and have advantages. I think that WPI is the best ranked of them. In the past it has been in the top fifty list for private universities. But really, you can hardly go wrong with this list.</p>

<p>I would appreciate if you would post WPI’s engineering rank, because I can’t find it. My friend told me WPI competed with MIT though, but I can’t see it in the rankings. I only see Purdue, and Pennstate.</p>

<p>BTW, I’m liking WPI’s buildings, because of their old look.</p>

<p>You need to minimize your concern about rankings and examine the actual program offerings at a place like WPI. As has been said, WPI provides an excellent education in the physical sciences and its life sciences program is great, too. MIT’s rep speaks for itself, but as an engineer you would be well-prepared with a WPI degree in hand. And WPI’s rep in New England and the Middle Atlantic Region is very good.</p>

<p>*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p>

<p>Hey, there. I want to pursue a degree in civil engineering. However, I’m not sure which college I would like to attend to. Personally, I was looking for bigger cities, but that’s not an option if you are after an specific degree. Anyhow, I want a college that can provide me with independence (and when I say that I expect public transportation too), activity diversity, good education, and a good study abroad program.
*</p>

<p>What is your home state?</p>

<p>Is money no object? If you’ll need FA, how much would you need? That can also make a HUGE difference since those OOS publics can’t meet need for OOS students.</p>

<p>I’m international, and no I don’t need financial aid. If I did though, WPI offers international financial aid.</p>

<p>Purdue or Penn State</p>

<p>Hi Everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know from my own personal experience of what a great college PURDUE truly is. I am from the state of New York and it seems like people here think Purdue is an Ivy League school. Its a great well round school from Engineering to Agriculture to even Aeronautics. The first and last man to step on the moon- PURDUE graduates. Neil Armstrong even has a building dedicated to him on campus. Purdue has its own Boeing 737 and a Boeing 727 parked at its own PURDUE UNIVERSITY AIRPORT. How many people can say their college has its fleet of Boeings let a lone its own airport? Purdue agriculture is also second to none. There is no other school that has contributed to the world of agronomy and soil science than PURDUE. Companies like Monsanto, Dupont, and even Syngenta are run by PURDUE graduates. </p>

<pre><code>PURDUE is very well respected and when you walk out with a PURDUE clothing on, people will comment you on how good of a school PURDUE is. Trust me i know. I wear PURDUE everywhere and i get common responses from random people like " WOW! you go to PURDUE? thats a great school", and " PURDUE, thats an IVY LEAGUE school, right?". and “PURDUE, your must be smart?”…

Point being, PURDUE has a great reputation, and is seem as a IVY LEAGUE status by many. If you go to PURDUE, it be the best decision you make, i know i did when i chose to go there. PURDUE’s one of the best and i am well respected when i mention that i went to that great school.
</code></pre>

<p>Purdue is a top ten school for engineering. The others are not. WPI? Not even close.</p>

<p>USNews Undergraduate General Engineering Rankings for Schools offering a PhD:</p>

<p>Rank, School, Peer Assessment Score
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 4.9
2 Stanford University Stanford, CA 4.7
2University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA 4.7
4 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 4.6
5 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 4.5
5 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL 4.5
7 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 4.3
7 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 4.3
9 Cornell University Ithaca, NY 4.2
9 Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN 4.2
9 University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX 4.2
12 Princeton University Princeton, NJ 4.0
12 University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 4.0
14 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 3.9
14 Northwestern University Evanston, IL 3.9
14 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 3.9
17 Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA 3.8
17 Texas A&M University–College Station College Station, TX 3.8
19 Rice University Houston, TX 3.7
19 University of California–Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 3.7
19 University of California–San Diego La Jolla, CA 3.7
19 University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN 3.7
23 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 3.6
23 University of Maryland–College Park College Park, MD 3.6
23 University of Washington Seattle, WA 3.6
26 Columbia University New York, NY 3.5
26 Duke University Durham, NC 3.5
26 Harvard University Cambridge, MA 3.5
26 North Carolina State University–Raleigh Raleigh, NC 3.5
26 Ohio State University–Columbus Columbus, OH 3.5
26 University of Florida Gainesville, FL 3.5
26 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 3.5
26 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 3.5
34 University of California–Davis Davis, CA 3.4
34 University of California–Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 3.4
34 University of Colorado–Boulder Boulder, CO 3.4
37 Brown University Providence, RI 3.3
37 Iowa State University Ames, IA 3.3
37 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 3.3
40 Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 3.2
41 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA 3.2
41 Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 3.2
41 Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO 3.2
41 Yale University New Haven, CT 3.2
45 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 3.1
45 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 3.1
45 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ 3.1
45 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 3.1
45 University of California–Irvine Irvine, CA 3.1
45 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 3.1
51 Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO 3.0
51 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 3.0
51 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 3.0
51 University of Delaware Newark, DE 3.0
51 University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA 3.0
51 University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 3.0
57 Boston University Boston, MA 2.9
57 Clemson University Clemson, SC 2.9
57 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL 2.9
57 Northeastern University Boston, MA 2.9
57 Tufts University Medford, MA 2.9
57 University of Illinois–Chicago Chicago, IL 2.9
57 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 2.9
64 Auburn University Auburn University, AL 2.8
64 Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 2.8
64 Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 2.8
64 Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI 2.8
64 Polytechnic Institute of New York University Brooklyn, NY 2.8
64 Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY 2.8
64 SUNY–Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 2.8
64 University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY 2.8
64 University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 2.8
64 University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 2.8
64 Washington State University Pullman, WA 2.8
64 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA 2.8 </p>

<p>For civil engineering:</p>

<p>USNews Undergraduate Engineering Specialty Rankings for Schools offering a PhD:</p>

<p>Undergraduate Engineering Specialties: Civil</p>

<p>1 University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA
2 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
3 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA
4 University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA
5 Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN
7 Stanford University Stanford, CA
8 Cornell University Ithaca, NY
9 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
10 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
11 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA
12 Texas A&M University–College Station College Station, TX
13 University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI
14 Northwestern University Evanston, IL
15 North Carolina State University–Raleigh Raleigh, NC
16 Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA
17 Princeton University Princeton, NJ
18 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
18 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
20 Clemson University Clemson, SC
20 Iowa State University Ames, IA</p>

<p>“All four of those schools are good and have advantages. I think that WPI is the best ranked of them. In the past it has been in the top fifty list for private universities. But really, you can hardly go wrong with this list.”</p>

<p>Gee no NEU or WPI anywhere to be found here in civil engineering. I know you New Englander’s love your schools, but not every college up there is among the very best.</p>

<p>what about Georgia Tech, NC State or Michigan? All those schools are located in pretty urban and big cities.</p>

<p>Not sure why everyone in New England loves WPI. It’s a good engineering program but if you can get into a better school that will probably be cheaper than WPI (unless you get significant financial aid), I don’t see why you should go to WPI. </p>

<p>But out of your 4 choices, I would go to Purdue. I’ve visited, it’s in a town but it’s big enough that it doesn’t feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere (it has everything you want, walmart, target, home depot, lowe’s etc…), there also is a bus system. Campus looks gorgeous and Purdue has an amazing engineering school.</p>

<p>If you’re looking for a good civil engineering school but are willing to give up the big city, look at Clemson. We have the biggest fare free transportation system in the country, we have over 300 student organizations, students go crazy in their love for the school, warm weather, an excellent career/job placement center (top 10 according to princeton review), and we are part of the Global E3 program which is an excellent exchange program for engineering students who want to study abroad.</p>

<p>Purdue has a GREAT bus system on campus. NewYorkKid’s info is also very true. They have a great campus. It is true that people think Purdue is an Ivy League, since I had my own experiences. Purdue has INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION and DOMESTIC RECOGNITION. Everyone I know that graduated from an Engineering or Building Construction Management (Easier major for Civil Engineers) found a job before graduation. I’d go to Purdue.</p>

<p>A quick story:</p>

<p>I remember recruiting at Purdue about 15 years ago. At the time I decided to sit in on one of the other companies recruiting there–one I had never heard of–but that seemed to offer an interesting product and made a great pitch (in my view). I was so impressed that I went out and bought the stock the next day. The company’s name–Cisco.</p>

<p>Turns out that their CEO (John Chambers) had gone to Indiana University and needed lots of engineers–and so turned to the best engineering schools in the midwest to recruit these people.</p>

<p>Later that year, another midwest guy (from the University of Illinois) named Marc Andreessen invented the web browser and, along with Jim Clark, started a company that went public named Netscape and the internet took off. He also hired lots of people from midwest engineering schools (like Purdue) to grow. (Andressen is now on the Board of Directors of both EBay and Hewitt Packard.)</p>

<p>I suggested my friend’s daughter go to the University of Illinois or Purdue (since she wanted to go into chemistry or engineering). She ended up graduating from Illinois (she qualified for in-state tuition) and is currently at another Silicon Valley company you might have heard of–Google.</p>

<p>Anyway, the point I’m making is that the Big 10 schools put out highly-qualified engineering graduates–and you might want to at least consider Purdue–even though I consider the town Purdue is in (West Lafayette) kind of boring.</p>

<p>It’s all about the fraternity parties and basketball/football games! Wooooo</p>

<p>at least West Lafayette can’t be any worst than Urbana/Champaign in my opinion, both are towns in the middle of cornfields</p>

<p>It’s been a long time since I’ve been to West Lafayette, so I don’t remember if there are many off-campus hangouts.</p>

<p>I guess for kids who want Broadway productions, symphonies, and big city museums, Purdue wouldn’t be the choice. But, when I was in college, my entertainment was mostly hanging out with sorority sisters, going to frat parties, dating, going to cafes, going to movies, etc. </p>

<p>I would think W.L. would have at least those offerings.</p>

<p>Purdue=AMAZING!!</p>