<p>I'm getting close to putting together my list for engineering and would appreciate your ideas. I want to include one large midwestern university. So I was wondering if anybody could sort of compare/contrast these for me. I might not get to visit any of them before applying. I'm interested in things like do they make any effort to feel smaller than they are, do undergrads get weeded out, are the campuses nice, is the greek scene/sports thing out of control, would the kids be friendly to a kid from out of state?</p>
<p>I'm also applying to RPI, U Delaware, Northeastern and some others. I have very good grades and SAT scores, so getting in is probably not an issue. </p>
<p>I'm wondering about the comparison between the towns of Madison and West Lafayette. I've heard Madison is really fun. My idea of a Saturday night is maybe see a movie, hit a game arcade, have a big hamburger with my friends. I don't drink. I like to debate politics (I'm a liberal but many of my friends aren't.) I like classical music (I know, it's weird) and would go to any concerts I could afford. Also drama or musicals. I might want to play a club sport, although I'd never make a hard team. Does it sound like I'd fit into any of these schools?</p>
<p>I go to Purdue right now; I'm a freshman in their engineering program. I can confidently say that the way they teach freshman is designed to **** them off and create as many complications as possible. I am guessing it's because of the large entering class. Homework is completed online; if you screw up significant figures like 1.25E1 instead of 1.26E1, it's wrong. You have little keypads that you have to register. Basically you enter in a number at the beginning of class and it tells the professor you attended or not. You have pre-lecture quizzes. You have quizzes during lecture (via keypad). The only reason I'm staying is because I know the classes will drop in size SIGNIFICANTLY once I start chemE, and I know Purdue's actual engineering program is outstanding.
The campus is quite bluntly put, average. There are absolutely no hills here, and everything seems dull. But, it is a pretty campus right now. There are plenty of facilities to do whatever, and plenty of places to eat and watch movies. There are plenty of open places to play frisbee, or any sport for that matter. The only thing I would ask you to consider before coming is if you believe the OOS tuition (32k) is worth paying.</p>
<p>jPoD: I honestly incapable to sound like a badger. :) </p>
<p>iamtim: A bit more on Wisconsin engineering from a former graduate. The lower level classes were usually large, i.e. over 25 students. Upper level EE classes were also large and more competitive because of the graduate students. The sections or labs were almost exclusively ran by the TAs. Most professors were accessible provided I took the initiative to see them during office hours. So, if one is looking for a cozy classroom environment, I hate to say "look elsewhere". </p>
<p>I think the best of Wisconsin engineering experience came from undergraduate research opportunities (a LOT!) and career services. I spent last two years working on a VLSI testability research project and the national "Future Car" competition. Both were easily my best academic experience at Wisconsin. </p>
<p>The career service (ECS) headed by Sandra Arnn was top-notch and always brought in an incredible number of quality companies to campus. I could personally say that I got my co-op at Siemens and multiple full time job offers, including a MC firm, in large part because of various helps I got from ECS. Here are some latest stats from ECS website:
<a href="http://ecs.engr.wisc.edu/parent/statsci.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://ecs.engr.wisc.edu/parent/statsci.cfm</a></p>
<p>Could any Wisconsin engineering student or recent grads comment how things have changed (for better or worse) in the last few years?</p>