aibarr

Well, a lot of people are silly! (end indignance)

But really, a lot of people forget to include personal fit when they look at colleges. I went to the top program in my field for grad school and it was a bad fit... It nearly killed my interest in engineering. If you really like WashU, go for it! You'll get a great education, you'll get a lot of opportunities, and you'll have a great experience.

GoBlue81

WUSTL is not known for its engineering...

For ChE, I'd choose either Minnesota or Wisconsin, both programs are ranked in top 5 for over 40 years. For ChE, class sizes are small and you take pretty much the same classes with your ChE buddies.

If you prefer a private school environment, Northwestern is the obvious choice. Being a Big Ten school, it has the best of both worlds.

wbwa

"Kind of sounds like it's at the tail end of the troubles"
"You'll get a great education, you'll get a lot of opportunities, and you'll have a great experience"

aibarr,

Unfortunately, this is not quite so simple.

The OP has been accepted to 5 top engineering programs (Northwestern, UIUC, Purdue, Minnesota, Wisconsin). Wash U's overall academics are excellent, but their engineering school has some significant problems. This is not the "tail end" of these problems by any means:

1. The school is now without a dean after the last was forced to resign due to a rebellion led by faculty (with the support of students and alumni)
2. The finances of Wash U's engineering school - specifically - are a major problem and were the primary impetus for hiring the previously short-lived dean from outside the institution (i.e. cuts, financial housecleaning)
3. Student complaints about teaching quality in the program abound and are not typical of the rest of the university

Great education, opportunities and experience? Maybe not, I fear. Caveat emptor.

kelle

aye.. =\
bump.

aibarr

Okay, theeeeese were the sorts of things I was hunting for but hadn't found yet... If there are student complaints about teaching quality (and not just of the typical "this professor sucks" type that are characteristics of all universities, from time to time), then that might be cause for serious worry, coupled with a lack of motivated leadership to recruit better teaching professors... A lack of financial support is also troubling.

Caveat emptor, indeed...

wbwa, are you a student at Wash U? Where are you hearing these things from?

kelle

bump.

so right now, I've narrowed it down to washU, NU, & Minn. my parents said that I have to make a decision soon (preferably within the next 24 hours?) so ANY extra/last-minute input is greatly appreciated =D...

ham

northwestern is a name that will carry some weight

UCBChemEGrad

I would sign your SIR for Northwestern...and don't look back.

kelle

true. I made my first visit today and I liked it. My only concerns are that it is sooooo expensive (commuting is an option, except I'd rather not do it for the sake of my social life). Some of my friends also say that the kids there come off as pretentious, too, but I really can't tell.

UCBChemEGrad

^ I thought you said it will only cost you $2000/year over UIUC...that's nothing.