University of Texas

madmc95 · 10-22-2012, 04:34 PM

Any opinions about U of Texas for chem eng? I don't see it discussed much here. Any advice between Purdue/Illinois/Texas?

ucbalumnus · 10-22-2012, 04:45 PM

If you are looking at out of state public schools for chemical engineering, you may want to add University of Minnesota to your list, as its out of state list price is relatively low.

boneh3ad · 10-22-2012, 05:04 PM

UT is a great engineering school. The important thing here is where do you live, how much is money a factor and what are you looking for in a school?

madmc95 · 10-22-2012, 06:37 PM

requirements: great chem eng. program; student work abroad program; allowed to audition for woodwind ensemble; a true college campus which I did not get that feel at Georgia Tech; music minor option. location, finance not really a factor. But wow MN and WI so cold!

MaineLonghorn · 10-22-2012, 08:48 PM

I originally planned to minor in music when I got to UT (I had studied piano since first grade, and a UT prof had encouraged me to major in it, but I knew I couldn't make a living with that major). I changed my mind after one semester.

boneh3ad · 10-22-2012, 09:54 PM

The bottom line, madmc95, is that the criteria you mentioned fit nearly every major state school, including all three you mentioned.

madmc95 · 10-23-2012, 12:00 AM

I had never visited Austin before. pretty neat town. was on a tour of Rice and decided to visit Austin as well. was pleasantly surprised.

MaineLonghorn · 10-23-2012, 12:03 AM

Yep, Austin is a fantastic city. I still like visiting it, as long as it's not during the summer. I couldn't take the heat, June through September. Eventually, I'd like to live in Maine some of the year and Austin the rest.

madmc95 · 10-23-2012, 12:04 AM

boneh3ad just noticed you are in College Station. Texas A&M throws a ton of money at National Merits. Received their letter today. Could not believe the amount.

boneh3ad · 10-23-2012, 12:15 AM

I wouldn't know. My undergrad school didn't throw much money at anyone. Haha

madmc95 · 10-23-2012, 11:26 PM

boneh3ad, you seem to have some experience with this: I am leaning toward Illinois and/or Purdue because of their dedication to work abroad programs and reputation, assuming I don't get into any on the level of MIT, CM or Princeton, which is unlikely due to my SAT Physics score.
but now that several colleges like Auburn, A&M, Louisville, OK, Arizona, Alabama etc are throwing huge amounts to National Merit with total free ride + travel abroad stipends, was curious from those in the field... would you still go to the big names for chem. eng. if money is not issue and decline these other offers? or for undergrad does it end up making a difference. I did not expect these full ride plus incentive offers for National Merit.

colorado_mom · 10-24-2012, 12:10 AM

Northeastern in Boston has a great NMF scholarship (full tuition covered, room/board etc about $15K/yr). Department of Chemical Engineering | Northeastern University

Their claim to fame is a great co-op program. Typically students attend for 5 years, with three 6 month co-op jobs (paid) during that time.

eyemgh · 10-24-2012, 02:12 PM

madmc95, a decision to pass on a full ride for undergraduate should not be taken lightly unless money just grows on trees. The opportunity cost of the money saved is huge. If you invest $250K today at the average stock market return since 1900 (including the great depression and our current great Recession), you'd have over $22M in 50 years. That's not instead of an education, but in addition to an education.

M

ucbalumnus · 10-24-2012, 02:28 PM

Note that Texas A&M is an extremely respectable school for engineering, so a generous scholarship offer from it should get serious consideration.

boneh3ad · 10-24-2012, 05:05 PM

If money was truly no object, I would pick whichever school I was admitted to that I felt most comfortable at (comfort is essentially a balance between culture and prestige and differs for different people). However, rarely is money truly not an option.

If I had a full ride to Texas A&M vs. paying full tuition out of pocket for Illinois or Purdue, I would need to have a pretty good reason to pass up the full ride, and about the only reason I could think of is if you absolutely hated the state of Texas or the school, if you wanted to stay closer to home or if your family just truly had zillions of dollars to where it really didn't matter.