Electrical Engineering @ NC State?

momhippo · 04-21-2007, 06:09 PM

Looking for answers to any of the following questions: Do you like the program? Do profs, TAs, or both teach the engineering courses? (I noticed that TAs teach many of the Calc courses.) Are profs accessible/approachable? Can you do research in JR & SR yrs? What grad schools have students gotten into with an EE from NCSU?

Thanks in advance for any replies. There's not much action in this forum-- hopefully that's because everyone is happy at NC State

noname2 · 04-21-2007, 08:13 PM

My son has is graduating in May from NCSU with degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has been very pleased with the program..access to profs and tas is good. Lot of the labs are tas. Haven't heard about grad school yet, should hear soon..waiting on one more recommendation. Many of his friends have gone on to grad schools. NCSU's program is respected and with RTP down the road, many ops for internships, coops, employment after grad. NCSU was actually his last choice, but they offered him the most in fin.aid/scholarships. He has never regretted turning down VPI, Clemson, USouthCarol.

momhippo · 04-22-2007, 10:16 AM

Confused over the different Honors & Scholars programs. What are the differences and similarities among these? Thanks

noname2 · 04-22-2007, 10:15 PM

Check out the websites: http://www.ncsu.edu/univ_scholars/pr...ive/index.html
http://www.ncsu.edu/honors/prospectives.htm
I'll also ask my son.

momhippo · 04-23-2007, 07:00 PM

noname2,
Thanks for the additional info.

It looks like Engineering Honors is independent research later after 50 credits and 3.5 gpa.

University Honors is usually for freshmen, research, seminars, honors village, and priority registration. Son doesn't like the seminars. I read where you can choose between the 2 if offered.

However, it doesn't look like Scholars get priority registration. This is worrisome because I've read at some colleges it's hard to get the courses you need to graduate in 4 years. Is this a problem at NC State?

PackMom · 04-23-2007, 09:14 PM

Hi momhippo,
My S is a soph. at NCSU. He was invited to apply for the scholars or honors (can't remember which ) but was not really interested. He has not had any trouble getting the classses he needs so far. When they go for freshman orientation, they have already been placed in a math/english class for the first semester. Then they just add on the other classes they need. There seem to be a lot of sections for all the core intro. type courses. It's very easy to find the class offerings and how many seats are available per class. If you're interested, just go to the NCSU website, click on "for students" then click on records and registration on the left side of the page and it will take you to where you can click on Fall '07 class listing.

momhippo · 04-24-2007, 06:13 PM

PackMom,
Thanks for letting me know about class availability. It was a big help. S wants to go to a university vs tech college, but wants to take mostly tech courses. If offered, I can see him turning down honors cuz of the seminars. NC State keeps looking like a good fit for S.

How's the housing situation? Can students live on campus for all 4 years?

noname2 · 04-29-2007, 05:21 PM

http://www.ncsu.edu/univ_scholars/pr...dvantages.html
As a university scholar you get registration priority. Most want to move off campus after a few years. S stayed at Sullivan for 1.5 yrs and then moved with suite mates into an apartment. Many apartments are on the Wolfline (good if he has no car). Some of S friends lived on campus til graduation.

PackMom · 04-29-2007, 11:12 PM

momhippo, noname2 is right. Housing is not a problem because many move off campus. That is not to say the dorms are bad. Most kids just want to stretch their wings after a year or two in the dorm. My S liked his dorm but it was an all freshman dorm so he was not eligible to return to it. There are many apts. close to the campus that are for the most part all student apartments. My S and 3 friends moved to one of these soph. year.

Pride_Surfer · 04-30-2007, 10:22 AM

noname2, what did your son think of the scholars's village/scholars program. I decided to accept the invitation but there is still a lot I don't know about it. What has your son said about it and does he think it is worth the honors credit.

thanks

momhippo · 05-10-2007, 07:24 PM

What is the workload like for University Honors and ECE? Is it worth it?

noname2 · 05-16-2007, 12:17 AM

He enjoyed the scholars program and encouraged others to enter that program also. He just graduated from ECE and the workload at times was substantial. It was a matter of time management as much as anything else. He has always been good at managing his time.
He co-oped a year and continued with that company parttime for the balance of his undergrad career. Co-op was a very positive experience.
He has been accepted in Grad school and is waiting to hear if he will get a TA or RA position. If not he will continue parttime with the company. Raleigh and RTP offer many opportunities for a student to co-op or intern.
I think that he has been very satisfied with his undergrad experiences.

momhippo · 06-01-2007, 08:28 PM

NCSU's website says that engineering is "highly selective". What's that mean in terms of an SAT score for an OOS applicant?

Pride_Surfer · 06-02-2007, 05:49 PM

to be safe, at least a 1300 or so... maybe more. I know that admissions puts more emphasis on academic record than anything.

best of luck

lebedev · 06-17-2007, 07:56 PM

University Honors and Scholars are more liberal arts focused than Engineering Honors. If you are planning to do Engineering, I wouldn't recommend you applying for University Honors as it will involve you in a lot of extra work that is only marginally related to your field. Engineering itself is hard enough.