<p>I was wondering what the differences are between public and private engineering colleges as well as the advantages and disadvantages.</p>
<p>I am currently an undergrad at a large public university with intentions on transferring. I previously disregarded private universities because of their high tuition but I hear now that private schools offer more money to their students than public, especially in our current economic state.</p>
<p>Financial aid is important to me, but I ultimately care about the academic experience</p>
<p>You cannot just break down schools that easily between public and private. There are public universities with fantastic financial aid programs, and there are private ones who really could care less if you can afford to go there. There are also great programs in both public and private universities (especially with engineering).</p>
<p>Without knowing more about your situation, I am not really sure any of us can help you. My advice is, as long as you are happy where you are, stay there. If you look hard enough, you should be able to find some financial aid opportunities. Go talk to your advisor, I am sure they have some great ideas on where to find it. You shouldn’t go through the hassle of transfering only on the possibility of getting more money. (Of course, this is all assuming that your university is good academically. If it isn’t, and you can transfer, go for it.)</p>
<p>i will be going to USC for engineering in the fall, their financial aid is pretty incredible. my family was pretty sure we wouldn’t get any at all and it ended up costing like 1/3 less than we thought. there is also state fin aid (i know california has the cal grant) which a lot of people don’t know about but is extremely helpful</p>
<p>That is not necessarily true. It just depends on which public university you go to. My biggest engineering class ever had about 30 students in it, and that was freshman year. Ever since then, they have all been around 15 or so.</p>
<p>Well I am not happy at the school I currently attend and feel like I am not being challenged enough. I go to a fourth-tier public university and have a 3.7 GPA (38 credits). As of now, I am thinking about applying to UF (in-state), UT, IllinoisUC, and Gtech for the Fall 09 semester.</p>
<p>I’ve been in public schools my entire life and would prefer smaller class sizes and more personal attention, but its just a preference. I find myself using USNEWS and Princeton Review rankings as my primary means of selecting schools, but am also intimidated by the selectiveness of the top private schools (MIT, Stanford, Caltech are impossible and Carnegie Mellon/Cornell is a long shot). </p>
<p>I know rankings shouldn’t determine my choice of school but how I am supposed to know what school is right for me? Its not like I can visit every school I want to apply to.
I want to be in a top engineering program that provides great job opportunities and a memorable university experience, which is ultimately up to me anyway, right?</p>
<p>So I guess I just wanted to see if there was a major difference between public and private but I guess theres not.</p>
<p>Typically, yes, a private schools will have more “personalized” attention since they are smaller. Yet, do not discount public schools–Bosque is correct that it really depends on the public school. </p>
<p>Anyway, your list of schools sounds great but be sure you visit the campus to get a good feel.</p>
<p>I will say this though. I may be a little biased in my opinion, but don’t go to UT. The classes there are huge. It should be less of a problem for you if you are transferring since you wont have to do many introductory classes, but it is still the penultimate example of a big public university.</p>
<p>Again, I wouldn’t be too concerned about rankings. It really has no meaning for undergraduate work and can be very misleading as to the level of education (or most importantly, access to willing professors who aren’t just being forced to teach so they can continue their research) you will actually receive. </p>
<p>The only other one of those schools I know much about is Gtech since one of my friends went there. He seemed to love it, so I think I can support it for your application. Anyway, good luck!</p>
<p>I guess it really depends on what you like. Some people, like me, like large lecture classes. I am currently attending a large public university. Last year, I took an intro class in micro economics, and there were 726 students. The professor literally took 30 seconds to scan the room from left to right to see if there were any hands for questions. And if he can’t see you, you can just stand up. Sometimes you do get some attention in large classes, but most of the time you don’t. But large universities will have the resources for you to succeed if you choose to seek them out. There will be numerous tutor help available and lots of practice help I suggest you check out ratemyprofessor.com, and look up some professors for classes that you will be taking to see if that’s what you want in a classroom setting.</p>
<p>it’s heavily dependent on your major, mechanical/electrical engineering is going to be big classes regardless of where you go, because they are popular, as is economics/psychology on the arts and sciences side. </p>
<p>If you goto say… Case Western Reserve/UCSD/JHU, BME is going to be large classes throughout. </p>
<p>If you want smaller classes, just pick a very small department, which in engineering for many schools, is like Nuclear Engineering, Marine Engineering, Material Science, and sometimes Chemical Engineering… but the catch is that you might not be as interested in the material. it’s not a matter of public vs. private.</p>
<p>One plus on the subject of big classes. You’re more likely to get a teacher who is really good at teaching and can explain the material well. When large classes are broken up into small classes in later courses, more teachers must be distributed among the classes. This is when graduate TA’s come out of the woodwork to teach class due to a shortage of teachers. Not a good situation.</p>
<p>Last year I was accepted to both a public and a private university (both OOS). After financial aid, they came out to be about the same with the private university being 1-2k more. But instate tuition for publics in my state are like 4.5k too.</p>
<p>“One plus on the subject of big classes. You’re more likely to get a teacher who is really good at teaching and can explain the material well. When large classes are broken up into small classes in later courses, more teachers must be distributed among the classes. This is when graduate TA’s come out of the woodwork to teach class due to a shortage of teachers. Not a good situation.”</p>
<p>Frankly, I have found the opposite to be true. The teachers I have had in the few big classes outside of my department have been much worse than the ones in my smaller ones. They just don’t care as much whether you are getting the material; they can’t. That said, I am still a supporter of public universities. I just don’t agree with your assesment of big classes.</p>
<p>“Again, I wouldn’t be too concerned about rankings. It really has no meaning for undergraduate work and can be very misleading as to the level of education (or most importantly, access to willing professors who aren’t just being forced to teach so they can continue their research) you will actually receive.”</p>
<p>I plan on getting my Masters in Structural Engineering, so I am not only concerned with undergraduate academics.</p>