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SUNY Buffalo Vs Northeaster Vs RPI for Aerospace /ME
Ultramarine777
56 replies3 threads Junior Member
My son was accepted to SUNY Buffalo, Bing and Stony Brook. We visited Stony and he did not like it. The ME presentation was very week and boring. From what he read Bing does not have as good of an engineering school. Visited Northeastern and loved it for the Co-Op program, their Aerospace clubs and location – cost is the only concern. Going to RPI this weekend and Buffalo next.
He got accepted into Emory - was thinking of doing Emory+Georgia Tech program but did not get any merit aid and at $72K a year for 5 years I don’t think it makes sense.
He also got on the wait list for the Cooper Union but I guess a chance to get off that list is very slim.
Basically we have to choose between SUNY Buffalo, NEU and RPI
25 replies He got accepted into Emory - was thinking of doing Emory+Georgia Tech program but did not get any merit aid and at $72K a year for 5 years I don’t think it makes sense.
He also got on the wait list for the Cooper Union but I guess a chance to get off that list is very slim.
Basically we have to choose between SUNY Buffalo, NEU and RPI
Replies to: SUNY Buffalo Vs Northeaster Vs RPI for Aerospace /ME
PS: It's Northeastern, not Northeaster
I think most would argue for Northeastern or RPI (I'd go with Northeastern but take that as a grain of salt coming from a current student, though I did look at both when applying). If you liked the location of Northeastern I don't think RPI will be a great fit and with costs being close to equal and you loving co-op and all, Northeastern over RPI seems like the right fit call.
That said, you really can't take money out of context here. If there weren't loans involved the value question is a bit different, but even with solid majors like engineering why take on the burden of loans when you don't have to? Rankings in engineering should be a loose guide, not a hard ordering, and 30 vs 67 really isn't that huge of a difference. If there are sufficient class offerings and you go there and work hard, again outcomes will be similar.
As for not having an AE major, that's not the end of the world. There are lots of roads into the industry, ME probably being the most analogous. Certainly there are engineers of all stripes in aerospace. My son is just finishing his MS in ME, but he interned at an aerospace company and his MS thesis is bleeds over into Aerospace (it's a mechatronic device that measures pressures in the boundary layer).
I wouldn't be wildly inclined to take out a bunch of debt if you have a solid, low cost, in state option. Paying more is one thing if you have it to spend and wouldn't prefer to invest the difference on something else. If you have to borrow it though, it's a bit of a different story. As @PengsPhils said alluded to, engineering is pretty egalitarian. I think the career earnings potential will be similar with a degree from any of those schools. That's not to say there aren't differences between schools, but they are really at the margins. A student from Buffalo that has very good grades, is involved in clubs or research and has internship or coop experience will have better job opportunities than a 2.0 student from MIT or Stanford who didn't do anything else meaningful.
I'm a big fan of Northeastern (so much so that I accidentally typed it in a Northwestern thread yesterday). Also RPI was pretty cool too when we visited in 2009. DH and I (both Clarkson grads) were impressed. DH had taken some RPI courses around 1980 while in the nearby community college ... in those days it was VERY competitive - now it seems more collaborative.
Even though I like the Northeastern and RPI options, it does not seem worth saddling your son with $60K of debt when you have a strong in-state option. Sure...you paid off your own NYU loans. But your son might someday wish he did NOT have nearly $1000/month loan payments. It limits flexibility of choices. At age 18, he might not know what he's getting into unless you study the numbers together.
To be honest we went with the thought that we will not like it and have to see it just to make our self believe that there is no other way but go to NU or RPI and take loans, so UB was total surprise, My son loved it even before us. When we came in the morning there was a marching band planing and he said that this is the first decent band he heard from all other visits, for someone who is currently participates in 4 different bands that was a good start of a day.
Now my only concern is the rating of UB being so low compare to his other choices. I hunestly do not understand why it's even rated below than Stony which is in my opinion is less attractive. Als DS goes to the specialized public school which is among the national top and in the first 3 of the NY state. Most of his friends go to IVYs or equivalent and if he goes to UB it sort of feels like a step back.
If it's US News undergraduate engineering rankings, you should consider that the schools tend to be lump together, with several schools all "tied" at ranking 30, 32, 38, 43, 67, etc. The difference between SUNY Buffalo at 67 and RPI at 30 is only about 6 spots, and not 37. It's much closer than you may think.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate