<p>I am a senior in high school currently deciding between studying at either Caltech, Columbia SEAS, or Duke Pratt. My currently intended major is MechE - but truly for the purpose of Aeronautical engineering. Now, none of the schools I’m choosing from offer an actual degree in that field. Caltech offers the MechE degree and a minor in Aerospace Engineering. Duke offers a MechE degree and a Aerospace Engineering Certificate. To my knowledge, Columbia simply offers a MechE or Engineering Mechanics degree. I really just want to know what school is best from an “education” standpoint. I can determine the winners of all the other various factors I’m considering, but I’m not sure which it best in so far as giving me the most in the field I’m interested in. Research opportunities in the field tie into this as well. </p>
<p>My current “career-of-choice” is to work at a corporation such as Boeing as an aeronautical engineer and perhaps slowly transition more into the business side of the company, pushing through with my technical knowledge. Essentially, I want to know which school would prepare me for the best-paying job in that field. Yes - that’s the unit of measurement I’m looking at (within the constraints of my field of interest), dollars. </p>
<p>Now, I’ve heard that the aeronautical industry can either be approached with or without a graduate school degree. Is there any consensus on that? Pro’s & con’s to having a post-undergrad degree or not?</p>
<p>Ignoring fit, I think Caltech is your best choice. Caltech is very strong in Aerospace Engineering and has lots of related opportunities. This is mainly due to the fact Caltech has a top Aerospace Engineering graduate program, and Duke and Columbia do not have graduate programs.</p>
<p>Do you know much about aerospace engineering programs? Caltech was among the world leaders during the space race, and still is due to the reputation it gained. They got rid of the undergraduate major, but they still have the best connections to aerospace companies and associations of your list by far. For example they have a NASA lab (JPL) right on their campus.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Caltech but I can comment on Duke. Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and HondaJet recruit on campus. I also know someone working on Tesla this coming summer. Duke could also open doors on the business side of things.</p>
<p>Exactly how big of a difference would you say there is between Caltech and Columbia/Duke? Is it big enough that, barring financial restrictions, I should go there as long as I picture enjoying myself there? What I’m trying to ask is if Caltech is such a distant first that I ought to go there hands down, or are perhaps the other schools a closer second/third that perhaps if other factors point me towards them, I should choose to go to Columbia/Duke instead? Would that be a major blow towards my end goals?</p>
<p>Also, any thoughts on the industry with or without graduate studies? (I don’t have to go to grad school at the same place I’m going for undergrad, so you don’t need to view it that way. However, where I go for undergrad will factor in where I’ll be able to get in for graduate, should I decide to pursue that, so you may want to consider that.)</p>
<p>It depends on financial aid. I would say CalTech is the holy grail for what you want. All your choices are private schools so they all cost some money to attend. But put a dollar amount that you think is the premium of attending CalTech vs the other schools. For instance I wouldn’t pay 100k to go to CalTech over Duke…but what that number is, is up for you to decide. </p>
<p>But CalTech will get you any job on the planet. Just don’t go bankrupt to attend.</p>
<p>As you can see, Duke has extremely big campus compared to other two. You will have better opportunities as Caltech than other two. If all of them cost approximately the same, then definitely Caltech. If not go with Duke.</p>
<p>Let’s just say they all will cost the same for me. Why is size of the campus a big factor? I have visited all of them, and I like all of the campuses. Each is very different. </p>
<p>Why Duke over Columbia? Surely that can’t just be based on the size of the campus…a giant chunk of Duke’s campus is trees. </p>
<p>Also, my travel costs to Caltech will be high each year (I live in South FL). That will make going to Caltech a good bit more of a hassle (both financially and logistically).</p>
<p>Just guessing here but it may be meant to emphasize the differences in lifestyles at the three campuses. I assume you’ve visited them or at least know what the general atmosphere is. If you haven’t you should definitely try to as it can be a very important factor to how happy you are during your 4 years and thus how successful you will be.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Duke’s engineering program, but I remember that Columbia heavily emphasized a curriculum balanced with social sciences and humanities, or their Common Core. About a third of your classes must fall under this category, which is considerably more than you would have to take at Duke/CalTech. This may be something you enjoy, but many people see it as a drain from time that should be spent on your engineering studies.</p>
<p>" For example they have a NASA lab (JPL) right on their campus." Note that JPL is a separate facility north of Pasadena. Caltech does operate JPL for NASA, and students have opportunities to do summer and other research at JPL (as do students from other schools).</p>
<p>In reality, Columbia’s core isn’t off-putting to me. I like the exposure to subjects outside of the STEM fields. I’ll be going to Prefrosh Weekend soon, where I’ll get a concrete sense of what the atmosphere at Caltech is like. Besides distance, I’m worried about two main factors. 1) The concentrated nature of the education 2) the gender gap and general social life at Caltech. Perhaps Caltech isn’t as concentrated as I think it is, and there may be a little bit of dipping into other fields. Visiting will also let me get a better view of social life there. I’m worried about getting “burnt out” on STEM if I go to Caltech. Studying other subjects, like perhaps Business/Economics or even a bit of literature might break the monotony. I’m kind of worried that perhaps a grad school or employer won’t appreciate those other subjects as much as I would. </p>
<p>I did see a list of undergraduate research opportunities at JPL the other day and I must say, it was almost mind boggling. The list was gargantuan and the opportunities were looking for practically any student.</p>
<p>You can do research at JPL over the summer even if you go to Duke or Columbia. I would choose based on fit between Caltech or Duke since Columbia doesn’t offer an Aerospace certificate.</p>
<p>In general you wouldn’t go to Columbia for an engineering degree or just for Aerospace due to them not really having any undergraduate programs in that field? If the former, why? Is it because you would pick one of my other schools or are you speaking in terms of absolutes. Very curious. </p>
<p>I think I’m also going to mention that I was also accepted to GeorgiaTech, Vanderbilt, and Washington University in St. Louis if it matters. GTech currently looks like it could be cheaper due to a merit scholarship I received there. Does this make a difference or is the consensus generally “If you fit there, go to Caltech. Otherwise, probably Duke but maybe Columbia if you really like it there A LOT more than Duke.”?</p>
<p>Perhaps there are better options for an engineering degree. Suspect there will be more engineering internship and job oppty’s for engineering folks coming out of Cal Tech.</p>
<p>There are good schools that have engineering degrees (Yale, Columbia, Tufts, Princeton, Brown, etc etc) but they aren’t necessarily the best choice for engineeroing.</p>
<p>Just going to say if you feel you wouldn’t fit in at Caltech after visiting, don’t go there. It’s a school where only those that really love it thrive, and the rest have a very, very, long four years.</p>