Is there a way I can find out the internship or job outcomes for the CSU’s? For example Long Beach has been mentioned upthread. I believe it could be a great option, potentially close to a lot of relevant employers (aero industry, other mech eng needs).
Yes, thanks for the above post.
I did a one year industrial placement as part of my degree. It was something I chose, but ensured it was part of the program.
I’ve heard schools like Drexel and Northeastern have strong co-op programs. I’m not sure if there any like this closer to home?
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ can tell you some information about pay levels for recent graduates who received federal financial aid as students, but more detailed information about specific employers and the like would have to come from the college career centers, if they make that public (unfortunately, many do not).
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RIT,Clarkson University, University of Buffalo and University of Albany
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Thanks! The link didn’t work for me though.
Edit: worked for my spouse so I’ll try again later on my laptop
Those two and Cincinnati have their curricula built around co-ops. However, many other schools do have formalized optional co-op programs. You may want to search for “[school name] engineering co-op” to see if anything like that comes up.
At other schools, a do-it-yourself co-op-like experience (i.e. a 6-9 month job during a semester off school) may be possible by withdrawal and readmission, but the school’s policy on such needs to be checked.
Many tableau pages work best on a computer, rather than a mobile phone.
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Try this link for the CSU Dashboards and scroll down to the Labor market outcomes.
The link works for me but I do get a popup error that disappears and allows access.
https://www.calstate.edu/data-center/institutional-research-analyses/Pages/data-dashboards.aspx
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ASU has some interesting programs like Earth and Space Exploration Systems Design (and there are a bunch of space companies in and around Phoenix):
https://sese.asu.edu/degree/undergraduate/earth-and-space-exploration-exploration-systems-design-bs
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Awesome. Thank you!
Don’t go by a college’s sticker price. I would suggest running the Net Price Calculator at schools under consideration. If they ask for academic stats, then they will usually include the minimum amount of merit aid that your son would be likely to receive. At some schools, particularly private schools, a very large percentage (like 90+%) of students will receive merit aid. The amount of merit aid might differ based on the strength of the applicant, but all accepted students may receive very large “merit” packages as colleges will use this to discount their very large sticker prices.
Seconding U. of Cincinnati, Clarkson, and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), though perhaps the latter two might be considered approaching tundra-esque for a California student 
. He may also want to consider Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston,Temple in Philadelphia, and Worcester Polytechnic as well. Kettering in Michigan is better-known for automotive engineering, but I would still give it a review, and Milwaukee School of Engineering would be another possibility. These last too, of course, are others that some might consider tundra-esque.
Engineering is hard everywhere and only strong fish will be swimming in that pond after the first year or so. But some other schools your son may want to investigate are:
- Arizona State
- Embry-Riddle (AZ or FL)
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Iowa State
- Ohio U.
- U. of Alabama - Huntsville
- U. of Arizona
- U. of Central Florida
- U. of Dayton (OH)
- U. of Houston (TX)
- U. of Kansas
- U. of Louisville (KY)
If your son is doing co-ops, they could be anywhere in the country. Many college kids may only be “back home” for a couple weeks, at best.
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You’ll have more options once you have that test - but an Alabama (if his 3.5 is a 3.5) can be as low as high teens…depending on his SAT. Mississippi State is another and UAH for a smaller school.
There’s others too - but more cold - and then there’s some with less of a national profile but still great schools.
You can look at them - but I wouldn’t want to add the pressure of - you need to do well.
In CA and the WUE (schools like UNR - which will have sometimes cold) - you have options already…but it could be the three I mentioned, some of the Florida schools and more become financial safeties.
UAH would be the calmest of the three.
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This can be spitballed by knowing the EFC
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But for schools that don’t have auto merit charts, a lot of them will end up giving a merit aid estimate via the NPC. Not necessarily at the Top X schools, but I have found lots of non-Top-X schools will do so.
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I agree. I just don’t see those generous awards typically extend down to 3.5 GPAs. Certainly the best way is to run the NPC for every school.
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As an example, I just went to Wentworth’s NPC.
I gave the family a $10M income, same in assets, the kid is earning $100k a year, etc. So no way were they going to get (moderator edit/correction) need-based aid. But with a 3.5 GPA, it’s estimating that the kid would get a $21k scholarship bringing the net price from $64k to $43k. Thus, it seems like Wentworth could be a school that would come in within budget. If the NPC came back with $0 in merit aid, then the family would probably think it unlikely to hit budget and then eliminate it.
So although it can be time-consuming, for schools that have a sticker price above budget, I still think it’s worth running the NPC even if no financial aid is in the picture. In fact, I’m particularly fond of the NPCs that give an option to not ask for any need-based aid and just skip to the scholarship estimator (hint, hint, all college representatives).
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Bama is with a 3.5 (UW I believe:
With a 1330 SAT, it’d be within range. With a 1360, very inexpensive - and 1420 downright cheap.
For less crazy, smaller UAH, full pay will be within budget but merit goes down to a 3.0 but you also need the test score.
So having an SAT can help wonders - if OP decides they’re willing to go to warm across the country - but again, will have lots in budget out west.
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Second part first: if your son goes to an ABET acredited program then his job search will depend on his gpa and the industry exposure he’s had. Because the ABET curriculum is coarsely standardized kids from most schools are viewed as on par with each other, of course there are a handful of tippy-top schools like MIT and Caltech.
When you refer to full-year internships are you referring to co-op positions? These are typically longer than a 3-month summer internship but the ones I’ve known about are perhaps 6 months long; a year would be pretty unusual.
A few colleges such as Northeastern emphasize co-op positions and have a roster of employers that come looking for hires. But you may be able to do them from other colleges. I knew someone from SJSU who had a coop and said the positions are easier to get than internships since it means you’ll take 5 years to graduate; a lot of kids want to get out in 4 so they don’t apply for them. As he builds a college list he might want to check with dept undergrad advisors to see how feasible it is for a student to get off-semester by taking a coop. At some schools engineers may take year-long sequences and they may only be offered once per academic year (eg. MechE 150A in the fall, 150B in the spring).
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Thanks. Yes, I’m thinking more one year co op programs. In Europe they call them industrial placements. A full year of paid employment as part of the Uni. Course.
I will look at these courses if available. Thanks!