<p>I know rankings are usually suspect at best, but Georgia Tech has been #1 in industrial engineering for 20 consecutive years. They must be pretty good. What makes their program so much better than others?</p>
<p>Georgia Tech has a large, well established program with great faculty and great research. But, I personally would not dwell on that # 1 ranking too much as there are lots of great programs out there. The most recent rankings : 1. Georgia Tech 2. Michigan 3. Cal 4. Purdue 5.Northwestern 6. Virginia Tech 7. Penn State 8. Stanford 9.Wisconsin 10. Cornell
I might be more concerned with personal fit, location, transportation, cost, where your son wants to end up living after college, where companies are recruiting, etc. Georgia Tech’s average starting salary last year (per their info online) was in the 60’s for industrial and systems,comparable to what my kid got out of Virginia Tech(and probably what his fellow industrial and systems intern was offered out of Cornell). Signing bonuses are common in addition to salary. </p>
<p>They got great faculty and research obviously. But I’d be mindful about one thing: it’s a very large school. </p>
<p>If you are interested in managerial science/analytics, definitely check out Northwestern. You can combine it with their Kellogg certificate in managerial analytics (through Kellogg School of Mgmt) or highly ranked econ program. </p>
<p>Virginia Tech is also a large program but that is not necessarily a bad thing if you take advantage of what is offered. My kid was an undergraduate TA, he was told about job opportunities that would fit him, had access to a great Engineering Expo and Career Services, was told about a funded PhD program at Michigan that the dean thought he might be a good candidate for, etc. Any of the top programs ,including Northwestern,are going to have good resources and opportunities.</p>
<p>Good schools, but VT is too out of the way and Northwestern too expensive. Anyway, I’m just wondering what exactly makes GT stand out. Or do they not really stand out? And what exactly is great research, as far as industrial engineering, and why should I care?</p>
<p>Here are some examples of the research being done at the current highest ranked undergraduate schools . I’m sure you can find similar info from any of the schools you’re looking at. All of the top 3 are public so will obviously be more expensive if out of state. Are there any other schools you’re focusing on besides Georgia Tech? You could look at their info as well as Georgia Tech’s info and visit the schools and ask questions.
<a href=“Research | H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering”>http://www.isye.gatech.edu/research/</a>
<a href=“Research”>http://ioe.engin.umich.edu/research/</a>
<a href=“http://www.ieor.berkeley.edu/Research/index.htm”>http://www.ieor.berkeley.edu/Research/index.htm</a></p>
<p>Your son could certainly change his mind about industrial, but this article just published by Forbes indicates industrial I is one of the good ones to consider these days. <a href=“The Most In-Demand (And Aging) Engineering Jobs”>http://www.forbes.com/sites/emsi/2014/09/12/the-most-in-demand-and-oldest-engineering-jobs/</a></p>
<p>Hopefully, someone with familiarity with Georgia Tech will answer some of your questions about what makes them stand out. </p>
<p>you should check out Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s IE program. It’s not ranked on the lists, since it doesn’t offer PhD’s, hence why Cal Poly gets put in a diff category; it’s always #1 on those non-PhD’s programs tho. I would recommend Cal Poly mainly for it’s “learn by doing” motto!</p>
<p>I think Raytheon CEO graduated from Cal Poly SLO with a degree in Industrial Engineering. </p>