Need more target schools for engineering…ideas?

JackH2021
Tue, 06 Sep 2022 01:11:22 +0000

Some thoughts and recommendations…

I would consider your school size criteria (10-40k) to be medium to very large. Given, your size range I don’t know how CalTech, Northwestern or Stanford made the list. If you are considering schools the size of NU or Stanford, add CMU to your reach list; it is academically very strong and Pittsburgh is a great town.

If you can get past the red state requirement that opens quite a few options, like GA Tech. Most universities in the US lean left, even if they are in a red state, and most large urban areas lean left, even in red states.

You might want to add UIUC to the list. It is #8 in ChemE and #6 in Engineering overall. It checks the box for size (33K students), and it is in a blue state. Illinois is also strong in the sciences, should you want to change majors. Based on your stats, this should be a target for you as an OOS applicant.

While you are looking at the Big 10, UW-Madison is #10 in ChemE, has 33k students, and leans pretty hard left. Again, with your stats you would be a competitive OOS applicant. Minnesota-Twin Cities checks all the boxes too (#7 in ChemE, 36k students, blue state), and the Twin Cities are beautiful. You also may want to add Penn State as a safety.

Note that, while highly ranked, UofM has some drawbacks. First, the engineering buildings are on a separate campus, while the math and science departments are on the main campus, so engineering students have to catch a shuttle to make their classes. Second, we live in MI and know hiring managers - who are UofM alumni themselves - who will not hire engineers from MI because the program is too theoretical and they don’t get practical experience. Instead, they hire from Purdue.