@helpless2017 I can’t speak to Olin specifically, but generally employers like well rounded applicants. An engineering grad with project experience (and the leadership/teamwork/success/failure/etc that comes with it) is certainly desirable. Keep in mind, though, that every engineering program includes a capstone project. No matter what school you attend, you will graduate with project experience. Research institutions are not just for research. They can also turn out well rounded applicants. As I said, Olin is great for the right person. But it’s not the only great place out there.
I’ll give you a real world example of presence of grad students for connections. My son happens to be at GT. He recently applied for co-op with Coke, perhaps the most desirable co-op at GT. His fraternity brother is now a grad student, who happened to have the exact co-op position last year. Even had the same boss. He coached my son through the whole interview prep, all the hot buttons to push, basically giving him the playbook to nail the interview. Which he did, just last week. Guy offered the job on the spot.
The bottom line is this, they both produce good engineers and are both well respected programs. To say however that one is better than the other is silly. This isn’t apples and oranges. It’s apples and zebras. It would be hard to find two more diametrically opposed programs. They operate in different spheres. The question is, which realm is right for you. Then, you’ll know which school is right for you. Have you visited? My son did, and although we all thought it was cool, he didn’t even apply. It just wasn’t a good fit for him. If you haven’t visited, that will likely solidify things for you.
Did you visit GaTech? Were you offered an Honors program spot there? You will be a part of smaller community, can sign up for classes earlier, their dorm is nice and Honors course selection is great (small groups there). My son is a CS Honors student at GaTech, doing semester abroad at HKUST. These two schools are so different. GT has a lot to offer, it is a large school with a lot of opportunities and a great network of alums.
My ME group at a popular bay area company has an intern from Olin right now and I know of at least one Olin grad here. I probably know a few more GT grads, but not a significant difference. Olin is definitely on the radar here.
“love to interact with a large and diverse group of people” - That would be an excellent reason to pick GT (or any more traditional school) over Olin.
I would not rule out Olin due to job opportunities, especially if the student wants to eventually wants to settle in Boston (like my son did) or in Silicon Valley.
For the skimmers, I’ll add employer info from one of my links (similar to what I did for grad schools… but this time there is a heading so I know for sure the timeframe: 2006/first class thru 2016, fewer than 1000 grads)
OLIN - TOP EMPLOYERS
Google 31
Microsoft 30
athenahealth 24
Apple 11
Blue Origin 7
Ivani 7
Navy 7
Pivotal 7
Amazon 6
Raytheon 6
Rockwell Automation 6
Boeing 5
HubSpot 5
Synapse 5
Note - A few students have created their own start-ups. My son had friends with a start-up that received $3 million in Venture Capital funding when they were age 21 .
TOP SUMMER INTERN EMPLOYERS
Apple
athenahealth
Barrett Technology
Bose
GE
Google
IBM
Ivani
Microsoft
OnShape
Pivotal
Raytheon
Tesla
Top Summer Research Labs
Caltech
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
MIT
Olin
Of course the above info is NOT reason for a student to pick Olin if it is not the right fit. I only posted it to give future readers confidence that it is possible for a new/teeny school to have an excellent reputation with employers and grad schools (even if, gasp… it us undergrad-only, with limited research opportunity)
@Chardo Congrats to your son! If you don’t mind, what department was your son involved with? When I visited GT, they really seemed to be pushing the project-based agenda, with the most visible (and symbolic) depiction being their destroying the huge ECE lecture hall to create a giant ECE Makerspace. For that reason, I was wondering how much of that is just admissions stretching the truth (though students I talked too said it wasn’t too exaggerated)
@eyemgh Thanks for the input. I have visited both, and while it was not really love at first sight for either (I mean, I really enjoyed GT, but it was also probably helped by the fact that I went from snow to 80 degree temperatures). With that, I worry that not loving Olin is dangerous - all of the students I met there either were obsessed with it or hated it, and I would hate to hate it. @NoVADad99 Is there any chance you have any information regarding whether my observation at CW is the case? Thank you so much.
@colorado_mom Thanks for the info. Does your son/his friends interact with and/or work with people outside of the Olin bubble often? I have contacts and friends at MIT, Wellesley, and Babson, and I could see myself visiting them, which would probably help, but I know my personality and that I love meeting new people and working with those who are different from me. At the same time, it seems logistically difficult to leave Olin that often; I would probably bring a car considering I live so close and Needham’s public transport doesn’t really go near Olin, but I’m not sure how well that would work out.
@RussianMom I was offered a spot in the Honors College at GT, and if I were to attend I would love to pursue that. Does your son still feel integrated with the entire GT community and the HP, or does it feel stratified? The HP does seem like a nice community among the huge school, and the HP alone is over double the size of the entire student body at Olin.
@i012575 I do agree that college should be tough and intimidating and all that, and Olin definitely feels too comfortable in that it’s 50/50 gender balanced, seems very nurturing (students and profs go by first name and do art together after school, lots of support academically, etc.), and is extremely close to home. At the same time, GT is a three hour flight away, huge and competitive, and the ECE department is significantly male-dominated. Do you have any insights on whether there’s a line between challenging and being thrown into the fire? Thanks
@nordicdad Are Olin students looked upon to have less technical knowledge? I had a technical job interview with a large engineering company last week, and they mentioned that while Olin students may make great managers and designers, they’re more skeptical of their technical abilities. Thanks for the input.
Olin only has about 320 students … so sometimes I think of almost as a very large co-ed frat. There is a tendency for students to stay on campus. The academic and project load is intense (as it would be at GT too I’m sure), but the students seem to thrive on the challenge. They are often on that Olin bubble, but liking it. Having said that, my son did get off campus. One of his research things was joint project with Wellesly. I’d guess he went to Boston about once a month. He rode his bike and ran a lot too. For him, most interests/ECs involved music, which he did on campus. Oh yea, he also tutored some local kids and did a morning math(?) program at a local school.
“I love meeting new people and working with those who are different from me.” - That definitely could be a concern regarding “fit”. The Oliners have a wide variety of interests, more so than in many engineering programs. But they are still all very STEM-focused. To give an example, there is a Saturday night club called “Midnight Mathematicians”. I kid you not… they meet at midnight and take turns presenting on math topics.
@helpless2017 GT Honors program is not the same and as exclusive, as Presidents Scholarship program (my son was interviewed for PS, but not selected). Several of his closest friends are from his freshman HP dorm, and it was nice to see him excited about some of the humanities courses he had a chance to take. I would say that he is pretty integrated into GT community now, especially into College of Computing community, where they do exceptional job with internships, co-ops, and many other things, including student support. All his summer internships, starting freshman year, were interesting and paid ones, and with well known companies. There are so many different activities to balance intense academic life. He is passionate about hackathons, so that kinda takes him everywhere now, and goes beyond GT community.
I’m beginning to get the picture that you feel better about GT, but have FOMO about Olin because it’s so different. If Olin doesn’t deeply resonate with you, I’d be wary. It’s a calling, almost like Deep Springs College. If you don’t feel that, you could be miserable. There’s higher risk at Olin. You will have to make your way more at GT than Olin, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It is, as many have pointed out, all about fit. Both are good schools.
Hello @helpless2017, I think it would be best if you visit and make a call. One suggestion… don’t get too carried away by the names of big/attractive employers that visit these campuses… jobs, internships/co-ops and research opportunities are plentiful. My D2 is a Junior now at GTech. Before she left for her first semester there I gave her one piece of advice/encouragement… enjoy college life and do well! It is not only a question of learning and preparing for the next stage of life but also making your best friends and savoring whatever your college has to offer beyond academic life. She has more than thrived at GTech and I am proud to say that she is ready for bigger challenges. Go Yellowjackets!
@RussianMom Does he benefit from the HP community in terms of his internships/hackathons? I was told by someone from WRT that HP will fund travel for hackathons and have separate career email lists, but I understand that these instances can be rare.
@colorado_mom In terms of the academic rigor, does your son have time for extracurriculars/jobs? I would probably want to work, even if it’s not a ton of hours, to help pay for immediate expenses and the overall cost of my education. At GT, almost all the students I met had time for 1 or 2 afterschool jobs, and it’s pretty rigorous there, so I’m wondering how tough the coursework is