I recently committed to Pitt for engineering. Recently I have been seeing posts and rankings that say that Pitt has a so-so, mediocre engineering program. I have my eyes set on a job at NASA, and while I know that me getting there will be based on the effort I put in, I’m worried that NASA would go based on the name. Pitt also gave me the most money out of all the schools I applied to. Am I making the right choice or setting myself up for disappointment?
Pitt has a great engineering program! Avail yourself of their career center and coop opportunities, do well, and you can go anywhere, including NASA.
Congrats on a great choice!
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Pittsburgh engineering does have a significant advantage over some other engineering divisions at public flagships in the region: secondary admission to any engineering major does not require a GPA higher than 2.0: https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/first-year/advising/choosing-a-major/ . So no need to stress or grade-grub because a high GPA is needed to get into your desired major, or because there is competitive admission to get into your desired major.
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Pitt students are also able to take one class each term at a consortium school. So technically you can enroll in classes at Carnegie Mellon and not have to pay CMU prices. https://pche-pa.org/
Rankings, not least of engineering undergrad programs, force an artificial sense of difference in value that is often unwarranted. Like, there are a few true engineering powerhouses that stand out a bit, and then a whole bunch of other strong engineering programs that really are not notably distinguishable for undergrad purposes. Pitt is not in that first group, but it is very much in the second group.
Now, to be blunt, a lot of people drop out of engineering in college, and then among those who stick with it, many change their minds about what sort of engineering they want to do. So I would not personally put a lot of weight on any given employer.
But if you want to work at NASA, you should be looking at the Pathways Internship Program:
Can Pitt students do that? Sure, here is an example:
Of course that kid was also a Churchill Scholar. Point being this is not so much about your college choice, it is about you.