It seems to me that many (if not most!) MechE students enjoy project-based learning. It is natural for students to want to build things!
Most schools do not have a specifically project-based curriculum… but engineering students still get experience with challenging hands-on projects, by participating in clubs and on competition teams.
So in addition to thinking about schools that encourage hands-on learning in general, I would suggest that your son look into the sorts of clubs and teams that fit his interests in aeronautics and rockets.
My son attends a school that is not project-based at all, but since freshman year he has been part of his school’s Formula SAE team (student built race car) which has been an amazing experience for him in so many ways. I know these clubs exist for all kinds of interests, and I’m sure there are some that would interest your son.
From the the NE/Mid-Atlantic area, it’s another six hours past Pittsburgh, so farther than you want to go. But it fits all the other parameters and could come in as affordable as in-state or even better, so might be worth lobbing an app.
Was just putting the description. It’s out of their zone. Just wondering if the Technology degree might be more OP’s kid speed. Most don’t know about the technology degrees. But UL would likely hit cost - as you bring it up.
UL is closer than Western KY which you mentioned, but yes, out of the target zone. It’s just one of the most explicitly project-based schools and has other attributes they want also, so FWIW.
I think a lot of MechE students want hands-on/project-based without necessarily wanting to avoid the theoretical foundations for the ABET degree. Engineering tech is an option if the student is interested, but I’m not hearing anything that suggests he should shy away from an ABET engineering program, which seems to be the intent.
I’ll second the recommendation for Syracuse. They seem motivated right now to give good financial packages to students who show interest after last year’s shortfall in yield. Its proximity to the Adirondacks and the Erie Canal are a bonus for an outdoorsy kid.
University of Buffalo (SUNY) is underrated and has some things in common with Pitt. It’s a good backup choice to Binghamton.
My GS from NY is at UMass Amherst in Engineering & loves it. They gave him a financial package to bring the cost down close to what it would be in state at home. Did you run the NPC there?
I don’t know how generous Quinnipiac is with financial aid, but it has several pluses for an outdoor kid who likes Amherst. First, Sleeping Giant State Park is literally right across the street from campus. Second, the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, a greenway which runs for 54 miles north/south in Connecticut is very close to campus. It’s great for off road biking, jogging, or just walking. It runs from New Haven north to Massachusetts where it connects with similar rail trails running for many more miles beyond the border. Third, New Haven is the next town and easy to get to. Downtown New Haven has a lot of the same vibe as Amherst/Northampton in terms of a music scene, restaurants, clubs, theater, and museums. Not to mention the fact that there are lots more college students there (Yale, University of New Haven, and Southern Connecticut), to some extent replicating the multiple college feel of Amherst/Northampton. It’s also famous for Pepe’s Pizza and Sally’s Apizza.
Our daughter was an EE/CS major and her experiences at SUNY Buffalo’s engineering department were well-developed through coursework, staff knowledge and off-site projects.
Most people hear the word “Buffalo” and think immediately about the location, but the kids and staff there are creative in how they deal with the weather and campuses.
If our child, from San Diego, dealt with Buffalo’s location and weather, then any other student can do the same. It’s a large university and the town of Amherst is welcoming of the students. The professors encourage and support student access to industry. Our kid returned to California with a resume of strong coursework and grades. She’s a manager now, for a large international engineering firm, with electrical and mechanical engineers. She trains new engineers via the mode and structure that was utilized at Buffalo.
My Stanford-educated husband was impressed with the breadth of coursework options at Buffalo. It’s a very underrated university.
Thanks for the information. He has applied to WPI and RPI but yes affordability is the issue.
Again, I think I mispoke (not a STEM person myself). He isn’t averse to theory. I think he heard U of R preps students more for graduate work than for a job right after college. He is open to going to grad school but isn’t 100% sure. So he just wants to be sure Rochester will prepare him with internships and experiences that will help get a job as a mechanical engineer rather than just preping him for grad school and research
I did and they only offered 12k merit and loans. Unfortunately that won’t bring the cost close to in state. But I know merit can be variable. They really didn’t ask much about his academic record in the NPC. Hoping they offer more. It will be rough to wait until 1/16!
I’d recommend doing a deep dive into the four year plan of study at the school’s on the list. Despite the overlap thanks to ABET, the way programs are structured can vary. My daughter also wanted a career readiness and hands on focused program. She liked the schools that had some kind of first year engineering design program. Some schools do it through classes, others through EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service), and others through having freshman be easily able to join their project team/clubs. Some programs do all of the above. Some do none!
Schools that have well supported co-op programs and a robust career center are other clues. Look at the Career Center’s webpage and look at what they offer to students, what companies they bring to campus, who the university partner’s with in industry, etc…..
Also look at what research is happening on campus. You should be able to do a search of the school’s name + mechanical engineering labs.
I’m going to second Clarkson. For a small school they have really strong engineering outcomes and some really cool teams (instead of SAE cars, they have snow mobiles!). Clarkson also allows for scholarship stacking. They were very generous with my D. They also have a beautiful honors college.
Drexel in PA is worth a look (a co-op school). Cincinnati too but they are out of your preferred target area.
My son had what he defined as barely any project work at his school - he did do ecoCAR, some like someone mentioned above, lots of hands on via that club, but he defined his MechE degree as math, math, and more math.
He also said nothing he did in school was relevant to the workforce. Not sure if that’s reality or just his opinion. But I wouldn’t worry about being work ready. I’d worry about having a degree with ABET accreditation. That’s what employers want to see.
Comparing Rochester to Pitt and UMASS…hmmmm. Honestly, he’d be better with a SUNY in that regard.
btw - in 2024, per the UR career outcomes report, they show 59% working, 28% continuing education, and 13% still looking. They don’t show the count/% reporting.
This would seem to be another plus in favor of GWU. That is an area of focus for their MechE Department (in fact it is co-named Aerospace), and they have a lot of relationships with NASA:
As for Rochester, I would be a little cautious about what people say online sometimes. This is just my impression, but Hajim is supposedly one of the schools that has been focusing on giving engineering students lots of opportunities for doing experiential learning. Like, see here:
To be fair it may not be as integrated/required as at a place like WPI, but again my impression is at Rochester you can make your overall engineering experience pretty hands on if you want to.
Just another note that different kids learn in different ways and it’s terrific that your child knows what works best for them! My D eliminated all schools that were focused on theory and that sent a large % of their engineers to grad school. For sure all you need for employment is an ABET accredited degree and internships/co-op experience during undergrad, but some students do better in one environment over another. I think your son is smart to be looking for the right fit.
My daughter uses what she learned in her engineering program every single day in her career. And it will be the foundation her career in ops management is built on.
One more thought on looking for fit - look at old exams and course syllabi if they are found on line. At my D’s school her exam questions were typically taken from industry problems and research papers/studies. They had industry leaders regularly as guest speakers, took field trips to their companies, and also had them as “judges” for project presentations.
I’ll just chime in that even the most project based/hands on program in engineering does NOT consider themselves an apprenticeship to industry. Their students WILL have marketable skills- but these are academic institutions, not corporate training programs. Without the mathematical/theoretical underpinnings, students base of knowledge becomes obsolete very quickly. Which is one reason why even the most theoretical programs have opportunities for the workshop/innovation competitions, the tinkering, etc. All of which is done with the supervision of faculty- it’s not just a bunch of sophomores in a garage building boats out of garbage to see which ones are sea-worthy. There is actual learning going on at the same time as these cool and weird hands-on maker-space activities.
My son started internships after his freshman year and went right into the work force after graduation. I think most of his friends did the same - although one is at grad school. I don’t think there’s any issue with wanting to go right into workforce vs grad school graduating from University of Rochester if that’s his desire. I think all of the engineering students do a big capstone project for senior year, so there is definitely a hands on component.
It’s easy to get to downtown from the campus as there is a relatively large dorm downtown for juniors and seniors. My son’s girlfriend lived there her junior year and they lived downtown senior year. It’s only a couple of miles along the river and he actually biked most of the year, but the bus also runs regularly.
Just my personal opinion, but I also think Rochester is an interesting, including historic, mid-size city, and then there is a LOT of great outdoors stuff not far away. Kinda like Pittsburgh, in fact, or indeed Buffalo.
I think the location is still a tough sell for most kids, which is basically why a university the quality of Rochester is not as hard for admissions for well-qualified applicants as, say, it would be if it was located in the Boston or SF areas. But still, from a certain perspective, it is a lot of value offered both academically and for college-age fun.
My GS was pleasantly surprised with how much he was actually offered when the award finally came through. Hang in there. I think that UMass is trying to build up its out of state enrollment.
I agree with your assessment of U of Rochester. It is extremely well resourced and the faculty is top notch. The education available there is equivalent to many schools with more selective admissions.
Their percent of international students has historically been very high. The percent of internationals in this year’s freshman class is 24%, which is about what it is for the university as a whole. I think that we all expect applications by internationals to be down. By how much in each individual situation remains to be seen, but whatever the impact is, UR is going to have to fill those seats somehow. And overall applicants is also expected to be down. This will be an interesting situation to watch.
To the OP, last year’s acceptance rate was about 37%. While that might ease up considerably this year, the thing that UR Admissions has to be even more concerned about for this year is yield rate which was only about 15% last year. If that declines, they are in trouble. They just watched their neighbor, Syracuse, experience an unexpectedly low yield last year and scrambling to woo students with last minute scholarship offers. Obviously the wiser course would be to offer those scholarships immediately upon acceptance. We’ll see what UR does, but they could suddenly become an unexpected bargain in more ways than one.
