If you want a smaller school with a large international population, check it out. It’s very nice. The food was very good.
What bothered us - but it’s 6 years later so check - they had a smoking area and even though it’s contained, the smoke wasn’t.
It’s really up to you what you want. You might check with the career office and find out if any/how many alums made it to automotive. No doubt it can happen although I’d think it’d be more aero focused - why my son had it on his list.
I think ultimately, you have to decide, do you want to be far from home and then do you want a small or large campus. If you want small, it’s a reasonable choice.
Have you visited?
A parent here has a student or had a student there - @twoinanddone may be able to shed some light - but it’s very different than your other schools - smaller and focused - so I think that’s a big differentiation right there. If they have a Formula SAE or other club, you might want to see how active they are. I’m not an instagram guy but is the last outing in 2019 - so find out if it’s currently active and busy.
It does have a large international group and many of them smoke, so… Also Florida, where a lot of people smoke, so… I honestly never noticed it and my daughter never complained about it. She lived in the Freshman village her first year and then in the main dorm apartments her sophomore year. Most international students live in an older dorm section in the center of the old classroom section mid-campus as many are married and their families live with them, and also in the graduate student housing across the street from the main part of campus.
I know Florida Tech has two different car racing things, a jet car group (which may be only for women?) and then another car racing group. My daughter’s friend was big in the Jet Car racing group and traveled all over the US, especially in the summer. She was a mechanical engineer, president of ME society, pres of the sorority, top of her class so a superstar. I don’t know if that helped her get a spot on the team, but probably. She went on to grad school at Columbia, but also had full scholarships at GaTech, Florida Tech and at least one other school.
Florida Tech’s specialty is aero, but my daughter was/is in civil and has done quite well professionally. Still with the same company after 7 years. IMO, all of her friends have done well too. At her wedding earlier this year, they were all happily employed 20/30 somethings, with one having made it big after selling a patent. A small school but I think it punches above its weight in several areas of engineering. There are a lot of internship and co-op opportunities and students can earn a lot of money while in school. My daughter was an athlete and didn’t work until her senior year but wishes she would have worked more during school. She enjoyed the work she did as a senior and it lead directly to her job (traffic and transportation engineer), and she would have enjoyed the money!
Melbourne is a nice town and easy to get to from Orlando airport or directly to Melbourne but then you’d have to change in Atlanta. It is close enough to Orlando and Miami to attend sporting events and concerts.
Florida Tech still has more males than females, but that didn’t bother her or most of her friends. It also has a big ROTC group and many students enjoy that. It has a Newman dorm (Catholic) and it is very nice (don’t have to be Catholic to live there). Sports are sometimes good but often awful. Rowing is big. Soccer pretty big. Baseball/softball do okay. The outdoor pool is gorgeous.
We have not visited yet. I think we’re going to wait until mid Jan to see the outcome of all the common app colleges. Then shortlist to 3-5 to visit, factoring size, location, program, clubs, internships etc.
That is one reason the info shared here is so good, critical and important. It’s physically impossible to visit more than 3-5 of the out of state colleges, with all other commitments.
Sorry! I didn’t get an email when I was name checked!
I’d certainly visit Oregon State, and highly recommend the honors college for engineers. Instructors have to compete to get teaching assignments, honors classes go deep into the curriculum, and there’s no extra hours required.
Cal Poly has strong SAE teams for all three disciplines, Formula, FormulaE and Baja. They also have very cool adjacent clubs like PROVE Lab and HPV.
The Purdue conundrum has already been covered. Being a ME is very different from being a MET at most companies.
Lastly…Chico State. If he has any interest in Mechatronics, they have one of the largest programs in the country, with a much broader curriculum than most schools.
At the end of the day, his success will be what he makes of it, no matter where he ends up. Congrats on so many acceptances!
They seem to have a well supported up and coming FSAE team, too. https://www.instagram.com/chico_state_formula/?hl=en
Some people prefer the up and coming teams like this with a more basic car, because it’s more accessible for younger students to jump in and make changes and lead things. At the schools with the most technically advanced cars like Oregon State, team leads tend to be just the seniors working on their capstone projects. My son is on a newer team, and this has allowed him to be a subteam lead since sophomore year.
Hello! I want to keep this thread alive and will post a quick update below:
We got one or two more CSU admits: CSU-LA & CSU-Northridge
We are considering applying to UCF (Uni of central Florida), based on a friends recommendation. Our thought is we could compare/contrast with FIT, as we are planning a visit to FL in the spring. Thoughts on UCF for ME? and our chances?
Fine school but it’s very large (one of the largest in the country) - so it’s vastly different. But it’s accredited and solid. My field engineer is a UCF grad.
The campus isn’t as large as the population if that makes sense - but it’s a fine regional school - as would the Cal States be. FIT is a smaller school - and with more aero focus.
You already missed the early action deadline and I’m guessing statistically, you don’t get in.
To figure your Florida GPA, take your core classes - add .5 for Honors, 1 for AP. So a regular class B is a 3 but an Honors is 3.5 and AP is 4.
A more realistic choice if you want a 2nd would be - fly into Ft Lauderdale and go to FAU - you also missed early action but it’s an easier get. It’s a bit longer to Melbourne from FLL than Orlando - a tad less than 2.5 hours.
A better choice might be Embry Riddle - which is similar to FIT - but even more aero focused. You can fly into Orlando or Daytona for ERAU.
Finally, don’t forget, all public schools in Florida require a 9 credit summer school attendance.
What is the Summer Enrollment (also known as Summer Residency) Requirement?
The State of Florida requires students to complete and earn at least 9 credit hours at a “State University System institution during a Summer semester as part of their graduation requirements.
This applies to all students who start at a university in the State of Florida with fewer than sixty hours of credit since Fall 1976.
Courses taken at a state college or community college in Florida or at any private or out of state institution do not apply to this requirement.”
Good luck and congrats on your current admissions.
In terms of UCF, I would check out this counselor’s guide (especially the spread on p. 12-13) to get a sense of what kind of stats accepted students have at the Florida publics. Although your son’s stats might be below the typical ones for a fall semester start, they would be on the higher end for students who apply for a summer start. So if UCF is of real interest, he could get the 9 hours out of the way over the summer before freshman year and would significantly improve his odds for admission.
ETA: Did not mean to reply to @tsbna44, meant to reply to the thread generally.
Yes, but they are flying to Florida to see FIT - so thought of UCF as a second school - which logically, flying into MCO does make sense.
Personally, I think UCF is a reach - which is why I mentioned FAU…or if they want a second ERAU. FAU would have been likely by Oct 15th. This late - I don’t know. It’s also ABET accredited.
It bothers me too when people do this (and so many do). But it also bothers me when people say “we are pregnant”—although I’m fine with “we are expecting”!
Hello folks, some key updates to keep the thread active
Acceptance from CSU Fullerton (this is the first impacted CSU we have an acceptance from)
Deferred from Clemson and Santa Clara.
Applied to Florida central university. Long shot, but easy app and would be a good compare if/when we go to Florida to see FIT.
I’m working a spreadsheet/framework to help our kid make this important decision. Curious if others have been thru this and have any advice. The goal of the framework is to have our kid do research into the key areas of each accepted college and get to know them and the program better. The outcome should be 1. A shortlist to go visit in the spring and 2. Ensure this is his decision and not his parents!
What is your home state? Fullerton is a regional school. I wouldn’t go there fromanother part of the country - everyone (I’m embellishing) is from Orange County.
FAU, as noted before, I’d put in for ahead of UCF but that’s me.
Advice, first eliminate anyone who does not meet budget.
Then you have a list. From size and other things, figure out who works and prioritize those. You can also prioritize based on travel. If you can hit 3 in one trip, it’s likely better than traveling for just one school - unless that’s your top school.
The reality is - Clemson isn’t happening. They don’t reject it appears, just defer. And it’s going to be full pop if it did - but it’s not. They give little merit per CDS. Unless you have need (fill out the NPC), SCU isn’t happening. Not at budget.
But go see the finalists if you can and let your student decide.
But only take them to schools that achieve the budget. Clemson is wasted - even if you got in and got merit - which they give very little and to few. But I can’t see you getting even close to in there.
