I’ve always like NC State. The new Centennial campus is nice. Lots of growth and opportunities in Raleigh.
Rice seems like a no-brainer. It gets a lot of love on CC. Our friend’s son goes to VT and likes it. I was also talking to his friend who goes to Rice and he loves it.
If he likes smaller maybe Case, RPI, RIT, Lafayette or Lehigh? If he only wants engineering what about Olin or Cooper?
@Knowsstuff - Ok, now I understand about the In State tuition in the form of Merit. My husband says there would be no point in going to MSU if he could go to ASU or UofA and get tuition free. UofM would be a different story.
Wow - Tesla! I think my husband would be all over that. Not sure about my son. We think he wants to be an engineering major, but we need to leave a little wiggle room in case he changes his mind and goes into Mathematics, Physics or Computer Science.
He just completed an on-line AP course through NW since our HS did not offer Physics: Mechanics. Happy he got an A in the course, but the final exam was difficult and he did not get an A on the final. Not sure if the course was any indication of what NW classes are like. My friend says the kids at NW seem super serious and don’t look like they are having any fun!
I live adjacent to Northwestern. Very serious students. My D toured when we were looking and still living in OH. She wasn’t a fan of the quarter system. Engineering is hard enough without courses being compressed.
@momofsenior1 Thanks for the tip about Tufts. I think we had a soft spot for it since we had the opportunity to visit the campus. Did not get a chance to do the engineering tour though. Students seemed friendly, but if there are better choices then so be it.
@DCCAWAMIIAIL Rice was not on his list as he is not interested in the state of Texas. NW is still on his list. Did not even consider Wash U in St Louis as I was not sure it was among the top engineering schools.
@chmcnm - Honestly never heard of NC State, probably because it is so far away, but I am sure Raleigh is a great town. VT=Virginia Tech? That is on his list. I will have to see if I can open his mind to Rice since a couple of people have mentioned it and I like that it has a smaller undergrad population.
Is BU worth considering? They do offer a decent scholarship to NM finalists. How about Carnegie Mellon? Have not heard anyone mention it.
After receiving all of these wonderful responses we will have to regroup and consider some of these smaller specialty schools. Might be a good way to go for him, but I just want to make sure that the employers are also looking to hire from these schools.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22932979/#Comment_22932979 has pointers to NCSU secondary admission to major stats.
We visited CMU. D’s impression was that the students were very, very intense. Definitely not the collaborative vibe she was looking for. Lots of money goes into their CS program as a chem e hopeful, that wasn’t a positive for her.
If you are looking for more reach schools to add, take a look at JHU. D sat in on some engineering courses and was pleasantly surprised at how relaxed the students were and the rapport with the professors. It was too small for her and too many students going to grad school vs industry, but she like it and it was her reach school.
CO Mines could be one to look at - it’s smaller but not too small (~5K undergrads), lots of nature, lots of collaboration and camaraderie, good geographic diversity for a state school, strong STEM reputation, and good merit potential.
Would he have any interest in Olin? Very different experience but extremely highly-regarded and terrific for those it’s a fit for.
Case Western and probably good merit
But it seems you have good choices in your home state as his back ups? Then I get just applying to reaches. All the schools your mentioning are reaches. Again, if he’s OK to go local as a fall back then apply away.
@aquapt We have never discussed CO Mines. I will mention it to him. I think Olin is way to small. His HS graduating class is double the size of the undergrad population!
There are “mine” schools in New Mexico and South Dakota as well; they may cost less than the one in Colorado.
I just have to ask…why is looking at “top undergrad engineering colleges” your goal? It sounds like you are putting rankings above other selection criteria.
Look for ABET accredited engineering programs. These engineering programs will be similarly challenging no matter where your kid attends college.
If your son ends up being a NM scholar, he should look at the Benecquisto scholarship which is a full ride to Florida public universities.
I would check:
University of New Mexico
Arizona
University of Alabama
RIT
RPI
Case Western
Wyoming
Utah
Montana
For smaller places:
Lehigh
Lafayette
Villanova
Don’t rule out all the CA publics if you can afford the full cost of attendance. CA is a huge state and the personality of those college is very different. BUT keep in mind, in CA you will be full pay those schools most likely (as a resident of AZ)
We went through the same process last year with my now freshman. I learned about a program offered at two schools that we looked at and I am sure that others offer it…the 5 year masters program. Both Pittsburg and Maryland have a program that you can start to take masters level classes in your senior year that will count toward your undergrad as well therefore allowing you to start your masters early AND at the undergraduate tuition. Pitt even offered direct admission to that program as part of their merit package. IF the students major does not change, this is a huge ROI in my opinion with obtaining your masters in 5 years if they desire.
to add …many schools have 5 year BS/MS programs. Not many fields need it but it’s a nice option to have.
I’ve seen a number of kids from the southwest wind up at Virginia Tech and have really great experiences there. It’s not as cold as some of the other schools mentioned, but still a lot different than Arizona. One issue that gives my kid pause is the travel to there. There is no really convenient airport.
What about Lehigh or Lafayette in PA? Smaller options than some of the big state universities.
NC State, Va Tech, Ga Tech are great engineering schools in the Southeast. All worth a look.
OP said nothing about this being a “goal”. In fact, the request was specifically asking about other ways of researching schools.
You can’t go wrong with either. My D ended up not applying to UM, as it would have been a reach and she didn’t like how the engineering campus felt separated from the main campus. Though I think it was more of the former.
As noted, in terms of facilities, or at least how they were presented on the tour, UM was the most impressive of any school we visited. Though it would be hard to overcome the cost difference, if the same gap remains after any aid.
Both were driving distance for us, so access wasn’t an issue. But Indy is fairly close to Purdue and O’Hare/Midway aren’t that far, with regular shuttles. They regularly talk about returning commercial service to the campus airport, but I don’t see it happening,
@RichInPitt Good to hear about UM. I don’t think he would mind the separate campuses. Too bad our trip was canceled in March and we did not get to see it in person. Let’s see what happens and if I can get him going on his applications this week.
Hello Everyone, glad I found this forum topic. My son is in a similar boat looking for Stem/engineering schools. Our problem is we live in Louisiana and are limited with in state options to La Tech and LSU, neither ranked very highly. Im fully aware that rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. Our goal is the best with least cost or debt. Come to the conclusion that applying to privates doesn’t make sense. He will not get much aid and going into 6 figures of debt for undergrad makes no sense.
With that said the only private he’ll apply to is Rice, only 4 hours way. Other schools are Texas A&M, UT Dallas, and Ga. Tech. There are many others on the list, however the cost of sending test scores and application fees will begin to add up. Having a difficult time narrowing down to around 10.
Just to add, Regarding Cornell. Was high on the list. however after researching the common theme I found was students with mental health issues. So that came off
I know this deviates from the original question
Any comments and recommendations would be appreciated
@Ladadof3 - you’ll get more responses if you start your own thread (also considered better form on this site). You can list your budget, your child’s preferences in terms of size and location, etc…