I was recently admitted into engineering, with an intended major of aerospace! I’m out of state, but was really impressed with the new engineering campus and facilities, especially compared to my in-state flagship.
I was hoping to learn more about aerospace engineering:
Facilities
Faculty - Are they good teachers? Are they approachable and involved?
Research Opportunities - Any chance for undergraduate research?
Internship Opportunities (especially Astronautics) - I was fortunate enough to be selected for two year-long internships in high school for one of the leading aerospace agencies. Space is my passion, so I’m hoping that will give me a leg up.
Support - Do engineering students feel supported before declaring a major, or do they try to weed them out?
The curriculum has been revamped relatively recently and the “entrance to major” requirements changed - fewer courses are considered pre-reqs but a C+/B- average is now required as opposed to a C.
However, unless you’re in Schreyer, classes are large, even at the 300 level.
Like at all universities, professors have office hours and assistants answer questions too. But it’s not like HS, where you may meet the teacher in their classroom after class. Professors come in, teach, and return to their office or lab (with a new class and a new professor taking their place in the classroom or lecture hall). For a professor to know your name you have to go to office hours with questions you jotted down during the lecture, problem sets…
As is customary at most large universities, you’ll have more interaction with the assistants who run the labs and in some gen eds - English 15/30, foreign language if you choose to take one, any honors version of a course.
Generally speaking, unless you choose a university that advertises its “supportive” Engineering program (with evidence of what they do to support students - smaller classes, hands-on collaborative projects, living learning communities, clubs…etc.) Engineering is going to be unforgiving, especially at a large school with 300 students in a class. Regardless of the program it’s always going to be tough, because there’s no such thing as a half stable bridge or a partially successful wing. You have to master complex math&physics to make things work and it’s either/or.
Those who do well attend office hours and review sessions, use the tutoring system (and regardless of the university you want to know whether there’s a walk-in tutoring center for math, whether students can “book” appointments with tutors throughout the week or semester).
Midweek partying is antithetical to success in Engineering. You may have 6-8 hours of Math hw, 6-8h of physics hw, plus hw for other classes. If you’re ready to do the work though - and that includes office hours, tutors, review sessions - then you’ll be fine.
Lots of research opportunities.