Top EE Programs by State

College Majors Engineering Majors
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I have never, not once, seen a post on this board claiming that someone who attends a school higher up in the US News ranking will always do better than someone who attends a school that is ranked lower.

However, many times, I have seen evidence on this board (for instance, this: Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges | Opportunity Insights ) that leadership position in the US are disproportionally held by the graduates of more highly selective institutions.

Whether it is politics, sports or college admissions, the people at the extreme end of these arguments are usually wrong.

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But we are talking about someone who wants to be an electrical engineer whose dad thinks wants to work in a lab.

Named schools are great if you can get in and afford but as other rankings - LinkedIn, who says - “Using millions of data points from LinkedIn members, we can see how graduates actually fare once they have that diploma in hand,” Laura Lorenzetti, VP and Executive Editor of LinkedIn Global Editorial, tells Town & Country.

Plus the WSJ and Payscale measure differently and they are doing so because of what grads of so many schools are seeing and saying.

Top kids disproportionally end up in big names -many through wealth. That doesn’t mean the schools themselves were why someone got to the highest level.

You can’t tie that to a school. You can make the argument, but just like kids from 100+ colleges get into small law school classes like Harvard, UVA and Penn - it’s more likely a stud is a stud -period.

If OP’s kid can get into a “top” school whatever that means, that’s great if they can afford it. But like @Cptndeez said and I said above about optionality - aspiring engineers in my kid’s suburban Nashville schools were choosing UTK, Bama and to a lesser extent Auburn over Vandy, which isn’t seen as strong in engineering, at least by the locals.

In the end, achieving the budget is the most important thing because one needs to be able to pay and not strain themselves financially on a personal level.

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Josh Allen would like a word…

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There was a study a while ago that tracked outcomes for students who were accepted into “top” universities but chose to go elsewhere and compared them to students who did go to those institutions. They found that outcomes were fairly similar (IIRC there was some added benefit for minorities from disadvantaged backgrounds).

Basically the conclusion was it’s the type of student that drives outcome more than the institution. A “Harvard-level” student who goes to Alabama is still a Harvard-level student.

There was an updated study (Chetty, Deming and Friedman), that had similar findings EXCEPT students at the top universities were more likely to reach the top 1%. But the medians were about the same.

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You couldn’t have used Va Tech ??

:slight_smile:

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lol, true. But Alabama does have the most NMSF I think, a good number of those kids got into Ivy league colleges and chose to go for lower tuition and are probably having a great debt free life right now.

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The study I posted above suggests the opposite. I know that is upsetting to you. I didn’t mean to be deliberately provocative…only accurate.

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Is this the study you remember?? https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w10803/w10803.pdf?utm_source=PANTHEON_STRIPPED

There was also a paper presented that had fabulous tables comparing students admitted to top schools and which they chose. But I doubt I still have that one saved anywhere I can access it.

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Not upsetting at all but trying to be helpful to OP. You and I think differently. I think both wealth and persistence bring success. Both my kids are off to great starts - they come from an educated, upper middle class family and bust their tails.

Success comes from luck. Most create their luck.

I don’t begrudge your opinion. This is a board to share thoughts.

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GPA - 102.4 W / 95.6 UW
SAT - 1520 (780 M / 740 R&W)
Notable Coursework: Differential Equations, Calc III, Calc III, Calc I/AP Precalc (5), AP Physics C: E&M, AP Physics C: Mech, AP Phys 1 (5), APWH (5), APUSH (5), AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Lang (5), AP Stat

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131

Obviously don’t know the full picture (ECs LORs, etc) but it’s strong. Do the NPCs of the schools that interest - don’t trust their marketing.

But you can easily be in budget - $20k and up at schools that I’d argue are fine. He’ll get $30.5k at Bama leaving $20k ish - a bit less when moving off campus. Others in the 20s, 30s and 40s assured. Plenty of others.

So test yourself at those he wants - meaning the NPCs. If they work, that’s the easy part. You know he wants them but will he get in?

The more important part is finding that school that you know he’ll get in and will be under budget. You need to find one but preferably two plus that he can also love so he needs to visit, see some facilities and think wow.

Because even with a great profile, the JHU’s and Dukes of the world are statistically unlikely.

So you can take those shots but the most important school, especially to someone who appears to be looking down at not top 50. - the most important are those insurance policies.

Assuming all lines up I could see Purdue, as if not likely, at least close. But then you have FYE - a major can’t be assured. Is there comfort with that? Texas A&M and others are similar.

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Thank you.

Purdue seems like a solid choice given the cost and strength of EE program. I’ll relay all this info to my son.

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We say this all the time. It’s so true.

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Purdue University College of Engineering - Class of 2030 stats

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Purdue University - Class of 2030 Class Profile

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But get his focus on those he doesn’t want to. I lean Purdue in. Others will say OOS has gotten harder. You also, if possible, want to visit because a ‘rank’ is meaningless when you step on campus. UIUC (out of budget) and Purdue are close in distance and population but vastly different in look and feel. My son loves one and couldn’t wait to get off at the other. So if possible, if time and money allow, make a visit - even if it’s after acceptances come in.

In the end, that’s the easy.

You need to work on hard.

Get him to Buffalo or Lafayette or Syracuse or Rutgers or Delaware or whatever - actually get him to those assuredly under costs - so the SUNYs with EE.

The Bama schools - UAH, UAB, Bama

Buffalo. Bing. New Paltz. Oswego. Stony Brook

UCF

CNU

Clarkson - not assured at $50k but I think 98%

Florida Tech - same as Clarkson for hitting budget Florida State, UCF

Hofstra - same as Fl Tech and Clarkson. They used to put merit on the NPC

Iowa and Iowa State

Kansas and Kansas State

Louisville

Manhattan

UMass - good shot but not certain under $50k. URI more likely as is UNH.

Miami Ohio - likely to hit

Michigan State.

UMN - likely but not assuredly to hit

Miss State - up and coming name in the South. Huge merit

Missouri Science and Tech

You can check NJIT for cost

UNCC

U South Carolina 90% chance hits

Tennessee Tech or UT Chatt

Texas Tech

WVU

These are the kind of schools I’d look at.

I think he gets into the LACs like Lafayette, Union, Bucknell and great biggies like Ohio State and run the NPCs but I’m not confident at under $50k without need. And if you have substantial need, some need aware may turn you down - like if you can only co tribute $10k, per the NPC but that doesn’t sound like it.

So to me - JHU, Cornell, Duke, Purdue - whoever - that’s easy. Make sure you don’t ignore the more important piece because you very well end up at one of your budget is strict.

Good luck.

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With these stats & notable coursework, your son could still target Caltech, Georgia Tech, MIT, Stanford, or Cornell, if interested attending one of those schools. He is a competitive applicant statswise; it’s the rest of his application, the other 99%, is what will matter for “reach” schools.

He should consider signing up for his own cc account & doing a Chance Me/Match Me thread once he’s finalized a target list of schools.

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You can do the chance me/match me…but make it clear that you are the parent. Remember…it’s a match me also, so folks can also give suggestions.

You don’t have to wait until he finalizes his list. It’s October 23. He needs to get going on that.

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Just to emphasize timing…many of the heavy hitter publics have non binding early action deadlines of Nov 1st. Some schools like Purdue fill the bulk of their class in EA and only consider students for merit and honors college in that EA round. RD is VERY unpredictable, especially for popular majors like engineering and CS and even very strong students like your son have been shut out in RD. UMD is the same way and I’m sure there are others.

Make sure he gets in his applications BEFORE the EA deadlines at any school on his list that offers it.

From Purdue:

Nov. 1

  • Early Action application deadline
  • Merit scholarship consideration and John Martinson Honors College deadline
  • Priority application deadline for these competitive majors:
    • Engineering in West Lafayette: engineering (first-year)
    • Engineering in Indianapolis: biomedical engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering and motorsports engineering
    • Computer science
    • Flight (professional flight technology)
    • Nursing
    • Veterinary technology

Priority application deadline means that we will continue accepting applications after Nov. 1 only if space allows. If you’re applying for one of these programs after Nov. 1, first check for program availability on our Closed Programs page.

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It would be helpful if, in addition to NPC results, you shared your S’s current application status. Has he applied anywhere yet? Has he received any admissions decisions? If he hasn’t applied, is his common app, including the personal statement, complete?

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Thank you for all these suggestions.

Are you familiar with EE at Princeton, JHU, Columbia, UPenn, Duke, Rice, Harvard, USC, Northwestern, maybe Vanderbilt, Yale? He’s considering all these schools in addition to the state schools. How do they compare to the powerhouses like GT, Purdue, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Cornell, UIUC, UMich, UT Austin?