I am currently a sophomore in mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. I am strongly considering transferring to a university with more rigorous coursework. I am also interested in aerospace engineering, in which Stevens does not have too much to offer. My plan is to apply to MIT, CalTech, Georgia Tech, Cornell, Harvey Mudd, Carnegie Mellon, and Purdue.
Stevens:
GPA: currently 3.798 expected 3.82-3.85
Presidential Merit Scholarship, Founder’s Merit Scholarship
Involved in research with a professor who holds a PhD from MIT
Currently a Peer Tutor and involved in campus life
High School:
GPA: 3.7 UW
SAT: 2040 [Math: 720 CR: 670 Writing: 650]
SAT II Math Level II: 770
SAT II Physics: 610
AP Calculus BC: 5
AP Chemistry: 4
AP Physics Mechanics: 4
AP Physics Electricity & Magnetism: 3
ACT: 34 [Science: 35 Math: 34 Reading: 36 Essay: 11]
I don’t necessarily agree with you that the schools you propose to transfer to have more rigorous coursework than Stevens. All ABET-accredited engineering schools - which include Stevens and all the ones on your list - have rigorous coursework in that the ABET requirements mandate the specific math, physics, chemistry, and other general science as well as the general and discipline-specific engineering courses. Stevens was the pioneer in broad-based engineering education, and as you know, there are many required courses outside of your specific engineering major. It may not be apparent now, but many Stevens graduates have found that their broad-based training has made them superior problem solvers in interdisciplinary situations (which is most engineering nowadays), and that is highly valued by industry. With respect to major, you don’t necessarily have to major in “Aerospace Engineering” (that is, the department be specifically named that) to do well in the aerospace field. I graduated from Stevens in the 1980s in electrical engineering and started my career with (the former) Bell Laboratories in communications engineering, for example. About 20 years ago I changed my career to aerospace engineering, and worked with four major corporations in the aerospace industry - that having no prior experience in the aerospace industry, and lacking a specialized aerospace engineering degree. My team for example designed navigation systems for several major space programs including the Space Shuttle and Mars Observer, and for many military and civil aircraft. None of the engineers in this team had “aerospace engineering” degrees, most were mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering (in fact, our Director of Engineering had a Ph.D. from Stevens). Many Stevens alumni were/are successful in the aerospace field, it may interest you to know that a former CEO of Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, designer of the first successful pressurized airliner (Boeing 377), lead systems engineer on the Apollo and Space Shuttle navigation systems, CEO of Lockheed Martin, a Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), chief systems engineer for Space-X, and a former NASA director were Stevens graduates. You already are in one of the leading technological universities in the United States, I would strongly recommend you continue. By the way, I believe MIT doesn’t have an Aerospace Engineering major either (their aerospace/aeronautical engineering major is within the Aeronautics and Astronautics department, unless they’ve changed since I attended graduate school there). If a goal of yours is to become a registered Professional Engineer in your state for example, you must have an ABET-accredited engineering degree, not “aeronautics and astronautics”. Hope this helps.
Cheers, Michael, Ph.D., P.E., Consulting Aerospace Engineer