<p>boneh3ad,</p>
<p>Having actually gone there myself, I would say Riddle is rather underrated. </p>
<p>It is a very good school. And I had several good offers right after graduation.</p>
<p>And what did you do outside of school? Did you get the chance to mingle with non-engineers and people no interested in aviation? Did you have any major sports or clubs to attend or join? College is about more than just academics. ERAU has a good aerospace program, no doubt, but I wouldn’t have given up the rest up the experience for anything. I would urge others to do the same.</p>
<p>MIT, stanford, caltech, GT, berkeley, Michigan, Purdue, Harvey Mudd (only has UG)</p>
<p>re:
|ARWU in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences - 2010</p>
<p>USC over Cal Tech?? </p>
<p>right…</p>
<p>boneh3ad,</p>
<p>With all due respect, your view of ERAU is very one-dimensional. My experience, as well as the experience of others I know who graduated with me was fantastic. The best years of my life… hands down. To answer your questions though, yes, I did mingle with people outside of engineering and aviation (frequently in fact). The campus was located in one of the most artsy, liberal areas of the country (Prescott). The school doesn’t have major sports to speak of, however, there are plenty of intramural and club sports to play. I played intramural soccer, basketball, and was a member of the running club when I was there. Fun times.</p>
<p>Outside of school you’ve got hiking, biking, rock climbing, kayaking, tubing… all within a short distance from the campus. It was a seriously great place. Unbelievable in fact… And the weather… The weather was phenomenal!</p>
<p>I would even be so bold as to say that I probably had a more fulfilling, and memorable college experience than you did. :)</p>
<p>Don’t forget UIUC. It’s like top 5 in most all undergraduate engineering branches in USnews, and it’s made the list on just about all the different rankings I’ve seen.</p>
<p>We can agree to disagree then. All I know is that I wouldn’t give up the “full college experience” that I had for anything and I wouldn’t suggest anyone else do so either. My view of the school is one-dimensional because the school is one-dimensional. Everything is aerospace and aviation related. I am an aerospace guy and I still consider that a drawback.</p>
<p>I am sure you had the time of your life there, and they certainly have the reputation for having a good program, but I personally value much greater diversity (and I am not talking racial diversity) than what ERAU has to offer and as a result I simply cannot recommend the school to anyone who asks me.</p>
<p>You are right on one thing… We can agree to disagree!</p>
<p>What is “the full college experience?”
May you objectively explain it for me?</p>
<p>Typically, I would consider it to be having a wide array of extracurricular clubs and activities at your disposal (sports teams, parties, intramurals, religious groups, clubs based on various interests or whatever else you are interested in), plus a wide variety of people, engineers and non-engineers alike,With whom to do them.</p>
<p>Academics are very important in college of course, but keep in mind that it is almost as important to have fun and do a lot of growing up while you are at it. You will learn more in college about life and who you are than any other time in your life, so you have to make sure that there are the right experiences for you to be had at your school of choice. Most people entering college don’t know what these right experiences will be, so the more diverse your opportunities, the better off you are generally.</p>
<p>Probably at least half of my friends in undergrad were non-engineers that I met through various clubs and activities. I met my wife, another non-engineer there. When I was 18, I would never have guessed some of the things I’d end up enjoying by the time I was 22 and graduating. For that reason I am incredibly grateful to have had the breadth of experience available to me that I had.</p>
<p>Oh, and all the while I was living my life, I had plenty of time to study enough to get into a PhD program right out of undergrad. If you manage your time properly, you have plenty of time to work hard and play hard, and you should.</p>