VA Tech versus NC State for Engineering

[Anonymous]

Proof that you shouldn't pick on rank. Choose your experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I had one at both. Engineering & CS degrees.

OOS from MD

Virginia Tech 100%

1.NCSU is still not very minority friendly. My son had an Asian roommate and it was not pleasant in the dorms.
2. Coursework very similar. NCSU slightly easier Please have your student go online and look at coursework requirements.
3. Jobs upon graduation no comparrison VT wins. NCSU only really draws from RTP which is small or Charlotte which doesn't send that many corps to career fairs or internships. Goal of college super impt.
4. Intramurels NCSU wins Eight at State is a fun program.
5. Professors at VT and administration 100% better at VT vs NCSU.
6. Sports at NCSU must leave campus to go to football games pain in the neck.
7. NCSU is basically an urban campus it is not anything like VT. Students go home on weekends way more. Much more clicky at NCSU.
8. Engineering campus at NCSU is very nice but is 20 minutes from main campus.
9. Matriculation to the engineering school is way easier at NCSU than VT. If not accepted as a freshman right into the program.

Both of mine got great jobs after graduation from both schools. Both went to fabulous grad school programs a year after undergrad.

Programs at NCSU besides engineering that stand out Textiles and Supply Chain.

My current junior is interested in VT, can you talk about what you said here - Matriculation to the engineering school is way easier at NCSU than VT - How hard is it? I'm concerned about what happens if she doesn't get a 3.0 freshman year and, thus, not her 1st choice major. How challenging is it objectively? I understand it may have been easy for your kid but do you have a sense of how it was overall for students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is NC State direct admit? If so, I'd recommend going there.

NC State is NOT direct admit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What specific engineering he is considering? Is there a competition to get to his major? DC is considering VT but not direct admit to CS and leaning to other schools with direct admit to CS.

I would recommend going into a school that allows you to decide later than direct admit. Many engineering students switch to a different type of engineering than they started because of the classes they enjoy or hate within the first year.

In our case, would be easy to go to other engineering but not vice versa for CS. So DC is set for now to major in CS and Purdue and UMD have direct admit to CS not VT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I had one at both. Engineering & CS degrees.

OOS from MD

Virginia Tech 100%

1.NCSU is still not very minority friendly. My son had an Asian roommate and it was not pleasant in the dorms.
2. Coursework very similar. NCSU slightly easier Please have your student go online and look at coursework requirements.
3. Jobs upon graduation no comparrison VT wins. NCSU only really draws from RTP which is small or Charlotte which doesn't send that many corps to career fairs or internships. Goal of college super impt.
4. Intramurels NCSU wins Eight at State is a fun program.
5. Professors at VT and administration 100% better at VT vs NCSU.
6. Sports at NCSU must leave campus to go to football games pain in the neck.
7. NCSU is basically an urban campus it is not anything like VT. Students go home on weekends way more. Much more clicky at NCSU.
8. Engineering campus at NCSU is very nice but is 20 minutes from main campus.
9. Matriculation to the engineering school is way easier at NCSU than VT. If not accepted as a freshman right into the program.

Both of mine got great jobs after graduation from both schools. Both went to fabulous grad school programs a year after undergrad.

Programs at NCSU besides engineering that stand out Textiles and Supply Chain.

What in the hell are you talking about on #3? There are plenty of engineering firms in the area -- which is RTP + Raleigh, Cary, Durham, etc.

Regarding point #8 - students are mostly on main campus for first 2 years, then more on Centennial campus.

Finally, the OP is in VA, not OOS to Va Tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Either is fine. Engineering school content does not vary much between schools. Any engineering school will be a lot of hard work. Engineering school “rankings” are *mostly* irrelevant if below MIT and CalTech. Double-check that both schools offer the specific engineering degree which DC is targeting.

Only if DC wants to work in RTP, NC afterwards then NC State has better local connections so a slight edge. VT would have a similarly slight edge for government sector jobs (e.g., Lockheed, Northrup, Boeing) which are located in metro DC.

Also double check the exact major you want---is it competitive to get, or will your kid be able to major in what they want? For my kids, that was essential. They do not want to have to compete yet again to attempt to get into their major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is trying to decide between these two schools. He's Asian, from northern VA (FCPS), likes sports and the outdoors. plays tennis and basketball. He got into the Honors Program at both schools, the cost would be about the same (with a small merit aid award granted from NC State), and the travel distance is also about the same. NC State is ranked slightly higher than VT for engineering, but does that really matter much? Probably not.

Should he just decide based on his perceived "campus vibe"? Any other factors he should be considering?

I gather you assume both are driving or taking the bus...but certainly there are cheap, direct flights out of Raleigh to DC, while I assume it is either driving or the bus for VA Tech? There is also an Amtrak from Raleigh that can be dirt cheap at times. Not sure if VA Tech has a train option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

OP - You said NC State is ranked higher for engineering. I see Virginia Tech ranked at #13 and NC State at #30 for undergraduate engineering per US News.
Not that rankings matter much. My son went to Virginia Tech engineering and had a great experience. I don't know NC State.

I think OP may be using this US News ranking list (top engineering schools):
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you all for your suggestions. Yes, we were looking at the general engineering schools US News rankings. It's funny that it is different for the undergraduate rankings. Just more of a reason to discount the rankings.

To answer a few questions:
1) NC State is listed at 50,000 for OOS and VT is 39,000 for in-state. My DS has been awarded 7,000 in merit aid and is planning on getting another 2,000 or maybe more. So the cost for us is similar.
2) Stats from high-performing FCPS high school are 4.4 GPA, 1540 SAT, 11 APs and 2 post-APs, varsity sports, very involved ECs, some awards, volunteer, job, etc.
3) Not entirely sure, but leaning toward mechanical or electrical engineering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

OP - You said NC State is ranked higher for engineering. I see Virginia Tech ranked at #13 and NC State at #30 for undergraduate engineering per US News.
Not that rankings matter much. My son went to Virginia Tech engineering and had a great experience. I don't know NC State.

+1
I was wondering where OP got those rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

OP - You said NC State is ranked higher for engineering. I see Virginia Tech ranked at #13 and NC State at #30 for undergraduate engineering per US News.
Not that rankings matter much. My son went to Virginia Tech engineering and had a great experience. I don't know NC State.

I think OP may be using this US News ranking list (top engineering schools):
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings

Those are grad school rankings - not undergrad.
Here are the undergrad rankings:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is trying to decide between these two schools. He's Asian, from northern VA (FCPS), likes sports and the outdoors. plays tennis and basketball. He got into the Honors Program at both schools, the cost would be about the same (with a small merit aid award granted from NC State), and the travel distance is also about the same. NC State is ranked slightly higher than VT for engineering, but does that really matter much? Probably not.

Should he just decide based on his perceived "campus vibe"? Any other factors he should be considering?

I gather you assume both are driving or taking the bus...but certainly there are cheap, direct flights out of Raleigh to DC, while I assume it is either driving or the bus for VA Tech? There is also an Amtrak from Raleigh that can be dirt cheap at times. Not sure if VA Tech has a train option.

VT has Amtrak from Roanoke. A bus takes students from campus to the train station. There are also multiple buses from VT to NoVA (including Dulles) and beyond, as well as points south (including Charlotte airport).

My daughter’s roommate flies to her home in NY from the Roanoke airport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS got into these both in the current cycle, but will go in state at UMD for CS. However, if UMD didn't work out, these would have been his two finalists. My perception of both in terms of STEM program strength is similar. However, NC St. is in one of the hottest job markets in the county, the Research Triangle. The university opens up right into Raleigh, a wonderful, lively city.

Wrong on all accounts
1. Raleigh is not lively. I lived there for many years and one of mine went to NCSU recently.
2. RTP has limited jobs. It's not that big.
3. Raleigh is extremely unfriendly to minorities.

[Anonymous]

Visit both again. Try to meet with an Asian club to find out how they feel about the culture, since it was mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

OP - You said NC State is ranked higher for engineering. I see Virginia Tech ranked at #13 and NC State at #30 for undergraduate engineering per US News.
Not that rankings matter much. My son went to Virginia Tech engineering and had a great experience. I don't know NC State.

I think OP may be using this US News ranking list (top engineering schools):
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings

Those are grad school rankings - not undergrad.
Here are the undergrad rankings:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

Am I right in reading that the undergraduate rankings are "based solely on peer assessment surveys" while the graduate rankings are based on "research activity, faculty resources, academic achievements of entering students, and assessments by other engineering schools and employers"? Sounds like we should really use the graduate rankings to compare the two schools, right?